self-ruling en · ADJ
Etymology
From self- + ruling.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) autonomous, self-governing
In recent years, Beijing has ramped up economic, diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan – a self-ruling democracy the Chinese Communist Party claims as its own despite having never governed it.
2023 March 13, Eric Cheung, Nectar Gan, “Taiwan says soldier who went missing has been found in China”, in CNN, archived from the original on 13 Mar 2023: