Geography of Taiwan and Green Island to the southeast, separated from the northernmost islands of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel. The islands of Kinmen and Matsu near the coast of Fujian across the Taiwan Strait have a total area of ; the Pratas and Taiping islets in the South China Sea are also administered by the ROC, but are not part of the Taiwanese archipelago. The island of Taiwan was formed approximately 4 to 5 million years ago at a complex convergent boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate. In a boundary running the length of the island and
Four-Stage Theory of the Republic of China By this theory, Chen pointed out that the Republic of China was at the 4th stage after the first ruling party rotation of the central government in 2000. That is, Taiwan, with the official name called the "Republic of China", is already an independent sovereign state separate from People's Republic of China. This theory is welcomed by the mainstream of the Pan-Green coalition (led by the Democratic Progressive Party) in Taiwan, which supports eventual "de jure" Taiwan independence; but is not welcomed by most members of the Pan-Blue coalition (Kuomintang), which supports the eventual reunification of Taiwan with mainland China