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Foreign relations of Taiwan
Foreign relations of Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), are accomplished by efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a cabinet-level ministry of the central government. As of January 2024,[update] the ROC has formal diplomatic relations with 11 of the 193 United Nations member states and with the Holy See, which governs the Vatican City State. In addition to these relations, the ROC also maintains unofficial relations with 59 UN member states, one self-declared state (Somaliland), three territories (Guam, Hong Kong, and Macau), and the European Union via its representative offices and consulates. As of 2025, the Government of the Republic of China ranked 33rd on the Diplomacy Index with 110 offices.
Historically, the ROC has required its diplomatic allies to recognize it as the sole legitimate government of "China", competing for exclusive use of the name "China" with the PRC. During the early 1970s, the ROC was replaced by the PRC as the recognized government of "China" in the UN following Resolution 2758, which also led to the ROC's loss of its key position as a permanent member on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to the PRC in 1971.
As international recognition of the ROC continues to dwindle concurrently with the PRC's rise as a great power, ROC foreign policy has changed into a more realistic position of actively seeking dual recognition with the PRC. For consistency with the one China policy, many international organizations that the ROC participates in use alternative names, including "Chinese Taipei" at FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), among others.
The ROC government participated in the 1943 Moscow Conference, the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, and the United Nations Conference on International Organization and was a charter member of the United Nations after participating in the alliance that won World War II. In 1949, the Nationalists lost the Chinese Civil War in mainland China and retreated to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, forming a rump state. Despite the major loss of territory, the ROC continued to be recognized as the legitimate government of China by the UN and by many non-Communist states.
American foreign policy 1950–1971 called for full recognition and support of the government of China in Taiwan. As the Korean War (1950–1953) broke out, Taiwan was not allowed to send military support to South Korea. However, the Truman Administration resumed economic and military aid to the ROC on Taiwan and neutralized the Taiwan Strait by United States Seventh Fleet to stop a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) invasion and a potential ROC counter-invasion of the mainland. In December 1954 a US-Taiwan military alliance was signed as part of the American Cold War strategy in the Far East, in the determination not to allow Chiang Kai-shek's forces on Taiwan to attack China, thereby setting off another even larger war between the United States and China.
The American military presence in Taiwan consisted of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) and the United States Taiwan Defense Command (USTDC). Other notable units included the 327th Air Division. Until the US formally recognized the People's Republic of China in 1979, Washington provided the ROC with financial grants based on the Foreign Assistance Act, Mutual Security Act, and Act for International Development enacted by the US Congress. A separate Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty was signed between the two governments of US and ROC in 1954 and lasted until 1979.
The US State Department's official position in 1959 was:
In the past decades, the US had maintained a position to not support Taiwanese independence, and instead to have a One China policy that's guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances, and to expect cross-Strait differences to be handled peacefully, and oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side.
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Foreign relations of Taiwan
Foreign relations of Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), are accomplished by efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a cabinet-level ministry of the central government. As of January 2024,[update] the ROC has formal diplomatic relations with 11 of the 193 United Nations member states and with the Holy See, which governs the Vatican City State. In addition to these relations, the ROC also maintains unofficial relations with 59 UN member states, one self-declared state (Somaliland), three territories (Guam, Hong Kong, and Macau), and the European Union via its representative offices and consulates. As of 2025, the Government of the Republic of China ranked 33rd on the Diplomacy Index with 110 offices.
Historically, the ROC has required its diplomatic allies to recognize it as the sole legitimate government of "China", competing for exclusive use of the name "China" with the PRC. During the early 1970s, the ROC was replaced by the PRC as the recognized government of "China" in the UN following Resolution 2758, which also led to the ROC's loss of its key position as a permanent member on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to the PRC in 1971.
As international recognition of the ROC continues to dwindle concurrently with the PRC's rise as a great power, ROC foreign policy has changed into a more realistic position of actively seeking dual recognition with the PRC. For consistency with the one China policy, many international organizations that the ROC participates in use alternative names, including "Chinese Taipei" at FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), among others.
The ROC government participated in the 1943 Moscow Conference, the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, and the United Nations Conference on International Organization and was a charter member of the United Nations after participating in the alliance that won World War II. In 1949, the Nationalists lost the Chinese Civil War in mainland China and retreated to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, forming a rump state. Despite the major loss of territory, the ROC continued to be recognized as the legitimate government of China by the UN and by many non-Communist states.
American foreign policy 1950–1971 called for full recognition and support of the government of China in Taiwan. As the Korean War (1950–1953) broke out, Taiwan was not allowed to send military support to South Korea. However, the Truman Administration resumed economic and military aid to the ROC on Taiwan and neutralized the Taiwan Strait by United States Seventh Fleet to stop a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) invasion and a potential ROC counter-invasion of the mainland. In December 1954 a US-Taiwan military alliance was signed as part of the American Cold War strategy in the Far East, in the determination not to allow Chiang Kai-shek's forces on Taiwan to attack China, thereby setting off another even larger war between the United States and China.
The American military presence in Taiwan consisted of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) and the United States Taiwan Defense Command (USTDC). Other notable units included the 327th Air Division. Until the US formally recognized the People's Republic of China in 1979, Washington provided the ROC with financial grants based on the Foreign Assistance Act, Mutual Security Act, and Act for International Development enacted by the US Congress. A separate Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty was signed between the two governments of US and ROC in 1954 and lasted until 1979.
The US State Department's official position in 1959 was:
In the past decades, the US had maintained a position to not support Taiwanese independence, and instead to have a One China policy that's guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances, and to expect cross-Strait differences to be handled peacefully, and oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side.