Since its founding in 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has had a diplomatic tug-of-war with its rival in Taiwan, the Republic of China (ROC). Throughout the Cold War, both governments claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all China and allowed countries to recognize either one or the other. Until the 1970s, most Western countries in the Western Bloc recognized the ROC while the Eastern Bloc and Third World countries generally recognized the PRC. This gradually shifted and today only while the PRC is recognized by the United Nations, as well as 181 UN member states (including 18 G20 member states), Cook Islands, Niue and the State of Palestine. The PRC maintains the requirement of recognizing its view of the One China policy to establish or maintain diplomatic relations.
425px|right|thumb|Countries of the world indicating decade diplomatic relations commenced with the PRC: 1949/1950s (dark red), 1960s (red), 1970s (orange), 1980s (beige), 1990s/2000s (yellow), and 2010s/2020s (green). Countries not recognised by or not recognising the PRC are in grey . The PRC itself is in black .
Recognition of the PRC before it was seated at the UN
1949
The PRC was established on 1 October 1949, when the Chinese Civil War was still underway, and the seat of Government of the Republic of China in Canton was not relocated to Taipei until December 1949. All the countries that recognized the new PRC government in 1949 were communist states.
{| class="wikitable" border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse;"
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|2 October 1949
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|4 October 1949
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|5 October 1949
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|6 October 1949
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| Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)
|6 October 1949
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|6 October 1949
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|7 October 1949
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|16 October 1949
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| (East Germany)
|27 October 1949
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|23 November 1949
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1950s
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| (North Vietnam)
|18 January 1950
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|1 April 1950
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|13 April 1950
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|9 May 1950
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|11 May 1950
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|8 June 1950
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|14 September 1950
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|14 September 1950
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|28 October 1950
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|21 May 1951
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|17 June 1954
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|5 October 1954
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|2 January 1955
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|20 January 1955
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|1 August 1955
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|30 May 1956
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|1 August 1956
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| (North Yemen)
|24 September 1956
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|7 February 1957
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|19 July 1958
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|25 August 1958
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|20 February 1961
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|25 April 1961
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|27 January 1964
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| 24 November 1972
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|28 November 1972
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|21 December 1972
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|22 December 1972
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|9 March 1973
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|15 September 1973
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|15 March 1974
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|11 September 1991
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|12 September 1991
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|14 September 1991
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|30 September 1991
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|2 January 1992
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|3 January 1992
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|4 January 1992
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|4 January 1992
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|5 January 1992
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|6 January 1992
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|20 January 1992
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|24 January 1992
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|30 January 1992
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|2 April 1992
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|6 April 1992
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|12 May 1992
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|13 May 1992
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|9 June 1992
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| Republic of Korea (South Korea)
|24 August 1992
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| Diplomatic relations were severed by the PRC on 31 May 2005 after Nauru resumed diplomatic ties with the ROC on 14 May 2005.
|21 July 2002
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|31 March 2004
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|6 July 2006
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|1 June 2007
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|12 December 2007
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|28 December 2007
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2010s
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|9 July 2011
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|13 June 2017
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|1 May 2018
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|21 August 2018
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|21 September 2019
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2020s
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|26 March 2023
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See also
; PRC
- Foreign relations of China
; ROC
- Foreign relations of Taiwan
- Timeline of diplomatic relations of the Republic of China