Political status of Taiwan

The political status of Taiwan is a controversy over whether Taiwan, including the Pescadores (Penghu), should remain the effective territory of the Republic of China (ROC), become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), or become the Republic of Taiwan. Currently, Taiwan, Kinmen (Quemoy), Wuchiu (Wuciou) and Matsu off the coast of mainland Fukien, and Taiping (Itu Aba) and Pratas in the South China Sea effectively makes up the entire state known as the Republic of China, whose government has functioned as a representative democracy since 1991. The ROC government has in the past considered itself to be the sole legitimate government over Taiwan, as well as its former territories on the continent that include mainland China, Outer Mongolia and Tuva. This position started to be largely ignored in the early 1990s, changing to one that does not challenge the legitimacy of PRC rule over mainland China, although the ROC's claims have never been formally and legally renounced. Different groups have different concepts of what the current formal political situation of Taiwan is.

Related Topics:
Taiwan - Pescadores - Republic of China - People's Republic of China - Republic of Taiwan - Kinmen - Wuchiu - Matsu - Fukien - Taiping - Pratas - South China Sea - State - Representative democracy - Mainland China - Outer Mongolia - Tuva - 1990s

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(See also: Taiwan independence, Chinese reunification, and Cross-Strait relations)

Related Topics:
Taiwan independence - Chinese reunification - Cross-Strait relations

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In addition, the situation can be confusing because of the different parties and the effort by many groups to deal with the controversy through a policy of deliberate ambiguity. The political solution that is accepted by most of the current groups is the status quo: that is, to leave Taiwan's status the way it is, as an effective state, without the government of this state making a formal declaration of independence. What a formal declaration of independence would consist of is not clear and can be confusing given the fact that the People's Republic of China has never controlled Taiwan since its founding and the fact that the Republic of China, whose government controls Taiwan, considers itself a de jure sovereign state. The status quo is accepted in large part because it does not define the legal status or future status of Taiwan, leaving each group to interpret the situation in a way that is politically acceptable to its members. At the same time, a policy of status quo has been criticized as being dangerous precisely because different sides have different interpretations of what the status quo is, leading to the possibility of war through brinkmanship or miscalculation.

Related Topics:
Policy of deliberate ambiguity - Status quo - Brinkmanship

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