WHO GOVERNS TAIWAN

Taiwan was part of the Chinese government until 1895, when the Qing Dynasty allowed the Japasnese to govern it until 1945 at the end of WWII. In 1945, the Republic of China governed Taiwan as part of the one government of all China, the Republic of China (ROC). Then during the Chinese Civil War of 1947-1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) took over as the government of Mainland China after the PRC defeated the ROC in 1949. The ROC government fled to Quemoy/Matsu where the PRC could not defeat the ROC. So, the PRC ruled over Mainland China while the ROC ruled over Taiwan, including Quemoy/Matus from 1949 until today. What decided who governs over Mainland China and Taiwan was decided, not by logic nor historical presidence, but by war. In a word, China now had two governments, one over Mainland China and one in Taiwan.

From 1912 to 1979, the US Government recognized only the ROC as the legitimate government of all China; from 1949 to 1979, the USG did not recognize the Communist PRC government as a legitimate government because it was Communist and the USG was opposed to all communist governments, including the Soviet Union and Vietnam. At that time the Viet Cong controlled north Vietnam and South Vietnam was governed by another government. After the US left Vietnam, the Viet Cong government defeated the then government of South Vietnam and took control of all Viet Nam. Again the Viet Cong government now governs all io Vietnam, not because of logic or historical presidence, but because it won the war.

In 1979, the USG asked to be "friends" of the PRC, so that the PRC can help annoy the Soviet Union. The PRC agreed, if the USG agreed to a number of conditions outlined in the Shanghai Communiques. One of these conditions was that the USG would publicly only acknowledge the PRCG as the legitimate government of both Mainland China and Taiwan. This acknowledgement by the USG did not mean that the PRCG actually governed Taiwan, it just meant that the USG agreed to call the PRCG the only government of all that the PRCG claimed to be China, including Taiwan. Shortly after that the US Congress pass a law, called the Taiwan Relations Act, to protect the interests of Taiwan and the ROCG. That law included a phrase that if either the PRCG or the "Taiwan Authorities" used force to try to over the other side, the USG would view such actions "gravely." This last word is a diplomatic that meant that the USG may use military force to prevent any forceful over by either side of China to take over the other side.