IN recent months, there has been global concern in the increased Chinese military activity in Taiwan.
At the heart of the disagreement, China considers Taiwan a breakaway province that will eventually be part of the country again, while Taiwan believes they are a separate nation.
Are China and Taiwan at war?
The two countries are not at war, but tensions between them are rising.
After Beijing dispatched a record number of military planes into its air defence zone, Taiwan’s president has warned that her country “will do whatever it takes to defend itself”.
While Taiwan hopes for the two countries to exist as "peaceful, stable, predictable, and mutually beneficial" nations, they don't want China to threaten its democracy.
The country has been described as “the most dangerous place on Earth” due to its proximity to China.
Why does China want to invade Taiwan?
China has always maintained that Taiwan is a province of China and should at some point be reclaimed.
They view Taiwan's current government as as separatists, has refused to rule out the use of force to bring it back into China’s direct orbit.
What has happened between China and Taiwan?
1980s
Relations between China and Taiwan improved, where China offered a "one country, two systems" formula.
The offer would have given Taiwan significant autonomy if it accepted Chinese reunification, as established in Hong Kong.
Taiwan rejected the offer, but it did relax rules on visits to, and investment in China.
2000
Beijing became alarmed when Taiwan elected Chen Shui-bian as president – a man who openly backed "independence".
2005
After Mr Chen was re-elected, China passed a so-called anti-secession law, stating China's right to use "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan if it tried to "secede" from China.
2016
Eight years later, the leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai Ing-wen was elected – and leaned towards independence from China.
2018
China attempted to step up its influence over the region.
They issued international companies to list Taiwan as a part of China on their websites and threatened to block them for doing business in China if they failed to comply.
2020
Ms Tsai won the Taiwanese election by a record-breaking 8.2 million votes – which was widely seen as a snub to Beijing.
Hong Kong had seen months of unrest, as protesters challenged mainland China's influence.
China implemented a national security law in Hong Kong that was widely seen as yet another sign Beijing was becoming more assertive in the region.
2021
In the first few months of Joe Biden's presidency, Taiwan reported a "large incursion" by Chinese warplanes over two days.
On 12 April, the Taiwanese government said China flew the largest number of military jets into its air defence zone for a year.
The head of the Pentagon's Indo-Pacific command, Admiral John Aquilino,then warned that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan "is much closer to us than most think".
How would the world react if China invades Taiwan?
The US has pledged to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons should China continue to attempt exerting its influence over the region.
The country has stressed any attack by China would cause "grave concern".
This year, President Joe Biden's administration has said its commitment to Taiwan is "rock solid".
Could China and Taiwan feud spark World War 3?
In September, the US, the UK and Australia made a historic military pact Aukus, with ABC's global affairs analyst Stan Grant saying it's “designed to send a clear message to China that the US is not going to surrender dominance in the Indo-Pacific”.
Australia has also “dropped the pretence” of playing both sides by “doubling down on the American alliance”.
This seems to suggest that Australia could join the US and Japan, which in July also pledged to defend Taiwan, in developing resistance to Chinese invasion.
This raises questions over what the UK would do if the call came from Washington or Canberra to join its allies.
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