Republic of China

The Republic before the Relocation to Taiwan

The Republic of China began on the mainland in 1912. Taiwan was then under Japanese colonial rule. The ROC government began administering Taiwan after Japan’s defeat in 1945 and moved its central government there in 1949. Its diplomatic history consequently connects the effort to end imperial treaty restrictions with the later struggle to maintain international representation from Taiwan. [11]

A Republican Legation and an Embassy

The Republic of China's Washington legation emerged from the Qing mission during the revolution of 1911-1912. Chang Yin Tang remained minister and conveyed instructions from the new republican government before the United States formally recognized it on May 2, 1913. In March 1913, he transmitted President Yuan Shikai's congratulations to Woodrow Wilson on his inauguration. [1] [2]

The United States recognized the Nationalist government in 1928, and the Washington mission later rose from legation to embassy. Alfred Sze presented ambassadorial credentials on August 21, 1935. That Washington milestone followed the June elevation of the American mission in Beijing. [3] [2]

The embassy helped dismantle part of the unequal treaty system during the Second World War. On January 11, 1943, Ambassador Wei Tao-ming and Secretary of State Cordell Hull signed a treaty in Washington relinquishing American extraterritorial rights in China. American nationals would come under Chinese jurisdiction, and the United States surrendered related privileges in the international settlements and diplomatic quarter. Ratifications were exchanged in Washington on May 20, bringing the agreement into force. [4] [5]

Taiwan and the End of Formal Relations

The Republic of China government moved to Taiwan in 1949 as Communist forces prevailed on the mainland. The United States continued to recognize that government, and its Washington embassy remained in operation. Wellington Koo's second Washington appointment, from 1946 to 1956, crossed the civil war and the government's relocation. The new People's Republic of China remained without American diplomatic recognition until 1979. [2] [3]

For part of the 1970s, the ROC embassy and the PRC liaison office operated in Washington at the same time. The United States terminated diplomatic relations with the ROC on January 1, 1979, as it recognized the PRC. The normalization arrangements also provided for continued commercial, cultural, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan. [6] [7]

The Taiwan Relations Act supplied a legal framework for those continuing ties, protecting property interests despite the absence of diplomatic recognition. Taiwan's representative organization, initially the Coordination Council for North American Affairs, later became the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States. Together with the American Institute in Taiwan, it concluded arrangements covering subjects such as aviation, agriculture, and consular functions. [8] [9] [10]

Representation after the Embassy Era

The loss of China’s UN representation in 1971 preceded the end of formal American diplomatic relations. Resolution 2758 seated the PRC’s representatives in place of the ROC’s representatives. Taiwan nevertheless continued to conduct foreign relations through its remaining formal partners and through unofficial offices where diplomatic recognition had changed. [12] [13]

Related Reading

• China and the United States