Taiwan's identity under debate

With a great deal of propaganda, Beijing seeks to convince its population and the international community of Taiwan's profoundly Chinese identity. The reality is more complex.

Beijing constantly reaffirms its determination to settle Taiwan's fate once and for all, by completing the process of Chinese «reunification». This situation bears witness to the importance of ideology and propaganda in the evolution of certain major geopolitical issues.

While the Chinese Communist Party has consistently regarded Taiwan as a rebel province since the official proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the Taiwanese authorities still officially claim continuity between the Republic of China established in 1912 and the regime in place today. Indeed, Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist government, then deemed legitimate by the international community, was still in power.