[rcxdude]

>So it's a bit like if the two Koreas refused to acknowledge the existence of each other and claimed the whole peninsula for themselves, which I believe is actually not far from the situation there. But it's more complicated with China because of the existence of a "3rd faction" in Taiwan that would like to see Taiwan independent of any Chinese state whatever that state might be.

I believe this is the official situation but I think the unofficial position is the People's Republic of China wants Taiwan while the Republic of China on the whole is perfectly happy with just Taiwan, but any official recognition of that fact just highlights the rejection in practice of the official position of the PRC and is likely to upset them further, so the official status quo remains as a strange diplomatic stalemate.

[mytailorisrich]

Well, I think this is the difference between the official positions (which are the same on both sides) and the reality on the ground in terms of relative power.

The PRC/mainland is massively bigger and more powerful than the ROC/Taiwan so they think that they have the means to pursue their official position.

Taiwan knows that they don't have the means to pursue their official position so there is little point making noise about it. And furthermore, the "3rd faction", which the current President belongs to, is not sympathetic to that position, anyway. But when the KMT is in power they do at in way that protects that position (eventual (re-)unifaction).