In the 1980s, Chinese paramount leaderDeng Xiaoping proposed the "one country, two systems" in order to resolve the Taiwan issue. Although Chinese leader after Deng did not put forward a specific one country, two systems Taiwan plan, the Taiwan Affairs Office published a white paper in 1993 entitled The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification, which described the four basic points of the "peaceful reunification, one country, two systems" policy. The second and third points clearly stated that after Taiwan became a special administrative region, it would implement a capitalist system and have "high degree of autonomy". It would have independent administrative, legislative, judicial, and military powers as well as certain diplomatic powers, and manage its own party, government, military, economy, and finance. The central government would not send troops or personnel to Taiwan. Officials of the special administrative region and people from Taiwan could serve as leaders of central government agencies and manage national affairs.
On 2 January 2019, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, outlined his "Five Points" during the 40th Anniversary Commemoration of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan. Regarding the Taiwan issue, he stated that the "1992 Consensus that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China and should work together to seek national reunification", and extended Deng's Six Points proposed in 1983, proposing to "explore the ‘two systems’ Taiwan solution”, and further, unusually, publicly criticized that “different systems are not an obstacle to reunification, much less an excuse for division”. In August 2022, the State Council issued the white paper Taiwan Issue and the Cause of China’s Reunification in the New Era, which reiterated this. The Democratic Progressive Party, the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party, have each expressed their opposition to "one country, two systems" proposal.
The People’s Republic of China has promulgated four constitutions. The preamble to the 1978 constitution first mentioned that “Taiwan is a sacred part of China’s territory”. The 1982 constitution amended it to "Taiwan is a sacred part of the People’s Republic of China". Since then, it has been regarded as one of the main political beliefs of mainland China.[2] After the third plenary session of the 11th CCP Central Committee in 1978, the CCP put forward the policy of peaceful unification and "one country, two systems", hoping to achieve the unification of China by following this policy. After the handover of Hong Kong and Macau to China, the PRC applied the "one country, two systems" in those two territories, hoping to unify Taiwan using the same approach. It also proposed that after Chinese unification, Taiwan's autonomous government would enjoy greater autonomy than Hong Kong and Macau, and might even possess its own military. The government of the People's Republic of China believes that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait reached the "1992 Consensus" and uses it as the basis for negotiations.[1]
During Jiang Zemin's rule, on 1 September 1993, the Taiwan Affairs Office and the State Council Information Office issued a white paper entitled The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification, which was called the first white paper on the Taiwan issue. "Peaceful reunification and one country, two systems" has four basic points. The second point is that Taiwan's capitalist system is preserved, the current social and economic system remains unchanged, the way of life remains unchanged, and the economic and cultural relations with foreign countries remain unchanged, such as private property, houses, land, enterprise ownership, legal inheritance rights, and investments by overseas Chinese and foreigners are all protected by law. The third point is a high degree of autonomy. After unification, Taiwan would become a special administrative region. It is different from other provinces and regions of China and enjoys a high degree of autonomy. It has administrative management power, legislative power, independent judicial power and final adjudication power in Taiwan; it manages its own party, government, military, economic and financial affairs; it can sign commercial and cultural agreements with foreign countries and enjoy certain foreign affairs powers; it has its own army, and the mainland does not send troops or administrative personnel to Taiwan. Representatives from the Special Administrative Region government and various sectors of Taiwan can also assume leadership positions in national government agencies and participate in the management of national affairs.[3]
On the morning of 2 January 2019, a commemorative meeting marking the 40th anniversary of the publication of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee, delivered a speech entitled "Striving Together to Realize the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation and Promote the Peaceful Reunification of the Motherland" (Xi's Five Points). He set the tone for the 1992 Consensus as "both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China and should work together to seek national reunification", to achieve the goal of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems ", and to deepen cross-strait exchanges and achieve spiritual harmony among compatriots. However, he did not promise to renounce the use of force against Taiwan and reserved the option to take all necessary measures for the unification of Taiwan.[4]
Reactions in Taiwan
In 1982, Taiwanese President Chiang Ching-kuo told a reporter from Newsweek that the CCP was untrustworthy and that any expectation that the CCP would allow Taiwan to retain its separate socio-economic system after unification with the mainland was unrealistic. He said that it was too naive for the CCP to allow the people of the mainland to have freedom while allowing the people of Taiwan to have freedom; it was simply a fantasy that the people of the mainland could not suggest reforms to the CCP at any time while allowing the people of Taiwan to make reform suggestions at any time in the future. In 1984, Chiang Ching-kuo told US President Ronald Reagan’s special envoy Samuel W. Lewis: “The CCP has proposed the idea of one country, two systems. It is impossible for two systems to coexist in one country. The CCP is just using this to lure us, and we will not be fooled... Our Republic of China government’s policy will not change... Our policy towards the CCP is not to yield or compromise, because yielding and compromising will lead to our destruction.” He also proposed “one country, good system” to oppose the PRC's proposal.[5][6]
During his presidency, Lee Teng-hui proposed a special state-to-state relationship for the “one country, two systems” policy. The Mainland Affairs Council continued to use the “one country, good system” policy and advocated that mainland China should achieve democracy, freedom and equitable distribution of wealth.[7] After the Democratic Progressive Party came to power in 2000, the progress of talks between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait was suspended. At the same time, Chen Shui-bian also proposed the “one country on each side” theory during his presidency. This includes major political parties within Taiwan that favor unification with China, as well as many public opinions that strongly oppose the "one country, two systems" proposal, and each has put forward its own viewpoints in response.[8][6]
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen stated that the Republic of China did not reach the "1992 Consensus" with the mainland, and Taiwan will never accept "one country, two systems". She also claimed that the 1992 Consensus has been defined by China as "one China, one country, two systems", and criticized Xi Jinping for this. Tsai Ing-wen also said she believes that the Chinese government's pressure on international companies and the People's Liberation Army's military aircraft and warships circling Taiwan will not bring spiritual harmony to the people of Taiwan.[9] The Taiwan Affairs Office issued a press release criticizing Tsai Ing-wen after her speech.[10] It stated that "Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of the DPP authorities, made outrageous remarks, blatantly venting her 'two-state theory' separatist stance, going against the wishes of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to improve and develop cross-strait relations, further inciting cross-strait confrontation, and undermining the peaceful development of cross-strait relations."[10] This is the first time since Tsai Ing-wen took office in May 2016 that the Taiwan Affairs Office of the CCP Central Committee has made a characterization of the position of the Tsai Ing-wen administration in Taiwan.[10]
↑"台湾问题与中国统一" (in Simplified Chinese). 中共中央台湾工作办公室、国务院台湾事务办公室网站. 1 September 1993. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2022. 三、中国政府解决台湾问题的基本方针[……]"和平统一、一国两制"的基本点。"和平统一、一国两制"是建设有中国特色的社会主义理论和实践的重要组成部分，是中国政府一项长期不变的基本国策。这一方针，有以下基本点：[……]（二）两制并存。[……]两岸实现统一后，台湾的现行社会经济制度不变，生活方式不变，同外国的经济文化关系不变。诸如私人财产、房屋、土地、企业所有权、合法继承权、华侨和外国人投资等，一律受法律保护。（三）高度自治。统一后，台湾将成为特别行政区。它不同于中国其他一般省区，享有高度的自治权[……]
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