Chinese legitimacy issue

Chinese legitimacy issue (Chinese: 中國代表權問題) is the issue regarding the political legitimacy of representing "China", and what polity is considered as "legitimate government of China" or "legitimate representative of China".

From 1911 to 1949, "China" was unambiguously represented globally by the Republic of China (ROC). On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was created by the communist victors of the Chinese Civil War with control over mainland China, with the ROC retreating to Taiwan. Both claim to be the only legitimate representative of "China".

In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758 recognized the PRC as "China"'s representative, and the PRC replaced the ROC in the UN. Since then, most countries have recognized the PRC as "China", though many maintain informal relations with the ROC.

Since the creation of the PRC, the political status of Taiwan has been in dispute. According to the PRC, the UN resolution's recognition of representation extends also to Taiwan, which is why the PRC should be the legitimate representative. However, the ROC disputes this, and historically claimed to be the representative of China in line with its One China principle. However, the government has in recent years been more accepting of the Two Chinas reality based on the 1992 Consensus.