Taiwan (island)

Taiwan (臺灣 pinyin tai2 wan1) is an island off the coast of Mainland China. It is also known by the name Formosa. The island is administered by a government which calls itself the Republic of China (ROC). Whether the island is or is not part of China and the meaning of China in this context is an extremely complex and controversial issue.

The Republic of China was founded after Chinese revolutionaries overthrew the Qing government in 1911. The Kuomintang, which at the time controlled the government of the ROC, was exiled to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party ended in the Communists favor in 1949.

The Republic of China was in the United Nations from the founding of the UN in 1946 until 1971, when the China seat was given to the People's Republic of China government.

Taiwan has a unique and complex diplomatic situation which is described in Transnational issues.

See Taiwan independence

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[1]Article from the CIA World Factbook (upon which the first version of this article was based)

Moved here from China, needs to be merged:

The status of Taiwan is controversial. In addition, it can be confusing because of the different parties and the effort by many groups to deal with the controversy through a policy of deliberate ambiguity. The current position of the People's Republic of China is that Taiwan is part of China and the PRC is the sole legitimate government of China, although the government has hinted that it would be willing to moderate the second part of the formulation if Taiwan accepts the first part. The position of supporters of Taiwan independence is that Taiwan is not part of China and the PRC is the sole legitimate government of China. The position of supporters of Chinese reunification on Taiwan is that Taiwan is part of China but the PRC is not the sole legitimate government of China. Within Taiwan support for Taiwan independence and Chinese reunification exists as part of a political spectrum with most people apparently in the middle.

The positions of the current government on Taiwan is deliberately ambigious. Until 1991, the government on Taiwan maintained that it was the sole legitimate government of China, but it currently does not take this position. The government has styled itself the Republic of China and claims that it does not challenge the rule of the PRC on the Mainland. The government on Taiwan has been deliberately silent as to the issue of whether Taiwan is or is not part of China and the meaning of the term China and states that it it willing to discuss the issue. The PRC has stated that no political discussions are possible unless Taiwan agrees to a one China formulation but has left it ambigious as to exactly what one China means.

The positions of other countries and international organizations is also ambigious. The PRC refuses to maintain diplomatic relations with any nation that recognizes the government in Taipei, and most nations have diplomatic relations with Beijing while maintaining offices in Taipei that are diplomatic in all but name. Most major countries have policies toward this issue that use very careful language which is deliberately ambigious. International organizations also have different policies toward this issue. In some cases (such as United Nations organizations) Taiwan has been completely shut out while in others, such as the World Trade Organization Taiwan is a member sometimes under a special name.

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