evidence: The provision to establish special administrative regions appeared in the constitution in 1982, in anticipation of the talks with the United Kingdom over the question of the sovereignty over Hong Kong. It was envisioned as the model for the eventual unification with Taiwan and other islands, where the Republic of China has resided since 1949. [...] Defunct SARs [edit]In the Republic of China (ROC) era between 1912 and 1949, the "special administrative regions" (Chinese: 特別行政區; pinyin: tèbié xíngzhèngqū) were historically used to designate special areas by the Beiyang government, most of which were eventually converted into provinces by the Nationalist government in 1928. All were suspended or abolished after the end of the Chinese Civil War, with the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the ROC government's retreat to Taiwan, but they continued to exist as provinces under ROC law. The regions were: [...] - ^ a b c d Ghai, Yash P. (2000). Autonomy and Ethnicity: Negotiating Competing Claims in Multi-Ethnic States. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521786428, 9780521786423. p 92.