Decreasing Diplomatic Alliance for Taiwan

Why in news?

Recently Honduras established formal relations with China soon after ending its ties with Taiwan is connected to the “One China” Policy.

Honduras

Honduras is a Central American country with Caribbean Sea coastlines to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south.

Evolution of China-Taiwan relationship

• The Taiwan is located in the East China Sea to the northeast of Hong Kong, north of the Philippines and south of South Korea, and southwest of Japan.
• Taiwan earlier known as Formosa a tiny island off the east coast of China.
• Taiwan observes October 10 “double 10” as its national day and the Republic of China was declared on December 29 1911.
• The civil war in 1949 that ended in victory for the communists and retreat of Chiang and the KMT to Taiwan - and it has since continued as the Republic of China (Taiwan).
• Since its founding of Taiwan in 1949 the People Repulic of China (PRC) (China) has believed that Taiwan must be reunified with the mainland while the RoC(Taiwan)has held out as an “independent” country.
• In 1954-55 and in 1958 the PRC bombed the Jinmen, Mazu, and Dachen islands under Taiwan’s control.
• The RoC became the non-communist frontier against China during the Cold War.
• In 1975 Taiwan got its first democratic reforms.
• The most serious encounter was in 1995-96, when China began testing missiles in the seas around Taiwan.
• Starting from the 1990s and despite the missile crisis relations between the PRC and RoC improved and trade ties were established
• As the British prepared to exit Hong Kong in 1999, the “One China, Two Systems” solution was offered to Taiwan as well, but it was rejected by the Taiwanese.
• In 2000 Taiwan got its first non-KMT government when the Taiwanese nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency.
• In 2004 China started drafting an anti-secession law aimed at Taiwan trade and connectivity.
• Today the two big players in Taiwan’s politics are the DPP and KMT broadly the parties of the island’s Hakka inhabitants and the minority mainland Chinese respectively.
• The 2016 election of President Tsai marked the onset of a sharp pro-independence phase in Taiwan and the current tensions with China coincided with her re-election in 2020.
• Taiwan now has massive economic interests, including investments in China and pro-independence sections worry that this might come in the way of their goals.

Currently only 13 countries (plus the Vatican) recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country.

What is the One China Policy?

• For china - ‘One China’ for China basically refers to the principle that it is one country composing mainland China and the island of Taiwan.
• For USA - The One China Policy contains elements such as
  • The US interest in a peaceful process of cross-Strait dispute resolution
  • Its different  interpretation of Taiwan’s legal status as compared to Beijing’s interpretation
• The One China Policy of the United States is not the same as the “One China” Policy of china
• In the 1980s the US shifted to using “policy” in place of “principle” to differentiate between the US approach and China’s version
• US opposes  China and Taiwan  unilaterally changing the status quo

What are the views of china and Taiwan?

The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 was passed in response to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1668 that required any change in China's representation in the UN be determined by a two-thirds vote referring to Article 18 of the UN Charter

References

1. The Indian Express │ Honduras Snaps Ties With China
2. The Hindu │Taiwan China Relationship