The Republic of China (ROC) was founded January 1, 1912. Its name, set forth in the Constitution of the Republic, has not changed since 1912 although today, for obvious reasons, the Republic of China is also known as "Free China."
The constitutional capital of the Republic of China is Nanking, in central China. During one period of the Sino-Japanese War, the central government of the ROC moved its capital from Nanking to Chungking, in Szechwan Province. But when the war with Japan ended in 1945, it moved back to Nanking. After the Chinese Communists' usurpation of the China mainland in 1949, the central government of the ROC moved from Nanking to Taipei, Taiwan, where it continues to operate today.
Taiwan is a large island 100 miles southeast of the Fukien coast of the Chinese mainland. There are three separate political areas located on Taiwan: Taiwan Province, Taipei Municipality and Kaohsiung Municipality*. The Taipei and Kaohsiung municipalities are special districts (similar to Washinglon D.C.) under the direct administration of the central government. The provincial seat of Taiwan Province, formerly in Taipei, was moved to Nantou county, central Taiwan, in 1957.
The central government of the Republic of China governs not only Taiwan Province, Taipei Municipality and Kaohsiung Municipality, but also island groups belonging to Fukien Province (Quemoy and Matsu) and the Spratly and Pratas Island chains in the South China Sea.
Contrary to common (though incorrect) usage, there is no country bearing the name "Taiwan," which refers only to the island, a province of the ROC, and has no other geographical or political identity. The people on Taiwan and other territories under the control of the ROC are all Chinese. Residents of Taiwan migrated from the various provinces of the Chinese mainland over the course of some three hundred years, beginning in the mid-17th century.
Migrants to Taiwan who were born in Fukien Province on the mainland still call themselves "Fukienese," migrants from Canton are still known as "Cantonese" and so on throughout all the provinces of China. According to Chinese family tradition, children have the same provincial or ethnic derivation as their parents, regardless of where the children are born. For example, a child born to Fukienese parents living in Taipei is not "Taiwanese;" he or she is still "Fukienese." A child born to Hunanese parents who reside in southern Taiwan is also Hunanese, and so on. The natives of Quemoy and Matsu are Fukienese in origin, because the islands are part of Fukien Province. Only those persons born to families that have been in Taiwan for generations are known as Taiwanese.
Consequently, it is inaccurate to speak of the people of Free China as being "Taiwanese" only. Free China is a melting pot of many different ethnic and provincial Chinese groups, all of which naturally have their ancestral roots in mainland China. Therefore, in a broader cultural, national and ethnic sense, the people of the ROC are all Chinese - just as Texans and New Yorkers fall under the broader term "Americans."
Because the mainland of China is presently controlled by the Chinese Communists, there is a tendency by some outsiders to seek other designations for the Republic of China on Taiwan. The territories under the control of Free China are often referred to as "Taiwan" and the people who live in Free China "Taiwanese." Both references are incorrect; the former shows little or no respect for the sovereignty of the ROC, while the latter ignores Chinese customs and traditions - developed over the last two or three thousand years - and practiced by nearly all Chinese.
Regardless of what the outside world wishes to call the Chinese Communist regime, and regardless of what the Chinese Communists call themselves, the Republic of China is entitled to the same right as any other sovereign state - the right to be called by its own legal, constitutional name, which in this case remains the Republic of China and not Taiwan. Taiwan is part of the ROC (not a part of Communist China) and should not be mistakenly used to refer to the parent.
The province of Taiwan operates under the central government of the Republic of China. It has a governor, other provincial officials and an assembly of its own. The Taipei and Kaohsiung municipalities have mayors and councils, while the Spratly and Pratas Island chains are governed by a military administration established in June, 1967, under the General Political Warfare Department of the Ministry of Defense. But, because Taiwan Province, the two municipalities and the other offshore islands are all local entities, their jurisdictions are limited as such. The same is true for Quemoy and Matsu which are under the Fukien Province locality and are governed by magistrates. Matters of international affairs, the national economy and other na¬tional concerns are handled by the central government.
In the final analysis, the only correct and accurate designation for the central government located in Taipei is "Government of the Republic of China." The only correct designation for the people of Free China, on a collective basis, is "Chinese."** Only when specific reference is made to the provincial background of a Chinese can terms like Taiwanese, Cantonese and Hunanese be adopted. The continued incorrect usage of the terms "Taiwan" and "Taiwanese" serves only to misrepresent the legitimate sovereignty of the Republic of China and seeks further to obscure the aspiration of her people to return democracy and freedom to their compatriots on the mainland of China.
*One of the main qualifications for elevation of a city to the status of a special municipality under the direct jurisdiction of the Cabinet is a minimal population of one million.
** The Term "Free Chinese" is acceptable here. However the 'international news media often use "Nationalist China" instead of "the ROC," and "Nationalist Chinese" instead of "Chinese" or "Taiwanese" in Free China.