By virtue of circumstances as well as strategy, the communists eventually came out victorious. Because of the purge to which they were subjected, the nationalists had no alternative but to flee to the island of Formosa. There, upon arriving in Taipei – which Chiang Kai-shek called the wartime capital – the nationalists reorganized themselves, determined to return to the continent and regain their place in government. Nevertheless, Chiang Kai-shek, no less a butcher than his communist rival, began a huge purge when he arrived in Taiwan with his entourage of nationalists. Any individual suspected of being a communist, or to maintain any connections with the communists of the continent, was summarily executed. After abortive attempts to take over the Chinese mainland government and depose political rivals, it was clear that the days of nationalist primacy in the newly formed communist republic were over. In this way, the nationalists had to content themselves with governing the island of Formosa, on which they founded the modern island nation now known as Taiwan. Nevertheless, decades have passed by, but the nationalists continued to claim their sovereignty over the continent, just as mainland China continued to try to reassert its supposed right to political sovereignty over Taiwan. However, Taiwan has always been an independent nation, never having established political ties with the communist nation founded by Mao Zedong.
Because of this conflict, countries that recognize and legitimize the People's Republic of China and establish trade or diplomatic relations with it do not recognize Taiwan's political sovereignty, but see it as a rebellious separatist territory of China .
Likewise, nations that recognize the legitimacy of the Republic of China and establish trade or diplomatic relations with it, see the communist mainland government as an illegitimate opportunist government that rose to power by overthrowing the legally established nationalist party, .
This is a question that divides countries to this day, including the United States and England, which have never reached a consensus. Recently, the United States has had serious diplomatic problems with China because of its trade relations with Taiwan, which have shaken diplomatic relations between the two countries.
A complex political subject, the China-Taiwan question is far from being over, and probably will never met a solution plausible or accepted by both sides.
Wagner