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Taiwan, China, World War Two and its aftermath
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 24, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
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Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 24, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Taiwan and China dispute WWII's legacy, focusing on Taiwan's sovereignty and historical treaties like the Cairo Declaration.
(Reuters) -Taiwan and China are engaged in an increasingly bitter battle of narratives about the legacy of World War Two, which ended 80 years ago.
Here is a timeline about Taiwan, China, the war and its aftermath.
1895 - After being defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War, China's Qing dynasty signs the Treaty of Shimonoseki ceding sovereignty over Taiwan to Japan.
1911 - The Qing dynasty is overthrown in a revolution and the following year the Republic of China is declared.
1927 - Chinese Communist Party stages an uprising against the government, viewed as the start of China's civil war.
1931 - Japan invades northeast China's Manchuria.
1936 - Republic of China leader Chiang Kai-shek is kidnapped by two of his own generals to force him into an alliance with Mao Zedong's communists to fight the Japanese and suspend China's civil war.
1937 - Japan invades the rest of China.
1943 - Chiang, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sign the Cairo Declaration which states Taiwan will be "restored" to the Republic of China.
1945 - The Potsdam Declaration calls for Japan's unconditional surrender and reaffirms the Cairo Declaration. Following Japan's defeat, Taiwan is handed over to the Republic of China.
1946 - Truce between republican and communist forces collapses and the Chinese civil war resumes.
1947 - An uprising occurs in Taiwan against Republic of China rule and is bloodily put down.
1949 - Chiang retreats to Taiwan after Mao wins the civil war and establishes the People's Republic of China. Mao vows to "liberate" the island.
1951 - Japan signs the San Francisco Peace Treaty renouncing its claims to Taiwan, but the island's sovereignty is left unresolved in the document. Beijing says the treaty is "illegal and invalid" given it was not a party to it.
1952 - Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan signed reaffirming Japan's renunciation of its claims to Taiwan, which the government in Taiwan says is confirmation of the previous transfer of sovereignty to the Republic of China.
To this day, the governments in Taipei and Beijing do not officially recognise each other.
Republic of China remains Taiwan's formal name.
Sources - Taiwanese, Chinese governments.
(Writing by Ben Blanchard)
The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed in 1895, ceding sovereignty over Taiwan to Japan after China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War.
The Cairo Declaration, signed in 1943 by Chiang Kai-shek, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, stated that Taiwan would be 'restored' to the Republic of China.
In 1947, an uprising occurred in Taiwan against Republic of China rule, which was violently suppressed, marking a significant event in Taiwan's history.
To this day, the governments in Taipei and Beijing do not officially recognize each other, with the Republic of China remaining Taiwan's formal name.
In 1949, after Mao Zedong's victory in the civil war, Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan, establishing a separate government that continues to exist today.
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