Chinese Reunification

Chinese reunification (simplified Chinese: 中国统一; traditional Chinese: 中國統一; pinyin: Zhōngguó tǒngyī) refers to the bringing together of all of the territories controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) under a single political entity. After Hong Kong and Macau were reunited with mainland China under the rule of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the outstanding goal for advocates of Chinese reunification is the unification of mainland China (including Hong Kong and Macau) and Taiwan (including Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu Islands). Since 1945, Taiwan has been controlled by the ROC. Before the 1990s, both the PRC and the ROC claimed to be the legal government of the whole of China and Taiwan. Supporters of Chinese reunification believe it would eliminate the competing factions in an unresolved civil war and re-unify China under a single national government.

The idea of Chinese reunification is controversial, as is the term "reunification" itself, with varying and sometimes conflicting definitions. Supporters of unification contend that PRC and ROC are the legacy left from the Chinese Civil War, and that both Taiwan (currently under the administration of the ROC) and mainland China (currently under the administration of the PRC) are parts of China. Many supporters of Taiwanese independence fear that unification would hurt the democratic progress in the ROC; and some contend that Taiwan is not part of China.

Chinese reunification is supported in both official policy and in action by the government of the People's Republic of China. The official policy of the Republic of China, the government that has ruled Taiwan since acquiring it from Japan in 1945, supports Chinese reunification in the sense that the united body would be governed by the ROC, and not the PRC. Chinese reunification at some point in the future is supported to varying degrees in Taiwan by the Kuomintang (KMT), the People First Party, and the New Party, known collectively as the Pan-blue coalition. It is opposed to varying degrees by the Democratic Progressive Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union, known collectively as the Pan-green coalition.

Opponents of reunification generally favor continued independence for the Republic of China or another government controlling the same territories. Many object to the term "reunification" as it implies that Taiwan is part of China. Within the political scene of Taiwan, reunification versus independence plays an important role in defining the political spectrum, although much of the support for either bloc is unrelated to the reunification versus independence issue and most people in Taiwan are in the middle of the spectrum.