Key facts on relations as Taiwan opposition leader visits China

April 7 – 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:

– ‌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.

– 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.

– 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.