ABSTRACT
Taiwan has both the communist Chinese government in Beijing and the nationalist Chinese government in Taipei to be a province of China rather than an independent country. After losing the Sino Japanese War in 1895, China ceded Taiwan to Japan. After World War II, it was again ceded, but this time to the Republic of China (ROC) at that time run by the Nationalist Government and the Kuomintang (KMT) under Chiang Kai-shek. Having been driven from mainland China by the communists in 1949, the KMT moved to Taiwan. However, political development did not keep pace and the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) was awarded the Chinese seat at the UN on 25 October 1971. With the death of Chiang Kai-shek in 1975, the regime became less authoritarian and the opposition was able to establish a party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 1986. Taiwan remains a non-state entity, but is an Asian tiger economy, alongside South Korea.
