Diplomatic protocol President of the Republic of China

at funeral of pope john paul ii, president chen shui-bian (far left), whom holy see recognized head of state of china, seated in front row (in french alphabetical order) beside first lady , president of brazil.



air force 3701, presidential aircraft of republic of china.

the diplomatic protocol regarding president of roc rather complex because of political status of taiwan. in 20 nations recognize roc legitimate government of china, accorded standard treatment given head of state. in other nations, formally private citizen, although in these cases, travel meets strong objections people s republic of china.

the president of roc has traveled several times united states, formally in transit , central america, number of countries recognize roc. system allows president visit united states without u.s. state department having issue visa. during these trips, president not formally treated head of state, not meet u.s. government officials in official capacities , not visit washington, d.c. however, in these visits, roc president invariably meets staff members government, although these visits lower ranking officials in non-governmental surroundings.

in area of southeast asia, roc president able arrange visits in 1990s formally private tourist visits, these have become increasingly infrequent result of prc pressure.

at annual asia-pacific economic cooperation leaders summit, roc president forbidden attending , must send special envoy represent him or @ event.

however, on december 2, 2016, u.s. president-elect donald trump accepted congratulatory telephone call roc president, clear break prior protocol.

the government of people s republic of china uses terms leader of taiwan area, leader of taiwan region (traditional chinese: 台灣地區領導人; simplified chinese: 台湾地区领导人; pinyin: táiwān dìqū lǐngdǎorén) , leader of taiwanese authorities (simplified chinese: 台湾当局领导人; traditional chinese: 台灣當局領導人; pinyin: táiwān dāngjú lǐngdǎo rén) describe head of state of republic of china (roc) in taiwan. these terms used prc media reflect prc s official stance of not recognizing roc independent state.

the prc media not use terms president of taiwan nor president of republic of china , inferred implying recognition of taiwan country, or of 2 chinas. hence, term leader of taiwan area used- area show taiwan not country; while leader not equal president . according criteria set authorities in beijing, media in mainland china not allowed use terms related republic of china describe taiwan authorities. if official title cannot avoided in news article, quotation marks used around terms official roc positions , organisations, e.g. president of republic of china ; presidential office building imply non-recognition.