Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China

Last updated

Taiwan
台湾
Province
Province of Taiwan
Name transcription(s)
 • Chinese台湾 (Táiwān Shěng)
 • AbbreviationTW / 台 (pinyin: Tái; Hokkien: Tâi; Hakka: Thòi)
 •  Hokkien POJ Tâi-oân-séng
 •  Hakka PFS Thòi-vàn-sén or Thòi-vân-sén
Taiwan in China (+all claims hatched).svg
Map showing the location of Taiwan
Coordinates: 23°42′N121°00′E / 23.7°N 121.0°E / 23.7; 121.0
CountryFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  People's Republic of China
Established from Fujian 1887
Cession to Japan 17 April 1895
Placed under the control of the ROC 25 October 1945
Claimed by the PRC1 October 1949
Capital Taibei
Largest city Xinbei (New Taipei)
DivisionsSee boundary change
Government
 •  CCP Secretary See representation
 •  Governor See representation
 •  National People's Congress Representation13 deputies
Area
 • Total
35,581 km2 (13,738 sq mi)
 • Rank 28th
Demographics
 • Ethnic composition98% Han Chinese
2% Gaoshan people
ISO 3166 code CN-TW
GDP (2022 estimate) [1] CN¥5.12 trillion
 • Per capita CN¥219,560
HDI (2021)0.916 very high
Taiwan Province
Taiwan (Chinese characters).svg
"Taiwan" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization Tòihwāan Sáang
Jyutping Toi4 waan1 Saang2
IPA [tʰɔj˩.wan˥ saŋ˧˥]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ Tâi-oân-séng
Tâi-lô Tâi-uân-síng
Eastern Min
Fuzhou BUC Dài-uăng sēng

Taiwan Province refers to a notional administrative division claimed by the People's Republic of China. The PRC constitution asserts Taiwan as part of its territories, [2] although the PRC has never controlled Taiwan since the PRC's establishment in 1949. [3] The territory of the claimed province, including the entire island of Taiwan, is in actuality administered by the Republic of China (ROC) but is not coextensive with the smaller Taiwan Province of the ROC.

Contents

The political status of Taiwan is complex. Following the Chinese Civil War, the PRC considers itself the successor state of the pre-1949 ROC and the sole legitimate government of "China" since its founding on 1 October 1949, and claims Taiwan and the Penghu Islands as part of its territory under the One China principle. However, the PRC has never administered Taiwan: the Taiwan Area, including all of the territory claimed by PRC as a province, has been continuously administered by the government of the Republic of China (ROC) since the Japanese surrender of World War II.

The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 near the end of the Chinese Civil War. While by 1950 it had obtained control over most of the territories previously administered by the Republic of China (ROC), it never gained control of an area made up of Taiwan. Instead, Taiwan has been administered by the ROC (which is now commonly known as "Taiwan") since the end of World War II in 1945, continuing through the Chinese Civil War and past the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

While the PRC claims Taiwan as part of its territory, it recognises Taiwan is outside its actual territory of control and does not maintain a government in exile for Taiwan Province. However, its CCP National Congress reserves a position for legislators that represent Taiwan, most of whom are of Taiwanese descent but were born in and are residents of mainland China, except for one representative (Lu Li'an) who was born and grew up in Taiwan. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China is the part of the PRC government that has responsibility over Taiwan-related matters, but it is neither tasked with, nor presented as, a shadow administration for Taiwan. Instead, the ROC government, which actually controls Taiwan Province, is referred to by the PRC as the "Taiwan authorities". [4]

In 1979, the PRC proposed that under a hypothetical unification Taiwan would become a Special Administrative Region rather than a province. [5]

Usage in the People's Republic of China

Despite formal status of a province, the term "Taiwan Province" is now only used in the most formal circumstances such as National People's Congress.[ citation needed ] In domestic contexts that excludes Hong Kong and Macau, the number of provinces (including autonomous regions, municipalities) is always stated as 31 (Taiwan is not counted).[ citation needed ]

In official PRC statistics involving Taiwan, "Taiwan Area" is widely used instead, and is grouped with Special Administrative Regions rather than other provinces. [6]

Administrative divisions

Maps published by the PRC show Taiwan Province and its subdivisions in accordance with its pre-1949 boundaries. Until recently, the ROC adopted an analogous practice of depicting mainland administrative boundaries in maps the way they were in 1949, to demonstrate that the ROC did not recognise the PRC government, or any boundary changes enacted by them since 1949, as legitimate.[ citation needed ]

Even before this, the practice of not recognizing any boundary changes made to Taiwan had ended. For example, New Taipei is accepted instead of Taipei County, and the merging of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County is accepted on all maps published by PRC entities. Maps published in PRC do not treat borders between Taiwan Province (Republic of China) and Special Municipalities as provincial borders, but county borders, and often do not mandate a capital for Taiwan at all. The borders between Kinmen and Matsu and rest of Fujian Province are never denoted as provincial borders let alone international.[ citation needed ]

The official databases of PRC do not show any internal divisions of Taiwan, all of them showing "data not yet available" (this no longer applies to Hong Kong and Macau).[ citation needed ]

As of 2018, PRC official map service Tianditu treats all six special municipalities as prefecture-level cities, all three provincial cities as county-level cities directly administered by the province, and all fourteen county-administered cities as subdistricts under each individual county's jurisdiction.[ citation needed ]

Administrative subdivisions (Tianditu & Mapping database) [7]
Administrative divisions of Taiwan
ROC (Units)PRC (Units)Divisions
Special municipality 直轄市Prefecture-level city 地级市(6) Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, Taoyuan
Provincial city 省轄市County-level city 县级市
(Directly administered 直辖)		(3) Chiayi, Hsinchu, Keelung
County 縣County 县
(Directly administered 直辖)		(11) Changhua County, Chiayi County, Hsinchu County,
Hualien County, Miaoli County, Nantou County, Penghu County,
Pingtung County, Taitung County, Yilan County, Yunlin County
(Special municipalities) District (直轄市)區District 区(158 divisions)
Indigenous district 原住民區
(Provincial city) District (省轄市)區Subdistrict 街(12 divisions)
County-administered city 縣轄市(14 divisions)
Urban township 鎮Town 镇(38 divisions)
Rural township 鄉Township 乡(146 divisions)
Indigenous township 山地鄉
Urban village 里Community 社(5,852 divisions)
Rural village 村Village 村(1,850 divisions)
Neighborhoods 鄰n/a

Politics

Legislative representation

Although Taiwan Province is not under PRC control, 13 delegates are elected to represent Taiwan Province to the National People's Congress.[ citation needed ]

The election of these delegates for Taiwan Province is done in accordance with the Decision (from time to time made) of the relevant Session of relevant National People's Congress of the PRC on the number of deputies to the National People's Congress and the election of the deputies. [8] For example, in 2002 that Decision was as follows: [8]

"For the time being, 13 deputies representing Taiwan Province shall be elected from among people of Taiwan origin in the other provinces, the autonomous regions, and the municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army."

Having regard to the relevant Decision, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress adopts a "Plan for the Consultative Election of Deputies of Taiwan Province to the National People's Congress". The Plan typically provides that "the deputies will be elected in Beijing through consultation from among representatives sent by Taiwan compatriots in these provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and in the Chinese People's Liberation Army." [8]

In the case of the 2002 election, the Standing Committee noted that there were more than 36,000 "Taiwan compatriots" in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and the central Party, government and army institutions. It was decided that 122 representatives would participate in the conference for election through consultation. The number of representatives was allocated on the basis of the geographic distribution of Taiwan compatriots on the mainland and the standing committees of the people's congresses of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government were responsible for making arrangements for the election of the representatives through consultation. The Standing Committee's Plan also provided that the election should be "conducted in a democratic manner". [8]

After the latest election at the 13th National People's Congress, 13 of the Taiwan representatives for the National People's Congress are: [9]

Nomenclatures for the ROC government used by PRC

Since the PRC does not recognise the legitimacy of the ROC, official government documents and media within the PRC refers to some ROC government offices and institutions using generic description which does not imply endorsement of the ROC's claim to be a legitimate government of either Taiwan or mainland China. The precise replacements used are not officially designated, so the politically designated names for Taiwan have small variations across different source from within the PRC.[ citation needed ]

Since 21 July 2021, RTHK in Hong Kong has also imposed the same restrictions on its staff to prevent them from implying Taiwan as an independent state. [10]

For some cases, where the name does not significantly imply sovereignty, the name remains the same, such as for the Mainland Affairs Council, [11] county [12] and mayor. [13]

Government bodies

ROC Government officials

Educational institutions

Events

Demographics

While demographic data for Taiwan Province published by the PRC government respects the census figures published by the ROC government for the territory, the PRC government does not recognise the ethnic classifications of Taiwanese indigenous peoples adopted by the ROC. Instead, the PRC government classifies all Taiwanese indigenous peoples as Gaoshan people, one of the 56 recognized ethnicities of the PRC.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese unification</span> Potential union of mainland China and Taiwan

Chinese unification, also known as Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China ("Taiwan") under one political entity, possibly the formation of a political union between the two republics. Together with full Taiwan independence, unification is one of the main proposals to address questions on the political status of Taiwan, which is a central focus of Cross-Strait relations.

The political status of Taiwan or the Taiwan issue is an ongoing geopolitical dispute about Taiwan, currently controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), that arose in the mid-twentieth century. Originally based in mainland China before and during World War II, the ROC government retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after it was defeated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Chinese Civil War and the subsequent establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since then, the effective jurisdiction of the ROC has been limited to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and smaller islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiwan Province</span> Administrative division of Taiwan

Taiwan Province is a de jure administrative division of the Republic of China (ROC). Provinces remain a titular division as a part of the Constitution of the Republic of China, but are no longer considered to have any administrative function practically.

The Three Links or Three Linkages was a 1979 proposal from the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to open up postal, transportation, and trade links between mainland China and Taiwan, with the goal of unifying Mainland China and Taiwan.

Taiwan is divided into multi-layered statutory subdivisions. Due to the complex political status of Taiwan, there is a significant difference in the de jure system set out in the original constitution and the de facto system in use today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provinces of China</span>

Provinces are the most numerous type of province-level divisions in the People's Republic of China (PRC). There are currently 22 provinces administered by the PRC and one province that is claimed, but not administered, which is Taiwan, currently administered by the Republic of China (ROC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Taiwan (1945–present)</span>

As a result of the surrender and occupation of Japan at the end of World War II, the islands of Taiwan and Penghu were placed under the governance of the Republic of China (ROC), ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT), on 25 October 1945. Following the February 28 massacre in 1947, martial law was declared in 1949 by the Governor of Taiwan, Chen Cheng, and the ROC Ministry of National Defense. Following the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the ROC government retreated from the mainland as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The KMT retreated to Taiwan and declared Taipei the temporary capital of the ROC. For many years, the ROC and PRC each continued to claim in the diplomatic arena to be the sole legitimate government of "China". In 1971, the United Nations expelled the ROC and replaced it with the PRC.

The Anti-Secession Law is a law of the People's Republic of China, passed by the 3rd Session of the 10th National People's Congress. It was ratified on March 14, 2005, and went into effect immediately. President Hu Jintao promulgated the law with Presidential Decree No. 34. Although the law, at ten articles, is relatively short, Article 8 formalized the long-standing policy of the PRC to use military means against Taiwan independence in the event peaceful means become otherwise impossible. The law does not explicitly equate "China" with the People's Republic of China.

The 1992 Consensus is a political term referring to the alleged outcome of a meeting in 1992 between the semiofficial representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-led People's Republic of China (PRC) in mainland China and the Kuomintang (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. They are often credited as creating a diplomatic basis for semi-official cross-strait exchanges which began in the early 1990s and is a precondition set by the PRC for engaging in cross-strait dialogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross-strait relations</span> Bilateral relations between China and Taiwan

Cross-strait relations are the political and economic relations between China and Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait. Due to the existing controversy over the status of Taiwan and the Chinese legitimacy question, they are also not defined as diplomatic relations by either side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiwan Area</span> Territories under the control of Taiwan

The Taiwan Area, fully the "Taiwan Area of the Republic of China", also the free area of the Republic of China, the "Tai-Min Area ", is a term used to refer to the actual-controlled territories of the Republic of China, usually called "Taiwan". It has been in official use since the Additional articles of the Republic of China constitution took effect to end temporary anti-communist provisions on 1 May 1991. The term is also used in the 1992 Cross-Strait Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiwan, China</span> Term for Taiwan as part of China

"Taiwan, China", "Taiwan, Province of China", and "Taipei, China" are controversial political terms that claim Taiwan and its associated territories as a province or territory of the People's Republic of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two Chinas</span> Geopolitical concept

The concept of Two Chinas refers to the political divide between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). The PRC was established in 1949 by the Chinese Communist Party, while the ROC was founded in 1912 and retreated to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War.

Cross-Strait Economic Zone is a proposed economic zone by the People's Republic of China which includes economic linkages between the three coastal provinces of mainland China and Taiwan. This includes coastal cities along Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang provinces such as Xiamen, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Wenzhou and Shantou. In Taiwan, this would include Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung. The proposed zone aims to increase economic ties between Taiwan and mainland China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhang Zhijun</span> Chinese politician and diplomat

Zhang Zhijun is a Chinese diplomat and politician. From 17 March 2013 to 21 March 2018, he has served as the Minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. He is currently the president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits since April 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lin Join-sane</span> Taiwanese politician (born 1944)

Lin Join-sane is a Taiwanese politician. He was the chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation from 27 September 2012 until 20 May 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wang Yu-chi</span> Taiwanese politician

Wang Yu-chi is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) of the Executive Yuan since 28 September 2012 until 16 February 2015, when he resigned over the dropping of espionage charges brought against Chang Hsien-yao. Wang is the first ROC ministerial-level government official to visit mainland China after the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

The administrative divisions of China between 1912 and 1949 were established under the regime of the Republic of China government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prefecture-level divisions of China</span> Second-level administrative divisions of China

China is officially divided into 339 prefecture-level divisions, which rank below provinces and above counties as the second-level administrative division in the country. Of these, 333 are located in territory controlled by the People's Republic of China, while 6 are located in land controlled by Taiwan.

References

  1. ↑ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". International Monetary Fund .
  2. ↑ "Constitution of the People's Republic of China". english.www.gov.cn. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  3. ↑ Donald S. Zagoria (30 October 2003). Breaking the China-Taiwan Impasse. ABC-CLIO. pp. 68–. ISBN   978-0-313-05755-7. OCLC   1058389524 . Retrieved 20 March 2022. The fact is that the People's Republic of China (PRC), while claiming sovereignty over Taiwan, has never ruled Taiwan since the PRC's establishment in 1949.
  4. ↑ "The PRC Government website contains numerous references to "Taiwan authorities"". Gov.cn . Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  5. ↑ Bush, Richard C. (2019-01-07). "8 key things to notice from Xi Jinping's New Year speech on Taiwan". Brookings. Retrieved 2019-01-09.
  6. ↑ "截至6月18日24时新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情最新情况 COVID-19 latest situation as of 24:00 June 18 (UTC+8)". nhc.gov.cn. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  7. ↑ "Tianditu". Tianditu. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Plan for the Consultative Election of Deputies of Taiwan Province to the Tenth National People's Congress, 2002 (Government of the PRC website)
  9. ↑ DeAeth, Duncan (26 February 2018). "Only 2 of 13 deputies for Taiwan in China's Nat. People's Congress are from Taiwan". Taiwan News. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  10. ↑ "New rules laid down for RTHK over Taiwan stories". RTHK. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "Taiwan' s mainland affairs authority congratulates Macao' s Chui on reelection". Shanghai Daily. 2015-06-18. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  12. ↑ "Lee Teng-hui's Diaoyu Islands remarks reprimanded in Taiwan_News on Taiwan_ENG.TAIWAN.CN". eng.taiwan.cn.
  13. ↑ 张玲 (2014-06-30). "Headline_Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council PRC". Gwytb.gov.cn. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  14. ↑ "The One-China Principle and the Taiwan Issue(2000)". Archived from the original on 9 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "Truck crashes into Taiwan leader's office building - People's Daily Online". English.peopledaily.com.cn. 2014-01-26. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Taiwan's executive body to be reshuffled - Xinhua | English.news.cn". News.xinhuanet.com. 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  17. ↑ "Taiwan legislative body reviews no-confidence motion". chinadaily.com.cn. 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  18. ↑ "Taiwan rules in favor of same-sex marriage - People's Daily Online".
  19. ↑ "Headline_Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council PRC". Gwytb.gov.cn. 2011-01-06. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  20. 1 2 "Taiwan's food safety office opens amid scandals - Xinhua | English.news.cn". News.xinhuanet.com. 2014-10-22. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  21. ↑ "Candidates register for Taiwan leader election - Xinhua - English.news.cn". news.xinhuanet.com.
  22. ↑ "Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou re-elected KMT chairman - People's Daily Online". English.peopledaily.com.cn. 2013-07-21. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  23. ↑ "Taiwan's KMT confirms appointments of four vice chairmen - Xinhua | English.news.cn". News.xinhuanet.com. 2014-09-14. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  24. ↑ "20 killed, 270 injured in Taiwan gas leak explosions". China Daily . 1 August 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2021. Jiang Yi-huah, the island's executive chief...
  25. ↑ "Taiwan legislative chief expelled from party". www.chinadaily.com.cn. 2013-09-11.
  26. ↑ "Taiwan demands apology from Philippines for fisherman's death - Xinhua | English.news.cn". News.xinhuanet.com. 2013-05-10. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  27. ↑ "Mainland's Taiwan affairs chief highlights long-waited trip - Xinhua | English.news.cn". News.xinhuanet.com. 2014-06-25. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  28. ↑ "Taiwan punishes officers after celebrity's Apache chopper visit_News on Taiwan_ENG.TAIWAN.CN". eng.taiwan.cn.
  29. ↑ 张玲 (2014-08-11). "Headline_Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council PRC". Gwytb.gov.cn. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  30. ↑ "Political meeting to promote peaceful development of cross-Strait relations: Taiwan experts - Xinhua | English.news.cn". News.xinhuanet.com. 2014-06-15. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  31. ↑ "A glimpse of Taiwan Normal University in Taipei - People's Daily Online". People's Daily . Xinhua. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  32. ↑ Miao, Tzung-han; Chang, S.C. (20 July 2017). "Refusing to mention ROC? Respect facts, please: MAC". Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.