> most of Taiwan's population consider Taiwan and (mainland) China to be one entity
I very much doubt this is true — post a source, if you’ve got one
I very much doubt this is true — post a source, if you’ve got one
I can offer a link to ROC constitution (above):
> Because the ROC constitution is, at least nominally, the constitution of all China, the amendments avoided any specific reference to the Taiwan area ...
Or this passage:
> The position of the PRC and the KMT in Taiwan remains that there is only one sovereign entity of China, united and indivisible.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Chinas#Current_situation
Or this passage:
> Domestically, the major political contention is between the Pan-Blue Coalition, which favors eventual Chinese unification under the ROC and promoting a pan-Chinese identity, ...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan
Or this passage:
> As of the 2008 election of President Ma Ying-jeou, the KMT agreed to the One China principle, but defined it as led by [ROC] rather than [PRC].
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_unification#Rise_of_th...
(KMT/Pan-Blue are the biggest party historically and currently, however Pan-Green were a majority recently.)
Or this poll result: (2024)
Independence as soon as possible 3.8%
Maintain status quo, move toward independence 22.4%
Maintain status quo, decide at a later date 27.3%
Maintain status quo indefinitely 33.6%
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_independence_movement#O...
That is irrelevant. The map is not the territory. They are two countries in reality; that is, they operate as two separate sovereign countries in every practical way, regardless of what legal fictions are maintained for political reasons.
This atlas is presumably supposed to be about reality, not about legal fictions.
(BTW: North Korea and South Korea officially claimed to be one country until very recently, and South Korea still does. But every map in the outside world shows them as two. Why should China and Taiwan be treated differently?)
It only looks like this from the West, where the support for independent Taiwan is much higher than in Taiwan itself (not to speak of PRC where it's non-existent.) People in Taiwan don't perceive China as a different country (the way that French perceive Germany for example) but rather as a different (unfortunate) regime over the same nation.
> This atlas is presumably supposed to be about reality, not about legal fictions.
With the current reality in east Ukraine/Georgia/Northern Cyprus/Israel-Palestine/Kosovo/etc.etc.etc., I'm not sure if it's ever possible to get a map that will satisfy everybody, as what is "legal fiction" to you might be "internationally recognised borders" for someone else.
I think this misses the point. It doesn't matter if 0% or 50% or 100% of people in Taiwan or anywhere else believe that Taiwan is legitimately independent. That has no bearing on whether it actually is, in practice.
An "Atlas of World History" should strive to portray who actually controls territory in the real world, regardless of whether that control is "recognized" or "legitimate". Otherwise it is an "Atlas of Political Thought" or "Atlas of International Law" or something else.
> With the current reality in east Ukraine/Georgia/Northern Cyprus/Israel-Palestine/Kosovo/etc.etc.etc.,
Yes exactly. For the same reasons, Crimea and various parts of East Ukraine should be labeled as part of Russia, East Jerusalem and places like Ari'el should be labeled as part of Israel, etc. This has nothing to do with whether I think any of those borders would be "legitimate" or "legal" or what percentage of the people who live there accept them.
You may say that ROC is a de facto separate country, although the constitution doesn't imply necessarily so, but simply that there's a different government.
The fact that the international community and even it's own constitution doesn't recognize it as an independent country shows that it's more than legal fiction and simply that de facto China is still under civil war.
And since you also know that the taiwanese want to "maintain status quo", it's probably clear to you that they want to keep their full control, and not be under the rule of the CCP.
Which makes it really interesting, why you keep argueing for "one china".
This goes along the lines of “how dare they apply a foreigner treatment to a mainlander, this is against the constitution.”