The U.S. has accepted the principle that Taiwan is a part of China. It's official legal status is kept deliberately ambiguous to avoid provoking a war. https:/

The U.S. has accepted the principle that Taiwan is a part of China. It's official legal status is kept deliberately ambiguous to avoid provoking a war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-China_policy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-China_policy In the case of the United States, the One-China Policy was first stated in the Shanghai Communiqué of 1972: "the United States acknowledges that Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States does not challenge that position." You are correct that there is no 'legal reason' why a country could not recognize both states, other than that recognizing one means the other will break off relations (and, in the case of the PRC, possibly take punitive action against that you). Ultimately, the legal niceties are irrelevant; what is important is power politics.