Fujian–Taiwan relationship

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The northwest side of the Taiwan Strait is Fujian, and the south-east side is Taiwan.

The Fujian–Taiwan relations, also known as the Min–Tai relations (

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On the other hand, after the

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History

Before the Sino-Japanese War

Zheng Chenggong

Before the

better source needed] During the Song and Yuan dynasties, indigenous people in Taiwan did not have enough iron ore, and obtained iron from visiting mainland merchants for food.[11]

During the

better source needed] In 1661, Zheng Chenggong established the Chengtian Prefecture in Taiwan after defeating the Dutch East India Company in the Siege of Fort Zeelandia.[13]

In 1683, Kangxi Emperor sent Shi Lang to attack Taiwan. After the Battle of Penghu, Zheng Keshuang, grandson of Zheng Chenggong, surrendered, so the army of Qing dynasty entered Taiwan. In the next year, a prefecture was set up, to be the ninth in Fujian Province. Shortly afterward, the Governor of Fujian was allowed to swap Fujian and Taiwan officials. Hence, many officials of Taiwan came from Fujian.[14]

In the middle of the Qing dynasty, a large number of immigrants came to Taiwan, and there were many conflicts of interest among different ethnic groups. For example, Fujian-Cantonese fighting occurred between Fujian's

Hakkas and Chaozhou people in Guangdong, and Quanzhang fighting between Quanzhou and Zhangzhou people. During this period, there was also cooperation among ethnic groups in Taiwan. For example, in 1796, Wu Sha had the assistance of people from Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Hakka people when entering Yilan.[15]

During the

Emperor Guangxu), the Qing court set up Fujian-Taiwan Province in response to the border crisis and for defense against foreign invasion. It ruled Taiwan and Taipeh Prefecture of the former Fujian Province,[16] and former Governor of Fujian, Liu Mingchuan, was appointed Governor of Taiwan Province.[17] The funding of the Taiwan Province was mainly borne by Fujian.[14]

Japanese rule

Scene of the signing of Treaty of Shimonoseki

In 1895, the Qing dynasty was defeated by Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War and was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki to cede Taiwan. Japan ruled over Taiwan for 50 years until it was defeated in World War II in 1945 and ceased to rule Taiwan. During these 50 years, Fujian and Taiwan have not been separated because of government, commerce, performing arts and private affairs.[14]

Soon after the Japanese started ruling Taiwan, they used it as a base to launch an invasion of Fujian.[18] As a crucial part of the Japanese Empire's south invasion strategy, Japan's Governor-General of Taiwan formulated a policy against Fujian,[19] focusing on incorporating Japanese culture by establishing schools, setting up hospitals, constructing shrines and operating newspapers in Taiwan. It had a profound impact on the development of modern Fujian society.[20]

In the early days of Japanese rule in Taiwan, Japanese people did not need a passport to enter the Qing empire via Taiwan. As Japanese rogues appeared in Fujian and engaged in illegal activities, the Governor-General of Taiwan promulgated the "Foreign Travel Voucher Rule" in January 1897. At first it was aimed at Japanese people who went to the Qing Empire, but from May 1897, it was extended to Japanese and Taiwanese people who went to China and other countries.[19][21]

Around 1896, the then Governor-General of Japan,

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In February 1934, Chen Yi was appointed chairman of the Fujian Provincial Government.[23] During his tenure, the Fujian Provincial Government visited Taiwan twice in 1934 and 1936. When Japan began to rule Taiwan in 1895, Taiwan's economy was not as large as Fujian's. But after nearly 40 years of Japanese operation, Taiwan has far surpassed Fujian in terms of economy. Therefore, the "Taiwan Expedition Report" recommended that Fujian study Taiwan's economic model.[24]

After the Second World War

On October 25, 1945, in the Zhongshan Hall, General Rikichi Andō signed and stamped the acceptance certificate issued by General Chen Yi's First Order of the department, and then passed it on to General Chen Yi (right) via General Isayama Haruki (left).

On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its

Chinese economic reform, the mainland issued the "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan",[25] replacing the original "Liberation of Taiwan" with "peaceful reunification". In response, Chiang Ching-kuo responded with the "Three Noes" in Taiwan.[26]

In November 1980, the first small trade transaction between Fujian and Taiwan was made. In 1981, the first Taiwan-funded enterprise settled in Fuzhou. Since 1981, Fujian has opened four ports as anchorages for Taiwanese ships and reception stations for Taiwan compatriots. This is the first place for cross-strait trade and personnel exchanges after the reform. In 1987, people of Taiwan were allowed to visit relatives on the mainland, and the economic and trade activities between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits rapidly increased. By 1991, Fujian had attracted a total of 1,372 Taiwan-funded contract projects with a total contract value of US$1.07 billion and an actual capital contribution of US$480 million. Taiwanese funds in Fujian accounted for 32.1% of all Taiwanese funds in the mainland China. In 1992,

Mawei and Xiamen in Fujian Province in China realized trade, navigation, and mail, collectively known as the "Mini Three Links". Later, Chen Shui-bian advocated Taiwan independence, affecting the economic and trade cooperation between Fujian and Taiwan. By the end of 2008, Taiwanese businessmen had invested in 9,718 projects in Fujian, and the passenger traffic of the "mini three links" between Fujian and China was 974,000.[25]

In 2015, the Fujian Provincial Department of Transportation stated that it would launch a related management plan for vehicles operating in and out of

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Geography

Taiwan strait

A map of southeastern China drawn in 1863, showing the Taiwan strait at the lower-right corner.

Fujian and Taiwan are separated by the narrow

Dongshan Island, with a distance of 410 kilometers.[29] When visibility is high, Taiwan can be directly seen from Fuzhou.[30]

About 54 million years ago, the central part of the Taiwan Strait began to be flooded. Its middle became a shallow sea and it began to become a strait. During the glacial period of the late Pleistocene, the sea water receded and the surface of the Taiwan Strait dropped by 130 to 180 meters, turning into land, and Taiwan was connected to the mainland. A large number of ancient humans and animals moved from the mainland to Taiwan through the dry Taiwan Strait. Since the Quaternary glacial period (between 18 million and 6000 years ago), the sea has entered the transgressive period, and the sea level has risen about 100 to 130 meters, forming today's sea level. Since then, the exchanges between the two shores have changed from land to sea.[30]

The Penghu Islands are located in the Taiwan Strait, with the

Pescadores Channel between it and Taiwan. Early Taiwanese immigrants used the idiom "of ten people going there, six died, three stranded and only one could return" (Chinese: 十去,六死,三留,一回頭) to describe the difficulty of travel.[31]

Kinmen-Matsu area

The Kinmen-Matsu region consists of two counties,

Lesser Kinmen, and has a total area of about 150 square kilometers,[33] and was a battleground for military action across the Taiwan Strait.[34] Matsu is located outside the Min River estuary in Fujian Province. It is about 16 nautical miles away from Fuzhou in the west, 114 nautical miles from Keelung, and 152 nautical miles to Kinmen to the south. The Matsu Islands extend 54 kilometers from north to south, with a total area of 28.8 square kilometers, including 36 large islands and reefs.[35]

Due to the geographical location, Kinmen and Matsu originally belonged to Fujian, and their daily supplies and customs are almost the same as those in southern and eastern Fujian. Since 1949, the Chinese civil war have made the region a key point of conflict between Taiwan and Fujian. Among them, there have been small battles in the

Mawei and Xiamen and the Kinmen-Matsu area realized trade, navigation, and postal services, allowing the islands to be quickly integrated with the world. Kinmen people can use the resources of Fujian Province to promote industry and business.[36]

Military

American navy warship at the Taiwan Strait during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
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After 1949, China deployed missiles that could attack Taiwan at any time.[7] Taiwan estimated that there were 1,300 of them,[37] including nearly 100 M-11 missiles deployed at Fujian.[38]

Before the

conspiracy theorists to provoke the Communist Party's 95th anniversary on that same day.[40][41]

The deployment of giant radars in Fujian in mainland China might affect the normal operation of Taiwan's

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Economics

When Fujian immigrants arrived in Taiwan, they brought rice, sugarcane,

Lukang, and Zhangzhou-Fucheng. After the signing of the "Convention of Peking" in 1860, Taiwan successively opened the four major ports of Tamsui, Keelung, Kaohsiung and Anping.[46] After the establishment of Taiwan Province, the construction of a postal system began, connecting Taiwan with Fujian via the Tamsui-Fuzhou line.[45] The Qing dynasty also levied food supplies in Taiwan and shipped Fujian for military supplies, known as the "Taiwan Transportation".[9]

Pingtan Experimentation Center in the Fujian Free-Trade Zone

In 2006, the Fujian-Taiwan Economic Cooperation Promotion Committee was established in Xiamen, Fujian. Many high-ranking officials attended the ceremony. Lu Shixiang, a senior journalist in Taiwan, believes that "the economic zone on both sides of the Taiwan Straits is a product of China's policy of reuniting with Taiwan through economic reunification".[47]

In 2011, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Development Plan for the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone".[48] On April 21, 2015, the Fujian Free-Trade Zone was officially listed and would become a "demonstration of deepening cross-strait economic cooperation". On December 29, the Cross-Strait Arbitration Center was established in Pingtan, which would provide more cross-strait enterprises with facilitated arbitration services.[49] According to customs statistics, the total import and export value of Fujian Province to Taiwan in the first quarter of 2016 was 14.55 billion yuan, a decrease of 11.2% compared with the same period last year. Among them, Fujian's exports to Taiwan were worth 5.53 billion yuan, an increase of 6.1%; imports from Taiwan were 9.02 billion yuan, a decrease of 19.3%; the trade deficit was 3.49 billion yuan, narrowing by 41.4%.[50]

In the past fifteen years, the gap between Fujian and Taiwan's

State Council.[49]

Races

Region of the Hakka at western Fujian. In 1926, over 40,000 Taiwanese had ancestry here.[52]

The ethnic groups in Taiwan are mainly

pygmies in Taiwan,[9][53] but they have become extinct.[54] Today's ethnic minorities in Taiwan are commonly known as the "indigenous people", who arrived in Taiwan earlier than the Hans,[9] and belonged to one of the branches of the Austronesian
ethnic group.'

The Han people in Taiwan are divided into three groups:

Minnan dialect. In 1926, the "Taiwanese Ethnic Groups in Taiwanese Nationality Survey" recorded that of Taiwan's 3.76 million people, 3.12 million were ancestors of Fujian Province, accounting for about 83%.[52] A 2004 survey showed that Hans accounted for 98% of Taiwan's population, with the indigenous people accounting for less than 2%. Among them, about 70% were Quanzhang Hoklo (descendants of Fujian immigrants from Fujian with ancestral homes at Quanzhou or Zhangzhou), and about 15% were Hakkas.[55] According to a genetic study in 2007 by Dr. Lin Mali of the Mackay Memorial Hospital, the composition of the ethnic group in Taiwan was 73.5% Minnan, 17.5% Hakka, 7.5% Waishengren who moved to Taiwan after 1945 and 1.5% indigenous.[56]

Common surnames in Taiwan include

Lukang Gu (辜) family, and the Kaohsiung Chen family are all Fujian immigrants.[61]

On June 8, 2013, to commemorate the birth of "The Founder of Zhangzhou"

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Culture

Historically, Minnan culture has had a considerable influence on Taiwanese culture at the level of clan, literature, opera, craftsmanship, architecture, etc.[46]

Language

Xiamen dialect
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The Taiwanese Hokkien dialect originated from

Quanzhou dialect merged in Taiwan.[64] In addition, some of the vocabulary were derived from foreign languages such as the Austronesian, Japanese, and Dutch language, which distinguishes between Taiwanese and Fujianese in terms of tone and word content.[65]

In Taiwan, the Quanzhang ethnic group, whose native language is Taiwanese Hokkien, is the largest ethnic group in Taiwan.[note 2] The Hakkas who switched to the Minnan dialect are called Hoklo Hakkas. According to the 2009 Taiwan Yearbook, about 73% of Taiwanese speak Taiwanese Hokkien. Some people think Taiwanese Hokkien cannot be called the Taiwanese language because Taiwanese Hakka and indigenous languages exist in Taiwan.[63]

Religion

Lungshan Temple in Taipei
.