In news- Warning China against “flirting with danger”, US President Joe Biden recently said that his country would defend Taiwan militarily if Beijing invaded the self-ruled island.
About China-Taiwan tussle-
- Taiwan, earlier known as Formosa, a tiny island off the east coast of China.
- The island is located in the East China Sea, to the northeast of Hong Kong, north of the Philippines and south of South Korea, and southwest of Japan.
- Taiwan observes October 10 – “double 10” as its national day as it was on this day in 1911 that sections of the Manchu army rose in rebellion, leading ultimately to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and the end of 4,000 years of the monarchy.
- The Republic of China (RoC) was declared on December 29, 1911, and it found its feet in the 1920s under the leadership of Dr Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Kuomintang (KMT) Party.
- Sun was succeeded by General Chiang Kai-shek, whose actions against the Chinese communists, who were part of an alliance with the KMT, triggered the civil war that ended in victory for the communists and retreat of Chiang and the KMT to Taiwan.
- Since its founding in 1949, the PRC has believed that Taiwan must be reunified with the mainland, while the RoC has held out as an “independent” country.
- The RoC became the non-communist frontier against China during the Cold War, and was the only ‘China’ recognised at the UN until 1971.
- Though the US backs Taiwan’s independence, maintains ties with Taipei, and sells weapons to it, it officially subscribes to PRC’s “One China Policy”, which means there is only one legitimate Chinese government.
- Just 15 countries recognise Taiwan.
Source: IE
