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	<i>From the ] 2000 and the U.S. Department of State website. Partially Wikified.</i>		<i>From the ] 2000 and the U.S. Department of State website. Partially Wikified.</i>

	Information on ~~the~~ Mainland China.		Information on Mainland China.

	* ]		* ]
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	~~The~~ ~~Status~~ of Taiwan:		see entry on ]

	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 ]
	is that Taiwan is not part of China and the PRC is the sole legitimate
	government of China. The position of supporters of ] on Taiwan is that Taiwan is part of China but the PRC is not the sole
	legitimate government of China. Within Taiwan support for ] and ] 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 '']'' 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 ]
	Taiwan is a member sometimes under a special name.

	see ]

Revision as of 00:54, 1 August 2002

China redirects here see alsochina (porcelain).

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.

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 Mainland China.

see entry on Taiwan