The seemingly facile question of what to call Taiwan is politically sensitive and hotly contested. Strictly speaking, “Taiwan” is a geographical term referring to the largest of four islands under the jurisdiction of the ROC – Taiwan, Kinmen, Penghu and Matsu.1 But where does seeing Taiwan as a geographic location and the ROC as a contested state begin to blur? What is the difference between Taiwan and the ROC? Although some observers imply that ROC is merely Taiwan's “formal name” it is more complicated than that. Indeed, Taiwan's relationship to the ROC is not straightforward. The continued existence of the ROC is crucial to understanding Taiwan's international situation, its relations with the PRC and Taiwanese domestic political competition. Empirically speaking, the ROC is a discrete, functionally autonomous, liberal democratic polity that is de facto independent. The ROC has its own distinct political system, currency and military. It raises its own taxes and conducts its own foreign policy, albeit within parameters that are affected by its disputed status. The ROC cannot participate in international organizations for which statehood is a membership criteria, and the PRC even attempts to influence what Taiwan can do informally.

THE ROC–KMT CONNECTION

The KMT has its roots in organizations formed as the Qing dynasty collapsed and revolutionaries like Sun Yat-sen put forward alternatives for China's future. The KMT evolved out of two revolutionary groups founded by Sun, the Revive China Society (Xing Zhong Hui, founded in Hawaii in 1894) and the United League (Tong Meng Hui, founded in Tokyo in 1905), as vehicles for overthrowing a Qing government besieged by imperial aggressors, domestic rebellion and internal dysfunction.

Following the conclusion of the Xinhai Revolution that ended dynastic China in 1911, Sun became the first (temporary) leader of the ROC. Sun also went on to oversee the foundation of the KMT, the Chinese Nationalist Party to give it its full name, in 1919. After Sun's death in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek assumed leadership of the KMT and reunified a country fragmented by warlordism under the leadership of his Nationalist government. The ROC and KMT have always been intimately connected, and the legacy of this connection created complexities many decades later in Taiwan.