Taiwan Province

This article is about Taiwan Province, an administrative province of the Republic of China. For the island governed by the Republic of China, see Taiwan. For the hypothetical province claimed by the People's Republic of China, see Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China.

Taiwan Province
臺灣省
Taiwan Province of the Republic of China (in dark grey). The Tiaoyutai Islands to the northeast of the main island of Taiwan, claimed by the ROC are excluded from this map.
Capital	Zhongxing New Village
Official languages	Guoyu
Demonym	Taiwanese
Area	26,328.996 km² (1st)
Population (Feb 2006)	9,265,538 (1st)
Population density	351.9/km2 (911/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Han Chinese - 97.5% Other - 2.5%
County-level divisions	16
Township-level divisions	287
Currency	New Taiwan dollar (NT$)
Currency code	TWD
GDP (PPP)	NT$ to be added billion

Taiwan Province (traditional Chinese: 臺灣省 or 台灣省; simplified Chinese: 台湾省; pinyin: Táiwān Shěng) is one of the two administrative divisions of the Republic of China (ROC) that are officially referred to as "provinces". The province covers approximately 73% of the territory controlled by the ROC, with around 40% of the total population.

Geographically it covers the majority of the island of Taiwan as well as almost all of its surrounding islands, the largest of which are the Penghu archipelago, Green Island and Orchid Island. The jurisdiction of Taiwan Province does not include territory in the direct-controlled special municipalities of Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan, and New Taipei, all of which located geographically within Taiwan island. It also does not include the counties of Kinmen and Lienchiang, which are located alongside the southeast coast of Mainland China and administered as a separate Fujian Province.

Historically Taiwan Province covers the entire island of Taiwan and all its associated islands. The five special municipalities were split off from the province between 1967 and 2010.

Since 1997 most of the Taiwan provincial government's functions have been transferred to the central government of the Republic of China following a constitutional amendment. The Taiwan provincial government has effectively become a nominal institution under the Executive Yuan's administration.

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 the defeat of ROC forces in mainland China. The PRC claims it has sovereignty over all of China, which includes Taiwan island, 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 to sovereignty.

History

In 1683, following a naval engagement with Admiral Shi Lang, Koxinga's (Cheng Ch'eng Kung) grandson Zheng Keshuang and ruler of Taiwan submitted to the Qing Dynasty (then romanised as Ch'ing Dynasty). Then the Qing Dynasty ruled the Taiwanese archipelago (including Penghu) as Taiwan Prefecture of Fujian Province. In 1875, Taipei Prefecture was separated from Taiwan Prefecture. In 1885, the Taiwanese archipelago was made a separate province.

In 1895, the Taiwanese Archipelago, including Penghu, was ceded to Japan following the First Sino-Japanese War. Under Japanese rule, the province was abolished in favour of Japanese-style divisions. After Japan surrendered in 1945 Republic of China obtained control of Taiwan.

The ROC government immediately established Taiwan Provincial Government under first Chief Executive Chen Yi in September 1945. Chen was extremely unpopular and his rule led to an uprising - the 228 incident. Chen was recalled in May 1947 and the government-general 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 building of the Provincial Government of the Taiwan Province at Jhongsing Village

The seat of the provincial government was moved from Taipei to Zhongxing New Village (Chunghsing 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 municipality in 1967, and the city of Kaohsiung was split off in 1979 to become another province-level 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 province-level municipality "New Taipei". The cities and counties of Taichung and Tainan were also merged, respectively, and elevated to province level.

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 the Taiwan province by a wide margin defeating the DPP candidate Chen Ding-nan.

In 1997, as the result of an agreement between the KMT and the DPP, the administration of the province was streamlined in curtailed constitutional changes. For example, the post of provincial governor and the provincial assembly were both abolished and replaced with a nine-member special council. Although the stated purpose was administrative efficiency, Soong and his supporters claim that it was actually intended to destroy James Soong's power base and eliminate him from political life, though it did not have this effect. In addition, the provincial legislature was abolished while the Legislative Yuan was expanded to include some of the former provincial legislators.

Prior to January 1, 2007 all vehicles registered in Taiwan Province carried the label "Taiwan Province" (台灣省) on their license plates.

The provincial administration has been greatly streamlined in 1998, leaving counties and provincial cities the primary divisions in Taiwan Province. In contrast to the past where the head of Taiwan province was considered a major official, the Governor of the Taiwan Provincial Government after 1999 has been considered a very minor position.

Government

Since the streamlining of the Taiwan Provincial Government in 1998, the government has been headed by a provincial council of nine members, led by the provincial governor. The members of the Provincial Council are all appointed by the President of the Republic of China. The major operations of the provincial government, such as managing provincial highways and the Bank of Taiwan, have been transferred to the Executive Yuan.

Divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of the Republic of China

Taiwan Province is divided into 12 counties (縣 xiàn) and 3 provincial cities (市 shì):

No.	Romanization	Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Population	Area (km2)	Province/City/County Seat		Map
Provincial cities (市 shì)								1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15   = Special Municipality (直轄市)   = Provincial City (省轄市 or 市)   = County (縣)
1	Chiayi City	嘉義市	Jiāyì Shì	272,390	60.0256	East District	東區
2	Hsinchu City	新竹市	Xīnzhú Shì	415,344	104.1526	North District	北區
3	Keelung City	基隆市	Jīlóng Shì	384,134	132.7589	Zhongzheng District	中正區
Counties (縣 xiàn)
4	Changhua County	彰化縣	Zhānghuà Xiàn	1,307,286	1,074.3960	Changhua City	彰化市
5	Chiayi County	嘉義縣	Jiāyì Xiàn	543,248	1,903.6367	Taibao City	太保市
6	Hsinchu County	新竹縣	Xīnzhú Xiàn	513,015	1,427.5369	Zhubei City	竹北市
7	Hualien County	花蓮縣	Huālián Xiàn	338,805	4,628.5714	Hualien City	花蓮市
8	Miaoli County	苗栗縣	Miáolì Xiàn	560,968	1,820.3149	Miaoli City	苗栗市
9	Nantou County	南投縣	Nántóu Xiàn	526,491	4,106.4360	Nantou City	南投市
10	Penghu County	澎湖縣	Pénghú Xiàn	96,918	126.8641	Magong City	馬公市
11	Pingtung County	屏東縣	Píngdōng Xiàn	873,509	2,775.6003	Pingtung City	屏東市
12	Taitung County	臺東縣，台東縣	Táidōng Xiàn	230,673	3,515.2526	Taitung City	臺東市
13	Taoyuan County	桃園縣	Táoyuán Xiàn	2,002,060	1,220.9540	Taoyuan City	桃園市
14	Yilan County	宜蘭縣	Yílán Xiàn	460,486	2,143.6251	Yilan City	宜蘭市
15	Yunlin County	雲林縣	Yúnlín Xiàn	717,653	1,290.8326	Douliu City	斗六市

Note: The cities of Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Taipei are administered directly by the central government and are not part of Taiwan province. The PRC, which does not administer Taiwan Province, does not recognize Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Taipei as central municipalities and lists them as provincial municipalities.

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

Administrative history

Decisions by the Executive Yuan since 1945:

• December 25, 1945:
  • 8 counties of Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Hualien, Taitung, and Penghu
  • 9 provincial cities: Taipei, Keelung, Hsinchu, Taichung, Changhua, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pintung.
  • 2 county-controlled cities: Hualien and Yilan
• August 16, 1950:
  • 16 counties: all existing ones
  • 8 provincial cities: reduced Chiayi a county-controlled city
• December 1, 1951: 5 provincial cities: reduced Hsinchu, Changhua, and Pintung to county-controlled cities
• July 1, 1967: Taipei became the first Taiwanese municipality
• November 11, 1967: All county seats (originally towns) upgraded to county-controlled cities.
• July 1, 1979: Kaohsiung became the second Taiwanese municipality
• July 1, 1982: 2 new provincial cities: Hsinchu and Chiayi (approved on April 23, 1981)
• December 25, 2010: Taipei County (renamed New Taipei City) was upgraded to municipal status along with the merged Taichung City (encompassing Taichung City and Taichung County) and the merged Tainan City (encompassing Tainan City and Tainan County); also Kaohsiung County was merged with the already upgraded Kaohsiung City.

List of Governors

Chief Executive

The position of Chief Executive (Chinese: 行政長官; pinyin: xíngzhèng zhǎngguān) was temporarily part of the Executive Yuan, the position was legalized in Taiwan Province Administrative Official Public Ministry Organization Statute (臺灣省行政長官公署組織條例 Táiwān-shěng xíngzhèng zhǎngguān gōngshǔ zǔzhī tiáolì) of September 20, 1945.

Governor	Chinese	Pinyin	Term in office
Chen Yi	陳儀	Chen Yí	August 29, 1945 - April 22, 1947

Chairman of the Provincial Government

Governors (Chinese: 省主席; pinyin: shěngzhǔxí, "provincial chairperson"):

Governor	Chinese	Pinyin	Term in office
Wey Daw-ming	魏道明	Wèi Dàomíng	May 16, 1947 - January 5, 1949
Chen Cheng	陳誠	Chén Chéng	January 5, 1949 - December 21, 1949
Wu Gwo-jen (Wu Kuo-chen)	吳國楨	Wú Guózhēn	December 21, 1949 - April 16, 1953
Yu Horng-jiun	俞鴻鈞	Yú Hóngjūn	April 16, 1953 - June 7, 1954
Yen Chia-kan	嚴家淦	Yán Jiāgàn	June 7, 1954 - August 16, 1957
Chow Chih-jou	周至柔	Zhōu Zhìróu	August 16, 1957 - December 1, 1962
Huang Chieh	黃傑	Huáng Jié	December 1, 1962 - July 5, 1969
Chen Ta-ching	陳大慶	Chén Dàqìng	July 5, 1969 - June 6, 1972
Shien Tung-min	謝東閔	Xiè Dōngmǐn	June 6, 1972 - May 20, 1978
Lin Yang-kang	林洋港	Lín Yánggǎng	June 12, 1978 - December 5, 1981
Lee Teng-hui	李登輝	Lǐ Dēnghuī	December 5, 1981 - May 20, 1984
Chiu Chuang-huan	邱創煥	Qīu Chuànghuàn	June 9, 1984 - June 16, 1990
Lien Chan	連戰	Lián Zhàn	June 16, 1990 - February 25, 1993
James Soong	宋楚瑜	Sòng Chǔyú	March 20, 1993 - December 20, 1994

Governor

Governor of the Province(Chinese: 省長; pinyin: shěngzhǎng). The title "Governor" was first legally used in the Self-Governance Law for Provinces and Counties (省縣自治法) of July 29, 1994.

Governor	Chinese	Pinyin	Term in office
James Soong	宋楚瑜	Sòng Chǔyú	December 20, 1994 - December 21, 1998

Chairman of the Provincial Government

Since the streamlining of the Taiwan Provincial Government in 1998, the government has been headed by a provincial council of nine members, led by the provincial governor. The members of the Provincial Council are all appointed by the president of the Republic of China. The major operations of the provincial government, such as managing provincial highways and the Bank of Taiwan, have been transferred to the Executive Yuan.

Governor	Chinese	Pinyin	Term in office
Chao Shou-po	趙守博	Zhào Shǒubó	December 21, 1998 - May 20, 2000
Chang Po-ya	張博雅	Zhāng Bóyǎ	May 20, 2000 - February 1, 2002
Fan Kuang-chun	范光群	Fàn Guāngqún	February 1, 2002 - October 13, 2003
Lin Kuang-hua	林光華	Lín Guānghuá	October 13, 2003 - January 25, 2006
Lin Si-yao	林錫耀	Lín Xíyào	December 7, 2007 - May 19, 2008
Tsai Hsun-hsiung	蔡勳雄	Cài Xūnxióng	May 20, 2008 - September 10, 2009
Chang Jin-Fu	張進福	Zhāng Jìnfú	September 10, 2009 - February 26, 2010
Lin Jenq-Tzer	林政則	Lín Zhèngzé	February 26, 2010 -

PRC's claims

Main article: Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China

The PRC claims the entirety of the island of Taiwan and its surrounding islets, including the Pescadores, as parts of its Taiwan Province. The PRC claims that Taiwan is 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 part of the PRC.

The claimed official borders and divisions of the Taiwan Province of People's Republic of China mirror those of the ROC Taiwan Province before 1949. The PRC has not acknowledged any changes made post-1949 by the ROC. Thus, the elevation of Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taipei County (now New Taipei City), Taichung, and Tainan to be provincial-level cities have not been recognized by the PRC, and all of these cities appear as part of Taiwan Province in publications issued by the PRC. Also, the PRC still regards Taipei as the capital city of Taiwan Province, instead of Jhongsing Village which is the capital of the ROC Taiwan Province. This is analogous to the previous practice of the ROC in producing maps depicting mainland administrative boundaries the way they were in 1949.

Both the PRC and the ROC claim the Diaoyutai (Senkaku) Islands, administered by Japan, as a part of their own respective Taiwan Provinces.

Representation

Thirteen delegates are elected to the National People's Congress to represent Taiwan Province. These delegates have Hokkien and Holo ancestry whose ancestors were in Taiwan at some point, and are elected by a constituency comprising people with Taiwanese ancestry, not by present residents of Taiwan. As the older members retire or die, newer members tend to be born in mainland China.

Sister States/Provinces

• Ohio, United States (1985)
• Florida, United States (1992)

See also

• Fujian Province, Republic of China
• History of the Republic of China
• Politics of the Republic of China
• Political status of Taiwan
• Legal status of Taiwan
• Chinese Taipei
• "Taiwan, China"
• Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China
• Kuomintang

Further reading

• 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). 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

External links

• Taiwan Provincial Government official site
• Local government structures by the Department of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Interior, ROC