The Three-Noes Policy () is a

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

established in April 1979 and maintained by President Chiang Ching-kuo of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

, commonly known as Taiwan, in response to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

's attempts to have direct contact with the ROC (see Three Links). When the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

broke diplomatic ties with the ROC in 1979, the PRC believed that it had complete leverage in convincing the ROC government to talk. President Chiang Ching-kuo refused, reiterating that there were to be "no contact, no negotiation and no compromise" () with the Chinese Communists. The hijacking of a China Airlines cargo plane on May 3, 1986, shattered the "Three Noes" policy. The pilot Wang Shi-chuen subdued the two other members of the flight crew and commandeered the plane to

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, forcing the ROC government to publicly send unofficial envoys to negotiate in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

with PRC officials over the return of the plane and the flight crew. The pilot, credited by the PRC for reestablishing contact between

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

and Taiwan, received a hero's welcome in mainland China and became a senior PRC aviation official as well as serving as a so-called "Taiwanese delegate" to PRC government institutions. During this time, many mainland China-born ROC armed forces veterans pressed President Chiang Ching-kuo to allow family reunions between the mainland Chinese who settled in Taiwan after the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

and their relatives in mainland China. President Chiang relented in 1987, authorizing the ROC Red Cross to issue permits allowing people from Taiwan to travel to the Chinese Mainland only for family reunions. This started the ongoing regular civilian and unofficial exchanges between the PRC and the ROC.

The new Three Noes

President Ma Ying-jeou later established a new "three noes" policy as part of his foreign policy towards the PRC: * Not unification with the PRC in the short-term * No declaration of independence * No use of force

References

{{Cross-Strait_relations Cross-Strait relations

The new Three Noes

See also

References