VARYING DEFINITIONS OF CHINA

1. Be able to recall the USG's definition of China
The USG's definition of China, in 1979 and still in 2009, is:
China includes Mainland China/Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China is the legitimate government over all of China.
In 1979, Hong Kong was not yet part of the PRC. While part of China throughout most of history, Hong Kong has been a British colony for more than 100 years, providing England with an important source of revenues and the Chinese people in Hong Kong with the opportunity to become one of the four fastest growing economy in the world in 1952-1982. Then came the talks between England and the PRC to return Hong Kong to China. In 1984, these two countries decided that Hong Kong would again became a part of China on July 1, 1997, a date which has since come and gone. How the PRC's takeover, the controlling of one of the world's freest economies by a communist government, has changed Hong Kong is now clear. So far, the changes are as expected. Political freedom has decreased and the Hong Kong Chinese’s dream of a Hong Kong governed by Hong Kong residents has become just a dream.
Many things have happened since 1997: huge highrises have been built, but the economy has had some major setbacks. Some elections have taken place, but the Chief Executive of Hong Kong is still being elected by an Electoral College, the majority of whose members are appointed.
So, there we have it, the three parts of China: mainland China - the world's most populous country, Hong Kong - the world's largest shopping center, and Taiwan, the world's fastest growing economy in the last 40 years.
2. Recall the reasons for the USG's definition of China
Why did and does the US government define China in this way? There are two reasons, the "reality check" and the "Soviet threat." The reason given publicly is the "reality check." In 1971, China hands in the US Government said, "Look, who really controls most of China, the Mainland Chinese government or the government in Taiwan? Of course, the Mainland Chinese government does, so let's recognize this fact.
“Therefore,” continued the US government, “the Mainland Chinese Government controls all of China.” This is not logical. In other words, the “reality check” does not check out.
However, the other reason, the real reason, is the playing of the "China card" against the Russians to diminish the Soviet threat, the single most important issue driving USG foreign policy since 1945. Thus, the was the real reason for the USG’s definition of “China.” But this reason is no longer relevant, since the Soviet Union no longer exists.
3. Cite examples of how the USG, the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China operate under the current state of political relations
The USG calls the ROC government the Taiwan Authorities. The US embassy in Taipei is called the American Institute in Taiwan, with the political section called the General Affairs Section [GAS] and the consular section called the Travel Services Section [TSS]; US diplomats are supposedly retired from the US diplomatic corps but only temporarily and in name only while they are stationed in Taiwan. Their rank, their promotions, their pay, their benefits and even their jobs remain exactly the same as if they were still in the US Diplomatic Corps.
The ROC counterpart to AIT was called the Coordinating Council for North American Affairs (CCNAA) and is now called the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office [TECO]. All TECO officials, active, career diplomats of the ROC, are called authorities. Meetings are usually held in restaurants, while some negotiations do take place at AIT or TECO offices. Usually meetings are not held in the ROC's Foreign Ministry or in the ROC's other ministries.
All of these charades that the Republic of China must play result from the basic problem that the names of AIT and TECO are not correct. To paraphrase Confucius, "If the name is not correct, then words [and actions] will not flow." That is, if the name is incorrect, then actions will be strange and sometimes wrong.
The behavior of the US government in Mainland Chna is also not balanced. In mainland China, the US embassy and the American Consulates General are quite small. The housing, with the PRC government as the landlord, is expensive and inadequate. All Chinese employees working in the American Embassy and Consulates are assigned by the PRC government’s intelligence agencies. They are PRC spies, paid by the US government to spy on American officials and on their fellow Chinese colleagues. In contrast, formerly in Russia, the US government did not have a single Russia employee because of the fear of Russian spies.
One former high-level US embassy official in the American Embassy in Beijing, edited all political reports from the embassy to Washington DC to make sure that the messages to Washington were not critical of the Chinese Communist government. These sanitized or inaccurate reports are usually classified as "confidential," secret, or "top secret," and meant only to be read by US government officials who have top secret security clearances.
The PRCG, also acts strangely. The probably said to the USG, “If you want to be our friend, then you cannot be Taiwan’s friend. In fact you cannot call Taiwan the Republic of China. You must call Taiwan the Taiwan Authorities.” The USG agreed.
One day a US businessman came to the Commercial Section of the American Embassy in Beijing, “The PRC Government won’t let me use this brochure in a trade show, because the brochure said that we have offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taipei.”
“I see nothing wrong with that,” said the US Commercial Attache.
The PRC customs official said the putting Taipei and Hong Kong in the same column as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok implies that Hong Kong and Taiwan are separate countries.”
“Is that what you told them?” asked the American Commercial Attaché.
“No,” said the US business man.
“Then I think its okay to use the brochure,” said the American Commercial Attaché. After some negotiations the next day, the American Commercial Attaché convinced the PRC official to let the US businessman to use the brochure in the Trade Show.