In 1946, an all-out civil war between nationalist and communist forces erupted in China. The U.S.-backed Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) was defeated and retreated to Taiwan, which has been estranged from China ever since. After the deaths of Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, Soong May-ling, their bodies were laid to rest respectively in Taiwan and the United States, symbolizing the complex relationship between the United States, China and Taiwan.