April 7 (Reuters) – Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun arrived in China on Tuesday on what she says is a mission of peace, happening at a time Beijing has ramped up its military and political pressure against the democratically governed island.
Cheng, chairwoman of the largest opposition party, the Kuomintang or KMT, will be in China until Sunday, and may meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Following are key facts on ties between Taiwan and China:
RECENT HISTORY
– The defeated Republic of China government, led by the KMT, fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists, who founded the People’s Republic of China in the same year. Hundreds of thousands of refugees cross over to Taiwan.
– In 1979, China declared an end to what had been routine artillery bombardment of Taiwan-controlled islands next to the Chinese coast and offered to open up communication between the two sides.
– Taiwan only relaxed restrictions on its people visiting China for family reunions in 1987, the same year it also lifted martial law.
– In 1996 Taiwan held its first direct presidential election, becoming a full democracy.
– The KMT’s Ma Ying-jeou is elected president in 2008 and wins re-election in 2012, signing a series of trade and tourism deals with China. Ma held a landmark meeting with Xi in Singapore in late 2015.
– China has refused to deal with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government under both Tsai Ing-wen, president from 2016 until 2024, and current President Lai Ching-te, saying they are “separatists”. China regularly flies fighter jets and sails warships around Taiwan.
– Taiwan’s government says it is already a sovereign country, still officially called the Republic of China, a position supported by the island’s main opposition parties.
‘ONE CHINA’
– Post-1949, both the governments in Taipei and Beijing had competing claims to be the only legitimate Chinese government. But the number of countries recognising Taipei over Beijing declined precipitously in the following years, especially after Beijing assumed the China seat at the United Nations from Taipei in 1971.
– China says Taiwan is one of its provinces and it will not accept either “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan”.
– In 1992, negotiators from China and Taiwan met in Hong Kong, then a British colony, for ice-breaking talks. That formed the basis of what is now called the “1992 Consensus” – both sides recognising there is only “one China” but there can be different interpretations as to what that is.
– Today, the “1992 Consensus” is subject to differing explanations depending on who is speaking, including on whether it leaves space for the existence of the Republic of China, or whether it only means the People’s Republic of China.
– China demands countries follow the “one China principle”, accepting Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is a part of China. Washington follows a “one China policy” by which it officially takes no position on Taiwan’s sovereignty and only acknowledges China’s position on the subject.
MILITARY
– China and Taiwan have nearly gone to war several times since 1949, including in the Second Taiwan Straits Crisis in 1958 when China shelled Taiwan-controlled islands near the Chinese coast and fighter jets fought dog fights.
– In August of 2022, China staged large scale war games around the island in protest at a visit to Taipei by then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It has held at least six such war games since then.
– Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, the United States is obliged to help Taiwan with the means to defend itself under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.
– While the U.S. military has a low profile presence in Taiwan, including for training Taiwan’s armed forces, whether it would come to Taiwan’s aid in the event of a Chinese attack is left unclear under Washington’s “strategic ambiguity” policy.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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