Explained: Why is China upset with the visit by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan

New Delhi, Aug 03: Ignoring warnings by China, the speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan on Tuesday. China had warned the US not to play with fire.

The visit by Pelosi is the highest level visit by an American official to the island in the past 25 years.

While the US has maintained a 'One China' policy since 1970s under which it recognised Taiwan as part of China, it also has unofficial ti4es with Taiwan as well.

China has considered Taiwan to be part of it and threatens it frequently and has also not ruled out taking the island by military force. The presence of a senior US leader in Taiwan indicates some kind of US support for Taiwan's independence. China has said that it would take strong and resolute measures if the visit takes place.

The problem China has:

Taiwan is an island about 160 kilometres off the coast of southeastern China, opposite the Chinese cities of Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Xiamen. It was administered by the Qing dynasty, but the control was wrested by Japan in 1895. Following the defeat of Japan in the World War II, the island was passed back to the Chinese.

Following the win by the communists led by Mao Zedong in mainland China, Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the nationalist Kuomintang party fled to Taiwan in 1949. He set up the government of the Republic of China on the island and remained president till 1975.

China has never recognised the existence of Taiwan as an independent political entity. Beijing has always argued that it is a Chinese province. Taiwan on the other hand says that the modern Chinese state was formed only after the revolution of 1911 and it was not part of that state or of the People's Republic of China.

China and Taiwan have had economic ties despite political tensions. Several migrants from Taiwan work in the China while Beijing has investments in Taiwan.

How is Taiwan viewed by the world:

The United Nations does not recognise Taiwan as a separate country. Only 13 countries mainly in South America, the Vatican, Carribean and Oceania do.

In June President Joe Biden said that the US would defend Taiwan if it was invaded. He however clarified soon after that the US does not support Taiwan's independence. Taiwan remain the biggest buyer of arms from the US. In 1997 the then House Speaker House Speaker Newt Gingrich of the Republican Party visited Taiwan and cautioned China against any action. "We want you to understand, we will defend Taiwan. Period," he had said according to a report in the New York Times.

In 2005 the Chinese government passed a law giving Beijing the legal basis for military action if it judges Taiwan to have seceded or to about to.

Taiwan's government has said only the island's 23 million people have the right to decide their future. Since 2016, Taiwan has elected a party that leans towards its independence.