Flag of Taiwan(ROC)Perhaps some of you do not know that there are actually two chinas exists today,you just know one of them as Taiwan and China.Taiwan is also referred to as The Republic of China and China is also known as the Peoples Republic of China.(Its quite long but this is only a brief one,be patient and read it,its very interesting)Why is it also known as The Republic of China?(Other then that,it is also known as Free China and Nationalist China)
Kuomintang flag
Sun Yat SenWell it all started with the founding of the Kuomintang Party in 1912 by SunYat Sen and Song Jiaoren shortly after the Xinhai Revolution.More on the Kuomintang next time.Moving on,the Qing dynasty which was the ruling power in China was overthrown in favour of a republic.This also means that China dynastic system is abolished after 2000 years of imperial rule.Several revolutionary groups which including the Kuomintang were responsible for the downfall of the Qing dynasty
Flag of the Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China was then established on January 1,1912.First led by Sun Yat Sen and then by Chiang Kai Shek who assumed leadership of the Kuomintang in 1925 after the death of Sun Yat Sen. Chiang Kai Shek had united China during the Northern expeditions and defeated the warlords who ruled different parts of China.He had received help from Soviet advisors who provided training, propaganda, popular agitation, and arms but soon dismissed his Soviet advisors, and purged communists and leftists from the KMT.
Chiang Kai ShekBefore the death of Sun Yat Sen the CCP(Chinese Communist Party) was founded and was instructed to cooperate with the Kuomintang.Chiang wanted to destroy the Communists which led to the Chinese civil war(1927) with the help of German military advisors.Chiang was determined to destroy the Communists.The Communists retreated from their bases in Southern and Central China, the retreat was known as the Long March.Chiang continued to attack the Communists to solve internal problems before dealing with the external invasion which were the Japanese.
However Chiang was taken hostage in the Xian incident in 1937 and agreed to an alliance with the Communists and fight Japan in the second Sino-Japanese War(KMT forces sometimes still fought each other during their alliance) which lasted till 1945 with the surrender of Japan.KMT forces and Communist forces begin to fight each other again.Chiang was unable to defeat the Communists due to mismanagement of the economy and the reduction of the number of troops after WWII and a few other factors.
By the end of 1949 the Communist had control of almost all of mainland China and by 1950s the Republic of China lost effective control and Chiang evacuated the government(KMT) to Taiwan along with a significant amount of China's national treasures and 2 million people, including military forces and refugees(including the the entire gold reserve and the foreign currency reserve of mainland China).Chiang established a provisional capital in Taipei.The PRC tried to conquer some parts of Taiwan in the Battle of Kuningtou but failed. The ROC was recognized by most Western nations and the United Nations as the sole legitimate government of China. During the 1970s, the ROC began to lose these recognitions in favor of the Peoples Republic of China.
National Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall
Main vault of the Memorial Hall
However Chiang was taken hostage in the Xian incident in 1937 and agreed to an alliance with the Communists and fight Japan in the second Sino-Japanese War(KMT forces sometimes still fought each other during their alliance) which lasted till 1945 with the surrender of Japan.KMT forces and Communist forces begin to fight each other again.Chiang was unable to defeat the Communists due to mismanagement of the economy and the reduction of the number of troops after WWII and a few other factors.
By the end of 1949 the Communist had control of almost all of mainland China and by 1950s the Republic of China lost effective control and Chiang evacuated the government(KMT) to Taiwan along with a significant amount of China's national treasures and 2 million people, including military forces and refugees(including the the entire gold reserve and the foreign currency reserve of mainland China).Chiang established a provisional capital in Taipei.The PRC tried to conquer some parts of Taiwan in the Battle of Kuningtou but failed. The ROC was recognized by most Western nations and the United Nations as the sole legitimate government of China. During the 1970s, the ROC began to lose these recognitions in favor of the Peoples Republic of China.
National Chiang Kai Shek memorial hallMain vault of the Memorial HallThe Republic of China has not formally relinquished its claim as the legitimate government of all China. Taiwan's quick industrialization and rapid growth during the later half of the twentieth century, has been called the Taiwan Miracle and known as one of the four Asian tigers and it also has the 5th highest reserve of foreign currency,current estimate of population is 22,911,292.We still read about tensions between the two countries and why Taiwan holds military exercises.Now you know that there are two China’s and how its flag came about to be and extra knowledge obtained.
Presidential Palace
Taipei
Presidential PalaceTaipei
