Exclusive mandate

An exclusive mandate is a government's assertion of its legitimate authority over a certain territory, part of which another government controls with stable, de facto sovereignty. It is also known as a claim to sole representation or an exclusive authority claim. The concept was particularly important during the Cold War period when a number of states were divided on ideological grounds. The Republic of China (ROC) was established in mainland China in 1912 following the conclusion of the 1911 Revolution which led to the collapse of the Qing dynasty. In 1927, the Chinese Civil War broke out between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Since 1949–1950, the de facto territories of the ROC are limited to the Taiwan Area which includes the main island of Taiwan and Penghu (acquired by the ROC from Japan in 1945 at the conclusion of hostiles in World War II) along with several other islands. Meanwhile, the People's Republic of China (PRC), established in 1949 by the CCP, controls mainland China, Hong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999). Officially, both the ROC and the PRC claim de jure sovereignty over all of China (including Taiwan to which the ownership of sovereignty is disputed), and regard the other government as illegitimate. Japan formally severed the claim to Taiwan and Penghu islands upon the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco in April 1952, which has left the status of Taiwan undetermined. Until 1971, the ROC was the representative of member state "China" at the United Nations (UN) in which "China" is a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power.