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| Numerous Taiwanese consider their island to be its own nation. |
A visit by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives in the United States, has only exacerbated tensions between Beijing and Washington over Taiwan.
The Chinese government views Taiwan as a separatist province that will eventually become part of the country, which is at the heart of the divide.
However, regardless of whether independence is ever declared, many Taiwanese people view their island as distinct.
What is Taiwan's relationship with China historically?
It is believed that Austronesian tribal people from modern-day southern China were the first known settlers on Taiwan.
Beijing uses this fact to support its territorial claim, claiming that the island first appeared in Chinese records in AD239, when an emperor sent an expeditionary force to investigate the region.
Taiwan was administered by China's Qing dynasty from 1683 to 1895, following a relatively brief period as a Dutch colony from 1624 to 1661.
Beginning in the 17th century, a significant number of Chinese migrants began to arrive, frequently fleeing conflict or hardship. The majority were Hakka Chinese, mostly from Guangdong, or Hoklo Chinese from Fujian (Fukien) province. Currently, their descendants make up the majority of the island's population.
The Qing government was forced to cede Taiwan to Japan when Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. Japan gave up the territory it had taken from China and gave up control of it after World War II. With the consent of its allies, the United States and the United Kingdom, the Republic of China (ROC), one of the war's winners, took control of Taiwan.
However, in the years that followed, a civil war broke out in China, and Mao Zedong's Communist army defeated Chiang Kai-shek's troops.
In 1949, Chiang, the remnants of his Kuomintang (KMT) government, and approximately 1.5 million supporters fled to Taiwan.
Despite making up only 14% of the population, this group, known as Mainland Chinese, ruled Taiwan's politics for a significant amount of time. In Taiwan, Chiang set up a government in exile, which he led for 25 years.
After Chiang's death, his son Chiang Ching-kuo increased democratization. He was under pressure from a growing democracy movement and met resistance from local residents who were dissatisfied with authoritarian rule.
Taiwan's "father of democracy," President Lee Teng-hui, led constitutional changes that eventually led to Chen Shui-bian's election as the island's first non-KMT president in 2000.
So who perceives Taiwan?
There is disagreement and ambiguity regarding Taiwan's identity.
It has its own constitution, leaders who are elected by the people, and about 300,000 soldiers who are currently serving in the armed forces.
At first, Chiang's ROC government in exile claimed to represent China as a whole, which it planned to reoccupy. It was recognized as the only Chinese government by many Western nations and held China's seat on the UN Security Council.
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| Together with his supporters, Chiang Kai-shek, the former leader of China, fled to Taiwan. |
However, by the 1970s, some nations had begun to argue that the Taipei government was no longer a true representative of the hundreds of millions of mainland Chinese people.
The UN switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1971, forcing the ROC government out. China also began economic liberalization in 1978. The United States officially established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1979 because it was aware of the opportunities for trade and the need to improve relations.
The number of nations that diplomatically recognize the ROC government has significantly decreased since then to approximately 15.
Taiwan's legal status is still a mystery, despite the fact that it possesses all of the characteristics of an independent state and a political system that is distinct from China.
How are China's relations with Taiwan?
As Taiwan relaxed restrictions on Chinese investment and visits, relations began to improve in the 1980s. In 1991, it announced that the conflict with Individuals' Republic of China was finished.
If Taiwan agreed to fall under Beijing's control, China offered the so-called "one country, two systems" option, which it claimed would grant Taiwan significant autonomy. The way Hong Kong was governed up until recently, when Beijing sought to increase its influence, was based on this system, which supported Hong Kong's return to China in 1997.
Unofficial representatives from China and Taiwan continued to hold limited talks despite Taiwan's rejection of the offer and Beijing's insistence that Taiwan's ROC government is illegitimate.
Then, in 2000, Chen Shui-bian was elected president of Taiwan, much to Beijing's dismay. Mr. Chen and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), his party, had publicly supported "independence."
China passed a so-called anti-secession law in 2004 after Mr. Chen was re-elected, stating that China had the right to use "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan if it tried to "secede" from China.
In 2008, Mr. Chen was replaced by Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT, who tried to improve relations through economic agreements.
After eight years, in 2016, Taiwan's ongoing president Tsai Ing-wen, who currently drives the freedom inclining DPP, was chosen.
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| Relations across the Straits once more soured under Ms. Tsai. |
The manner of speaking honed further in 2018 as Beijing moved forward strain on worldwide organizations - in the event that they neglected to list Taiwan as a piece of China on their sites, it took steps to impede them from carrying on with work in China.
In what was widely perceived as a snub to Beijing, Ms. Tsai won a second term in office in 2020 with a record-breaking 8.2 million votes. By that time, there had been months of unrest in Hong Kong, with a lot of people protesting against the mainland's growing influence, and many people in Taiwan were closely watching.
Sometime thereafter, China's carried out a public safety regulation in Hong Kong that is viewed as one more indication of Beijing's statement.
How important is Taiwan's independence?
Links between Beijing and Taipei, as well as the economies of the two cities, have grown despite the slow pace of political progress. According to official Taiwanese figures, Taiwanese investment in China totaled $193.5 billion (£157.9 billion) between 1991 and the end of May 2021.
There are some Taiwanese who are concerned that their economy is now dependent on China. Because of the cost to China's own economy, some people believe that closer business ties make Chinese military action less likely.
In 2014, students and activists occupied Taiwan's parliament in protest against what they called China's growing influence over Taiwan. The "Sunflower Movement" was sparked by a contentious trade agreement.
Officially, the ruling DPP still supports Taiwan's formal independence, whereas the KMT supports its eventual union with China.
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| According to recent polls, a significant number of Taiwanese support the government's strategy for "safeguarding national sovereignty." |
However, the majority of Taiwanese seem to fall somewhere in between. Only 5.2% of Taiwanese surveyed in June 2022 were in favor of independence as soon as possible, while 1.3% were in favor of unification with mainland China as soon as possible.
The remaining individuals were in favor of some form of maintaining the status quo, with the majority of them wanting to do so indefinitely without making any progress toward either independence or unification.
What is the US's role in the divide between China and Taiwan?
Washington has had a policy of "strategic ambiguity" for a long time, to the point where it would use military force to intervene if China invaded Taiwan.
Officially, it adheres to the "One-China" policy, which formally ties Taipei to Beijing rather than Taipei and recognizes only one Chinese government in Beijing.
However, it has also stated that any attack by China would cause "grave concern" and that it will provide Taiwan with defensive weapons.
When asked in May 2022 whether the United States would use force to defend Taiwan, President Joe Biden responded in the affirmative. The United States' position on Taiwan had not changed, and the White House quickly reiterated its commitment to the "One-China" policy. Similar to what Mr. Biden had previously said, it goes against his support for Taiwan's military.
China-US relations have also been strained as a result of Taiwan. Since Mr. Biden's election, Beijing has increased its military jet incursions into Taiwan's air defense zone, condemning any rumors of Washington's support for Taipei.
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