One Country on Each Side

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One Country on Each Side (Chinese: 一邊一國; pinyin: yī biān yī guó) is a controversial concept espoused by President of the Republic of China Chen Shui-bian, regarding the political status of Taiwan. As it implies, it means that both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) are separate countries, as opposed to separate governments within the same country of China.

Chen used this phrase in an August 3, 2002 telecast to the annual conference of the World Federation of Taiwanese Associations meeting in Tokyo when he stated that it needs to be clear that "with Taiwan and China on each side of the Taiwan Strait, each side is a country." His statements were made in Taiwanese, as opposed to the Mandarin, and drew a barrage of criticism from the mainland press, which had previously shied away from the type of attacks it gave to Lee Teng-hui, who promoted a similar two-states theory.

[edit] See also

• Two Chinas