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Taiwan Province

Taiwan Province () is one of the two administrative divisions referred to as provinces and governed by the Republic of China (ROC) also commonly known as "Taiwan". The province covers approproximately 98% of the territory under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China. Geographically it covers the majority of the island of Taiwan as well as all the smaller islands surrounding it, the largest of which are the Penghu archipelago, the Green Island and the Orchid Island. Taiwan Province excludes the Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, which are administered as Fujian province, and the centrally administered municipalities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, both of which located geographically within the island of Taiwan. Since 1998, the Taiwan Provincial Government has been streamlined, with most of its functions transferred to the Executive Yuan. The People's Republic of China (PRC) in mainland China regards itself as the " successor state" of the Republic of China (ROC), which it claims no longer legitimately exists. The PRC further claims that as such, the PRC has sovereignty over all of China which it claims the island of Taiwan is a part of. 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 Taiwan (including Penghu) as a prefecture of Fujian Province. In 1875, Taipei Prefecture was separated from the original prefecture. In 1887, Taiwan was made a separate province. In 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan. 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 did not immediately make Taiwan into a province, but put it under military occupation under Chief Executive Chen Yi. 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. To assure the residents of Taiwan that they would be treated equally as other people in other parts of the country, the Taiwan Provincial Government was established. When the Republic of China government was relocated to Taipei in 1949 as a result of the Kuomintang (KMT)'s defeat to the Communist Party 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. As such, Taiwan is considered to be one of the provinces under the Republic of China. The seat of the provincial government was moved from Taipei to Chunghsing Village (Jhongsing Village) in 1956. In 1967 and 1979 respectively, the cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung were separated from the province and turned into centrally-administered municipalities. 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. 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

Taiwan Province is divided into 16 counties (縣; hsien) and 5 provincial cities (市; shih):

Counties

Provincial municipalities

Note: The cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung are administered directly by the central government and are not part of Taiwan province, though the counties of the same name surrounding these cities are part of the province. The PRC, which does not administer Taiwan Province, does not recognize Taipei and Kaohsiung 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
  • 1967: Taipei became the first Taiwanese municipality
  • November 11, 1967: All county seats (originally towns) upgraded to county-controlled cities.
  • 1979: Kaohsiung became the second Taiwanese municipality
  • July 1, 1982: 2 new provincial cities: Hsinchu and Chiayi (approved on April 23, 1981)

List of Governors

Chief Executive

The position of Chief Executive () 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.

Chairman of the Provincial Government

Governors (, "provincial chairperson"):

Governor

Governor of the Province(). 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.

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.

PRC's claims

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 and Kaohsiung to be provincial-level cities have not been recognized by the PRC, and both 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

See also

Further reading

  • Bush, R. & O'Hanlon, M. (2007). A War Like No Other: The Truth About China's Challenge to America. Wiley. ISBN 0471986771
  • Bush, R. (2006). Untying the Knot: Making Peace in the Taiwan Strait. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 0815712901
  • Carpenter, T. (2006). America's Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1403968411
  • Cole, B. (2006). Taiwan's Security: History and Prospects. Routledge. ISBN 0415365813
  • Copper, J. (2006). Playing with Fire: The Looming War with China over Taiwan. Praeger Security International General Interest. ISBN 0275988880
  • 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 0815731469
  • Shirk, S. (2007). China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195306090
  • Tsang, S. (2006). If China Attacks Taiwan: Military Strategy, Politics and Economics. Routledge. ISBN 0415407850
  • Tucker, N.B. (2005). Dangerous Strait: the U.S.-Taiwan-China Crisis. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231135645

References

External links

"green air" © 2007 - Ingo Malchow, Webdesign Neustrelitz
This article based upon the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_Province, the free encyclopaedia Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Further informations available on the list of authors and history: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Taiwan_Province&action=history
presented by: Ingo Malchow, Mirower Bogen 22, 17235 Neustrelitz, Germany