The policy can be traced back to 1949 and the end of the Chinese civil war. The defeated Nationalists, also known as the Kuomintang, retreated to Taiwan and made it their seat of government while the victorious Communists began ruling the mainland as the People's Republic of China. Both sides said they represented all of China.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o67CZ5qopV%2Bjsri%2FjrCmq6SUYq60tcBmmqGhnpZ6dISRcWxsbWQ%3D