What is "Taiwan independence" and is Taiwan already independent?

Chinese leader Xi Jinping told US President Donald Trump on Monday that disagreement over Taiwan could take relations down a dangerous path and that "Taiwan independence" and peace in the Taiwan Strait were "as irreconcilable as fire and water", Reuters reported.

Reuters has compiled a list of questions and answers on what the term "Taiwan independence" means and the positions of the Chinese, US and Taiwanese governments.

What is the history of Taiwan and what is its current formal name?

Known as Formosa, this island was home to indigenous people for thousands of years, before the Dutch and Spanish briefly ruled parts of it in the 1600s.

The Chinese Qing Dynasty annexed Taiwan as part of Fujian Province in 1684 and only declared it a separate Chinese province in 1885.

After China's defeat in the war with Japan, Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895. In 1945, after the end of World War II, it passed into the hands of the government of the Republic of China.

In 1949, after being defeated by Mao Zedong's communist forces, the government of the Republic of China fled and moved its capital to Taiwan, and "Republic of China" remains the island's formal name.

Mao founded the People's Republic of China and claimed it as the sole legitimate Chinese government for all of China, including Taiwan, as the successor to the Republic of China.

What is Taiwan's international status and China's position?

For decades, the Republic of China government in Taipei also claimed to be the legitimate Chinese government, but in 1971, Beijing took over China's seat at the United Nations from Taipei.

Currently, only 12 countries maintain formal ties with Taipei, mostly small developing countries like Belize and Tuvalu.

Most major Western countries and U.S. allies maintain close unofficial ties with Taiwan, recognizing the Republic of China passport and maintaining de facto embassies in capital cities. Taiwanese citizens can travel freely to most countries using their Taiwanese passports.

China says it will not give up using force to bring Taiwan under its control. Beijing has offered Taiwan a "one country, two systems" model similar to that of Hong Kong, which promises a high degree of autonomy, although no major political party in Taiwan supports the model.

Public opinion polls in Taiwan have repeatedly shown that the majority of Taiwanese want to maintain the current status quo in relations with China.

China also claims that UN Resolution 2758, passed in 1971, means that the world legally recognizes Taiwan as part of China. This resolution states that the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government of China.

The government in Taipei says it is nonsense because the resolution does not mention Taiwan or its status. Last year, the US State Department said China was deliberately misinterpreting the resolution as part of a broader "coercive tactic to isolate Taiwan from the international community".

What is the US position?

The United States severed official ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing in 1979, but is legally obligated by the Taiwan Relations Act to provide funds for the island's defense. The United States does not officially take a position on Taiwan's sovereignty under the "One China" policy.

In 2022, the State Department also added text about the "Six Guarantees", which refer to six security guarantees from the administration of former US President Ronald Reagan, which the US declassified in 2020.

Among the assurances made in 1982 but never before formally made public were statements that the US had not set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, nor had it agreed to prior consultations with Beijing regarding those sales, nor had it agreed to revise the Taiwan Relations Act that supports US policy toward the island.

China has repeatedly demanded that the US suspend arms sales to Taiwan.

Is Taiwan already an independent country?

Taiwan, whose people elect their own leaders and whose government controls a defined territory with its own army, passport and currency, enjoys de facto independence, although it is not formally recognized by most countries.

The Taiwanese government says the "Republic of China" is a sovereign state and that Beijing has no right to speak on its behalf or represent it, given that the People's Republic of China has no influence on the selection of Taiwan's leaders and has never ruled Taiwan.

Can Taiwan declare itself the "Republic of Taiwan"?

This would be very difficult and would require parliamentary approval for constitutional changes and then a referendum, rather than a simple declaration by President Lai Ching-te.

At least 75 percent of lawmakers would need to approve the change, and currently the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) have an equal number of seats.

The DPP, in power since 2016, has not attempted to amend the constitution. The KMT strongly opposes any attempts to change the name "Republic of China".

What does the president of Taiwan say about independence?

China despises Lai and calls him a "separatist." Before Lai was elected president, he made statements about being a "practical worker for Taiwan independence." Lai claims that he simply thought that Taiwan was already an independent country.

Since taking power in 2024, Lai has said several times that the "Republic of China" and the "People's Republic of China" are not "subordinate to each other," which Beijing interprets as a belief that the two countries are separate, and therefore supports the independence narrative.

Does China have a legal framework to prevent formal independence?

In 2005, China's parliament passed the Anti-Secession Law, which gives the country the legal basis for military action against Taiwan if it declares secession or if "the possibilities for peaceful reunification are completely exhausted," but the law is vague and does not provide details.