Deng's Six Conceptions () are six principles for resolving the Taiwan issue, proposed by Deng Xiaoping, then chairman of the Central Advisory Commission, during a meeting with Professor Yang Liyu of Seton Hall University in New Jersey, United States, on 26 June 1983. The main points of this conversation are included in the third volume of Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, entitled "Concepts on the Peaceful Reunification of Mainland China and Taiwan". Its principles are broadly similar to the "one country, two systems" concept.
Between 1979 and 1982, Yang Liyu visited mainland China 11 times. In March 1983, at the annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies in San Francisco, Yang Liyu listed "The Prospects of China's Unification" as a discussion topic. At the meeting, Qiu Hongda, regarded as President Chiang Ching-kuo's representative, put forward conditions for peace talks that were considered to represent the Republic of China. Deng Xiaoping stated that there was a deep misunderstanding and expressed a willingness to clarify it in person. During the talks on 26 June, Deng Xiaoping was accompanied by several senior officials: Yang Shangkun, a member of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee and Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the Central Military Commission with responsibility for Taiwan affairs; Deng Liqun, Secretary of the CCP Central Committee Secretariat and Head of the Central Propaganda Department; Wang Feng, Deputy Head of the Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs; and Ma Hong, President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
In 1987, Chiang Ching-kuo's "One Country, Good System" was described as a response to "One Country, Two Systems" in 1983.
Content The following are the main points of Deng Xiaoping's conversation with Yang Liyu, originally published in the People's Daily on 26 June 1983:
Change of the country's name Since the publication of Deng Xiaoping's Six Points in the People's Daily on 26 June 1983, public figures on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, including former Kuomintang chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu, as well as members of the Taiwanese public, have said that during the Deng Xiaoping era, the PRC negotiated the national flag, national name, and national anthem with the other side. On 29 October 2001, then General Secretary Jiang Zemin met with a delegation from the China Unification Alliance in Zhongnanhai, Beijing.
Deng Xiaoping's view that the name of the People's Republic of China could be changed for the sake of unification was not included in Deng's Six Points, published in the People's Daily on 26 June 1983. However, the view that "under the 'one China' principle, everything can be discussed" was generally accepted and maintained by top leaders. In November 2002, Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the CCP Central Committee, reiterated in his report at the 16th CCP National Congress that "under the 'one China' principle, everything can be discussed", which was summarized as "three things that can be discussed". After that, these positions became part of the established policy framework.
In December 2012, a forum was held in Taiwan to mark the 20th anniversary of the "1992 Consensus". During the meeting, mainland scholars stated that once the two sides reached a consensus on "one China, two representatives", they could negotiate the country's name. In response to the suggestion of negotiating the country's name, Fan Liqing, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, reiterated at a regular press conference that "as long as we adhere to one China, the two sides can discuss anything." In the 2010s, the economic strength of the People's Republic of China increased and was no longer significantly inferior to that of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the 1980s. On 21 August 2016, on Phoenix TV's "Global Grand Strategy", PLA Navy expert Li Jie responded to a question by Qiu Zhenhai about the claim that "the two sides can discuss the name of the unified country", raised by scholar Ding Xueliang, and stated that, with changing circumstances, both the hard and soft power capacities of mainland China are developing. Some of the statements made at that time may require revision under current circumstances. Wu Sihuai expressed agreement.
In early February 2022, former Kuomintang chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu traveled to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics and met with CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang. She was later interviewed by Deutsche Welle, where she stated: "During Deng Xiaoping's time, as long as the two sides sat down to talk, they could discuss the national flag, the country's name, and the national anthem. Even my family would talk about everything. But that time has passed, and we have lost the space where we had good bargaining chips and could talk."
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