Since the final conquest of Mainland China in 1949, the Communist Party has remolded the nation along Marxist lines. The Cultural Revolution (1966-76) was the culmination of Mao's policy. It caused immeasurable suffering and economic chaos. Intellectuals and religious believers were cruelly persecuted. It is estimated that 20 million Chinese lost their lives during that time. The death of Mao Zedong in 1976 and discrediting of radical leftists in 1978 was followed by a more pragmatic leadership under Deng. He initiated a series of economic, political and cultural reforms as well as developing links with other nations, but all within the limits set by Deng. The crushing of the 1989 student protest in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and also the collapse of communism in Europe and the USSR left China diplomatically isolated as the oldest surviving Communist regime.

The threatened government responded with a reversion to ideological rigidity and repression of all political, ethnic and religious dissent. Economic reform with tight political control emerged as government policy for the 1990's. In 1997, Hong Kong once again became part of China as a Special Administrative Region with Macau also reverting back to Chinese control in 1999. China pressures continues to remain intense on Taiwan to follow the peaceful example set by Hong Kong and Macau and unite all Chinese under the People's Republic of China. Once again, world attention is focused on China as it receives the Most Favored Nation status. This unleashes economic limitations previously set on and now poises it to become an economic world power.