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Political status of Taiwan. The political status of Taiwan or the Taiwan issue is an ongoing geopolitical dispute about Taiwan, currently controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), that arose in the mid-twentieth century.
- One China, Two Rival Governments
- International Opinion
- Part of China?
- Suppressing Rebellion?
- Not Part of China?
- The Risks of Ambiguity
The context changed again in 1949, when communist forces won the Chinese civil war and proclaimed the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the successor state to the defeated ROC. Both the ROC, which had retreated to Taiwan, and the PRC claimed to be the single legal “state” and so the lawful government of all of China. The ROC was accepted as a fou...
Since the shift at the UN in 1971, the United States and Australia have recognised the PRC as the sole legal government of “one China”. The US initially accepted that Taiwan was part of China, but later followed the Australian positionof simply “acknowledging” the PRC’s sovereign claim to Taiwan. The US, Australia and various other states have call...
Legally, Taiwan isn’t a state. But it satisfies many of the legal criteriaof statehood by having a population, a defined territory and an independent, effective government. The fourth criterion, a capacity to enter into legal relations with other states, is more problematic, precisely because most other states don’t accept that Taiwan enjoys the le...
Indeed, this is the basis of China’s claim to be entitled to retake Taiwan by force: that it wishes to restore control over Chinese territory held by insurgents in an unfinished civil war. Governments normally have a right under international law to suppress rebellion in their territory, including by remnant forces of a defeated previous government...
Some factors weigh against Taiwan being part of China. The sovereignty issue was not formally settled in the postwar transition from Japanese rule, and allied strategic preferences don’t necessarily make good law. The UN didn’t regard Taiwan as a Japanese colony ripe to be decolonised through self-determination – though it probably should have – an...
Strategic ambiguity, designed to maintain the status quo in Taiwan, is sometimes described as the least worst option (for Taiwan and the West, though not for China). Side-stepping the legal dispute has enabled the Taiwanese to prosper and, belatedly since the 1980s, democratise. It has served the Western strategic imperative of containing China. An...
- Ben Saul
But Taiwan sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders. Taiwan has strong links to China, its biggest trading partner.
Oct 9, 2024 · Taiwan celebrates its national day on October 10. (AP: Chiang Ying-ying)The road to independence. Taiwan's sovereignty issue is fundamentally a tug-of-war between Beijing's view of Taiwan as a ...
Jan 15, 2024 · China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the civil war in 1949, when the defeated Nationalist government fled to the island as the Communists under Mao Zedong swept to power.
Jan 30, 2024 · The Taiwan national identity is a complicated and nuanced phenomenon. It cannot be understood based on a simple China vs. Taiwan dichotomy. The 2024 voting results illustrate the main fault...
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May 29, 2024 · As “the beacon of democracy in Asia,” Taiwan is not just fighting internal political battles; it’s on the frontline of defending democratic values against China’s authoritarian ambitions. Recent...
