Taiwan Province (; PFS: Thòi-vàn-sén or Thòi-vân-sén) is a nominal administrative division of the Republic of China (ROC). The province remains a titular division as a part of the Constitution of the Republic of China, but it is no longer considered to have any administrative function practically.
Taiwan Province covers approximately 69% of the island of Taiwan, and comprises around 31% of the total population. The province initially covered the entire island of Taiwan (Formosa), Penghu (the Pescadores), Orchid Island, Green Island, Xiaoliuqiu Island, and their surrounding islands. Between 1967 and 2014, six special municipalities (Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei and Taoyuan) were split off from the province, all in the most populous regions.
Taiwan was initially made a prefecture of Fujian Province by the Qing dynasty of China after its conquest of the Kingdom of Tungning in 1683. Following the French offensive in northern Taiwan during the Sino-French War, the island's strategic position in maritime security and defence was re-evaluated and given prominence by the Qing. Under the auspices of Liu Ming-chuan, a plan was commenced to develop Taiwan into a stand-alone division. In 1887, Taiwan was designated as a distinct province (namely "Fujian-Taiwan Province"; ), with Liu as the first governor, but the island was then ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895, following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War. After the surrender of Japan in World War II, the province was re-established on Taiwan by the Kuomintang (KMT)-led Nationalist Government in September 1945 and it became the last stronghold of the KMT government after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. The provincial capital of Taipei has correspondingly become the provisional capital of the ROC central government since 1949.
During the constitutional reform initiated in 1996, the ROC authorities decided to downsize the provincial structure to solve the problem of overlapping personnel and administrative resources between the provincial and central governments, and cut excessive public spending. The provinces were streamlined and ceased to be self-governing bodies in December 1998, with their administrative functions transferred to the Executive Yuan's subsidiary National Development Council, as well as second-tier local governments such as counties. In July 2018, all provincial governmental organs were formally abolished, with their budget and personnel removed.
History
Qing Empire
In 1683, Zheng Keshuang (third ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning and a grandson of Koxinga), surrendered to the Qing Empire following a naval engagement with Admiral Shi Lang. The Qing then ruled the Taiwanese archipelago (including Penghu) as Taiwan Prefecture of Fujian Province. In 1875, Taipeh Prefecture was separated from Taiwan Prefecture. In 1885, work commenced under the auspices of Liu Ming-chuan to develop Taiwan into a province. In 1887, the island was designated as a province (officially "Fujian-Taiwan Province"; Chinese: 福建臺灣省), with Liu as the first governor. The province was also reorganized into four prefectures, eleven districts, and three sub-prefectures. The provincial capital, or "Taiwan-fu", was intended to be moved from the south (modern-day Tainan) to the more central area of Toatun (modern-day Taichung) in the revamped Taiwan Prefecture. As the new central Taiwan-fu was still under construction, the capital was temporarily moved north to Taipeh (modern-day Taipei), which eventually was designated the provincial capital.
Empire of Japan
In 1895, the entire Taiwan Province, including Penghu, was ceded to Japan following the First Sino-Japanese War through the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Under Japanese rule, the province was abolished in favour of Japanese-style divisions. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, the Taiwan was handed over to the Republic of China (ROC).
Republic of China
The ROC government immediately established the Taiwan Provincial Government under first Chief Executive and government-general Chen Yi in September 1945. Chen was extremely unpopular and his rule led to an uprising – the February 28 Incident of 1947. Chen was recalled in May 1947 and the government-general position was abolished.
When the Republic of China government was relocated to Taipei in 1949 as a result of the Kuomintang's (KMT) defeat by the Chinese Communist Party forces 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.