In 11th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu , the government formally made Taiwan a full province covering three prefectures and one sub-prefecture and incorporating 11 counties and 5 cantons. Liu Mingchuan was appointed first Governor of Taiwan. During his tenure of office, railways were laid, mines opened, telegraph service installed, merchant ships built, industries started and new-style schools set up. Considerable social, economic and cultural advancement in Taiwan was achieved as a result.
After the Chinese people's victory in the war against Japanese aggression in , the Chinese government reinstated its administrative authority in Taiwan Province. Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Straits carried out a prolonged, unremitting struggle against foreign invasion and occupation of Taiwan. Since the late 15th century Western colonialists started to grab and conquer colonies in a big way.
In 4th year of the reign of Ming Emperor Tianqi Dutch colonialists invaded and occupied the southern part of Taiwan. Two years later Spanish colonialists seized the northern part of Taiwan.
The Chinese people on both sides of the Straits waged various forms of struggle including armed insurrections against the invasion and occupation of Taiwan by foreign colonialists. In l8th year of the reign of Qing Emperor Shufizhi General Zheng Chenggong Koxinga led an expedition to Taiwan and expelled the Dutch colonialists from the island in the following year. Japan launched a war of aggression against China in l 20th year of the reign of Qing Emperor Guangxu. In the ensuing year, as a result of defeat the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceding Taiwan to Japan.
This wanton betrayal and humiliation shocked the whole nation and touched off a storm of protests. A thousand or more candidates from all 18 provinces including Taiwan who had assembled in Beijing for the Imperial Examination signed a strongly-worded petition opposing the ceding of Taiwan. In Taiwan itself, people wailed and bemoaned the betrayal and went on general strikes.
General Liu Yongfu and others of the garrison command stood with Taiwan compatriots and put up a fierce fight against the Japanese landing forces. To support this struggle, people on the mainland, particularly in the southeastern region, showed their solidarity by generous donations or organizing volunteers to Taiwan to fight the Japanese forces. Taiwan compatriots never ceased their dauntless struggle throughout the Japanese occupation.
Initially, they formed insurgent groups to wage guerrilla warfare for as long as seven years. When the Revolution of overthrew the Qing monarchy they in turn lent support to their mainland compatriots by staging more than a dozen armed insurrections.
The s and s witnessed surging waves of mass action sweeping across the island against Japanese colonial rule. In the Chinese people threw themselves into an all-out war of resistance against Japanese aggression. In its declaration of war against Japan, the Chinese Government proclaimed that all treaties, conventions, agreements, and contracts regarding relations between China and Japan, including the Treaty of Shimonoseki, had been abrogated.
The declaration stressed that China would recover Taiwan, Penghu and the four northeastern provinces. After eight years of grueling war against Japanese aggression the Chinese people won final victory and recovered the lost territory of Taiwan in Taiwan compatriots displayed an outburst of passion and celebrated the great triumph of their return to the fold of the motherland by setting off big bangs of fireworks and performing rites to communicate the event to their ancestors.
The international community has acknowledged the fact that Taiwan belongs to China. The Chinese people's war of resistance against Japanese aggression, being part of the world-wide struggle against Fascism, received extensive support from people all over the world.
The Cairo Declaration issued by China, the United States and Great Britain on 1 December stated: "It is the purpose of the three great Allies that Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the First World War in , and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa [Taiwan] and the Pescadores [Penghu], shall be restored to China.
The instrument of Japan's surrender stipulated that "Japan hereby accepts the provisions in the declaration issued by the heads of the Governments of the United States, China and Great Britain on July 26, at Potsdam, and subsequently adhered to by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" On 25 October the ceremony for accepting Japan's surrender in Taiwan Province of the China war theater of the Allied powers was held in Taibei.
On the occasion the chief officer for accepting the surrender proclaimed on behalf of the Chinese government that from that day forward Taiwan and the Penghu Archipelago had again been incorporated formally into the territory of China and that the territory, people, and administration had now been placed under the sovereignty of China.
From that point in time forward, Taiwan and Penghu had been put back under the jurisdiction of Chinese sovereignty. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, countries have established diplomatic relations with China.
All these countries recognize that there is only one China and that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of China and Taiwan is part of China. It became an issue only as an aftermath of the ensuing anti-popular civil war started by Kuomintang, and more especially because of intervention by foreign forces.
Taiwan question and civil war launched by Kuomintang. During the war of resistance against Japanese aggression the Chinese Communist Party and other patriotic groups pressed Kuomintang into a national united front with the Communist Party to fight Japanese imperialist aggression.
After victory of the war the two Parties should have joined hands to work for the resurgence of China. But the Kuomintang clique headed by Chiang Kai-shek flouted the people's fervent aspirations for peace and for building an independent, democratic and prosperous new China. Relying on U. The Chinese people were compelled to respond with a people's liberation war which was to last more than three years under the leadership of the Communist Party.
Since the Kuomintang clique had already been spurned by the people of all nationalities for its reign of terror, the government of the "Republic of China" in Nanjing was finally overthrown by the Chinese people. The People's Republic of China was proclaimed on 1 October and the Government of the new People's Republic became the sole legal government of China.
A group of military and political officials of the Kuomintang clique took refuge in Taiwan and, with the support of the then U. Taiwan question and responsibility of the United States. Against the backdrop of East-West confrontation in the wake of the Second World War and guided by its conceived global strategy and national interest considerations, the U.
However, the U. After victory of the war the two Acheson's letter of transmittal to President Harry S. Truman had to admit this.
Dean Acheson lamented in his letter: "The unfortunate but inescapable fact is that the ominous result of the civil war in China was beyond the control of the government of the United States. It was the product of internal Chinese forces, forces which this country tried to influence but could not. But it failed to do so. Instead, it adopted a policy of isolation and containment of New China. When the Korean War broke out, it started armed intervention in the inter-Taiwan Straits relations which were entirely China's internal affairs.
In December the U. The erroneous policy of the U. In order to ease tension in the Taiwan Straits area and seek ways of solving the dispute between the two countries, the Chinese Government started dialogues with the United States from the mids onwards. The two countries held sessions of talks at ambassadorial level from August to February However, no progress had been made in that period on the key issue of easing and removing tension in the Taiwan Straits area. It was not until late s and early s when the international situation had undergone changes and as New China had gained in strength that the U.
In October the United Nations General Assembly adopted at its 26th session Resolution which restored all the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations and expelled the ''representatives'' of the Taiwan authorities from the U.
The United States Government does not challenge that position. Government accepted the three principles proposed by the Chinese Government for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, namely, the United States should sever ''diplomatic relations'' and abrogate the ''mutual defense treaty'' with the Taiwan authorities and withdraw U.
Within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan. Regrettably, however, scarcely three months after the event, a so-called Taiwan Relations Act was passed by the U. Congress and signed into law by the President.
A domestic legislation of the U. Invoking this legislation, the U. Government has continued its arms sales to Taiwan, interference in China's internal affairs and obstruction to Taiwan's reunification with the mainland. In order to resolve the issue of U.
Government stated that: ''It does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan, that its arms sales to Taiwan will not exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms, the level of those supplied in recent years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China and that it intends gradually to reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan, leading, over a period of time, to a final resolution.
In September the U. Government even decided to sell F high-performance fighter aircraft to Taiwan. This action of the U. Government has added a new stumbling block in the way of the development of Sino-U.
It is clear from the foregoing that the U. Government is responsible for holding up the settlement of the Taiwan Question. Since the s many Americans of vision and goodwill in or outside the administration have contributed much by way of helping to resolve the differences between China and the U.
On the other hand, one cannot fail to note that there are people in the U. They have cooked up various pretexts and exerted influence to obstruct the settlement of the Taiwan question. The Chinese Government is convinced that the American and the Chinese peoples are friendly to each other and that the normal development of the relations between the two countries accords with the long-term interests and common aspiration of both peoples.
The Chinese Government's Basic Position Regarding Settlement of the Taiwan Question To settle the Taiwan question and achieve national reunification -- this is a sacrosanct mission of the entire Chinese people. The Chinese Government has persistently worked towards this end since the founding of the People's Republic. Its basic position on this question is: peaceful reunification, one country, two systems.
Peaceful reunification; one country, two systems -- how has this position been formulated? The Chinese Government conceived a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question as early as in the s. In May the late Premier Zhou Enlai said at a NPC Standing Committee meeting that two alternatives were open to the Chinese people for the solution of the Taiwan question -- by resort to war or by peaceful means.
The Chinese people would strive for a peaceful solution wherever possible, he affirmed. In April the late Chairman Mao Zedong put forward thoughts for policy-making such as ''peace is the best option'', ''all patriots are of one family'' and ''it is never too late to join the ranks of patriots''. However, those wishes have not come to fruition for reasons such as interference by foreign forces.
Major changes took place in and outside China in the s. A March opinion poll commissioned by the Taiwanese government shows that currently the majority of Taiwanese support the DPP government's approach in "safeguarding national sovereignty". More and more people also say they feel Taiwanese, rather than Chinese. In the election Ms Tsai won a record-breaking 8. China military drill as US envoy visits Taiwan. US angers China with high-profile Taiwan visit. Why US-China relations have reached a low.
China-Taiwan relations in 60 secs. Taiwan and China to hold key summit. Image source, AFP. What is the history of this tension? Image source, Central Press. Chiang Kai-shek, once the leader in China, fled with his supporters to Taiwan. What about recent hostility?
Chen Shui-bian was a backer of independence for Taiwan from China. Image source, Reuters. Under Ms Tsai, cross-Straits relations soured again. So who recognises Taiwan? How much of an issue is independence in Taiwan? Recent polls show many Taiwanese support the government's approach in "safeguarding national sovereignty". Related Topics. China Taiwan. Published 18 September Published 10 August Published 24 July This piece is part of the Taiwan-U. Quarterly Analysis series , which features the original writings of experts from the United States and Taiwan, with the goal of providing a range of perspectives on developments relating to Taiwan.
John Culver retired in after a distinguished year career at the Central Intelligence Agency. During that time, he analyzed East Asian affairs, including security, economic, and foreign policy dimensions. He routinely participated in meetings at the White House, with leaders throughout the United States government, and with foreign government officials. In a conversation with Brookings Senior Fellow and interim Koo Chair in Taiwan Studies Ryan Hass, the two discussed the risk of future conflict in the Taiwan Strait, how Taiwan is responding to rising pressure from China, and steps the United States could take to support Taiwan in consideration of its interests.
Is Taiwan policy a high priority or a source of debate? This reflects the fact that Taipei has not taken highly provocative or precipitous actions since , when then-President Chen Shui-bian stirred controversy by advocating, through a public referendum, for Taipei to pursue U. EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft. In other words, President Xi Jinping and the CCP are not facing much domestic pressure to do something, or at least to do something different.
But galvanizing Chinese public opinion to justify harsher policies is a card Beijing could always play — we should keep in mind that it has not. Do you agree? JC: Taiwan is an issue that the CCP sees as a threat to its legitimacy, not an opportunity to be seized. That has meant that CCP policy toward Taiwan is largely about what it wants to avoid, not what it wants to achieve — reactionary, not exploitative.
0コメント