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China redirects here. The name is also used by the Taiwan (formally Republic of China) and china (porcelain).

The People's Republic of China is country in eastern Asia. The capital is Beijing.

China is known by native people as Zhong1 Guo2 (中國 or 中国 in simplified Chinese) or Zhong1 Hua2 (中華), and in ancient Chinese literature Hua2 Xia4 (華夏) where Xia refers to the Xia Dynasty in 2205-1766 BC.

The origins of the English word "China" are unclear; according to Webster, the word is based on a Persian word chInI which refers to a type of fine porcelain from China. The porcelain is called ci2 (瓷 pronounced chee) in Chinese which might be the root of the Persian word. The word china (in lower case) refers to the porcelain. Apparently, the English named the countries after the porcelain.

According to American Heritage dictionary, the word is based on a Sanskrit word China which refers to Qin2 or Ch'in dynasty (秦 255-204 BC).

Some historians please explain the origin of the word. If two major English dictionaries have different views, no one really knows where this English word came from.

History
Main article: History of China

China (in simplified Chinese 中国) is a country with a 5,000-year-old civilization in Eastern Asia. The name of the government which administrates the Mainland is the People's Republic of China, while Taiwan is administered by the Republic of China. The Chinese Civil War between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang ended with the Communist in control of Mainland China in 1949

From that time, a government controlled by the Chinese Communist Party has ruled which while still nominally Communist has gradually moved toward both personal and economic freedom while maintaining elements of totalitarianism with regard to political affairs and religious and ethnic minorities, especially the Falun Gong and Tibet.

Following the civil war the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan where with the support of the United States they ruled under the name Republic of China and was recognized as the legitimate government of China by the United Nations and many Western government until the 1970's. In the 1970's, most major governments switched recognition to the People's Republic of China. The status of Taiwan is still quite controversial.

For millenia China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in many areas of the arts and sciences. But in the first half of the 20th century, the country was beset by major famines, civil unrest, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists led by Mao Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, Mao's successor Deng Xiaoping committed China to a program of economic reform. Output quadrupled in the next 20 years and China now has the world's second largest GDP when measured at purchasing power parity. Political controls remain tight despite China's commitment to economic reform.

See also Chinese history, Republic of China (Taiwan ROC) Chinese Communist Party, Kuomintang, Chinese Civil War. communism, Chinese law.

External References

• China News, News Searches, and Reference

File:Flagachrl.png

From the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the U.S. Department of State website. Partially Wikified.

File:Ch-map-pl.jpg

From the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the U.S. Department of State website. Partially Wikified.

Information on the Mainland China.

• History
• Geography
• People
• Government
• Economy
• Art
• Science
• Communications
• Transportation
• Military
• Transnational Issues

The Status of Taiwan:

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 controversial 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. 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.

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 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.

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.

see Taiwan