Four-Stage Theory of the Republic of China its remaining major component – the island of Taiwan, as opposed to its decades-long claim to all China since losing the civil war in 1949. Prior to this speech, the government officials used "Republic of China" when the name of the state was used. Lee's usage is considered as a departure from the convention, as this usage can be interpreted in the sense that the Republic of China's sovereignty does not extend to mainland China, which the People's Republic of China controls. The Democratic Progressive Party's 1999 Resolution on Taiwan's Future, which is accorded equivalent status as the Party charter,
Mainland China Taiwan, with the PRC referring to itself as "the mainland side" (as opposed to "the Taiwan side"). But in its relations with Hong Kong and Macau, the PRC government refers to itself as "the Central People's Government", and Mainland China excluding Hong Kong and Macau is referred as "Nèidì". "Mainland area" is the opposing term to "free area of the Republic of China" used in the ROC Constitution. In the 1930s the region faced Japanese invasion. By 1949, the Communist Party of China's (CPC) People's Liberation Army had largely defeated the Kuomintang (KMT)'s National Revolutionary Army in the Chinese Civil