Mainland China

"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addition to the geographical mainland, the geopolitical sense of the term includes islands such as Hainan, Chongming, and Zhoushan. By convention, territories outside of mainland China include:
 * Special administrative regions of the PRC, which are regarded as subdivisions of the country, but retain distinct administrative, judicial and economic systems from those on the mainland:
 * Hong Kong, formerly a British colony
 * Macau, formerly a Portuguese colony
 * Territories administered by the Republic of China (ROC), including the island of Taiwan and the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, along with the Kinmen and Matsu islands off the coast of Fujian.

In Taiwan it is also often used to refer to all territories administered by the PRC. The term is widely used in all of the above territories as well as internationally, including by many Overseas Chinese communities.

Background
In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army had largely defeated the Kuomintang (KMT)'s National Revolutionary Army in the Chinese Civil War. This forced the Kuomintang to relocate the government and institution of the Republic of China to the relative safety of Taiwan, an island which was placed under its control after the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II in 1945. With the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, the CCP-controlled government saw itself as the sole legitimate government of China, competing with the claims of the Republic of China, whose authority is now limited to Taiwan and other islands. This resulted in a situation in which two co-existing governments competed for international legitimacy and recognition as the "government of China". With the democratisation of Taiwan in the 1990s and the rise of the Taiwanese independence movement, some people began simply using the term "China" instead.

Due to their status as colonies of foreign states during the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the phrase "mainland China" excludes Hong Kong and Macau. Since the return of Hong Kong and Macau to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 and 1999, respectively, the two territories have retained their legal, political, and economic systems. The territories also have their distinct identities. Therefore, "mainland China" generally continues to exclude these territories, because of the "one country, two systems" policy adopted by the Chinese government towards the regions. The term is also used in economic indicators, such as the IMD Competitiveness Report. International news media often use "China" to refer only to mainland China or the People's Republic of China.

People's Republic of China
The Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China defines two terms in Chinese that are translated to "mainland":
 * Dàlù, which means 'the continent'.
 * Nèidì, literally 'inland' or 'inner land'. It excludes Hong Kong and Macau.

In the PRC, usage of the two terms is not strictly interchangeable. To emphasise the One-China policy and not give the ROC "equal footing" in cross-strait relations, the term must be used in PRC's official contexts with reference to Taiwan (with the PRC referring to itself as the "mainland side" dealing with the "Taiwan side"). In fact, the PRC government mandates that journalists use “Taiwan” and “the Mainland” (Dàlù) as corresponding concepts.

But in terms of Hong Kong and Macau, the PRC government refers to itself as "the Central People's Government". In the People's Republic of China, the term 内地 (Nèidì, 'inland') is often contrasted with the term 境外 ('outside the border') for things outside the mainland region. Examples include "Administration of Foreign-funded Banks" or the "Measures on Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign Insurance Institutions".

Hainan is an island, but is nevertheless commonly considered to be part of the "mainland" politically, because its government, legal and political systems do not differ from the rest of the PRC. Nonetheless, Hainanese people still refer to the geographic mainland as "the mainland" and call its residents "mainlanders".

Before 1949, the Kinmen and Matsu islands, were jointly governed with the rest of Fujian Province under successive Chinese governments. The two territories are generally considered to belong to the same historical region, Fujian Province, which has been divided since 1949 as a result of the civil war. However, because they are not controlled by the PRC, they are not included as part of "mainland China."

Hong Kong and Macau
Hong Kong and Macau are both territories of the PRC. However, due to the One Country, Two Systems policy, the two regions maintain a high degree of autonomy, hence they are not governed as part of mainland China.

Geologically speaking, Hong Kong and Macau are both connected to mainland China in certain areas (e.g. the north of the New Territories). Additionally, the islands contained within Hong Kong (e.g. Hong Kong Island) and Macau are much closer to mainland China than Taiwan and Hainan, and are much smaller.

In Hong Kong and Macau, the terms "mainland China" and "mainlander" are frequently used for people from PRC-governed areas (i.e. not Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau). The Chinese term Neidi, meaning the inland but still translated mainland in English, is commonly applied by SAR governments to represent non-SAR areas of PRC, including Hainan province and coastal regions of mainland China, such as "Constitutional and Mainland Affairs" (政制及內地事務局) and Immigration Departments. In the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (as well as the Mainland and Macau Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) the CPG also uses the Chinese characters 内地 "inner land", with the note that they refer to the "customs territory of China".

Taiwan (Republic of China)


References to the PRC and other lost continental territories as the mainland began appearing in Taiwan state documents as early as 1954.

Legal definitions followed in the 1990s. The 1991 Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China stated that "the handling of people's rights and obligations and other affairs between the free area and the mainland can be specially stipulated by law", and used the legal term "mainland area" without defining its geographical boundaries. The 1992 Regulations on the Relations between the People in Taiwan and the Mainland defined "Taiwan" as areas controlled by the ROC and "mainland" as "the territory of the Republic of China." The related Cross-Strait Act called those under PRC jurisdiction - excluding those in Hong Kong and Macau - as "people of the mainland area", and used "free area of the Republic of China" to describe areas under ROC control. The issue on the mainland's territory also stated in the Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 328 in 1993. In 2012, the Supreme Court of the Republic of China's judgment #900 labeled the Macao Special Administrative Region as the "Mainland's Macau Area". The 2002 amendments to the Implementation Rules of the Regulations on People Relations between Taiwan and mainland China defined the mainland as areas claimed but not controlled by the ROC, corresponding to "areas under control of the Chinese Communists" (within the de facto borders of the People's Republic of China).

Views of the term "mainland China" (中國大陸) vary on Taiwan. During the Dangguo era, the KMT had previously referred to the territories under the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by several different names, e.g. "(territory controlled by the) Communist bandits", "occupied/unfree area (of China)", "Communist China" (as opposed to either "Nationalist China" or "Democratic China"), "Red China" (as opposed to "Blue China"), and "mainland China (area)". In modern times, many of these terms have fallen out of use. The terms "mainland China" (中國大陸) or "the mainland" (大陸) still remain in popular use, but some also simply use the term "China" (中國). The former term is generally preferred by the Pan-Blue Coalition led by the KMT, while the latter term is preferred by the Pan-Green Coalition led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which opposes the term "mainland" and its suggestion that Taiwan is part of China. This has caused many political debates.

Other terms
Other geography-related terms which are used to avoid mentioning the political status of the PRC and ROC.