Taiwan Province#Qing Dynasty

{{further|History of Taiwan}}

In 1683, Zheng Keshuang (third ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning and a grandson of Koxinga), surrendered to the Qing Empire following a naval engagement with Admiral Shi Lang. The Qing then ruled the Taiwanese archipelago (including Penghu) as Taiwan Prefecture of Fujian Province. In 1875, Taipeh Prefecture was separated from Taiwan Prefecture. In 1885, work commenced under the auspices of Liu Ming-chuan to develop Taiwan into a province. In 1887, the island was designated as a province (officially "Fujian-Taiwan Province"; Chinese: 福建臺灣省), with Liu as the first governor.{{harvp|Davidson|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/islandofformosap00davi/page/244 244]}} "During the French war, Liu Ming-chuan had been placed in sole command, responsible only to the central authorities. Under his superintendence, Formosa had been carried safely through the war, and it was now apparent that the exigencies of the times required that the island should be made an independent province, and that officials of high rank and undoubted ability should be henceforth placed in charge of it. Therefore, in 1887, the island was declared by Imperial decree an independent province, and the Imperial Commissioner Liu Ming-chuan was appointed the first governor." The province was also reorganized into four prefectures, eleven districts, and three sub-prefectures.{{sfnp|Davidson|1903|p=244|ps=: "A thorough reorganization and redivisioning of the island was now necessitated. In former days, Formosa comprised one complete prefecture, four districts, and three sub-prefectures. Now the island became a province with four prefectures (Taipeh, Taiwan, Tainan, and Taitung), eleven districts, and three sub-prefectures."}}{{cite book |title=Sketches from Formosa |year=1915 |last=Campbell |first=William |author-link=William Campbell (missionary) |publisher=Marshall Brothers |location=London |chapter=Chapter XLIV: A Retrospect and a Forecast |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/sketchesfromtaiw00camprich#page/278/mode/2up |ol=7051071M |pages=278–9}} The provincial capital, or "Taiwan-fu", was intended to be moved from the south (modern-day Tainan) to the more central area of Toatun (modern-day Taichung) in the revamped Taiwan Prefecture.{{sfnp|Davidson|1903|pp=244–5|ps=: "As a result of these changes and additions, the seat of government (which had been formerly at the old town of Taiwan-fu in the south, which city had been in turn the capital of the Dutch, Koxinga, and the Chinese,) was now removed temporarily to the new city of Taipeh, which had been lately in course of construction...In connection with this, it is necessary to go further and explain that it was the intention of the government to build a new capital city in the centre of the island near Changwha. Accordingly, the new city was laid out and the construction of official yamens commenced. The name of the new city became Taiwan-fu, or the capital city of Taiwan (Formosa), and it was also to be the seat of a new prefecture called Taiwan [Prefecture]." }} As the new central Taiwan-fu was still under construction, the capital was temporarily moved north to Taipeh (modern-day Taipei), which eventually was designated the provincial capital.

In 1895, the entire Taiwan Province, including Penghu, was ceded to Japan following the First Sino-Japanese War through the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Under Japanese rule, the province was abolished in favour of Japanese-style divisions. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, Taiwan was handed over to the Republic of China (ROC).

File:Republic of China edcp location map (disputed territories) Taiwan.svg

File:Taiwan Province License Plate (0146).JPG.]]

The ROC government immediately established the Taiwan Provincial Government under first Chief Executive and government-general Chen Yi in September 1945.{{cite web |url=http://www.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/attachments/9709/japan.pdf |script-title=zh:「去日本化」「再中國化」：戰後台灣文化重建(1945–1947) |quote=Chapter 1. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722235726/http://www.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/attachments/9709/japan.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2011 |publisher=麥田出版社 |last1=Huang |first1=Yingzhe (黃英哲) |date=19 December 2007}}{{cite web|url=http://members.shaw.ca/leksu/mainp9e.htm|title=Shaw Communications|website=members.shaw.ca}} Chen was extremely unpopular and his rule led to an uprising – the February 28 Incident of 1947. Chen was recalled in May 1947 and the government-general position was abolished.

When the Republic of China government was relocated to Taipei in 1949 as a result of the Kuomintang's (KMT) defeat by the Chinese Communist Party forces in the Chinese Civil War, the provincial administration remained in place under the claim that the ROC was still the government of all of China even though the opposition argued that it overlapped inefficiently with the national government.

The seat of the provincial government was moved from Taipei to Zhongxing New Village in 1956. Historically, Taiwan Province covers the entire island of Taiwan and all its associated islands. The city of Taipei was split off to become a province-level special municipality in 1967, and the city of Kaohsiung was split off in 1979 to become another special municipality. In December 2010, Kaohsiung County left the province and merged with the original Kaohsiung City to become an expanded Kaohsiung City, Taipei County became the special municipality named New Taipei City. The cities and counties of Taichung and Tainan were also merged, respectively, and elevated to special municipality. On 25 December 2014, Taoyuan County was upgraded into a special municipality and split off from Taiwan Province.

Until 1992, the governor of Taiwan province was appointed by the ROC central government. The office was often a stepping stone to higher office.

In 1992, the post of the governor of the province was opened to election. The then-opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) agreed to retain the province with an elected governor in the hopes of creating a "Yeltsin effect" in which a popular local leader could overwhelm the national government. These hopes proved unfulfilled as then-Kuomintang member James Soong was elected governor of Taiwan province, defeating the DPP candidate Chen Ding-nan.

In 1997, as the result of an agreement between the KMT and the DPP, the powers of the provincial government were curtailed by constitutional amendments. The post of provincial governor was abolished. In addition, the provincial council was also replaced by the Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council. Although the stated purpose was administrative efficiency, Soong and his supporters claim that it was actually intended to impede James Soong's political life, though it did not have this effect.

The provincial administration was downscaled in 1998, most of its power handed to the central government. The counties and provincial cities under the province became the primary administrative divisions of the country.

{{Main|Taiwan Provincial Government|Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council}}

The position of the Chairperson of the Provincial Government, appointed by the central government, is retained to comply with the Constitution.

The major operations of the provincial government, such as managing provincial highways and the Bank of Taiwan, have been transferred to the Executive Yuan since 1998. In July 2018, all remaining duties were transferred to the National Development Council and other ministries of the Executive Yuan.{{cite web|url=http://www.tpg.gov.tw/|title=Taiwan Provincial Government Official Website|access-date=17 July 2018|archive-date=10 April 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030410213719/http://www.tpg.gov.tw/|url-status=dead}}{{failed verification |date=September 2020}}

The Taiwan Provincial Government was located in Zhongxing New Village, Nantou City, Nantou County between 1957 and 2018.

{{Main|Administrative divisions of Taiwan|List of administrative divisions of Taiwan}}

{{See also|Political divisions of Taiwan (1895–1945)}}

In October 1945, The Government of the Republic of China reformed the eight(8) Japanese prefectures under the Government-General of Taiwan into 8 counties and 9 cities.

Taiwan Province is nominally divided into 11 counties {{Color box|#e3edc3|border=darkgray}} and 3 cities {{Color box|#ceb2cd|border=darkgray}}. All divisions are directly administered by the central government in practice.

Note that the special municipalities of Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, and Taoyuan are both nominally under and directly administered by the central government. They are not parts of any province.

Taiwan Province was twinned with 42 U.S. states:{{Cite web |url=http://subtpg.tpg.gov.tw/web-life/sister/intro.asp?id=01 |title=Taiwan Provincial Administration Information Hall |access-date=4 December 2018 |archive-date=10 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410230129/http://subtpg.tpg.gov.tw/web-life/sister/intro.asp?id=01 |url-status=dead }}

{{Main|Senkaku Islands|Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China|Two Chinas}}

The People's Republic of China (PRC) regards itself as the "successor state" of the Republic of China (ROC), which the PRC claims no longer legitimately exists, following establishment of the PRC on Mainland China. The PRC asserts itself to be the sole legitimate government of China, and claims Taiwan as its 23rd province, even though the PRC itself has never had control of Taiwan or other ROC-held territories. The ROC disputes this position, maintaining that it still legitimately exists and that the PRC has not succeeded it.

The PRC claims the entirety of the island of Taiwan and its nearby islands and islets, including the Penghu, as parts of its Taiwan Province, corresponding to the ROC's Taiwan Province before the special municipalities were split off. The PRC claims that Taiwan is a part of China, that the PRC succeeded the ROC as the sole legitimate authority in all of China upon its founding in 1949, and that therefore Taiwan is a part of the PRC.

The Senkaku Islands, which are currently administered by Japan, are disputed by both the ROC and the PRC, which claim them as the Tiaoyutai/Diaoyu Islands. The ROC government claims them as part of Toucheng Township, Yilan County.

{{Portal|Taiwan}}

• Chinese Taipei
• Fuchien Province, Republic of China
• History of the Republic of China
• Political status of Taiwan
• Politics of the Republic of China
• "Taiwan, China" – A political term used by the People's Republic of China
• Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• Bush, R. & O'Hanlon, M. (2007). A War Like No Other: The Truth About China's Challenge to America. Wiley. {{ISBN|0-471-98677-1}}
• Bush, R. (2006). Untying the Knot: Making Peace in the Taiwan Strait. Brookings Institution Press. {{ISBN|0-8157-1290-1}}
• Carpenter, T. (2006). America's Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan. Palgrave Macmillan. {{ISBN|1-4039-6841-1}}
• Cole, B. (2006). Taiwan's Security: History and Prospects. Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-36581-3}}
• Copper, J. (2006). Playing with Fire: The Looming War with China over Taiwan. Praeger Security International General Interest. {{ISBN|0-275-98888-0}}
• Federation of American Scientists et al. (2006). [http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/Book2006.pdf Chinese Nuclear Forces and U.S. Nuclear War Planning]
• Gill, B. (2007). Rising Star: China's New Security Diplomacy. Brookings Institution Press. {{ISBN|0-8157-3146-9}}
• Shirk, S. (2007). China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-530609-0}}
• Tsang, S. (2006). If China Attacks Taiwan: Military Strategy, Politics and Economics. Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-40785-0}}
• Tucker, N.B. (2005). Dangerous Strait: the U.S.-Taiwan-China Crisis. Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|0-231-13564-5}}

{{Commons|Taiwan}}

• [http://www.tpg.gov.tw/ Taiwan Provincial Government official website]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030410213719/http://www.tpg.gov.tw/ |date=10 April 2003 }}.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051124184313/http://www.moi.gov.tw/outline/CivilAffairs.asp Local government structures] by the Department of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Interior, ROC (archived)

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Category:Provinces of Taiwan

Category:Provinces of the Republic of China (1912–1949)

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Category:Subdivisions of Taiwan