Two Chinas

Territories controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC) (purple) and the Republic of China (ROC) (orange). The size of minor islands controlled by the PRC, the ROC, and other countries (gray) has been exaggerated in this map for ease of identification.

Traditional Chinese

兩個中國

Simplified Chinese

两个中国

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	liǎng gè Zhōngguó (in PRC) liǎng ge Zhōngguó (in ROC)
Bopomofo	ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄍㄜ` ㄓㄨㄥㄍㄨㄛ´ (in PRC) ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄍㄜ˙ ㄓㄨㄥㄍㄨㄛ´ (in ROC)
Wade–Giles	liang³ ko⁴ chung¹-kuo² (in PRC) liang³ ko chung¹-kuo² (in ROC)
Yale Romanization	lyǎng gè Jūnggwó (in PRC) lyǎng ge Jūnggwó (in ROC)

Politics of China


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The concept of Two Chinas refers to the political divide between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). Founded in 1912, the ROC governed mainland China until the Chinese Communist Party established the PRC in 1949, forcing the ROC to retreat to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War. Both are rival governments claiming to be the sole legitimate authority over all of China (One China), encompassing mainland China and Taiwan, and neither recognizes the other’s legitimacy.

Today, they operate as separate entities with different political systems and ideologies. The differences between the two Chinas are stark, with the PRC being a one-party communist state and the ROC a multi-party democracy after transitioning from one-party military rule. Both countries maintain separate diplomatic relations.