MAC Press Release
Statement by MAC Deputy Minister Johnnason Liu today (March 25, 2011):
March 25, 2012, No. 017
In the formulation of "one Republic of China, two areas," "one Republic of China" is the consistent position of the government's Mainland policy, which aims to maintain the status quo of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force" in the Taiwan Strait under the framework of the ROC Constitution. "Two areas" refer to the "Taiwan Area" and the "Mainland Area" as mandated in the constitutionally empowered Act Governing Relations Between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. The "Taiwan Area" is defined as Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and any other area under the effective control of the Government, while the "Mainland Area" refers to the territory of the ROC outside the Taiwan Area.
The position of "one Republic of China, two areas" was already determined in constitutional reforms and related legislation over 20 years ago and has not undergone any changes throughout the administrations of President Lee Teng-hui, President Chen Shui-bian, and President Ma Ying-jeou. The formulation of "one country, two areas" means "one Republic of China, two areas," and it should not be distorted by the outside world.
"One Republic of China, two areas" fully accords with the descriptions of current cross-strait relations stipulated in the ROC Constitution and the Act Governing Relations Between People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. The government's stance is that the ROC is a sovereign and independent country and that institutionalized cross-strait negotiations should be promoted under the framework of the ROC Constitution. Over the past nearly four years, the two sides have substantively entered the current phase of "mutual non-recognition of sovereignty and mutual non-denial of authority to govern." Through equal cross-strait negotiations on an official-to-official basis and with the establishment of mechanism-to-mechanism contacts between agencies on the two sides, the order of cross-strait exchanges has been regulated, further consolidating the national sovereignty of the ROC and guaranteeing Taiwan's interests.