China and Taiwan: A really simple guide
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Loading... - Zahra Botros
- 11 Apr 2023
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China has sent warships, including an aircraft carrier, into the seas around Taiwan.
Beijing's latest show of military force followed a meeting on Wednesday in California between Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be under Beijing's control.
China's President Xi Jinping has said "reunification" with Taiwan "must be fulfilled" - and has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve this.
But Taiwan sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
Where is Taiwan?
Taiwan is an island, roughly 100 miles from the coast of south-east China.
It sits in the so-called "first island chain", which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to US foreign policy.
If China was to take over Taiwan, some Western experts suggest it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific region and could possibly even threaten US military bases as far away as Guam and Hawaii.
But China insists that its intentions are purely peaceful.
Has Taiwan always been separate from China?
Historical sources suggest that the island first came under full Chinese control in the 17th Century when the Qing dynasty began administering it. Then, in 1895, they gave up the island to Japan after losing the first Sino Japanese war.
China took the island again in 1945 after Japan lost World War Two.
But a civil war erupted in mainland China between nationalist government forces led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong's Communist Party.
The communists won in 1949 and took control in Beijing. Read More…
