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This article does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
The term Two Chinas is currently refers to the two governments with "China" in their titles:
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The Republic of China was founded in 1912, ruled by the Kuomintang as a single-party state. In 1921, the Communist Party of China was founded in Shanghai.
During 1931 to 1934, with the direct support from Soviet Union, Communist Party of China established the Chinese Soviet Republic, which had its own bank system, printed its own money, etc.
After the Chinese Civil War, the communist party took control of Mainland China and founded the People\'s Republic of China on October 1, 1949. The Kuomintang (and the Republic of China) retreated to Taiwan. Until the 1990s, both governments contended to be the sole legitimate government of China. Most foreign governments recognised the Republic of China as the legitimate government before the 1970s, and most switched recognition to the People\'s Republic of China after the 1970s.
Since the 1990s, however, a rising movement of Taiwanese independence has made the political status of Taiwan the dominant issue, replacing the debate about the legitimate government of China. One significant opinion in Taiwan is that the Republic of China and the People\'s Republic of China are both sovereign, thus forming "two Chinas", or "one China, one Taiwan". The current administration of Republic of China President Chen Shui-bian subscribes to this theory, and accordingly has largely abandoned the campaign for the Republic of China to be recognised as the sole legitimate government of China. Instead, it is campaigning for the Republic of China to join the United Nations as representative of its effective territory - Taiwan and nearby islands - only.
The Republic of China (which administers Taiwan) and the People\'s Republic of China (which administers mainland China) do not officially recognise each other\'s sovereignty. The official position of the governments of both the Republic of China and the People\'s Republic of China remain that there is only one sovereign entity of China, and that each of them represents the legitimate government of all of China - including both Taiwan and the mainland - and the other is illegitimate. However, in recent years, the rhetoric of the two governments have diverged significantly on the issue of "two China"s or "one Taiwan, one China".
The Government of the People\'s Republic of China strongly opposes the practice of treating the Republic of China as an independent country. The mainland government has consistently opposed the notion of "two Chinas", instead maintaining that all of "China" is under a single, indivisible sovereignty. Under this principle, while the PRC has no de facto control over territory administered by the ROC, the PRC nevertheless maintains that the territories controlled by both the PRC and ROC are part of the same, indivisible sovereign entity "China". Furthermore, under the succession of states theory, the PRC maintains that it has succeeded the ROC as the government of "China", and thus the current ROC regime based in Taiwan is illegitimate and has been superseded.
Thus, for example, the PRC insists that in order for other countries to establish diplomatic relations with it, that country must end its formal diplomatic relations with the ROC and recognise the One China Policy. The PRC also uses its international influence to prohibit the ROC from entering international events such as the Olympic Games under its official name. Instead, the ROC was forced to adopt the name Chinese Taipei to enter such events since the 1980s. Furthermore, on press releases and other media, the PRC never refers to the ROC as such, instead referring to Taiwan as "China\'s Taiwan Province", and to the ROC government as "the Taiwan authority".
It should be noted, however, that the government of the PRC does not, as a matter of law, equate the PRC with China. For example, in the Anti-Secession Law of the People\'s Republic of China (2005), the PRC is referred to as "the State", which is distinct and separate from "China". Under that law, "the State", i.e. the PRC, is to seek reunification of "the Taiwan area" with the areas currently under the PRC\'s administration into a unified "China".
While the ROC still officially claims sovereignty over the mainland (as well as Mongolia and some other territories), it no longer actively pursues these claims, and has in recent years de-emphasised this official vision (without officially abandoning it), replacing it with un-official pronouncements along the lines of there being "two Chinas" or two separate entities of "Taiwan" and "China".
Several leaders of the ROC have used similar phrases, such as Lee Teng-hui\'s "Special state-to-state relations" in 1999. The current President of the Republic of China, Chen Shui-bian, also proposed the idea of "One Country on Each Side" in 2002. The emergence of the Taiwan independence movement has further complicated matters, with the PRC finding the notion of "Two Chinas" unpalatable, yet considering Taiwan independence an even worse alternative.
Chinese history is rarely as neat as it is portrayed and it was rare indeed for one dynasty to end calmly and give way quickly and smoothly to a new one. Dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they had been defeated.
As a result, there are other situations in history that may be seen by some as "Two Chinas". For example, Manchu Qing China co-existed with Ming China from 1636 to 1644. Also, the short-lived Chinese Soviet Republic co-existed with Republic of China from 1931 to 1934.[citation needed]
| Politics of the People\'s Republic of China | |
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| Constitution of the People\'s Republic of China | |
| State organs | |
| Parties and elections | |
| Politics of 1st order divisions and SARs | |
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