The People's Republic of China (PRC) (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國) is a one-party state in East Asia governed by the Communist Party of China.It was founded on 21 September 1949. There is the People's Republic of China created by Mao and the communists. whereas china itself is called The Peoples Republic of China. confusing yet? The territory the Republic of China (ROC) controls is known by most people as the island of Taiwan. its called the Republic of China. Although Taiwan is still sometimes referred to as Formosa, and has been for centuries, it was only known as the Republic of Formosa for five short months. Most places on Taiwan Island are called "Taiwan Province" by the government of the Republic of China for official business, except the two largest cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung. It currently has more than 1.4 billion people (as of 2017), which is more than any other country in the world. Taiwan is an island. Is Taiwan part of China or not? The name “Taiwan” is derived from what the Dutch traders named the sandbar where they built fort Zeelandia 4 centuries ago (basically the beginning of civilization on Taiwan). To answer the question, you need to go back many years. The Republic of China is a political state. Currently (in theory) there are two governments of China. thats taiwan. At present, the nation of "China" is represented by two separate authorities: the Republic of China (commonly referred to as Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China (in mainland China and commonly referred to as just China). It covers an area of 9.6 million square kilometers. they are chinese. And even then, it wasn’t officially recognized by any foreign governments, which is probably why very few people know of its existence. There is the Republic of China, which is the Kuomintang who used to own china, but were defeated in a civil war back in 1949, and fled to the island currently referred to as Taiwan, and claimed they would come back. The People's Republic of China is commonly known as China and the Republic of China is commonly known as Taiwan.These are separate states with a shared history; China claims sovereignty over Taiwan. In a keynote address delivered at the Academia Historica in Taipei, Taiwan on September 13, 2012, Richard Bush discusses the creation of the Republic of China (ROC) a … Specifically, April 17, 1895. After the Kuomintang reunified China in 1928, most of mainland China was governed by the Republic of China (ROC).The island of Taiwan was under Japanese rule at the time. taiwan is a rather complicated place.