The official recognition of other countries is a complex matter. For example, in diplomacy there is de facto recognition and de jure recognition.
• The United Kingdom recognized the Soviet Union’s existence de facto in 1921, four years after the revolution had occurred there. In other words, the Communist government was in fact in charge there, sovereign, the British conceded. It granted de jure recognition of the regime in 1924.
• Many countries today grant merely de facto recognition to the Republic of China, on Taiwan, but avoid granting de jure recognition, perhaps for fear of offending the Chinese government headquartered in Beijing (People’s Republic of China). A major change occurred in the United Nations General Assembly in 1971, when the credentials of the Beijing administration’s delegation were accepted rather than those of the Taiwan delegation as being representative of China.