| Fujian Province | |
|---|---|
| 福建省 (Fújiàn Shěng) | |
Fujian Province of the Republic of China. (See also a more detailed map on which ROC-administered islands are marked off with broken lines.) |
|
| Capital | Kincheng Township |
| Demonym | Fukienese |
| Area | 182.66 km2 (70.53 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 3rd |
| Population (2009) | 91,261[1] |
| Population rank | 4th |
| County-level divisions | 2 |
| Township-level divisions | 10 |
| website | http://www.fkpg.gov.tw |
Fujian Province (Chinese: 福建; Hanyu Pinyin: Fújiàn; Tongyong Pinyin: Fújiàn; Wade–Giles: Fu-chien; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hok-kiàn; Postal map spelling: Fukien) is a province on the coast of southeastern China. Since 1949, Fujian has been split between two separate national governments: the vast majority of Fujian province has been governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC); while a number of offshore islands have been governed by the Republic of China (ROC) government in Taiwan. The PRC and ROC have each maintained its own respective Fujian provincial government to administer the portions that it controls. This article describes the specific portion of Fujian governed by the Republic of China. See Fujian for a description of the entire province, especially the part currently governed by the People's Republic of China.
The seat of the provincial government of ROC-controlled Fujian is Chincheng Township of Kinmen County.
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During the Chinese Civil War, the ROC lost control of mainland China, including most of Fujian province, and was forced to relocate to Taiwan, while the victorious communist forces established the PRC in 1949. In the Battle of Kuningtou, however, ROC forces were able to defend the island of Quemoy just off the coast of Fujian from communist attack. As a result, the ROC has been able to hold on to a number of offshore islands of Fujian, and has continued to maintain a separate Fujian provincial government to govern these islands, parallel to the province of Fujian in mainland China.
In 1956, due to heightened potential for military conflict with the PRC, the ROC central government moved the Fujian provincial government out of Fujian to within Taiwan Province in Xindian (now part of New Taipei), and the islands were placed under an extraordinarily tight military administration due to their extreme proximity to mainland China. This was an unusual situation where the government of a province is located and operating in a different province. With the easing of cross-Strait relations between the PRC and ROC and the democratization of the ROC in the 1990s, the islands were returned to civilian government in 1992. On January 15, 1996, the provincial government moved back to Kinmen, on Fujian soil.[2]
Recently, the ROC has significantly diluted the powers of the two provinces it governs, namely Taiwan and Fujian. Most of the authority at the Fujian province level has been delegated to the two county governments of Kinmen and Lienchiang.
The ROC governs its portion of Fujian province under two counties: Kinmen County and Lienchiang County.
The situation of Lienchiang County is a smaller analogy of Fujian: like Fujian, it is split between the PRC government, which governs the vast majority of it as Lianjiang County (spelled according to the Hanyu Pinyin romanization system), and the ROC government which governs a few offshore islands of it, namely the Matsu Islands and some surrounding island groups. Kinmen County, on the other hand, is entirely within the jurisdiction of the ROC government.
The following are the islands of Fujian under the administration of the ROC, given by county:
These islands have a total area of 182.66 km² and a total population of 71,000 (2001).
| Governor | Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Term in office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tai Chung-yu | 戴仲玉 | Dài Zhòngyù | 1945 - May 1986 |
| Wu Chin-tzan | 吳金贊 | Wú Jīnzàn | June 1986 - February 9, 1998 |
| Yen Chung-cheng | 顏忠誠 | Yán Zhōngchéng | February 10, 1998 - May 2007 |
| Chen Chin-jun | 陳景峻 | Chén Jǐngjùn | December 28, 2007 - May 19, 2008 |
| Hsueh Hsiang-chuan | 薛香川 | Xūe Xiāngchuān | May 20, 2008 - September 10, 2009 |
| James Cherng-tay Hsueh | 薛承泰 | Xūe Chéngtài | September 10, 2009 - |
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