Taiwan and larger than Belgium. The island of Taiwan has an area of , and lies some from the southeastern coast of mainland China across the Taiwan Strait. The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait directly to the south, and the South China Sea to the southwest. Its shape is similar to a sweet potato, giving rise to the slang term "hanji" ("sweet potato" in Hokkien) used by Taiwanese Hokkien speakers to refer to people of native Taiwanese descent. The island is characterized by the contrast between
Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China refers to some ROC government offices and institutions using generic description which does not imply endorsement of the ROC's claim to be a legitimate government of either Taiwan or China. The precise replacements used are not officially designated, so the politically-designated names for Taiwan have small variations across different source from within the PRC. For some cases, where the name does not significantly imply sovereignty, the name remains the same, such as for the "Mainland Affairs Council", "County" and "Mayor". The PRC's current policy proposal for a potential future reunification with Taiwan includes a proposal for Taiwan to become a