ROC-ROK International Fate: Decolonization, Democratization, and Pragmatism

Dramatic geopolitical developments such as the Chinese Civil War, World War ii (wwii), and the Korean War, along with the status inside of the United Nations (UN) created the grounds for the diplomatic position of Taiwan (Republic of China, ROC) and South Korea (Republic of Korea, ROK) in 20th century global politics that still persists unto the present. Years later, economic development and democratization would also be important factors in the elaboration of these countries’ foreign policies, as well as the maintenance or expansion of their international space, and their responses to the challenges posed by their powerful neighbors who claim those territories as part of their own, namely the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This chapter briefly discusses some elements that played essential roles,first from 1949 until 1971 when both Koreans and Taiwanese were fighting for their place inside the UN, and later from 1972 to the present, when the Sino-American rapprochement changed the balance of power in the region. The first part is organized around the idea that the way that Taipei, Seoul, and Beijing reacted to the decolonization process after wwii was one of the drivers behind the fate of Koreans and the Nationalist Chinese inside the UN