The ROC government's retreat to Taiwan in 1949 established the political division between Taiwan and mainland China that persists to the present day.
Key Facts
- Date of retreat
- December 7, 1949
- Approximate refugees relocated
- ~2 million ROC troops plus civilians
- PRC founding declared
- October 1, 1949, by Mao Zedong in Beijing
- Last ROC main army stand
- Sichuan Province
- Duration of flight
- Approximately four weeks
- Burma insurgency end
- 1961
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Kuomintang-led Republic of China government suffered a decisive defeat in the Chinese Civil War against the Chinese Communist Party's People's Liberation Army. By late 1949, the CCP had taken control of most of mainland China, leaving the ROC government with no viable military position on the continent and forcing a withdrawal.
Beginning December 7, 1949, the ROC government, Kuomintang leadership, approximately 2 million troops, and large numbers of civilians fled primarily from southern Chinese provinces to the island of Taiwan. Some ROC forces in Yunnan retreated into Burma, while others held island outposts such as Kinmen, successfully repelling a PLA crossing attempt at the Battle of Kinmen.
The PRC consolidated rule over mainland China, purging remaining Nationalist forces through the early 1950s. The ROC on Taiwan pursued 'Project National Glory,' a plan to retake the mainland that was never realized. The two governments maintained formal hostility for decades; the ROC abandoned forcible reunification policy only in the 1990s, and the PRC renounced armed reunification in 1979.