evidence: Chiang fled China in 1949, escaping impending defeat in the civil war at the hands of Mao Zedong's communist forces. He came to Taiwan, which became the Republic of China and remains so to this day. The mainland, ruled by Mao and the Chinese Communist Party, became the People's Republic of China. Both claimed the other's territory. Neither Chiang, nor Mao, conceived of Taiwan as a separate place with a separate people. But that is what it has become. [...] Despite his seven decades in Taiwan, Fan says he never stopped feeling Chinese: "When we came here our country did not perish; we are still the Republic of China. Taiwan is a province, one of the smallest of more than 30 provinces." [...] He dismisses Beijing's claims that Taiwan is part of China because they share a common culture and language.