Taipei  - After fighting communism for half a century, Taiwan has allowed the formation of two communist parties on the island, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

According to the Taipei Times, two communist parties - the Taiwan Communist Party and the Republic of China Communist Party - registered with the Interior Ministry and won approval for their existence Monday, thus becoming legal civic organizations.

The Republic of China (ROC) has been the formal title of Taiwan since 1949, when the ROC government lost the Chinese Civil War to the Communists and fled to Taiwan to set up a government-in-exile.

The Taiwan Communist Party was launched in 1994 and tried in vain to become legal. Each time it registered with the Interior Ministry, the application was rejected on the grounds that Taiwan's constitution banned advocating communism.

But the situation changed on June 20, 2008, when the Council of Grand Justices ruled that provisions in the Civil Associations Act banning people from advocating communism or separatism were unconstitutional.

As a result, the second communist party - the Republic of China Communist Party - was formed on December 27, 2008, and the two Communist parties are now legally constituted political parties.

According to the Taipei Times, neither party is a subordinate of the Chinese Communist Party, though one has called for Taiwan's eventual unification with China through peaceful means.

Taiwan and China have been split since 1949. Tension across the Taiwan Strait has thawed since the late 1980s, when when Taipei allowed its citizens to visit China for family reunions, sightseeing and trade.

Since President Ma Ying-jeou took office on May 20, 2008, Taiwan and China have launched air, sea and postal links and are discussing signing a trade pact similar to a free-trade agreement.

China sees Taiwan as its breakaway province and has been pressuring Taiwan to reunite with the mainland, but Taiwan insists it is a sovereign state and its future must be decided by the Taiwan people, not Beijing. (dpa)