Editing Chinese unification (section)

== Official stance of the People's Republic of China ==
{{see also|Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China}}
The CCP uses the phrase "reunification" instead of "unification" to emphasize its assertion that the island of Taiwan has always belonged to China, or at least that the island Taiwan has been part of China for a long period of time, and that it currently belongs to People's Republic of China, but is currently being sporadically occupied by alleged [[Separatism|separatists]] who support Taiwanese independence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Amber |date=2022-07-07 |title=China puts Taiwan 'reunification' effort at heart of national revival plans |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3184502/china-puts-taiwan-reunification-strategy-heart-national-revival |access-date=2022-07-09 |website=[[South China Morning Post]] |language=en |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709165529/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3184502/china-puts-taiwan-reunification-strategy-heart-national-revival |url-status=live }}</ref>

“{{ill|Liberation of Taiwan|zh|解放台湾}}” is a term used in the PRC to garner [[public opinion]] for cross-strait unification with the Republic of China in Taiwan, proposing the use of military force to achieve it. In 1956, Mao Zedong first introduced the term, which was construed to mean a "peaceful" way to unify with the Republic of China. Despite this, both governments have had numerous long-term military confrontations. The CCP has set the unification of China as the most important political goal since the founding of the PRC.<ref name="perkins">{{cite book |author=Dorothy Perkins |title=Encyclopedia of China: History and Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KMQeAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-93562-7 |page=79 |access-date=27 January 2022 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119163815/https://books.google.com/books?id=KMQeAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In January 1979, the [[Standing Committee of the National People's Congress]] issued its first appeal to the KMT, which marked the start of the PRC's "peaceful reunification" strategy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hsiao |first=Russell |date=January 12, 2009 |title=Hu Jintao's 'Six-Points' Proposition to Taiwan |url=https://jamestown.org/program/hu-jintaos-six-points-proposition-to-taiwan/ |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=[[Jamestown Foundation]] |language=en-US |archive-date=2 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240702020150/https://jamestown.org/program/hu-jintaos-six-points-proposition-to-taiwan/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In March 2005, the [[10th National People's Congress]] passed the [[Anti-Secession Law]] authorizing military force for unification.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bellows |first=Thomas J. |date=December 2005 |title=The anti-secession law, framing, and political change in Taiwan |journal=Asian Journal of Political Science |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=103–123 |doi=10.1080/02185370508434260 |issn=0218-5377}}</ref> In 2019, CCP General Secretary [[Xi Jinping]] proposed "peaceful reunification" based on the one country, two systems program. The government of the ROC led by President [[Tsai Ing-wen]] rejected the proposal.<ref name="horton">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/world/asia/taiwan-xi-jinping-tsai-ing-wen.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 5, 2019|last=Horton|first=Chris|title=Taiwan's President, Defying Xi Jinping, Calls Unification Offer 'Impossible'|access-date=27 January 2022|archive-date=4 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704104654/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/world/asia/taiwan-xi-jinping-tsai-ing-wen.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The PRC does not consider the ROC a sovereign state today, instead believing itself to be the ROC's successor after the PRC's founding in 1949.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bush |first=Richard C. |author-link=Richard C. Bush |date=January 24, 2013 |title=Thoughts on the Republic of China and its Significance |url=https://www.brookings.edu/on-the-record/thoughts-on-the-republic-of-china-and-its-significance/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913163456/https://www.brookings.edu/on-the-record/thoughts-on-the-republic-of-china-and-its-significance/ |archive-date=13 September 2022 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=[[Brookings Institution]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=White Paper: The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era (Full Text) |url=http://munich.china-consulate.gov.cn/ger/xwdt/202208/t20220810_10740335.htm |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=munich.china-consulate.gov.cn |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913163641/http://munich.china-consulate.gov.cn/ger/xwdt/202208/t20220810_10740335.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2024, the Chinese government issued a directive to the courts stating that "diehard" separatists could be [[Trial in absentia|tried in absentia]] with [[Capital punishment in China|capital punishment]] imposed.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto"/>

=== Taiwan and Penghu ===
Officially, the PRC traces Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan Island, allegedly historically known by the Chinese as "Liuqiu" (which is closely related to the name of the modern [[Japan]]ese [[Ryukyu Islands]]), back to roughly around the 3rd century CE ([[Timeline of Taiwanese history#3rd century|specifically the year 230 CE]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/ljzg_665465/3568_665529/t17798.shtml|title=What is the reason for saying "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China"?|website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China|access-date=10 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404171505/https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/ljzg_665465/3568_665529/t17798.shtml|archive-date=4 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> However, most [[Western world|Western]] sources trace Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan Island back to either 1661–1662 CE (the year(s) when [[Koxinga]] established the [[Kingdom of Tungning]] in [[Tainan|southwestern Taiwan]]) or 1683 CE (the year when the Qing dynasty absorbed the Kingdom of Tungning into its territory and subsequently lay claim to the entire island).<ref>{{Cite news |title=China and Taiwan: A really simple guide |work=BBC News |date=12 January 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59900139 |access-date=5 September 2023 |archive-date=1 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901081319/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59900139 |url-status=live }}</ref>