Editing Taiwan independence movement (section)

== History of Taiwan independence ==
Many supporters of independence for Taiwan view the [[history of Taiwan]] since the 17th century as a continuous struggle for independence and use it as an inspiration for the current political movement.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Li, Thian-hok|journal=Free Formosans' Formosa Newsletter|title=Our Historical Struggle for Liberty|publisher=Free Formosans' Formosa|date=15 April 1956|url=http://www.wufi.org.tw/taiwan/lthistry.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010517/http://www.wufi.org.tw/taiwan/lthistry.htm|archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref>{{Promotional source|date=March 2023}}

According to this view, the people indigenous to Taiwan and those who have taken up residence there have been repeatedly occupied by groups including the [[Netherlands|Dutch]], the [[Spain|Spanish]], the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]], [[Koxinga]] and the Ming loyalists, the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]], the Japanese and finally the Chinese Nationalists led by the Kuomintang. From a pro-independence supporter's point of view, the movement for Taiwan independence began under Qing rule in the 1680s which led to a well known saying those days, "Every three years an uprising, every five years a rebellion". Taiwan Independence supporters compared Taiwan under Kuomintang rule to [[History of South Africa#Apartheid era (1948–1994)|South Africa]] under [[apartheid]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.taiwanus.net/news/shownews.php?id=72037|title=台灣海外網|website=www.taiwanus.net|access-date=28 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722011148/http://www.taiwanus.net/news/shownews.php?id=72037|archive-date=22 July 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> The Taiwan independence movement under Japan was supported by [[Mao Zedong]] in the 1930s as a means of freeing Taiwan from Japanese rule.<ref name=":222">{{Cite journal |last1=Hsiao |first1=Frank S. T. |last2=Sullivan |first2=Lawrence R. |date=1979 |title=The Chinese Communist Party and the Status of Taiwan, 1928–1943 |journal=[[Pacific Affairs]] |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=446 |doi=10.2307/2757657 |jstor=2757657}}</ref>

With the end of [[World War II]] in 1945, by issuing "[[General Order No. 1]]" to the [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers]], the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] agreed that the [[Republic of China Army]] under the Kuomintang would "temporarily occupy Taiwan, on behalf of the Allied forces."<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.taiwandocuments.org/sovereignty.htm|title = Methods of Acquiring Sovereignty: PRESCRIPTION|work = Related Topics: Sovereignty|publisher = Taiwan Documents Project|access-date = 10 September 2006|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061015124645/http://www.taiwandocuments.org/sovereignty.htm|archive-date = 15 October 2006|url-status = live}}</ref>

From 1928 to 1942, the [[Chinese Communist Party]] maintained that Taiwan was a separate nation in order to get rid of Japanese occupation of the island.<ref name=":222" /> [[Mao Zedong]] was an early supporter of Taiwanese independence, telling [[Edgar Snow]] in the 1930s that the Chinese Communist Party would lend "our enthusiastic help in their struggle for independence." He changed this position only after the Nationalists started claiming Taiwan with the [[Cairo Conference|Cairo Declaration]], challenging the status of China.<ref>{{cite web |last1=van der Wees |first1=Gerrit |title=When the CCP Thought Taiwan Should Be Independent |url=https://thediplomat.com/2022/05/when-the-ccp-thought-taiwan-should-be-independent/ |access-date=26 June 2023 |website=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]] |publisher= |archive-date=8 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108053621/https://thediplomat.com/2022/05/when-the-ccp-thought-taiwan-should-be-independent/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Martial law period ===
[[File:228 by Li Jun.jpg|thumb|300px|Woodcut print by [[Huang Rong-can]], "The Terrible Inspection" describing the [[February 28 Incident]] massacre in 1947]]
[[File:Terror In Formosa (The Daily News, Perth, 1947).jpg|120px|left|thumb|"Terror In Formosa", a news article from ''[[Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)|The Daily News]]'' of [[Perth]], reported the status in March 1947.]]
The modern-day political movement for Taiwan independence dates back to the Japanese colonial period, but it only became a viable political force within Taiwan in the 1990s.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} Taiwanese independence was advocated periodically during the Japanese colonial period, but was suppressed by the [[Japanese government]]. These efforts were the goal of the [[Taiwanese Communist Party]] of the late 1920s. Unlike current formulations, and in line with the thinking of the [[Comintern]], such a state would have been a [[proletarian]] one. With the end of [[World War II]] in 1945, [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese rule]] ended, but the subsequent autocratic rule of the ROC's Kuomintang (KMT) later revived calls for local rule. However, it was a movement supported by the Chinese students who were born on the Island and not associated with KMT. It found its roots in the US and Japan. In the 1950s, a Republic of Taiwan Provisional Government was set up in Japan. [[Thomas Liao]] was nominally the President. At one time it held quasi-official relations with the newly independent [[Indonesia]]. This was possible mainly through the connections between [[Sukarno]] and the Provisional Government's [[Southeast Asia]]n liaison, [[Chen Chih-hsiung]], who had assisted in Indonesia's local resistance movements against Japanese rule.

After the Kuomintang [[Retrocession of Taiwan|began to rule the island]], the focus of the movement was as a vehicle for discontent from the native Taiwanese against the rule of "[[waishengren|mainlander]]s" (i.e. mainland Chinese-born people who fled to Taiwan with KMT in the late 1940s). The [[February 28 Incident]] in 1947 and the ensuing [[Martial law in Taiwan|martial law]] that lasted until 1987 contributed to the period of [[White Terror (Taiwan)|White Terror]] on the island, persecuting not only indigenous leftists, but liberals and democracy advocates as well.

Between 1949 and 1991, the official position<ref>{{cite journal|author=Li, Thian-hok|journal=Foreign Affairs|year=1958|title=The China Impasse, a Formosan view|volume=36|issue=3|pages=437–448|url=http://www.taiwandc.org/hst-jloo-fa58.pdf|doi=10.2307/20029298|jstor=20029298|access-date=28 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615133131/http://www.taiwandc.org/hst-jloo-fa58.pdf|archive-date=15 June 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> of the ROC government on Taiwan was that it was the legitimate government of all of China and it used this position as justification for authoritarian measures such as the refusal to vacate the seats held by delegates elected on the mainland in 1947 for the [[Legislative Yuan]]. The Taiwan independence movement intensified in response to this and presented an alternative vision of a sovereign and independent Taiwanese state. This vision was represented through a number of symbols such as the use of [[Taiwanese Minnan|Taiwanese]] in opposition to the school-taught [[Standard Mandarin|Mandarin Chinese]].

Several scholars drafted various versions of a [[constitution]], as both political statement or vision and as intellectual exercise. Most of these drafts favor a [[bicameral]] [[parliament]]ary rather than presidential system. In at least one such draft, seats in the upper house would be divided equally among Taiwan's established ethnicities. In the 1980s the [[Kuomintang|Chinese Nationalist]] government considered publication of these ideas criminal. In the most dramatic case, it decided to arrest the pro-independence publisher [[Cheng Nan-jung]] for publishing a version in his [[Tang-wai]] magazine, ''[[Liberty Era Weekly]]'' ({{lang|zh-Hant-TW|自由時代週刊}}). Rather than giving himself up, Cheng [[self-immolation|self-immolated]] in protest. Other campaigns and tactics toward such a State have included soliciting designs from the public for a new national [[flag]] and [[anthem]] (for example, ''[[Taiwan the Formosa]]''). More recently the [[Taiwan Name Rectification Campaign]] ({{lang|zh-Hant-TW|台灣正名運動}}) has played an active role. More traditional independence supporters, however, have criticized name rectification as merely a superficial tactic devoid of the larger vision inherent in the independence agenda.

Various overseas Taiwan independence movements, such as the Formosan Association, [[World United Formosans for Independence]], United Young Formosans for Independence, Union for Formosa's Independence in Europe, United Formosans in America for Independence, and Committee for Human Rights in Formosa, published "The Independent Formosa" in several volumes with the publisher "Formosan Association." In "The Independent Formosa, Volumes 2–3", they tried to justify Taiwanese collaboration with Japan during World War II by saying that the "atmosphere covered the whole Japanese territories, including Korea and Formosa, and the Japanese mainlands as well", when Taiwanese publications supported Japan's "holy war", and that the people who did it were not at fault.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HtlwAAAAMAAJ&q=formosa+china+partial+same+race |title=The Independent Formosa, Volumes 2–3 |year=1963 |author=Formosan Association, World United Formosans for Independence, United Young Formosans for Independence, Union for Formosa's Independence in Europe, United Formosans in America for Independence, Committee for Human Rights in Formosa |publisher=Formosan Association. |page=14 |access-date=20 December 2011 |quote=newspapers with the help of Roman letters within one month's learning." To be sure, Roman letters are a very effective means to transcribe Formsan. On this point Mr. Ozaki seems to mean that it is against the "Racial style", which is misleading...atmosphere covered the whole Japanese territories, including Korea and Formosa, and the Japanese mainlands as well. So quite naturally works to applaud the "holy war" were not infrequently produced. But who could blame them and who had a right to throw a stone at |archive-date=10 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410213125/https://books.google.com/books?id=HtlwAAAAMAAJ&q=formosa+china+partial+same+race |url-status=live }}Original from the University of Michigan</ref>{{Promotional source|date=March 2023}}

The anti-communist Kuomintang leader [[Chiang Kai-shek]], President of the [[Republic of China]] on Taiwan, believed that the Americans were going to plot a coup against him in collusion with Taiwan independence activists. In 1950, Chiang Ching-kuo became director of the [[secret police]], which he remained until 1965. Chiang also considered some people who were friends to Americans to be his enemies. An enemy of the Chiang family, [[Wu Kuo-chen]], was kicked out of his position of governor of Taiwan by [[Chiang Ching-kuo]] and fled to America in 1953.<ref name="bare_url">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AW9yrtekFRkC&q=sun+li+jen+americans+chiang&pg=PA302|title=Opposition and dissent in contemporary China|author=Peter R. Moody|year=1977|publisher=Hoover Press|page=302|isbn=0-8179-6771-0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606072130/http://books.google.com/books?id=AW9yrtekFRkC&pg=PA302&dq=sun+li+jen+americans+chiang#v=onepage&q=sun%20li%20jen%20americans%20chiang&f=false|archive-date=6 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Chiang Ching-kuo, educated in the Soviet Union, initiated Soviet style military organization in the Republic of China Military, reorganizing and Sovietizing the political officer corps, surveillance, and Kuomintang party activities were propagated throughout the military. Opposed to this was [[Sun Li-jen]], who was educated at the American [[Virginia Military Institute]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_5R2fnVZXiwC&q=sun+li+jen+americans+chiang&pg=PA195|title=The Generalissimo's son: Chiang Ching-kuo and the revolutions in China and Taiwan|author=Jay Taylor|year=2000|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=195|isbn=0-674-00287-3|access-date=28 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606040723/http://books.google.com/books?id=_5R2fnVZXiwC&pg=PA195&dq=sun+li+jen+americans+chiang#v=onepage&q=sun%20li%20jen%20americans%20chiang&f=false|archive-date=6 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Chiang orchestrated the controversial court-martial and arrest of General [[Sun Li-jen]] in August 1955, for plotting a coup d'état with the American [[CIA]] against his father Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang. The CIA allegedly wanted to help Sun take control of Taiwan and declare its independence.<ref name="bare_url" /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoB35f6HD9gC&q=sun+li+jen+americans+chiang&pg=PA181 |title=Patterns in the dust: Chinese-American relations and the recognition controversy, 1949–1950 |author=[[Nancy Bernkopf Tucker]] |year=1983 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=181 |isbn=0-231-05362-2 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606141033/http://books.google.com/books?id=YoB35f6HD9gC&pg=PA181&dq=sun+li+jen+americans+chiang#v=onepage&q=sun%20li%20jen%20americans%20chiang&f=false |archive-date=6 June 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the [[History of Taiwan#Taiwan under martial law|martial law era]] lasting until 1987, discussion of Taiwan independence was forbidden in Taiwan, at a time when [[Project National Glory|recovery of the mainland]] and [[Chinese unification|national unification]] were the stated goals of the ROC. During that time, many advocates of independence and other dissidents fled overseas, and carried out their advocacy work there, notably in [[Japan]] and the [[United States]]. Part of their work involved setting up think tanks, political organizations, and lobbying networks in order to influence the politics of their host countries, notably the United States, the ROC's main ally at the time, though they would not be very successful until much later. Within Taiwan, the independence movement was one of many dissident causes among the intensifying democracy movement of the 1970s, which culminated in the 1979 [[Kaohsiung Incident]]. The [[Democratic Progressive Party]] (DPP) was eventually formed to represent dissident causes.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-12-10 |title=The Formosa Incident: a look back |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2019/12/10/2003727276 |access-date=2023-05-19 |work=Taipei Times |archive-date=19 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519082111/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2019/12/10/2003727276 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Multiparty period ===
After the lifting of martial law in 1987, and the acceptance of multi-party politics, the [[Democratic Progressive Party]] became increasingly identified with Taiwan independence, which entered its party platform in 1991. At the same time, many overseas independence advocates and organizations returned to Taiwan and for the first time openly promoted their cause in Taiwan, gradually building up political support. Many had previously fled to the US or Europe and had been on a [[Blacklisting|blacklist]] held by [[KMT]], which had held them back from going back to Taiwan. Where they had fled, they built many organisations like [[European Federation of Taiwanese Associations]] or [[Formosan Association for Public Affairs]]. By the late 1990s, DPP and Taiwan independence have gained a solid electoral constituency in Taiwan, supported by an increasingly vocal and hardcore base.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

[[File:UN-for-Taiwan banner 20080127.jpg|thumb|200px|Banner displaying the slogan "UN for Taiwan"]]
As the electoral success of the DPP, and later, the DPP-led Pan-Green Coalition grew in recent years, the Taiwan independence movement shifted focus to [[identity politics]] by proposing many plans involving [[symbol]]ism and [[social engineering (political science)|social engineering]]. The reinterpretation of historical events such as the [[February 28 Incident]], the use of broadcast language and mother tongue education in schools, the official name and flag of the ROC, slogans in the army, orientation of maps all have been issues of concern to the present-day Taiwan independence movement activists.

The movement, at its peak in the 70s through the 90s in the form of the [[Taiwan literature movement]] and other cultural upheavals, has moderated in recent years with the assimilation of these changes. Friction between "mainlander" and "native" communities on Taiwan has decreased due to shared interests: increasing economic ties with mainland China, continuing threats by the PRC to invade, and doubts as to whether or not the United States would support a unilateral declaration of independence. Since the late 1990s many supporters of Taiwan independence have argued that Taiwan, as the ROC, is already independent from the mainland, making a formal declaration unnecessary. In May 1999, the [[Democratic Progressive Party]] formalized this position in its "[[Resolution on Taiwan's Future]]".{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

==== Lee Teng-hui administration (1988–2000) ====
In 1995, Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui was given permission to speak at Cornell University about his dream of Taiwanese independence, the first time a Taiwanese leader had been allowed to visit the United States. This led to a [[1996 Taiwan crisis|military response from China]] that included buying Russian submarines and conducting missile tests near Taiwan.<ref>{{Cite journal |url = http://peggy.hsieh.free.fr/THESE/new%20reference/FA-Ross.pdf |title = Taiwan's Fading Independence Movement |last = Ross |first = Robert S. |date = March–April 2006 |journal = Foreign Affairs |volume = 85 |issue = 2 |pages = 141–148 |doi =  10.2307/20031917|jstor = 20031917 |access-date = 25 March 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131417/http://peggy.hsieh.free.fr/THESE/new%20reference/FA-Ross.pdf |archive-date = 2 April 2015 |url-status = live }}</ref>

==== Chen Shui-bian administration (2000–2008) ====
[[File:Republic of China (Taiwan) Passport 2020.svg|thumb|284x284px|[[Taiwan passport|Republic of China passport]] mentioning Taiwan since 2003 in order to distinguish it from the [[Chinese passport|People's Republic of China passport]]. In 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched a redesigned passport that highlights "Taiwan"<ref>{{Cite news|department=Reuters Staff|date=11 January 2021|title=Taiwan's new passport hopes to banish confusion with China|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-passport-idUSKBN29G0I4|access-date=13 May 2021|archive-date=13 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513204757/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-passport-idUSKBN29G0I4|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=MOFA to release new passport to highlight TAIWAN in January 2021 |url=https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-220-5862-75d57-2.html |access-date=4 Aug 2023 |agency=Bureau Of Consular Affairs |date=2020-09-04 |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130102144/https://www.boca.gov.tw/cp-220-5862-75d57-2.html |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:台灣護照.jpg|thumbnail|200px|An example of a "Taiwan passport", which is typically not accepted in place of the R.O.C. passport]]
In February 2007, President [[Chen Shui-bian]] initiated changes to names of state-owned enterprises, and the nation's embassies and overseas representative offices. As a result, [[Chunghwa Post]] Co. ({{lang|zh-Hant-TW|中華郵政}}) was renamed Taiwan Post Co. ({{lang|zh-Hant-TW|臺灣郵政}}) and Chinese Petroleum Corporation ({{lang|zh-Hant-TW|中國石油}}) is now called ''[[CPC Corporation, Taiwan]]'' ({{lang|zh-Hant-TW|臺灣中油}}) and the signs in Taiwan's embassies now display the word "Taiwan" in brackets after "[[Republic of China]]".<ref name="remark7">{{cite news|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/02/12/2003348683|author=Jewel Huang|newspaper=Taipei Times|title=Analysis: Name changes reflect increasing 'Taiwan identity'|page=3|date=12 February 2007|access-date=10 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111075130/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/02/12/2003348683|archive-date=11 November 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2007, the Taiwan Post Co. issued stamps bearing the name "Taiwan" in remembrance of the [[February 28 Incident]]. However, the name of the post office was reverted to "Chunghwa Post Co." following the inauguration of [[Kuomintang]] president Ma Ying-jeou in 2008.

The Pan-Blue camp voiced its opposition to the changes and the former [[KMT]] Chairman [[Ma Ying-jeou]] said that it would generate diplomatic troubles and cause cross-strait tensions. It also argued that without a change in the relevant legislation pertaining to state-owned enterprises, the name changes of these enterprises could not be valid. As the Pan-Blue camp held only a slim parliamentary majority throughout the administration of President Chen, the Government's motion to change the law to this effect were blocked by the opposition. Later, U.S. Department of State spokesman [[Sean McCormack]] said that the U.S. does not support administrative steps that would appear to change the status-quo by either Taipei or Beijing as threats to regional security.<ref>{{Cite web|title=US Says Taiwanese President's Independence Remarks 'Unhelpful'|url=https://www.voanews.com/archive/us-says-taiwanese-presidents-independence-remarks-unhelpful|access-date=13 May 2021|website=Voice of America|language=en|archive-date=13 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513203040/https://www.voanews.com/archive/us-says-taiwanese-presidents-independence-remarks-unhelpful|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Former president [[Lee Teng-hui]] has stated that he never pursued Taiwanese independence. Lee views Taiwan as already an independent state, and that the call for "Taiwanese independence" could even confuse the international community by implying that Taiwan once viewed itself as part of China. From this perspective, Taiwan is independent even if it remains unable to enter the UN. Lee said the most important goals are to improve the people's livelihoods, build national consciousness, make a formal name change and draft a new constitution that reflects the present reality so that Taiwan can officially identify itself as a country.<ref name="remark8">{{cite news|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/03/10/2003351724|newspaper=Taipei Times|title=Pan-green bickering takes focus off issues|page=8|date=10 March 2007|access-date=10 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502034704/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/03/10/2003351724|archive-date=2 May 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Ma Ying-jeou administration (2008–2016) ====
[[2008 Republic of China legislative election|Legislative elections]] were held on 12 January 2008, resulting in a [[supermajority]] (86 of the 113 seats) in the legislature for the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) and the [[Pan-Blue Coalition]]. President [[Chen Shui-bian]]'s [[Democratic Progressive Party]] was handed a heavy defeat, winning only the remaining 27 seats. The junior partner in the [[Pan-Green Coalition]], the [[Taiwan Solidarity Union]], won no seats.

Two months later, the [[2008 Republic of China presidential election|election for the 12th-term President and vice-president of the Republic of China]] was held on Saturday, 22 March 2008.<ref>[http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NAT1/3918552.shtml]{{dead link|date=March 2019}}</ref> KMT nominee [[Ma Ying-jeou]] won, with 58% of the vote, ending eight years of [[Democratic Progressive Party]] rule.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ma Ying-jeou sworn in as Taiwan's president |url=http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=659323&lang=eng_news&cate_img=&cate_rss=news_Politics_TAIWAN |agency=[[Central News Agency (Republic of China)|Central News Agency]] |date=20 May 2008 |access-date=17 February 2010 |archive-date=25 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725202429/http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=659323&lang=eng_news&cate_img=&cate_rss=news_Politics_TAIWAN |url-status=live }}</ref> Along with the [[2008 Republic of China legislative election|2008 legislative election]], Ma's landslide victory brought the Kuomintang back to power in Taiwan.

On 1 August 2008, the Board of Directors of Taiwan Post Co. resolved to reverse the name change and restored the name "Chunghwa Post".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.post.gov.tw|title=中華郵政全球資訊網|last=中華郵政股份有限公司|date=25 December 2007|website=www.post.gov.tw|access-date=12 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821232557/http://www.post.gov.tw/post/internet/u_english/index.jsp?ID=21|archive-date=21 August 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> The Board of Directors, as well as resolving to restore the name of the corporation, also resolved to re-hire the chief executive dismissed in 2007, and to withdraw defamation proceedings against him.<ref>[http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-Focus/2007Cti-Focus-Content/0,4518,9708010261+97080116+0+151053+0,00.html 台灣郵政改回中華郵政] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100514181524/http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-Focus/2007Cti-Focus-Content/0,4518,9708010261+97080116+0+151053+0,00.html |date=14 May 2010 }} (Taiwan Post changes back to Chunghwa Post)</ref>

On 2 September 2008, President Ma defined the relations between Taiwan and mainland China as "[[special non-state-to-state relations|special]]", but "not that between two states" – they are relations based on two areas of one state, with Taiwan considering that state to be the Republic of China, and mainland China considering that state to be the People's Republic of China.<ref>{{cite news |title = Taiwan and China in 'special relations': Ma |newspaper = China Post |date = 4 September 2008 |url = http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/china-taiwan%20relations/2008/09/04/173082/Taiwan-and.htm |access-date = 18 November 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080906092524/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/china-taiwan%20relations/2008/09/04/173082/Taiwan-and.htm |archive-date = 6 September 2008 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ma refers to China as ROC territory in magazine interview |newspaper=Taipei Times |date=8 October 2008 |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/10/08/2003425320 |access-date=18 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603213128/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/10/08/2003425320 |archive-date=3 June 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ma's approach with the mainland is conspicuously evasive of political negotiations that may lead to unification which
is the mainland's ultimate goal. The National Unification Guidelines remain "frozen" and Ma precluded any discussion of unification during his term by his "three no's" (no unification, no independence, and no use of force).<ref>{{cite web|title=Heading towards Troubled Waters? The Impact of Taiwan's 2016 Elections on Cross-Strait Relations|author1-link=Wu Yu-shan|author1=Yu-Shan Wu|url=https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/2016/03/2016-China-CR.-Bejing.Nanjing.pdf#page=85|page=80|access-date=13 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012014508/https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/2016/03/2016-China-CR.-Bejing.Nanjing.pdf#page=85|archive-date=12 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Tsai Ing-wen and Lai Ching-te administration (2016–present) ====
The Democratic Progressive Party, led by [[Tsai Ing-wen]], won a landslide victory over the Kuomintang in [[2016 Taiwanese presidential election|2016]] and was reelected in [[2020 Taiwanese presidential election|2020]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chung|first1=Lawrence Gan|last2=Chan|first2=Minnie|last3=Liu|first3=Zhen|last4=Gan|first4=Nectar|title=Taiwan's first female president Tsai Ing-wen warns China after landslide victory|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1901895/taiwans-first-female-president-tsai-ing-wen-warns-china|access-date=16 December 2016|work=South China Morning Post|date=17 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404084907/http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1901895/taiwans-first-female-president-tsai-ing-wen-warns-china|archive-date=4 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Page|first1=Jeremy|last2=Hsu|first2=Jenny W.|last3=Dou|first3=Eva|title=Taiwan Elects Tsai Ing-wen as First Female President|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/taiwans-historic-election-set-to-test-china-ties-1452925430|access-date=16 December 2016|work=Wall Street Journal|date=16 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220182229/http://www.wsj.com/articles/taiwans-historic-election-set-to-test-china-ties-1452925430|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Her administration stated that it sought to maintain the current political status of Taiwan.<ref>{{cite news|title=Taiwanese President Tsai: Taiwan Won't Succumb to China's Pressure|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2016/10/05/taiwanese-president-tsai-taiwan-wont-succumb-to-chinas-pressure/|access-date=16 December 2016|work=Wall Street Journal|date=5 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221092856/http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2016/10/05/taiwanese-president-tsai-taiwan-wont-succumb-to-chinas-pressure/|archive-date=21 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Loa|first1=Iok-sin|title=DPP says new government will maintain 'status quo'|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2016/02/27/2003640312|access-date=16 December 2016|work=Taipei Times|date=27 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220142500/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2016/02/27/2003640312|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The PRC government continued to criticize the ROC government, as the DPP administration has continued to not officially recognize the [[1992 Consensus]] and the [[One-China policy|One China]] policy.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chen |first1=Dingding |author-link=Dingding Chen |date=25 May 2016 |title=Without Clarity on 1992 Consensus, Tsai and DPP Will Face Challenges Ahead |work=The Diplomat |url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/05/without-clarity-on-1992-consensus-tsai-and-dpp-will-face-challenges-ahead/ |url-status=live |access-date=16 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220151314/https://thediplomat.com/2016/05/without-clarity-on-1992-consensus-tsai-and-dpp-will-face-challenges-ahead/ |archive-date=20 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Beijing threatens to end communication with Taiwan if it pursues independence|url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/hoy-san-diego/sdhoy-beijing-threatens-to-end-communication-with-2016may21-story.html|access-date=16 December 2016|work=San Diego Union Tribune|date=21 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005202605/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/hoy-san-diego/sdhoy-beijing-threatens-to-end-communication-with-2016may21-story.html|archive-date=5 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Lai Ching-te]], the Democratic Progressive Party candidate, won the presidential election in [[2024 Taiwanese presidential election|2024]]. During the campaign period, Lai asserted Taiwanese sovereignty, but said a formal declaration of independence would be unnecessary and favored maintaining the status quo.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 August 2023 |title=Presidential hopeful Lai says Taiwan's sovereignty is 'a fact' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/25/taiwan-vice-president-emphasises-islands-autonomy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113054053/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/25/taiwan-vice-president-emphasises-islands-autonomy |archive-date=13 January 2024 |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> He also said he would be willing to work with the [[Government of China|Chinese government]], but only if they renounce any intentions to use force against Taiwan.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=2023-08-15 |title=Can Taiwan's Next Leader Keep the Peace? |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-08-15/taiwan-vice-president-lai-ching-te-on-the-status-quo-with-china |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906114456/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-08-15/taiwan-vice-president-lai-ching-te-on-the-status-quo-with-china |archive-date=6 September 2023 |access-date=2024-01-13 |work=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite magazine |date=2023-11-21 |title=Taiwan's Presidential Frontrunner Faces a Balancing Act With China |url=https://time.com/6336441/taiwan-presidental-election-william-lai-profile/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113133524/https://time.com/6336441/taiwan-presidental-election-william-lai-profile/ |archive-date=13 January 2024 |access-date=2024-01-13 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en}}</ref>