Editing Chinese unification (section)

== Official stance of the Republic of China ==
{{see also|Taiwan Province, Republic of China}}
Politics in the Republic of China are divided into two main camps, the Pan-Blue and the Pan-Green Coalitions. The former camp is characterized by general Chinese nationalism and ROC nationalism, whereas the latter camp is characterized by Taiwanese nationalism.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

ROC official sources note that Qing forces occupied the island of Taiwan's western and northern coasts from 1683, and that Taiwan was declared a Qing province in 1885.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.taiwan.gov.tw/content_3.php|title=History of Taiwan|last=Affairs|first=Ministry of Foreign|date=11 June 2019|website=Ministry of Foreign Affairs|language=en|access-date=11 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524182955/https://www.taiwan.gov.tw/content_3.php|archive-date=24 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Pan-Blue interpretation ===
The Japanese Instrument of Surrender (1945) is seen by the Pan-Blue camp as legitimizing the Chinese claims of sovereignty over Taiwan Island which were made with the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration (1945).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/08/taiwans-opposition-needs-to-get-clear-on-the-countrys-sovereignty/|title=Taiwan's Opposition Must Get Clear on the Country's Sovereignty|last=Huang|first=Eric|date=1 August 2015|work=The Diplomat|access-date=10 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809124447/https://thediplomat.com/2015/08/taiwans-opposition-needs-to-get-clear-on-the-countrys-sovereignty/|archive-date=9 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The common Pan-Blue view asserts that Taiwan Island was returned to China in 1945. Irredentist in nature, those who possess this view commonly perceive Retrocession Day to be the conclusion to a continuous saga of reunification struggles on both sides of the strait, lasting from 1895, the year that Taiwan Island was ceded to Japan, up until 1945, the end of the Second World War. Hence, there is a common view among the Pan-Blue camp that the island of Taiwan was always a Chinese territory under Japanese occupation and never belonged to Japan, neither legally nor in spirit. The Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Declaration, and Japanese Instrument of Surrender are seen as proofs that the Treaty of Shimonoseki was nullified in its entirety in 1945, hence proving that the island of Taiwan always rightfully belonged to China throughout those fifty years of reunification struggles. Shortly following these events, the island of Taiwan was split from mainland China again, according to the common Pan-Blue view, marking the beginning of another reunification saga. Still, the Pan-Blue camp considers both Taiwan and mainland China to be currently under Chinese rule, with the division between the island of Taiwan and mainland China merely being internal, rather than directly the result of outsider aggression; this view is demonstrated through the 1992 Consensus, which some allege to be an agreement reached between officials of both the Kuomintang and the CCP in 1992. The notion of 1992 Consensus is that there is One China and that the island of Taiwan is part of China, but that the legitimate government of China can be interpreted differently by the two sides of the strait.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

ROC singer [[Teresa Teng]] performed in many countries around the world, but never in [[mainland China]]. During her 1980 [[Taiwan Television|TTV]] concert, when asked about such possibility, she responded by stating that the day she performs on the mainland will be the day the [[Three Principles of the People]] are implemented there – in reference to either the [[Democracy movements of China|pursuit of Chinese democracy]] or reunification under the banner of the ROC.<ref>{{Cite AV media|title = 鄧麗君國父紀念館演唱會 1980年10月4日 | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RWZ-PYCg60 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/6RWZ-PYCg60| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|type=Video file|via=YouTube|date= 4 October 1980|publication-date=13 January 2016|access-date=29 May 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = PHOTO ESSAYS Teresa Teng's heavenly voice continues to echo transcendently|publisher = [[Central News Agency (Taiwan)]]|date = 5 July 2015|access-date = 29 May 2020|url = https://focustaiwan.tw/eng_forum/201505070001|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200529092651/https://focustaiwan.tw/eng_forum/201505070001|archive-date = 29 May 2020|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cna.com.tw/project/201505_teresa_teng/|title=鄧麗君逝世20週年 追憶天使美聲|access-date=2017-04-25|work=www.cna.com.tw|publisher=[[Central News Agency (Taiwan)]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129141634/http://www.cna.com.tw/project/201505_teresa_teng/|archive-date=2018-01-29|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Pan-Green interpretation ===
The views of the Pan-Green camp, though they are diverse, tend to be characterized by Taiwanese nationalism. Hence, most within the Pan-Green camp are opposed to the idea of Taiwan being part of China. Still, most within the Pan-Green camp accept certain historical facts which suggest that Taiwan was part of China. The common Pan-Green view accepts that Taiwan was controlled by a regime in mainland China between 1683 and 1895, though many characterize this as a period of constant rebellion, or suppression of identity (or discovery of a new identity), or colonization by the foreign Manchu people. While most among the Pan-Green camp accept that the transition from Chinese to Japanese rule in 1895 was violent and tragic, many believe that rule under the Japanese was either more benevolent than rule under the Chinese (both KMT and Qing) or more productive. Hence, most Pan-Green do not support the notion that Taiwan was part of China between 1895 and 1945, and neither the notion that there was a strong Chinese unification sentiment in Taiwan at that time. "Dark Green" members of the Pan-Green camp generally do not believe that the Treaty of Shimonoseki was ever nullified. Certain sources claim that attempts were made to nullify the treaty, but that these attempts were either illegal or futile,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.civil-taiwan.org/shim-1895.htm|title=Treaty of Shimonoseki|date=22 March 2012|website=Taiwan Civil Society|access-date=9 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315141257/http://www.civil-taiwan.org/shim-1895.htm|archive-date=15 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> whereas other sources claim that the notion that the treaty was ever nullified is a complete fabrication by the KMT in modern times.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goah |first=Kengchi |date=11 September 2005 |title=A lie told a thousand times |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2005/09/11/2003271255/1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809124447/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2005/09/11/2003271255/1 |archive-date=9 August 2019 |access-date=9 August 2019 |work=[[Taipei Times]]}}</ref>

===Tibet and Outer Mongolia===
{{see also|Tibetan sovereignty debate|Outer Mongolia}}

The ROC has the historical claims to [[Tibet]] and [[Outer Mongolia]].

The southwestern region of Tibet was governed by the [[Dalai Lama]] from 1912 to 1951 as a de facto independent state instead of the [[Ganden Phodrang]]. The ROC government has asserted that "Tibet was placed under the sovereignty of China" when the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) [[Sino-Nepalese War|ended the brief Nepalese invasion]] (1788–1792) of parts of Tibet in c. 1793.<ref>Sperling (2004) pp.6,7.  Goldstein (1989) p.72.  Both cite the ROC's position paper at the 1914 Simla Conference.</ref> while the [[Tibetan Government in Exile]] asserts that Tibet was an independent state until the PRC invaded Tibet in 1949/1950.<ref>Sperling (2004) p.21</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dalailama.com/messages/tibet/five-point-peace-plan|title=Five Point Peace Plan|publisher=The Dalai Lama|date=21 September 1987|access-date=9 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717094320/http://www.dalailama.com/messages/tibet/five-point-peace-plan|archive-date=17 July 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> By that point, the position of the Republic of China with regard to Tibet appeared to become more nuanced as was stated in the following opening speech to the International Symposium on Human Rights in Tibet on 8{{nbsp}}September 2007 through the pro-Taiwan independence then ROC President Chen Shui-bian who stated that his offices no longer treated exiled Tibetans as Chinese mainlanders.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.president.gov.tw/en/prog/news_release/print.php?id=1105499543|title=President Chen Shui-bian's Remarks at the Opening Ceremony of the 2007 International Symposium on Human Rights in Tibet}}{{deadlink|date=April 2025}}</ref> Today, the region is ruled by the PRC-governed [[Tibet Autonomous Region]] with parts of the ROC-claimed [[Xikang]] province.

In the northern region, Outer Mongolia, now controlled by the independent [[Mongolia]] and the [[Russia]]n Republic of [[Tuva]], it declared independence from the Qing dynasty in 1911 while China retained its control over the area and [[Occupation of Mongolia|reasserted control over Outer Mongolia in 1919]].<ref name="IBS">{{cite journal |date= August 1984 |title= China-Mongolia Boundary |journal= International Boundary Study |issue= 173 |pages= 2–6 |url= http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS173.pdf |publisher= The Geographer, [[Bureau of Intelligence and Research]] |access-date= 16 June 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060916040248/http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS173.pdf |archive-date= 16 September 2006 |url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name="IHT">{{cite news |title=Chinese Look To Their Neighbors For New Opportunities To Trade |url= http://www.iht.com/articles/1998/08/04/chitrade.t.php |newspaper=[[International Herald Tribune]] |date=4 August 1998 |access-date=15 June 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080220212901/http://www.iht.com/articles/1998/08/04/chitrade.t.php <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 20 February 2008 }}</ref> Consequently, Mongolia sought Soviet Russian support to reclaim its independence. In 1921, both Chinese and [[White movement|White Russian]] forces were driven out by the [[Red Army]] of the Soviet Union and pro-Soviet Mongolian forces. In 1924, the [[Mongolian People's Republic]] was formed.<ref name="IBS"/> Soviet pressure forced China to [[1945 Mongolian independence referendum|recognize the independence of Mongolia]] in 1946, but the ROC reasserted the claims to Outer Mongolia in 1953. However, the claim was dropped in 2002 as the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan)|ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] opened a representative office in Mongolia in 2002 with reciprocity from Mongolia in the ROC in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |title=代表處簡介 – 代表處簡介 – 駐蒙古代表處 |url=http://www.roc-taiwan.org/MN/ct.asp?xItem=100800&CtNode=8877&mp=641&xp1= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105180925/http://www.roc-taiwan.org/MN/ct.asp?xItem=100800&CtNode=8877&mp=641&xp1= |archive-date=2013-11-05 |access-date=2014-03-22 |website=Taipei Trade and Economic Representative Office in Ulaanbaatar}}</ref>