Countries That Recognize Taiwan 2022

Located in the western Pacific Ocean, Taiwan is a group of islands that together form the official name of the country: the Republic of China (RoC). Taipei, the island’s most populous city and de facto capital, is where the island’s government operates.

Approximately 23.78 million people call Taiwan’s 36,197 square kilometres (13,976 square miles) home. Mandarin, often known as Standard Chinese, is the language of official use.

Is Taiwan a country in its own right?

The solution to such a seemingly simple query is surprisingly complex. Throughout its existence, Taiwan has flipped between being a sovereign country and a self-governing territory. The easiest response in 2022 is, it depends on who you ask.

Diplomatic recognition by the 193 UN member states (countries) is required for a territory to be deemed a country in today’s international political realm; as of April 2022, just 13 governments (including the Vatican City/Holy See) recognized Taiwan.

The tense political climate between China and Taiwan has resulted in the former being categorized as a territory rather than a member state of the United Nations (Taiwan was a member of the U.N. from 1949 to 1971).

List of Countries that Recognize Taiwan’s Sovereignty as of 2021

A total of 13 nations plus the Vatican/Holy See have officially acknowledged Taiwan’s independence as of April 2022:

For 30 years after the Chinese Civil War, the United States continued to recognize Taiwan. They finally converted in 1979.

Despite this, the United States has kept up its cordial ties with Taiwan, even going so far as to provide military aid to the island, which has heightened tensions between the United States and China.

Within a week in 2019, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands switched recognition from Taiwan to China. In December of 2021, Nicaragua officially cut ties with Taiwan. So, as of 2022, just 13 of the 193 UN member states recognize Taiwan, together with the Vatican.

For historical reasons, Taiwan is not recognized as a sovereign country.

Up to the early 1600s, Taiwan functioned independently. It was a Dutch colony in the 17th century for a while, then achieved its freedom, and then was administered for another two centuries by China.

This continued until Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War in 1875 and occupied Taiwan, turning it into a colony under Japanese rule. Once Japan was defeated in WWII, Taiwan was restored to China in 1945.

It was also in 1945 when China, formally known as the Republic of China (RoC), joined the United Nations.

But a civil war was raging in China at the time. The Chinese Communist Party successfully drove the nationalist government from the mainland in 1949. (CCP). After then, the nationalist administration escaped to Taiwan (along with more than a million other Chinese citizens).

After decades of conflict, the two sides reached an impasse, with the CCP ruling the mainland (now known as the People’s Republic of China; PRC) and the nationalists holding on to Taiwan (still known as the Republic of China; RoC).

Although hostilities were put to rest in 1979, no formal end to the war or peace treaty was ever signed.

Concerning the issue of Taiwan’s nationality, both governments asserted that they were the legitimate representatives of China.

In the past, the nationalist government of Taiwan was recognized as the legal administration of China since it was the pre-existing (albeit overthrown) Chinese government.

Diplomatic recognition and a seat for China at the U.N. came to Taiwan after several other countries acknowledged its independence from China.

However, as time went on, the communist CCP government governing mainland China constructed a credible argument that it, and not the nationalist government in exile in Taiwan, was the genuine government of China.

For the CCP, the fact that there was around 540 million mainland Chinese in 1950 and just 8 million Taiwanese was the most damning piece of evidence.

Because of this and mounting evidence that the RoC could not retake the mainland, the majority of U.N. members finally shifted diplomatic recognition from the RoC in Taiwan to the PRC on the mainland.

The United States, which had initially allied with the RoC and Taiwan, was among those nations. Thus, the U.N. ejected Taiwan in 1971 and officially recognized the CCP/PRC as China’s legitimate government.

Ways in which China prevents international recognition of Taiwan

In most cases, Taiwan would simply secede from China and establish independence.

While Taiwan fulfilled seven out of the eight necessary criteria for nationhood, there was still one major obstacle: the United Nations Security Council’s approval is necessary for a territory to be promoted to full U.N. member states, which is widely regarded as the most important step in officially becoming a sovereign nation.

Specifically, to become a full member of the U.N. Security Council, a nation must be recognized by all five of its permanent members: Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and China.

Chinese Communism’s Position Towards Taiwan

Since the 1949 truce that ended the Chinese civil war in all but name, mainland China has seen Taiwan as a separatist province that has to be brought back under its control.

China maintains a One-China policy in asserting its right to rule over Taiwan. Two main provisions of this policy will have a significant effect.

First, China claims it will invade Taiwan if its government moves toward independence. Second, according to Chinese policy, no country may maintain formal diplomatic ties with China and Taiwan. Every nation has to choose one or the other.

This is a key factor in why just 13 countries plus the Vatican recognize the Republic of China (Taiwan/RoC) as a sovereign state.

The issue, therefore, is not that other countries don’t recognize Taiwan as a country; rather, they can only recognize one of China and Taiwan, and most of them chose China for political and economic reasons.

Taiwan’s stance on communist China:

Regarding Taiwan’s relationship with China, residents tend to be divided between the Pan-Blue Coalition and the Pan-Green Coalition.

In its way, the Pan-Blue Coalition also adheres to the One-China principle, holding that the RoC is China’s only legitimate government (including both Taiwan and the mainland).

The Pan-Blue Coalition’s position has shifted from supporting reunification to just preserving the status quo in recent years.

The Pan-Green Coalition supports widespread international recognition for Taiwan as an independent sovereign state and is opposed to reunification with China (until China’s communist regime fails).

Also See: Countries That Recognize Palestine 2022

A Role for Taiwan in the World Economy

Despite China’s best attempts to stifle its development in both economic and political spheres, Taiwan has emerged as a key participant in Asia’s economy and a leading manufacturer of computer technology on a global scale.

The United States, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom are 59 nations (including the European Union, Hong Kong, and Macau) that have established informal diplomatic ties with Taiwan/RoC.

Additionally, the 2021 Freedom House Freedom Index, the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, and the Heritage Index of Economic Freedom all place Taiwan as one of the freest nations in Asia.