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Revision as of 02:05, 3 August 2002 by 217.168.172.203 (talk) (changed "administrated" to "administered")(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Republic of China was the government which administered Mainland China from 1911 to 1949 until it was overthrown by the Chinese Communist Party and has administered Taiwan from 1945 until the present.
The Republic of China developed out of an uprising against the Qing Dynasty which began at Wuhan on October 10, 1911 which is celebrated in Taiwan as Double Tenth Day. Emboldened by the lack of response against this uprising, provincial assemblies began to secede forcing the last emperor to abdicate.
The Republic of China was declared on January 1, 1912 with Yuan Shihkai as President. The initial high hopes for the Republic were quickly undermined as the Republic was divided among military warlords.
(Warlord Era)
(Chinese Civil War)
In 1949, Chiang Kai-shek evacuated the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan which had be returned from Japan in 1945. Because of the Cold War, until the 1970's, the Republic of China was recognized as the sole legitimate government of both Mainland China and Taiwan by the United Nations and most Western nations. The 1970's saw a switch in diplomatic recognitions from the ROC to the People's Republic of China. In 1991, the ROC officially stated that it would not challenge the rule of the Communist Party on the Mainland, but it has not officially renounced its right to rule Mainland China and Outer Mongolia. Such a declaration would be opposed by supporters of Chinese reunification on Taiwan and may ironically be interpreted as a declaration of independence upon which the Mainland may take military action. As of 2002, the government of Taiwan which is controlled by the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party has been very careful in its statements and has taken a policy of ambiguity.
As of 2002, the Republic of China continues to be officially recognized by 27 nations, mostly small countries in Central America and Africa. The People's Republic of China has a policy of not having diplomatic relations with any nation which recognizes the Republic of China and insists that all nations which it has diplomatic relations with make a statement which recognizes its claims on Taiwan. In practice, most major nations maintain unofficial semi-diplomatic relations with Taiwan and the statement which is required by the PRC is couched in extremely carefully worded ambiguity.
Until the mid-1990's, supporters of Taiwan independence opposed the Republic of China and supported the creation of an independent Republic of Taiwan. Since the mid-1990's, a compromise has been reached between supporters of Taiwan independence and Chinese reunification on Taiwan to support the continuation of the Republic of China but as a government that administers only Taiwan.
see: Taiwan for more information