One China Policy
James T. Smith, V
POLS 3203
Dr. Kwon
November 4, 2012
One China Policy
The One-China policy refers to the policy and viewpoint that there is only one state called "China", despite the existence of two governments that both claim to be "China". As a political policy, this means that countries seeking diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China must break official relations with the Republic of China and vice versa. Therefore, all countries that recognize the Republic of China recognize the ROC as the sole legitimate representative of all of China, and not just the island of Taiwan. Consequentially, all states that want to have official relations with the People’s Republic of China must recognize the PRC as the legitimate representative of Taiwan. The One China policy can also be referred to as the "One China" principle which has a deep cultural viewpoint that insists Taiwan and mainland China are both inalienable parts of a single "China". This is one viewpoint that both governments can seem to agree on and currently both the PRC and ROC governments hold respective policies supporting the One China Principle; however, they both disagree about which of the two governments is the legitimate government of the state.
The People’s Republic of China which is the government of mainland China has extremely strong political opinion and stance on Taiwan. In fact in the Preamble of their Constitution they quote: “Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People's Republic of China. It is the lofty duty of the entire Chinese people, including our compatriots in Taiwan, to accomplish the great task of reunifying the motherland.” The PRC officially never refers to the “ROC government”, and seldom ever to the “government of Taiwan.” Instead, the PRC media and officials refer to them as the Taiwan authorities. The PRC does not accept or stamp Republic of China passports. Instead, a Taiwan resident visiting Mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau must use a
POLS 3203
Dr. Kwon
November 4, 2012
One China Policy
The One-China policy refers to the policy and viewpoint that there is only one state called "China", despite the existence of two governments that both claim to be "China". As a political policy, this means that countries seeking diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China must break official relations with the Republic of China and vice versa. Therefore, all countries that recognize the Republic of China recognize the ROC as the sole legitimate representative of all of China, and not just the island of Taiwan. Consequentially, all states that want to have official relations with the People’s Republic of China must recognize the PRC as the legitimate representative of Taiwan. The One China policy can also be referred to as the "One China" principle which has a deep cultural viewpoint that insists Taiwan and mainland China are both inalienable parts of a single "China". This is one viewpoint that both governments can seem to agree on and currently both the PRC and ROC governments hold respective policies supporting the One China Principle; however, they both disagree about which of the two governments is the legitimate government of the state.
The People’s Republic of China which is the government of mainland China has extremely strong political opinion and stance on Taiwan. In fact in the Preamble of their Constitution they quote: “Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People's Republic of China. It is the lofty duty of the entire Chinese people, including our compatriots in Taiwan, to accomplish the great task of reunifying the motherland.” The PRC officially never refers to the “ROC government”, and seldom ever to the “government of Taiwan.” Instead, the PRC media and officials refer to them as the Taiwan authorities. The PRC does not accept or stamp Republic of China passports. Instead, a Taiwan resident visiting Mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau must use a