At the time of the definitive Communist victory in mainland China, the papal diplomatic representative did not move to Taiwan, the island to which the Nationalist government withdrew. This fact might have made it possible to continue diplomatic relations with the new government as regularly happens when a country's government is changed by election, coup, revolution or overthrow by rebel forces. Instead, the Communist government expelled the papal representative, whose delay in leaving then made him unacceptable to the Taipei government. His successors were accepted, and maintained relations with the government that at that time was still recognized by the United Nations as the government of China. When the United Nations gave recognition instead to the Beijing government, the Holy See decided to appoint no further heads of its diplomatic mission in Taipei, leaving it from then on in the care of a chargé d'affaires.