After its loss of the
mainland to the
Communist Party in the
Chinese Civil War and its
retreat to Taiwan in 1949, the
Nationalist Party continued to regard the Republic of China as the internationally recognized sole legitimate government of
China. The jurisdiction of the Republic was restricted to
Taiwan, the
Penghu, and a few islands off
Fujian, but the Republic of China has never retracted its claim to mainland China. Moreover, the Kuomintang government in Taiwan
unilaterally overturned its recognition of
Mongolia in 1953. Accordingly, the official first-order divisions of Republic of China remain the historical divisions of China immediately prior to the loss of mainland China and maps of
China and the world published in Taiwan sometimes show provincial and national boundaries as they were in 1949, ignoring changes made by the
Communist government and including
Outer Mongolia (includes
Tannu Uriankhai),
Jiangxinpo (northern
Burma/
Kachin State), as part of the Republic. Until 1998, the authorities in Taiwan still published relevant maps. As of the ROC government suspends publication of relevant administrative codes in 2005, Although the administration of
pro-independence President
Chen Shui-bian (2000–2008) did not actively claim sovereignty over all of China, the relevant laws involving
mainland China ruled by the CCP remain unchanged. Thus, the claimed area of the ROC continues to include mainland China, several off-shore islands, and Taiwan. Beginning in 2006, the ROC Yearbook, under Chen's administration, ceased displaying official administrative divisions in
mainland China. It recognized two
provinces (
Taiwan and
Fujian) and two
special municipalities (
Taipei and
Kaohsiung). President
Ma Ying-jeou reasserted the ROC's claim to be the sole legitimate government of China and the claim that mainland China is part of ROC's territory. He did not, however, actively seek reunification, and preferred to maintain an ambiguous
status quo in order to improve relations with the PRC. On May 21, 2012, the
Mainland Affairs Council released a press announcement that said that Outer Mongolia has never been part of its
constitutionally claimed territory. In 2016, a pre-1949 map of the ROC was installed in the Legislative Yuan which drew the ire of the lawmakers who called for the removal or replacement of a map in the Legislative Yuan which shows Nanjing as the ROC capital, and portrays Mongolia as part of its territory despite it was recognized again in 2002. Kuomintang legislator
William Tseng said that the map is accurate, until the Constitution and laws are amended to change the nation's official territory while
DPP lawmaker
Chen Ting-fei stated, "With the way it portrays the ROC territory, that map is like one from a parallel universe—it is out of step with current thinking." Eventually, this outdated world map was removed and replaced with maps of Taiwan from different periods. After the streamlining of Fujian and Taiwan provincial governments in 1956 and 1998, the
Tsai Ing-wen administration
de facto abolished the
Taiwan Provincial Government on 1 July 2018 and the
Fujian Provincial Government on 1 January 2019. With the first-level provinces retained under its constitutional structure, the
Executive Yuan now administers the second-level 13 counties and 3 provincial cities (autonomous municipalities) in its place along with the 6 special municipalities. ==See also==