Fujian Province, Republic of China

Fujian Province (Tongyong Pinyin and Hanyu Pinyin spelling; Fu-chien according to Wades-Giles and Fukien according to Postal map spelling; Hok-kian in POJ; Chinese: 福建省) is a province on the coast of southeastern China. Since 1949, Fujian has been split between two separate governments: the vast majority of Fujian province has been governed by the People's Republic of China; while a number of offshore islands have been governed by the Republic of China (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. Between 1956 to 1992, the ROC moved the Fujian provincial government out of Fujian territory altogether, to Sindian, Taipei County, Taiwan.

History

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, the ROC government moved the provincial government of Fujian to Sindian City, Taiwan, and the islands were placed under an extraordinarily tight military administration due to their extreme proximity to Mainland China. With the easing of cross-Straits relationships and the democratization of the ROC in the 1990s, the islands were returned to civilian government in 1992. The provincial government has been moved back to Quemoy, on Fujian soil, in 1996.

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 Quemoy and Lienchiang.

Subdivisions

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:
* Kinmen County (金門縣)
** Quemoy (金門島)
** Lesser Quemoy (小金門島)
** Wuciou (烏坵嶼)
*** Daciou (大坵)
*** Siaociou (小坵)
** Dongding (東碇)
** Dadan (大擔) and Erdan (二擔)

* Lienchiang County (連江縣)
** Nangan (南竿島)
** Beigan (北竿島)
** Jyuguang Islands (莒光列島), called Baiquan Islands (白犬列岛) by the PRC
** Dongyin (東引島)
** Minor islands: Liang (亮島), Gaodeng (高登)

These islands have a total area of 182.66 km² and a total population of 71,000 (2001).

List of Governors

See also

* Taiwan Province
* Politics of the Republic of China
* Battle of Kuningtou
* First Taiwan Strait Crisis
* Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
* Third Taiwan Strait Crisis

External links

* [http://www.fkpg.gov.tw ROC FuJian Provincial Government] zh icon