Qing dynasty 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"; ), 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. In 1895, the entire province was
ceded to
Japan following the
First Sino-Japanese War through the
Treaty of Shimonoseki.
Republic of China . After the
surrender of Japan in 1945, Taiwan was
handed over to the
Republic of China (ROC). 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. In 1949,
Chinese Communist Party forces defeated the
Kuomintang (KMT) in the
Chinese Civil War, and the Republic of China government moved to Taipei. 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. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China claims that Taiwan is a sacred and inseparable part of China's territory, despite its separation from the mainland since 1949. The seat of the provincial government was moved from
Taipei to
Zhongxing New Village in 1956. Historically, Taiwan province covers the entire island of Taiwan and all its associated islands. The city of Taipei was split off to become a province-level
special municipality in 1967, and the city of Kaohsiung was split off in 1979 to become another special municipality. In December 2010,
Kaohsiung County left the province and merged with the original Kaohsiung City to become an expanded Kaohsiung City,
Taipei County became the special municipality named
New Taipei City. The cities and counties of
Taichung and
Tainan were also merged, respectively, and elevated to special municipality. On 25 December 2014,
Taoyuan County was upgraded into a
special municipality and split off from Taiwan province. Until 1992, the governor of Taiwan province was appointed by the ROC central government. The office was often a stepping stone to higher office. In 1992, the post of the governor of the province was opened to election. The then-opposition
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) agreed to retain the province with an elected governor in the hopes of creating a "
Yeltsin effect" in which a popular local leader could overwhelm the national government. These hopes proved unfulfilled as then-Kuomintang member
James Soong was elected governor of Taiwan province, defeating the DPP candidate
Chen Ding-nan. In 1997, as the result of an agreement between the KMT and the DPP, the powers of the provincial government were curtailed by constitutional amendments. The post of provincial governor was abolished. In addition, the provincial council was also replaced by the
Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council. Although the stated purpose was administrative efficiency, Soong and his supporters claim that it was actually intended to impede
James Soong's political life, though it did not have this effect. The provincial administration was downscaled in 1998, most of its power handed to the central government. The
counties and
provincial cities under the province became the primary administrative divisions of the country. ==Government==