Countries That Recognize Taiwan 2022

Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China (RoC), is a multi-island territory in the western Pacific Ocean. Its de facto capital, Taipei, serves as the ... WorldPopulationReviewContinentsCountriesWorldCitiesUSStatesUSCountiesUSCitiesZipsCountriesThatRecognizeTaiwan2022Taiwan,officiallynamedtheRepublicofChina(RoC),isamulti-islandterritoryinthewesternPacificOcean.Itsdefactocapital,Taipei,servesastheseatofgovernmentandistheisland'slargestmetropolitanarea.Taiwanisapproximately36,197squarekilometers(13,976squaremiles)inareaand23.78millionpeople.ItsofficiallanguageisMandarin,alsoknownasStandardChinese. IsTaiwanacountry? Thisstraightforwardquestionhasaremarkablycomplicatedanswer.Taiwanhasalternatedfromnationtoterritorytonationandbackagainthroughoutitshistory.Asof2022,thesimplestansweris"itdependswhomyouask."Tobeconsideredacountryintoday'sglobalpoliticalsphere,aterritorymustbediplomaticallyrecognizedbythe193memberstates(countries)oftheUnitedNations—andwhilesome13countries(andVaticanCity/HolySee)dorecognizeTaiwanasofApril2022,manyothersdonot.Asaresult,althoughTaiwanwasrecognizedasacountrybytheUnitedNationsfrom1949to1971,itiscurrentlynotintheUNandisclassifiedasonlyaterritory—allduetoaparticularlypricklypoliticalsituationwithChina. CountriesthatRecognizeTaiwanasaSovereignCountry-2021 AsofApril2022,13countriesandVaticanCity/HolySeehaverecognizedTaiwanasasovereigncountry: Country YearRelations Belize 1989-present Guatemala 1933-present Haiti 1956-present HolySee(VaticanCity) 1942-present Honduras 1985-present MarshallIslands 1998-present Nauru 1980-2002,2005-present Palau 1999-present Paraguay 1957-present SaintKittsandNevis 1983-present SaintLucia 1984-1997,2007-present SaintVincentandtheGrenadines 1981-present Tuvalu 1979-present TheUnitedStatesmaintainedTaiwan'srecognitionfor30yearsaftertheChinesecivilwarbutswitchedin1979.Despitethis,theU.S.hasmaintainedapositiverelationshipwithTaiwan,includingofferingtheislandmilitaryassistance,amovethathascausedtensionbetweentheU.S.andChina.In2019,KiribatiandtheSolomonIslandsbothswitchedtheirrecognitionfromTaiwantoChinawithinaweek.Mostrecently,NicaraguarescindeditsrecognitionofTaiwaninDecember2021.Asaresult,onlyVaticanCityand13ofthe193UNcountriesrecognizeTaiwanasof2022. ThehistoricalreasonTaiwanisnotconsideredacountry Taiwanwasself-governinguntilthe1600s.Duringthe17thcentury,itspenttimeasacolonyoftheNetherlands,thenregaineditsindependencebeforebeingtakenoveragain—thistimebyChina,whichruledtheislandfortwocenturies.Thislasteduntil1875,whenJapangainedcontrolofTaiwanaftertheFirstSino-JapaneseWar,makingTaiwanaJapanesecolony.FollowingJapan'sdefeatinWorldWarII,TaiwanwasreturnedtoChinesecontrolin1945.Alsoin1945,China—officiallytitledtheRepublicofChina(RoC)atthetime—becameafoundingmemberoftheUnitedNations. However,Chinawasinthemidstofacivilwar.In1949,China'srulingnationalistgovernmentwasdrivenoffoftheChinesemainlandbythearmiesoftheChineseCommunistParty(CCP).ThenationalistgovernmentthenfledtoTaiwan(alongwithmorethanamillionotherChinesecitizens).Thefightingbetweenthetwosidesendedinastalemate,withtheCCPcontrollingthemainland,renamedthePeople'sRepublicofChina(PRC),andthenationalistsclingingtoTaiwan—whichtheystillcalledtheRepublicofChina,orRoC.Althoughfightingceasedin1979,theconflictwasneverdeclaredofficiallyoverandnopeacetreatyhaseverbeensigned. MoreimportantlytothequestionofTaiwan'snationhood,bothgovernmentsclaimedtobetheonetrueChinesegovernment.Asthepre-existing(thoughdeposed)Chinesegovernment,thenationalistgovernmentofTaiwanwasinitiallyconsideredthelegitimategovernmentofChina.TaiwanwasgivenChina'sseatattheUnitedNationsandwasdiplomaticallyrecognizedbymanyU.N.membernations. Overtime,however,thecommunistCCPgovernmentrulingmainlandChinaestablishedaconvincingclaimthatit,notthenationlistgovernmentinexileinTaiwan,wasinfactthelegitimategovernmentofChina.TheCCP'sstrongestevidencewasthefactthatmorethan98%ofChinesecitizenslivedonthemainland—roughly540millionin1950,comparedtoonly8millioninTaiwan. Inlightofthisfact,andtheincreasingevidencethattheRoCwasinnopositiontoregaincontrolofthemainland,mostcountriesintheU.N.eventuallyswitchedtheirdiplomaticrecognitionfromtheRoCinTaiwantothePRConmainlandChina.ThisincludedcountriessuchastheUnitedStates,whichoriginallysidedwiththeRoCandTaiwan.Asaresult,theUnitedNationsexpelledTaiwanin1971andinsteadrecognizedtheCCP/PRCastheofficialgovernmentofChina. HowChinapreventsTaiwanfrombeingrecognizedasacountry Inmostcircumstances,Taiwanwouldsimplybecomeitsowncountry,independentoftherestofChina.However,whileTaiwanmetmostoftheeightessentialqualificationsfornationhood,thereremainedonemajorcomplication:OneoftherequiredstepsforaterritorytobepromotedtofullU.N.memberstatus(widelyconsideredthemostimportantstepinofficiallybecomingasovereignnation),istobeapprovedbytheU.N.SecurityCouncil.Inparticular,acountrymustberecognizedbyallfivepermanentmembersofthecouncil:Russia,theUnitedStates,France,theUnitedKingdom...andChina,whichusesitspositiontoblockanyattemptbyTaiwantoascendtofullmemberstatus. CommunistChina'sstanceonTaiwan SincetheunofficialendoftheChinesecivilwarin1949,ChinahasconsideredTaiwantobearebelregionthatmustbereunitedwiththemainland.ChinaclaimssovereigntyoverTaiwan,espousingwhatisknownasthe"One-Chinapolicy".Twopartsofthispolicyareparticularlyimpactful. First,ChinaassertsthatanyeffortputforthbytheTaiwanesegovernmenttoestablishitsindependencewillbemetbythethreatofinvasion.Secondly,China'sofficialstanceisthatnonationmayconductofficialdiplomaticrelationswithbothChinaandTaiwan.Eachcountrymustchooseoneortheother.Thisisoneofthemajorreasonsthatonly13nationsandtheHolySeeofficiallyrecognizeTaiwan/RoCasanindependentnation.Therefore,theproblemisnotthatothernationsdonotconsiderTaiwanacountry;itisthattheycanonlyrecognizeeitherChinaorTaiwan,andmostcountrieschooseChinaduetoitsgreaterpoliticalandeconomicprominence. Taiwan'sstanceoncommunistChina: ThecitizensofTaiwantendtofallintotwocampsregardingtheterritory'srelationshipwithChina:thePan-BlueCoalitionandthePan-GreenCoalition. ThePan-BlueCoalitionhasitsownOne-ChinapolicyandbelievestheRoCisthesolelegalgovernmentofChina(includingbothTaiwanandthemainland).WhilethePan-BlueCoalitioninitiallysupportedreunification,itsstancehaschangedinrecentyearstosimplymaintainingthestatusquo.ThePan-GreenCoalitionregardsTaiwanasanindependentsovereignstate,opposesreunificationwithChina(unlessChina'scommunistgovernmentcollapses),andseekswidediplomaticrecognitionforTaiwanasitsownsovereignnation. Taiwan'splaceontheglobalstage DespiteChina'seffortstorestrictitseconomicandpoliticalgrowth,TaiwanhasbecomeoneofAsia'smajoreconomicplayersandoneoftheworld'stopcomputertechnologyproducers.Some59countries(aswellastheEuropeanUnion,HongKong,andMacau)haveestablishedunofficialdiplomaticrelationswithTaiwan/RoC,includingtheUnitedStates,France,Germany,Japan,Russia,andtheUnitedKingdom. TaiwanisalsoconsideredademocracyandisconsistentlyrankedasoneofthefreestcountriesinAsiabymetricssuchasthe2021FreedomHouseFreedomIndex,theReportersWithoutBordersWorldPressFreedomIndex,andtheHeritageIndexofEconomicFreedom.CountriesThatRecognizeTaiwan2022ShowSourcesNote:Ininstancesinwhichanofficialdiplomaticrelationship(i.e.:recognition)hasbeenestablished,severed,andre-established,onlytheinitialestablishmentdateandthemostrecentseverancedateareused.CSVJSONCountryCurrentlyRecognizes?DateRelationsEstablishedDateRelationsSeveredGuatemalaYes1933ongoingHaitiYes1956ongoingHondurasYes1985ongoingParaguayYes1957ongoingBelizeYes1989ongoingSaintLuciaYes2007ongoingSaintVincentAndtheGrenadinesYes1981ongoingSaintKittsAndNevisYes1983ongoingMarshallIslandsYes1998ongoingPalauYes1999ongoingNauruYes2005ongoingTuvaluYes1979ongoingVaticanCityYes1942ongoingIndiaNo19471949UnitedStatesNo19281979PakistanNo19471950BrazilNo19281974RussiaNo19291949MexicoNo19281971JapanNo19301972PhilippinesNo19471975EgyptNo19421956DRCongoNo19601973TurkeyNo19341971GermanyNo19551972ThailandNo19461975UnitedKingdomNo19281950FranceNo19281964SouthAfricaNo19121998ItalyNo19281970ColombiaNo19411980SouthKoreaNo19491992SpainNo19281973ArgentinaNo19451972IraqNo19421958AfghanistanNo19441950PolandNo19291949CanadaNo19411970SaudiArabiaNo19461990PeruNo19131971MalaysiaNo19641974MadagascarNo19601972VenezuelaNo19411974IvoryCoastNo19631983CameroonNo19601971NigerNo19631996AustraliaNo19411972BurkinaFasoNo19612018MalawiNo19662008ChileNo19151971EcuadorNo19461971ChadNo19622006NetherlandsNo19281950SenegalNo19602005CambodiaNo19531975RwandaNo19621972BoliviaNo19191985BelgiumNo19281971JordanNo19571977DominicanRepublicNo19412018CubaNo19131960SwedenNo19281950CzechRepublicNo19301949GreeceNo19291972PortugalNo19281975PapuaNewGuineaNo19991999AustriaNo19281971TogoNo19601972SwitzerlandNo19131950SierraLeoneNo19631971LaosNo19581962NicaraguaNo19302021LibyaNo19591978ElSalvadorNo19412018RepublicoftheCongoNo19601964DenmarkNo19281950CentralAfricanRepublicNo19621998FinlandNo19191944LebanonNo19541971NorwayNo19281950LiberiaNo19572003NewZealandNo19121972CostaRicaNo19412007MauritaniaNo19601965PanamaNo19122017KuwaitNo19631971UruguayNo19571988JamaicaNo19621972GambiaNo19682013BotswanaNo19661974GabonNo19601974LesothoNo19661994GuineaBissauNo19901998LatviaNo19361994EstoniaNo19371940CyprusNo19601972SolomonIslandsNo19832019LuxembourgNo19491972MaltaNo19671972MaldivesNo19661972BahamasNo19891997VanuatuNo20042004BarbadosNo19671977SaoTomeAndPrincipeNo19972016KiribatiNo20032019GrenadaNo19892005TongaNo19721998DominicaNo19832004CountriesThatRecognizeTaiwan2022ShowSourcesDiplomaticAllies-TaiwanMinistryofForeignAffairsMap:WhichCountries'Recognize'Taiwan?WhichCountriesStillRecognizeTaiwan?-NewsweekTaiwan-BritannicaWhyChina-TaiwanRelationsAreSoTense-CouncilonForeignRelationsTaiwan’sStatusIsaGeopoliticalAbsurdity-TheAtlanticForeignrelationsofTaiwan-WikiTheseAreAlltheFriendsTaiwanHasLeftintheWorld-BloombergIsTaiwan’sInternationalSpaceExpandingorContracting?-TheDiplomatSources