In 1949, following the Communist revolution in China, the Chinese Nationalist government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fled to the island of Taiwan and established a Chinese country there. When the Nationalists arrived, they were met by indigenous Taiwanese and Chinese who had been living there for millennia. Although the island has never been controlled by modern China, successive governments have been disputing this territorial issue since 1949. For about 25 years, most governments of the world recognized Taiwan, the Republic of China, as a sovereign country.

After President Nixon’s policy of extending relations to the People’s Republic of China in the 1970s, China has pressured all countries in the world to not recognize Taiwan, which has one of the most developed economies in the world. The United States extends de facto recognition to Taiwan through unofficial channels, and it still considers Taiwan to be a very strong ally. China has threatened the use of military action if the Taiwanese ever vote for independence from mainland China, and, in effect, officially form their own country. Proposals for degrees of independence by the Taiwan legislature have been met by threats from the Chinese government.