Intense fighting in China’s civil war yields two governments

Troops from the Nationalist army wait to board a boat to Keelung in Formosa (Taiwan) in 1938.

Chinese Communist troops take prisoners at bayonet point after heavy fighting in the attack on Shanghai on May 21, 1949. The Chinese civil war ended with the Communists’ victory in 1949. The defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan.

Fearing invasion by China, troops stockpile armaments on the Nationalist Chinese-held island of Quemoy, now called Kinmen.

Gen. Chiang Kai-shek, left, president of the Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, and his wife proceed to the rostrum Oct. 10, 1957, in Taipei during the celebration of Free China’s 46th anniversary. The celebration, held every Oct. 10, is known as “Double-Ten” (the 10th day of the 10th month), the most important Chinese patriotic holiday, marking the birthday of the Chinese Republic.