Chinese Garden

Established in 1985, the Chinese Cultural Garden reveals much about the complex history of China.

The garden was a gift of the city of Tapei and its business community. The garden was modeled after the Chinese Imperial Palace.

The plaque acknowledging the gift says:

On behalf of the people of Taipei We present this Chinese Cultural Garden to the people of Cleveland as a confirmation of friends and cultural exchange between our sister cities.

The garden embodies the complexities of Chinese history in the twentieth century. To wit, after civil war ended in 1949, China was split between the People’s Republic of China (which control’s mainland China) and the Republic of China (which controls Taiwan and several surrounding islands.)

United States policy toward China has been paradoxical. On one hand, it recognizes the territorial integrity of the Republic of China but has not declared precisely whether Taiwan is independent or not. And, yet, it also supports assertions by the People’s Republic of China that there is but “one China.” One China is the principle that there is one China and that mainland China, Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau, Xinjiang and Taiwan are all part of that China.