Skip to main content

China is the Republic of China, says Ma Ying-jeou At Press Conference in Allied Guatemala
On March 13 Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou began an official trip to the central American country of Guatemala, one of the few states that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan. 

On the website of the Central American Parliament (Parlamento Centroamericano) Ma Ying-jeou is called "President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)". According to Taiwanese reports, other sections of the website called him simply "President of China (Taiwan)". At a press conference, Ma Ying-jeou clarified which country he represents.

"As far as the relations between our two countries are concerned", he said, "China means Republic of China".

Democratic Progressive Party legislator Luo Zhizheng (羅致政) criticised Ma's response, wondering if the Foreign Ministry could accept "Republic of China" as the country's official name.





Wang Peiling (王珮玲), spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, reiterated that "Republic of China" was the official name of the country as far as diplomatic relations with Central American countries are concerned. "'China' means 'Republic of China'", he said, "and 'Republic of China' means 'Taiwan'" (『中國』就是中華民國，就是台灣).

Ma Ying-jeou's response at the press conference was quoted in mainland Chinese media. Both the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Ma's party, the Guomindang, adhere to the so-called 1992 consensus. According to this unofficial agreement, Beijing and Taipei uphold the "one-China principle", while each side considers itself the legitimate government of all China.

Chinese nationalism and Chinese identity were part of the Guomindang's state ideology, which was enforced dictatorially. Since Taiwan's democratisation in the 1990s, however, identity has become a matter of heated debate. The Democratic Progressive Party, which currently governs Taiwan, opposes the Guomindang's Chinese nationalism and promotes a "Taiwan-centric identity".  

The Republic of China was founded in mainland China in 1912 following the Xinhai Revolution. In 1927, the Guomindang seized power and established a de facto one-party state. In 1949, however, the Communist Party led by Mao Zedong overthrew the Republic of China, whose government fled to Taiwan. On October 1, 1949, Mao proclaimed the foundation of the People's Republic of China. Ever since then the two sides have officially claimed to represent China. 

Labels: china taiwan china taiwan issue china taiwan relations ma yingjiu republic of china taiwan
Reactions:

Comments

Post a comment

Popular posts from this blog

Will The Huawei Case Finally Awaken Democrats To The China Threat And The Danger Of Faux Free Trade Rhetoric?

Huawei Shenzhen office building (by Raysonho  via Wikimedia Commons) On January 28 the Department of Justice of the United States unsealed two cases against Huawei , China's largest telecommunications company, and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou.  Huawei has been accused of trying to steal trade secrets, committing bank fraud, breaking confidentiality agreements and violating sanctions against Iran. One indictment claims that Huawei attempted to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile by promising bonuses to employees who collected confidential information. Huawei is not a company like any other. Over the years it has benefited enormously from the support of the Chinese Communist regime. The founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, joined China's army during the Cultural Revolution . In 1978 he also joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  In the early years Huawei's sources of capital were high-interest loans (20%-30%) from Chinese state-owned enterp
Post a comment
Read more

How the Chinese Communist Party uses "Chinese culture" as an excuse to justify its crimes

Shanghai, Nanjing Road (photo by Agnieszka Bojczuk via Wikimedia Commons ) Since its founding in 1921 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has mastered the art of propaganda and recruitment of individuals both inside and outside the country who are willing to cooperate with it and further its interests - a practice known as "united front work". "United front work" refers to the CCP's strategy of cooptation of groups or individuals that are not members of the CCP but are willing to cooperate with it. Cooptation describes the process of bringing outsiders (usually the resource-poorer) inside (usually the resource-richer) ( Saward , 1992). An example of this strategy is the case of former Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. Prior to the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from Britain to the People's Republic of China (PRC), Tung Chee-hwa had close ties with the government of Taiwan. However, after his shipping company ran into financial trouble and
Post a comment
Read more

Washington Post correspondent in China Gerry Shih assaulted for walking with Caucasian European

Gerry Shih, a China-based correspondent for the Washington Post, was assaulted on a Beijing street for "walking with a Caucasian European," according to a Tweet he posted on November 29. The assailants allegedly shouted at them: "F*** your American embassy!" Sign of the times: roughed up in Beijing street tonight for walking with Caucasian European. Neither of us said we were American but their parting shot was “操你美国使馆” pic.twitter.com/ekPLNsLBnj — Gerry Shih (@gerryshih) November 29, 2019 In recent years the Chinese Communist regime has intensified its anti-foreign rhetoric as Xi Jinping has sought to consolidate the power of the Party and rid China of perceived "foreign influence". Foreigners in China have been targeted by the government and anti-foreign sentiment has been enouraged. This year arrests and deportations of foreign teachers in China have increased amid a government campaign to promote "patriotic education." An inc
Post a comment
Read more