This is Taiwan, located less than 200 km from mainland China. It is about the size of Lesotho, but slightly larger. China is roughly 267 times larger than Taiwan in-terms of land area.

But here is the funny part, Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China. You will soon understand why.

As you may know, the Chinese government says Taiwan is part of China, while Taiwan has traditionally claimed to be the REAL China. This dispute has existed since 1949, when Mao Zedong came to power.

China says it may use military force to take Taiwan. The United States follows a policy called “strategic ambiguity,” meaning it does not publicly make it clear what it would do if China invaded Taiwan, but it maintains close relations.

Chinese planes frequently enter Taiwan's air defense zone. China also runs large military exercises in the sea and sky surrounding Taiwan.

Taiwan has repeatedly vowed to defend itself. The president of Taiwan has pushed for increased military spending, including a proposed $40 billion boost, and warned that 2026 is a critical year, urging the public to stay prepared.

Today, I will explain how the Taiwan conflict started. You can't understand what's going on without grasping the historical context.

🔹The Background!👇

China was ruled by dynasties for over two thousand years. Remember a dynasty is when a country is ruled by one family. Leadership is passed down by bloodline, not by elections.

That is how China was governed for centuries. Different families ruled at different times. The last ruling family was the Qing Dynasty.

This family was removed from power in 1911, after a revolution. The architects of this revolution were people like Sun Yat-sen. They wanted to turn China into a republic.

However, things did not go as planned after the revolution. China did not become stable. Instead, the country broke into regions controlled by military leaders known as warlords. There was no strong central government to unite the country.

Out of this chaos, two major political groups with opposing views emerged :

▪️The Nationalists and:

▪️The Communists.

Although these two groups had different ideas, they both wanted a united China. The main difference was how that China should be governed.

The Nationalists wanted China to follow Western-style systems, with a capitalist economy.

The Communists wanted China to follow the model of the Soviet Union, with a communist system.

Although the Nationalists and the Communists had different ideas on how China should be governed, they both agreed on the idea of a united China. As I mentioned earlier, China no longer had a strong central government. The country was in chaos, with warlords and rival groups fighting for control.

Because of the chaos, the Nationalists and the Communists initially agreed to fight together to unify China. The Soviet Union supported both sides in the early stages. However, as the conflict evolved, Soviet backing increasingly shifted toward the Communists.

However, the alliance between the Communists and the Nationalists did not last, and they soon began fighting each other before they could fully unite the country. The main problem was how a united China would survive with two opposing, militarized political groups, each with a legitimate claim to power.

In 1931, another disaster struck, when Japan began invading China from the northeastern region, occupying an area then known as Manchuria (now part of Northeast China). Because of this, fighting between the Communists and Nationalists lessened, as both sides shifted their focus to Japan.

After World War II ended, Japan was defeated, and its invasion of China came to an end. With the Japanese threat gone, the Communists and Nationalists intensified the civil war as they now fought for control.

In my Gukurahundi series, I said that you cannot have two rival military organizations fighting to liberate one country and then expect there to be peace once that country has been liberated.

In the end, the Communists won. In 1949, they took control of mainland China and formed a new government led by the legendary Mao Zedong.

The Nationalists left China and fled to Taiwan where they set up their own government.

Taiwan had been under Chinese rule for over 200 years though it was formally given to Japan by China in 1895.

After losing World War II, Japan gave up its claim to Taiwan, but it did not formally hand it to any specific country. China then took control of the island. So, when the Nationalists moved to Taiwan, they were taking control of land they believed was theirs, even though no treaty directly gave it to them. They also said that they were still the legitimate government of mainland China.

At first, the United Nations recognized the Nationalist government in Taiwan as the government of all China. This was because the Nationalist government had already been recognized before the Communists took power. From 1949 to 1971, Taiwan actually held China’s seat at the United Nations. That means Mao Zedong's China was not a member of the United Nations from 1949 until 1971.

In 1971, the United Nations then removed Taiwan and gave China’s seat to mainland China. After that, most countries began to recognize the Communist government as the official government of China.

Today, most countries recognize the government in mainland China as the official China. Only about 12 countries officially recognize the government in Taiwan.

This is where the idea of “One China” comes in. Most countries, including the United States, follow what is called the “One China policy.” This means they recognize the government in Beijing as the official government of China, but do not take a clear position on whether Taiwan is part of China. This allows them to maintain unofficial relations with Taiwan, including trade and security ties.

China, however, follows the “One China principle.” It states that there is only one China, and that Taiwan is part of it. China expects other countries to accept this position as a condition for formal diplomatic relations.