ABSTRACT
The Republic of China's (ROC) leaders are often quick to remind foreign commentators, gently but firmly, that China can refer back to 5,000 years of recorded history. Their purpose in so doing, no doubt, is to lend justification and gravitas to whatever policy they have elected to pursue. Paradoxically, this applies as much to the Communist leadership in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Accurate though both their claims may be, it is nevertheless the case that both parties manifest a degree of selective memory, largely to suit their own policy ends.
