A short history of Taiwan and China, in maps

JUST 12 STATES recognise Taiwan’s government. Others all have relations with the Chinese government in Beijing, and so at least tacitly accept its argument that there is only one China, of which Taiwan is a part. To refer to Taiwan they use purposely vague language, such as “self-governing island”. Even the Taiwanese tread carefully around the subject of their independence—after all, China has warned that a declaration of independence would be grounds for invasion. Our eight maps below explain the foundation of Taiwan and its changing relationship with the mainland.

Start with the 16th century, when swashbuckling Europeans first came across the island on their travels. Legend has it that Portuguese sailors yelled out “ilha formosa!”, or “beautiful island!”, when passing by in the late 1500s. Although the Portuguese never established a base on the island, Europeans who eventually colonised it adopted the name Formosa.