High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) is the Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (commonly known as Taiwan since the 1970s). The Republic of China was founded in 1911 governing China. As a consequence of the World War II and the Chinese Civil War, however, the ROC lost control of mainland China to the Chinese communist People's Republic of China (PRC) while gaining and maintaining control of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other islands. The People's Republic of China (PRC) has repeatedly attempted to claim the Republic of China (Taiwan) as their own territory and refuses to recognize their government and president. In response, this claim is rejected by the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan), which views themselves as an independent sovereign country and equally refuses to recognize the existence of the mainland People's Republic of China (PRC).