Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China

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This article is about the province claimed by the People's Republic of China. For the Taiwan Province that currently exists as ruled by the Republic of China, see Taiwan Province, Republic of China.

Taiwan Province (Simplified Chinese: 台湾省; Traditional Chinese: 臺灣省 or 台灣省; pinyin: Táiwān shěng) is a claimed province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), covering the entirety of the island of Taiwan and its surrounding islets, including the Pescadores. This territory is currently administered by the Republic of China (ROC). The People's Republic of China holds the view that it succeeded the ROC as the sole legitimate authority in China upon its founding in 1949, and that the ROC currently on Taiwan does not exist legitimately (see Political status of Taiwan).

[edit] Divisions

The island of Taiwan is currently administered by the Republic of China government. The ROC divides the island of Taiwan into the direct-controlled municipalities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, and the Province of Taiwan. Both Taipei and Kaohsiung were separated by the ROC from Taiwan Province after the ROC lost control of mainland China to the PRC in 1949.

The official borders and divisions of Taiwan recognized by the People's Republic of China government are those that existed in 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. This is similar to the ROC's former practice of drawing maps depicting mainland borders the way they were in 1949 before the communist takeover.

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

Officially speaking, the PRC does not recognize any of the subdivisions created by the ROC in Taiwan, including counties and provincial cities.

[edit] Terminology

The term "Taiwan Province" is used by the People's Republic of China to refer to Taiwan and also within the Republic of China itself. The PRC state press commonly uses the term "China's Taiwan province" to refer to Taiwan and "the Taiwan authority" to refer to the ROC government. The United Nations uses the term "Taiwan, Province of China" to refer to the ROC and its jurisdiction.^{[citation needed]} Because ISO English country names and code elements also refer to Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China", so do certain web-based postal address programs.

Though the ROC government is often referred to by the PRC as "provincial", it also administers some areas that both the PRC and ROC do not consider to be part of the Province of Taiwan. This includes Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, administered as part of Fujian province by the ROC, and also officially regarded as part of Fujian by the PRC due to its historical status as being part of Fujian. Thus, these two counties are excluded from ISO 3166-2:TW ("Taiwan, Province of China"). The ROC also controls the Pratas and Taiping in the disputed South China Sea Islands. The ROC administers these territories as part of Kaohsiung municipality. The PRC regards the former as a part of Guangdong province and the latter as a part of Hainan province, not Taiwan province, and they are likewise excluded from ISO 3166-2.

There are thirteen delegates sent to the National People's Congress to represent Taiwan Province. These delegates have Taiwanese ancestry, 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.

[edit] See also

v • d • e Province-level divisions administered by the People's Republic of China (PRC)
Provinces	Anhui · Fujian · Gansu · Guangdong · Guizhou · Hainan · Hebei · Heilongjiang · Henan · Hubei · Hunan · Jiangsu · Jiangxi · Jilin · Liaoning · Qinghai · Shaanxi · Shandong · Shanxi · Sichuan · Taiwan¹ · Yunnan · Zhejiang
Autonomous regions	Guangxi · Inner Mongolia · Ningxia · Tibet (Xizang) · Xinjiang
Municipalities	Beijing · Chongqing · Shanghai · Tianjin
Special administrative regions	Hong Kong · Macau
¹ Claimed by the PRC, but currently ruled by the Republic of China ("Taiwan"). See also Political status of Taiwan.