Secession in China

• Taiwan is not included in this list because it has never been governed by the People's Republic of China.

Claimed Territory	Currently Under	Capital City	Area	Population	Ethnic Group	Primary Independence Movement
Canton	Guangdong	Guangzhou (Kwangchow)	179,800	113,000,000	Cantonese people	Canton independence movement
East Turkestan	Xinjiang	Ürümqi	1,700,000	20,000,000	Uyghur people	East Turkestan independence movement
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	1,110	7,500,000	Hong Kong people	Hong Kong independence movement
Inner Mongolia	Inner Mongolia	Hohhot	1,183,000	25,000,000	Chinese Mongols	Inner Mongolian independence movement
Macau	Macau	Macau	115	700,000	Macau people	Macau independence movement
Manchuria	Heilongjiang Jiling Liaoning	Harbin (Halbin)	787,000	112,000,000	Manchu people	Manchukuo Temporary Government
Tibet	Tibet Autonomous Region Qinghai	Lhasa	2,500,000	10,000,000	Tibetan people	Tibetan independence movement

ROC-controlled territories

Taiwan (ROC) is a state with limited recognition located primarily on the main island of Taiwan, as well as some satellite islands surrounding Taiwan, including the archipelagos of Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. The political status of Kinmen and Matsu within Taiwan is disputed.

Taiwan (ROC) was preceded by two states which have, essentially, been in the process of merging into a single state since 1945.

• Japanese Formosa (Taiwan) — This state was a colony of the Japanese Empire for fifty years. The Japanese Empire had acquired the territory of Taiwan from the Qing dynasty (of China) after winning the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. Due to the fact that Japanese Formosa previously belonged to a Chinese regime, future Chinese regimes would all lay claim to Japanese Formosa after winning the Second Sino-Japanese War.
• Republic of China (1912–1949) — This state once represented China in the United Nations. However, in 1949, the state lost the Chinese Civil War against the Chinese Communist Party and was forced to flee from its own borders and into Japanese Formosa. The Republic of China had recently occupied and annexed Japanese Formosa four years earlier, in 1945. This left a unique situation wherein the rump-state of the Republic of China was, essentially, overlapping with the remnants of a now-defunct Japanese Formosa. Note that this was not a perfect overlap since the Republic of China still managed to hold onto a few small pieces of China, namely Kinmen (including Wuqiu) and Matsu.

In modern times, the political status of Taiwan has developed into, perhaps, one of the most unique geopolitical anomalies currently in existence worldwide. The revolutionary forces that drove the Republic of China out of China and into Taiwan established a new Chinese regime shortly before this occurred, and named it the "People's Republic of China". This regime not only lays claim to all of the Republic of China's previously-held territory in China but also the Republic of China's newly acquired territory in Taiwan. To this day, the People's Republic of China is still laying claim to Taiwan, and the Republic of China still controls Taiwan.

Topography of Taiwan

Officially, Taiwan (ROC) is home to two main native ethnic groups, the Han Chinese (aka "Han Taiwanese") and the Taiwanese indigenous peoples (who are ethnically Austronesian). Additionally, these two main native ethnic groups can be classified into several subdivisions. Regarding the Han Chinese, they can be divided into the Taiwanese Hoklo people, the Taiwanese Hakka people, and the somewhat outdated term "Mainland Chinese in Taiwan (ROC)" (which refers to Mainland Chinese people who migrated to the territory of Taiwan during the late-1940s and early-1950s). Regarding the Taiwanese indigenous peoples, there are currently sixteen officially recognized tribes, and perhaps several more which are officially unrecognized.

The Taiwanese Hoklo and Taiwanese Hakka peoples, as well as, occasionally, the Taiwanese indigenous peoples, are often collectively referred to as "Taiwanese Benshengren" by the peoples of Taiwan (ROC), which roughly translates to "Original Province Person(s)". Meanwhile, the Mainland Chinese in Taiwan (ROC) (not to be confused with PRC citizens in Taiwan), who originate from various provinces of China, are often referred to as "Taiwanese Waishengren" by the peoples of Taiwan (ROC), which roughly translates to "Outside Province Person(s)".

These are the respective proportionate populations of these ethnic groups in Taiwan (ROC).

• Taiwanese Benshengren people make up around 84% of the native population of Taiwan (ROC).
  • Taiwanese Hoklo people make up around 70% of the native population of Taiwan (ROC).
  • Taiwanese Hakka people make up around 14% of the native population of Taiwan (ROC).
• Taiwanese Waishengren people make up around 14% of the native population of Taiwan (ROC).
• Taiwanese indigenous peoples make up around 2% of the native population of Taiwan (ROC).

Furthermore, the peoples of Kinmen and Matsu may identify themselves as "Kinmenese" and "Matsunese", respectively. The Kinmenese and Matsunese peoples are mostly Hoklo (Han) people, but whether they identify as "Taiwanese" is inconsistent throughout their populations. Historically, Kinmen and Matsu were parts of Fujian Province, China, and were never parts of Japanese Formosa or other historical Taiwanese regimes. However, Kinmen and Matsu have been administered by Taiwan (ROC) ever since 1949 (and by the ROC since it ruled mainland China). As such, although Kinmen and Matsu are not technically parts of the territory of Taiwan, many people living in these territories or originating from them view themselves as "Taiwanese", in a variety of contexts. Conversely, many people living in these territories still identify as Mainland Chinese, distinct from "Mainland Chinese in Taiwan (ROC)" or "Taiwanese Waishengren".

China (PRC) claims Taiwan and Penghu as its own province and hence has its own ethnic classifications for the native ethnic groups. However, most countries disregard these ethnic classifications in favour of the local ethnic classifications defined by Taiwan (ROC).

According to China (PRC), Taiwan is divided into the Han Chinese and the Gaoshan people. "Gaoshanren" means "High mountain person(s)" and refers to the various Taiwanese indigenous peoples as a single ethnic group.

Taiwan independence is a complex movement with many different parties being involved. The party which is most commonly associated with the movement is the Pan-Green Coalition, a collective of several political parties which advocate for the independence of a multicultural sovereign state on Taiwan and Penghu (and sometimes also the ROC-controlled territories of Kinmen and Matsu) by the name of the "Republic of Taiwan". This movement is the most well-known one internationally since the most senior political party in the Pan-Green Coalition, the Democratic Progressive Party, has risen to power in Taiwan (ROC) twice within the past two decades. Notably, this has been achieved by democratic elections, rather than by military coup. This indicates that there is widespread support (or, at the very least, complacency) in Taiwan (ROC) regarding the Taiwan independence movement (as defined by the Pan-Green Coalition).

Other major political parties associated with the Pan-Green Coalition include the New Power Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union. Additionally the organization World United Formosans for Independence is an ally of the Pan-Green Coalition.

While many Taiwanese indigenous people(s) support the Pan-Green Coalition, many also support the Taiwan First Nations Party, a political party in Taiwan (ROC) which specifically advocates for the autonomy or possible independence of the Taiwan indigenous peoples. The Council of Indigenous Peoples is also closely affiliated with the movement advocating for Taiwanese indigenous autonomy or independence. An autonomous or independent Taiwanese indigenous state might be named "Aborigines of Taiwan's Autonomy".[3]

The relationship of China with Taiwan is confusing and convoluted. Simply put, Taiwan (ROC) is an independent country which is competing with China (PRC) for recognition as the sole legitimate government of China, and within Taiwan (ROC) there is a nationwide secessionist movement which has garnered the support of roughly half the country. The secessionist movement in Taiwan (ROC) is equally aimed at both the Taiwan (ROC) government itself as well as the China (PRC) government which is claiming the entirety of Taiwan (ROC) as its own territory.

China (PRC) is widely recognized as the legitimate government of both China and Taiwan. This means that the Taiwan (ROC) country is not only fighting against Taiwanese secessionists, but also against China (PRC) simultaneously. Compared to China (PRC), Taiwan (ROC) is at a severe disadvantage but isn't completely powerless, since most of the world isn't too supportive of the possible dissolving of the Taiwan (ROC) country. However, the sovereignty of Taiwan (ROC) is being critically threatened by the Taiwan independence movement, which essentially aims to overthrow Taiwan (ROC).

China (PRC) considers Taiwan area, which is currently administered by Taiwan (ROC), as part of its own territory, and forces other countries to abide by a "One-China policy" as a prerequisite for establishing official diplomatic relations with China (PRC). The One-China policy is aimed at both the rival Chinese government known as the "Republic of China", as well as the localist Taiwan independence movement. In 2005, China (PRC) passed the "Anti-Secession Law" in an attempt to suppress the Taiwan independence movement.

The Pan-Blue Coalition of Taiwan (ROC) is an alliance of political parties which are loyal to the ROC, currently restricted to the territory of Taiwan and some minor islands of Fujian Province. The Pan-Blue Coalition asserts that the ROC is the sole legitimate government of all of China, which consists of "both mainland China and Taiwan", and that the ROC has never for a single day lost its sovereignty. The Pan-Blue Coalition is opposed to Taiwan independence but is also opposed to a PRC takeover of Taiwan.

The Tibetans are an ethnic group in Tibet that is distinct from the Han Chinese. Their proposed state is Tibet. Supporters of Tibetan independence believe that Tibet is a distinct country which is being occupied by China (PRC). The Tibet region was independent before the Mongols invaded the Tibet region and incorporated it into the Mongol Empire. After this, Tibet became part of the Yuan dynasty (of China), then the Qing dynasty (of China), then experienced a few decades of de facto independence before it was incorporated into China (PRC).

After the failed Tibetan uprising, some Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama into India, establishing a government-in-exile called the Central Tibetan Administration,[4] a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, in Dharmashala, Himachal Pradesh, India. The major political parties in Tibet are the International Tibet Independence Movement and the National Democratic Party of Tibet.[5] Their advocacy groups include the Students for a Free Tibet, the Tibetan Youth Congress, and the International Campaign for Tibet.

The movement is no longer supported by the 14th Dalai Lama, who although having advocated it from 1961 to the late 1970s, proposed a sort of high-level autonomy in a speech in Strasbourg in 1988,[6] and has since then restricted his position to either autonomy for the Tibetan people in the Tibet Autonomous Region within China,[7] or extending the area of the autonomy to include parts of neighboring Chinese provinces inhabited by Tibetans.[8]

Xinjiang is home to several ethnic groups, including the Uyghurs, the Kazakhs, the Tajiks, as well as the Han Chinese.

The ethnic Uyghur people view themselves as indigenous to Xinjiang, but the government of China (PRC) opposes this notion. Whether they are indigenous is very significant, because it defines whether Xinjiang "belongs" to the Uyghurs or to China (PRC). China (PRC) has been in the process of encouraging Han Chinese settlement in Xinjiang for several decades, which is a source of concern for the Uyghur secessionists of Xinjiang.

The Uyghur secessionists propose independence for Xinjiang as East Turkestan. The borders of the proposed state will roughly match the borders of the Chinese autonomous region which currently occupies the territory. Uyghur secessionists have set up a government-in-exile called the East Turkestan Government in Exile.

The main advocacy group of Uyghur independence is the World Uyghur Congress, a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.

Several armed insurgency groups are fighting the Chinese (PRC) government in Xinjiang, namely the Turkestan Islamic Party and the East Turkestan Liberation Organization, which some people consider to be associated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.[9]

In response, China (PRC) has established so-called "re-education camps" in Xinjiang, allegedly as a measure to deal with this violent insurgency, which China (PRC) has labelled as "terrorism".

These re-education camps have become a huge source of controversy in the West, due to concerns that they are imprisoning ethnic Uyghurs and other native Muslims en masse without trial.

China (PRC) claims that the World Uyghur Congress is formally associated with terrorist groups in Xinjiang, but this has yet to be proven.

The region of Inner Mongolia is home to several ethnic groups, namely the Han Chinese and Mongolians.

Some Mongolians in Inner Mongolia advocate for the independence of Inner Mongolia as a new country named Republic of South Mongolia or unification with Mongolia.

South Mongolian independence is supported by these political parties: the Inner Mongolian People's Party, a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization; the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance;[10] and the Mongolian Liberal Union Party.[11]

The region of Canton is currently part of the Province of Guangdong. It is the homeland of the Cantonese.

In modern China, it has been supported by Kang Youwei, Ou Jiajia and Ou Shi. On March 12, 2018, the media reported that many public facilities in Guangzhou were written with the traditional characters "Guangzhou Independence Hong Kong", "Guangdong Independence", and "Free Cantonia". They were spread on transportation and footpaths.

On August 23, 2019, the anti-communist independence movement party conference jointly organized by Shanghai National Party and Uyghur American Association was held in Washington, D.C. Participants include Hong Kong, East Turkistan, South Mongolia, supporters of independent movements in Guangdong and other places, and China Democracy Movement people.

Hong Kong is a highly autonomous city that is under Chinese sovereignty but operates as an independent country in many respects and is somewhat comparable to a dependency. Officially, Hong Kong is considered to be a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Geographically, Hong Kong is attached to mainland China via Guangdong Province in the south but lies mostly on a small peninsula, of which Kowloon Peninsula is a part, as well as many small islands nearby to the peninsula, the most notable of which is Hong Kong Island.

Historically, Hong Kong Island was ceded by the Qing dynasty to the British Empire in 1842 following the British victory in the First Opium War and was promptly developed into a British colony. The nearby Kowloon Peninsula was ceded in 1860 following the British victory in the Second Opium War and was incorporated into Hong Kong. Finally, the last major territorial acquisition was the nearby New Territories, leased by the British for 99 years in 1898 by means of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory; this territorial change was made in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War, which Hong Kong was not directly involved in.

In 1997, the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration in order to transfer Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China. China agreed to govern Hong Kong under a so-called "One Country Two Systems" framework, which would grant Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy whilst simultaneously granting China sovereignty over Hong Kong.

The three main regions of Hong Kong, consisting of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, and the New Territories, were all under British rule for different lengths of time, ranging from 99 to 155 years. Due to this lengthy period of British rule, Hong Kong's infrastructure, society, and culture became broadly British. Hong Kong also developed a distinct culture from mainland China because many Mainland Chinese immigrated to Hong Kong, often illegally, in order to escape persecution by the Communist Party of China or to seek better living standards. Most of the Mainland Chinese immigrants to Hong Kong were Cantonese people, though there were also significant numbers of Hoklo, Teochew, Hakka, and Shanghainese immigrants. In the present day, the vast majority of Hong Kong people can trace their ancestry, whether fully or partially, to these Cantonese immigrants or others who came to Hong Kong throughout the 20th century. Native Hong Kong people, that is, people who were living in Hong Kong prior to British rule, constitute a minority of the population. Hong Kong also hosts minority populations of South Asians, Southeast Asians, Europeans, North Americans, and other broad ethnic groups.

The Hong Kong independence movement advocates for the full independence of Hong Kong as a "city-state", similar to Singapore. Related sovereign movements in Hong Kong include the movement to maintain Hong Kong's status as a "Special Administrative Region" indefinitely, the movement to return Hong Kong to British rule, the movement to admit Hong Kong into the United States of America, and the movement to admit Hong Kong into the Republic of China (Taiwan).