In a world where words have political weight, few terms are as meaningful as the way we refer to the most populous nation on the planet. For the Chinese, the China we refer to when we call it is not simply “China” – it is mainland China.
For the Portuguese, Portugal is Portugal, and that’s it. Includes wood and the Azores. Only when we are seeing the meteorology that we come to us the expression “Portugal Continental“.
But for the Chinese, the subject is very different, very delicate, and it is not just a matter of semantics.
For most of the world, China is simply “China”. However, Chinese citizens and especially their government make a point of calling you “Mainland China” (“China Continental”) – An seemingly subtle distinction that hides decades of geopolitical tension and unresolved territorial claims.
Terminology dates back to the end of the Chinese civil war (1945-1949), which ended with the capitulation of the nationalist government of the Republic of China, led since 1928 by Chiang Kai-shekand the victory of the communists led by Mao tsé-tung.
Nationalists fled to the island of Taiwanat the time called Formosa Island, and established in Taipei the government of what continued to call, until our day, “Republic of China”(ROC). For those who do not turn on details, simply” Taiwan “.
The communists of Mao, in turn, established in the continental territory “Popular Republic of China”(PRC) – The” China “to which we refer simply. There is thus, since then, two different political entities that claim to be the” true China “.
Beijing’s government has always claimed sovereignty about Taiwan, which has not recognized as independent territory, and two territories that considered an integral part of China: Hong Kong Administrative Regionsdelivered by the English in 1997, and Macau, which our country delivered in 1999.
In the rest of the world, No one remembers thinking If “China” includes or fails to include Hong Kong and Macao – they make China, although the two administrative regions maintain (some) legislative, executive and judicial autonomy.
But for the Chinese (from Beijing), “China” is only the continental part of the Popular Republic of China, which includes “Mainland China”Hong Kong, Macau… e, Especially Taiwan. In addition, of course, the remaining 5 autonomous regions, including the best known Mongolia and Tibet.
This nomenclature reinforces Beijing’s official position that the island of Taiwan, which had been attached in 1945 after the surrender of Japan, is a “rebel province-which should inevitably one day meet with the continent.
On the other hand, for the government in Taipei, which continued to be led by
Chiang Kai-Shek until his death in 1975, the use of the term “mainland China” has been historically convenientbecause it allows to maintain the narrative that the Taiwan government still represents all of Chinaincluding the continent.
Constitutionally, the Republic of China did not resign its claim as “the sole legitimate government of all of China.” However, with the evolution of the Taiwanese identity in recent decades, this position has become increasingly complex.
Indeed, as the small island of Taiwan became a developed country (it is the 21st largest economy in the world), with a divergent cultural identity, which claims its independence and sovereignty, has failed to make sense to the Taiwanese to think their country “includes mainland China.”
Still, 76 years after the end of the Chinese civil war, the semantic battle From the nomenclature we use to designate the two territories remains very alive. And when a Chinese citizen refers to his country as “mainland China,” he is not exactly concerned with meteorology.
