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( Taiwan Area)
The "Free Area of the Republic of China" (traditional Chinese ????????), is a legal and political description referring to the territories of the Republic of China under the control of its government. At present, it corresponds generally to the island groups of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and some minor islands. It is therefore also referred to as the "Taiwan Area of the Republic of China". The term "Free Area" or "Free China" was used during the Second Sino-Japanese War to describe the territories under the control of the Kuomintang (KMT) government in Chongqing (then romanised as Chungking) (as opposed to the parts of China under Japanese occupation, including Nanjing (Nanking) the capital of the Republic of China until the Japanese invasion in 1937). This term came into usage again amid the Cold War. Following the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the People's Republic of China was established by the Communists in control of mainland China while the ruling Kuomintang government retreated to Taiwan and declared Taipei to be the provisional capital of the Republic of China. The KMT viewed the Communist-declared People's Republic of China as an illegitimate entity and regarded its government to be the sole legitimate government of China. Mainland China was declared to be in a state of "Communist Rebellion" (the "Period of Communist Rebellion" would be officially terminated by the ROC government in 1991). To support this view, the KMT referred to the territories under its control as the "Free Area" to distinguish itself from the territories under the Communists, whom the KMT tried to portray as oppressive and totalitarian.
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