EVERYBODY knows that as a result of the five-year civil war in China, the Communist Party of China gained political control, establishing the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. But the Kuomintang forces had not been totally defeated. They retreated to Taiwan (then Formosa) and there continued to maintain what necessarily was a continuing political and economic social setup — the Republic of China (ROC).

Earlier in October 1945, when the United Nations was created, China’s representation remained to be the ROC, with Chiang Kai-shek as president.