Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China

Taiwan
台湾省
Province of Taiwan
Name transcription(s)
 • Chinese台湾省 (Táiwān Shěng)
 • AbbreviationTW / (pinyin: Tái; Hokkien: Tâi; Hakka: Thòi)
 • Hokkien POJTâi-oân-séng
 • Hakka PFSThòi-vàn-sén or Thòi-vân-sén
Map showing the location of Taiwan Province
Map showing the location of Taiwan Province
Coordinates: 23°42′N 121°00′E / 23.7°N 121.0°E / 23.7; 121.0
Country People's Republic of China
Established from Fujian1887
Cession to Japan17 April 1895
Placed under the control of the ROC25 October 1945
Claimed as part of PRC1 October 1949
CapitalTaipei
Largest cityNew Taipei
DivisionsSee boundary change
Government
 • CCP SecretarySee representation
 • GovernorSee representation
 • National People's Congress Representation13 deputies
Area
 • Total35,581 km2 (13,738 sq mi)
 • Rank28th
Demographics
 • Ethnic composition98% Han Chinese
2% Gaoshan people
ISO 3166 codeCN-TW
GDP (2022 estimate)[1]CN¥5.12 trillion
 • Per capitaCN¥219,560
HDI (2021)0.916 very high
Taiwan Province
"Taiwan" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese台湾
Traditional Chinese臺灣

Taiwan Province, PRC 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.

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]

  1. ^ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". International Monetary Fund.
  2. ^ "Constitution of the People's Republic of China". The National People’s Congress. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  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.

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