论国名与国号

On National Name and Title of a State

国名是国家的名字,代表着国家;而国号只是政府为国家所起的官方称号,在特定时期内可以代表国家,但所代表的主要是政府。一个国名就只能是一个国家,一个国家只能有一个主权,在一国内部出现两个以上对立的政府时,国际社会只会选择其中一个政府作为国家的合法代表。在政治、法律和国度意义上,中国才是我国的国名,而其他的称呼都是国号。

National name （NN） refers to the name of a sovereign state, standing for the whole country, whereas a title of a state （TOS） is an official name given to a country by its government, standing generally for the government but in particular periods for the country as well. One NN can only refer to one nation which can only be one sovereign country. When there are more than two opposing governments within a country, only one of them will be recognized as the legitimate representative of the country by the international community. This paper argues that .politically, legally, and nationally, China is our country＇ s NN whereas all the other names fall into the category of TOS.