context: The Republic was officially founded on January 1, 1912 after the Xinhai Revolution, which began with the Wuchang Rebellion on October 10, 1911, succeeded the Qing Dynasty and ended more than 2,000 years of imperial rule in China [1]. Since its establishment until 1949, its government has been centered in mainland China. The central government experienced ups and downs in response to warlordism (1915-1928), Japanese invasion (1937-1945), and the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949), with the strongest central authority taking place during the Nanjing Decade (1927-1937), when most of China under Kuomintang control (KMT) in the form of a single-party authoritarian state. [2] At the end of World War II in 1945, the Japanese Empire surrendered control of Taiwan and surrounding islands to the Allies, and Taiwan was placed under administrative control of the Republic of China. The legitimacy of this transfer is debated and is one aspect of Taiwan's political status (which is also debated).
question: When did China become a republic?
answers.text: January 1, 1912