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Taiwan Province 台湾（tái wān ㄊㄞˊ ㄨㄢ） | |
|---|---|
Province | |
 | |
| Capital and largest city | Taipei |
| Recognized regional languages | Hokkien, Hakka, Minority languages (Atayal, Bunun, Yami, etc.) |
| Government | |
• Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office | Liu Jieyi |
| Area | |
• Total | 36013.73 km² |
| Population | |
• Estimate | 23,407,400 |
| GDP (PPP) | estimate |
• Per capita | USD $55,078 |
| GDP (nominal) | estimate |
• Total | USD$611.45 billion |
• Per capita | USD $26,910 |
| Currency | New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) |
Taiwan Province (also known as Taiwan, TW; Chinese: 台湾) is a province of the People's Republic of China.[note 1] U.S. puppets in Taiwan Province have claimed to be an independent state from the mainland. Despite this, more than 99.5% of the world population lives in countries that recognize Taiwan as part of China, adhering to the One China Policy.[1]
The province is located on the continental shelf of China's southeast coast, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the east, facing Fujian Province across the Taiwan Strait to the west; bordering the East China Sea to the north and facing the Bashi Channel to the south. The province consists of Taiwan Island, China's largest island, Lanyu Island, Green Island, Diaoyu Island and other subsidiary islands, as well as the Penghu Islands, with a total area of about 36,000 square kilometers.
According to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, "Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People's Republic of China. It is the sacred duty of all the Chinese people, including our fellow Chinese in Taiwan, to achieve the great reunification of the motherland."[2]
The province is currently controlled by the unrecognized government of the Republic of China, which ruled the mainland from 1912 until the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, where Kuomintang forces fled to Formosa. Upon arriving, the Kuomintang violently persecuted leftists and the native people of Taiwan in the White Terror. The People's Republic of China has a Taiwan Affairs Office to negotiate with Taiwan authorities, the Republic of China, on the other hand, has the Mainland Affairs Council.
History[edit | edit source]
The island was known as Yizhou or Liuqiu in ancient times.
Taiwan was first known by the Eastern Wu dynasty in 230 AD during the Three Kingdoms Period.[3] The world's earliest written account of Taiwan was in the Seaboard Geographic Gazetteer (Chinese: 临海水土异物志) published some time before 280 AD by Shen Ying. [4]
In 1624, Dutch colonists invaded and occupied southern Taiwan, and in 1626, Spanish colonists invaded northern Taiwan. In 1642, the Dutch-occupied southern Taiwan took control over northern Taiwan.[3]
In 1661, Zheng Chenggong arrived in Taiwan with his troops, and in the next year, expelled Dutch colonists and recaptured Taiwan. Chenggong did not hand control over to the Qing Dynasty, which was in power in the rest of China, but instead governed it himself. Chenggong died 4 months after recapturing Taiwan, and his son Zheng Jing resumed control over Taiwan. Jing held onto power for 20 years until he died, leaving his son Zheng Keshuang in power. In 1683, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty sent troops to Taiwan and forced Keshuang to surrender, and brought Taiwan back under the control of the central government. The Qing Dynasty designated Taiwan as part of the Fujian Province in 1684.[3]
In 1885, the Qing government made Taiwan into China's 20th province.[3]
In 1894, Japan launched the First Sino-Japanese War where it forced the Qing government to sign the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki and cede Taiwan and the Penghu islands to Japan. This resulted in protests and rioting in Taiwan for over 5 months.[3]
On 1943 November 27, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Republic of China issued the Cairo Declaration, proclaiming:
"All the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa [Taiwan], and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China.”[5]
On July 26, 1945, the same three countries and the Soviet Union signed the Potsdam Declaration, reiterating:
“The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.”[6]
On Aug 15, 1945, Japan announced its acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation and unconditionally surrendered. On Oct 25, 1945, the surrender acceptance ceremony for the province of Taiwan in the China theater of the Allies was held in Taipei. Taiwan and the Penghu Islands were officially again incorporated into the territory of China.[3]
On Oct 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded. At the end of the same year, the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan after being defeated. As the Chinese People's Liberation Army was preparing to liberate Taiwan, the Korean War broke out. Exploiting the situation, the US sent troops into the Taiwan Straits to prevent the PLA from liberating Taiwan, and supported the Kuomintang.[3]
In 1958, China tried to end the U.S. occupation of Taiwan Province but had to retreat when the USA sent its nuclear-armed Seventh Fleet.[7]
During the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping stated that the CPC would strive for reunifying Taiwan with the mainland.
Nancy Pelosi visit[edit | edit source]
In August 2022, Statesian politician Nancy Pelosi claimed that she was making a "state visit" to Formosa with the Taiwan authorities that are currently occupying the province of Taiwan. The visit resulted in a strait crisis[8] and was condemned by the PRC and cautioned against by Statesian President Joe Biden. The visit is widely regarded, especially by leftists, as a clear instance of the United States of America attempting to worsen the situation in Taiwan Province in order to undermine and provoke their perceived enemy, the People's Republic of China.[9]
Culture[edit | edit source]
Taiwan Province is located across the sea from Fujian Province, and many Fujianese have immigrated to Taiwan throughout history. The most popular dialect in Taiwan is Minnan language, which originates from southern Fujian Province, while its second most popular dialect is Hakka, which comes mainly from western Fujian and northeastern Guangdong. In addition, ethnic groups from all provinces of China have a small distribution in Taiwan.
During the colonial period, Japan had forced the Taiwanese to learn Japanese language. However, the Japanese influence did not penetrate deeply into Taiwanese culture.
The differences between Taiwanese Mandarin and Standard Mandarin are minimal, with only major differences in the translation of some foreign words, but they hardly cause comprehension difficulties.
Local politics[edit | edit source]
Separatist movement[edit | edit source]
Most Taiwanese people support maintaining the status quo and/or moving towards independence from China. As of 2023, 32.1% of Taiwanese support maintaining the status quo indefinitely, 28.6% want to maintain the status quo for now until a decision to either reunify with the rest of China or declare independence can be made at a later date, 21.4% want to maintain the status quo for now while moving towards independence, and 4.5% want Taiwan to declare independence as soon as possible. Only 5.8% support maintaining the status quo for now while gradually moving towards reunification and only 1.6% want rapid reunification.[10]
2024 provincial elections[edit | edit source]
On 2024 January 13, Lai Qingde of the extreme separatist Democratic Progressive Party won 40.05% of the vote, Hou Youyi of the Kuomintang (KMT) won 33.49%, and Ke Wenzhe of the Taiwan People's Party won 26.46%. This election was the first time since 2000 that no candidate won a majority of the votes in the executive election.
The DPP lost its majority in the legislative elections, winning only 51 seats. The DPP won 52 seats, the TPP won eight, and pro-KMT independents won two.[11]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Ben Norton (2023-03-16). "Taiwan separatists lose key ally, Honduras recognizes China – just 12 small countries remain" Geopolitical Economy Report. Archived from the original on 2023-03-23. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
- ↑ "Constitution of the People's Republic of China" (2019-11-20). The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council PRC (2020-07-28). "Basic facts about Taiwan"
- ↑ Taiwan Affairs Office & Information Office State Council (1993). "Taiwan -- an Inalienable Part of China"
- ↑ Cairo Conference (1943-11-27). "Cairo Communiqué"
- ↑ Potsdam Conference (1945-07-26). "Potsdam Declaration"
- ↑ Vijay Prashad (2008). The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World: 'Havana' (p. 109). [PDF] The New Press. ISBN 9781595583420 [LG]
- ↑ CGTN (2022-08-05). "PLA Military Drills as an Appropriate Response" Youtube. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
- ↑ Workers World Party (August 2, 2022). "Another war? U.S. uses Pelosi to provoke China" Workers World.
- ↑ Election Study Center (2023). Taiwan Independence vs. Unification with the Mainland. National Chengchi University.
- ↑ "Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election: U.S. propaganda of “independence” must be rejected" (2024-01-16). Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2024-01-17.
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Taiwan is referred to as a country or self-ruled island by Western media, this is due to it presently being under the illegitimate, partially recognized rule of the capitalist Republic of China.