.png)
China's decision to bring serious firepower to bear for military drills in the waters off Taiwan this week has deep roots — both in the past several weeks and the past several decades.
The island is the most sensitive political subject for China. It has been ever since Taiwan split from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war. Today, though the island governs itself, China claims it as sovereign territory.
China has often held military drills around Taiwan, both around what it considers specific provocations and in general. Here's a look at the context around the latest drills.
How Taiwan came to be governed separately
China was ruled by the Kuomintang, or Nationalists, from 1927 to 1949. When civil war broke out, and Mao Zedong’s communists overthrew the Nationalists, they fled to Taiwan, off the coast of southern Chin...
 (1).jpg)
 (1).jpg)
 (1).jpg)
 (1).jpg)
 (1).jpg)
