China-Taiwan relations: what’s behind the tensions – in 30 seconds

Taiwan air force pilots run toward F-16V fighter jets during a military drill. Under Xi Jinping’s rule, China’s aggression towards Taiwan has increased and analysts believe the threat of conflict and invasion is higher than ever. China and Taiwan cross-strait relations and tensions explained in 30 seconds. Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA

The Chinese government claims Taiwan as a province of China and has not ruled out taking it by force.

At the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, the losing Kuomintang government fled to the island of Taiwan, establishing the Republic of China (ROC) government in exile. On the mainland the Chinese Communist party (CCP) established the People’s Republic of China. From the 1970s onwards many nations began switching their formal ties from the ROC to Beijing, and today fewer than 15 world governments recognise the ROC (Taiwan) as a country.