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The Origin of the Taiwan Question
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Taiwan has belonging to China, not legally, but factually since World War II. The emergence of the Taiwan question has resulted from the Civil War waged by Kuomintang, and moreover, in closer association with the intervention of foreign forces.
The Taiwan Question and Civil War
During World War II, Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China established the national united against Japanese aggression. In the wake of the defeat of Japan, Chiang Kai-shek led the Kuomintang Party in launching a nationwide war against the communist party with the support of the United States. The Republic of China, founded by Kuomintang, was finally overthrown by Chinese people who strongly condemned the perverse acts of Kuomintang after three years of struggle for liberation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. On October 1st, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded and it's recognized as the sole legitimate government representing all of China. Some Kuomintang members retreated to Taiwan and isolated Taiwan Island from the Chinese mainland with the backing of the United States.
The Taiwan Question and Responsibility of the US Government
After World War II ended, two camps of occidental and oriental worlds took shape. In order to better maintain its interests, the US government, assisted the Kuomintang government to wage civil war in China by providing money, weapons and soldiers in an attempt to eliminate the communist party from the country. However, the US government failed in its efforts eventually.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the US government tried to isolate and contain China. Following the Korean War in the early 1950s, the Chinese government claimed that the United States was interfering in China's internal affairs by preventing the Chinese government from liberating Taiwan. In 1950, U.S. President Truman orders the Seventh Fleet of U.S. Navy to sail into the Taiwan Straits and the Thirteenth Fleet of the U.S. Air Force be stationed on Taiwan Island. In December 1954, the U.S. and Taiwan authorities signed the Defense Treaty in Washington, putting Taiwan under US protection. The US government continued to intervene in what China saw as a domestic matter and caused long-term tension in the Taiwan Straits. Taiwan question has since becomes a point of dispute between China and the United States.
Along with the development of the international situation and the growth of new China, the United States began to readjust its hostile policy towards China. There were signs of a relaxation in the relations between the two countries. Resolution 2758 adopted by the 26th UN General Assembly in October 1971 recognized the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government representing the entire Chinese people. Taiwan has since been refused entry to the United Nations. In February 1972, US President Nixon paid a visit to China and issued the joint communiqu¨¦ with China in Shanghai, in which the US stressed it recognizes there is only one China and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.
In December 1978, the U.S. accepted three conditions for the establishment of diplomatic ties proposed by the Chinese government. China asked the U.S. to cut off relations with Taiwan authorities, abolish the Defense Treaty and withdraw troops stationed on the Taiwan Island. On January 1, 1979, China and the United States established formal diplomatic relations. It is stated in the three Sino-US joint communiqu¨¦s that the US recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government representing China. American people would maintain cultural, business and other non-official ties with Taiwan people. The US admits that there is only one China and Taiwan is an integral part of the Chinese territory.
Only three months after China and the US established ties, the U.S. Congress passed the so-called "Taiwan Relations Act", which was signed by former U.S. President Carter into law. The "Taiwan Relations Act" contains a number of regulations against three Sino-US joint communiqu¨¦s and international laws. According to the Act, the US could continue to sell arms to Taiwan and prevent Taiwan's return to China.
The Chinese and U.S governments held talks on US arms sales to Taiwan. The two sides issued the China-U.S. August 17 Joint Communiqu¨¦ in 1982, in which the U.S. Government reiterates "it does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan, its arms sales to Taiwan will not exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms, the level of those supplied in recent years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, and it intends to gradually reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan, leading, over a period of time, to a final resolution".
However, the US government failed to fulfill its statement in August 17 Joint Communiqu¨¦. In September 1992, the US government sold Taiwan 150 F-16 fighter planes. The arms sales imposed new obstacles in the development of Sino-US relations and the resolving of Taiwan question.
In conclusion, the US government is responsible for the current unresolved Taiwan question.
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