|
Taiwan Province
Located to the southeast of the Chinese mainland opposite Fujian Province, the island province of Taiwan is flanked by the
Pacific Ocean to the east and the Taiwan Straits to the west. Covering an area of 36,000 sq km, Taiwan includes Taiwan Island,
the Penghu Islands and 80 other smaller neighboring islands and islets. Taiwan was called Yizhou or Liuqiu in ancient times.
Records of Chinese people developing Taiwan in earlier periods are found in many historical documents. Beginning from the
mid-12th century, the Chinese governments of different dynasties set up administrative bodies to exercise jurisdiction over Taiwan.
The social development of Taiwan continued according to Chinese cultural traditions even during its 50-year occupation by Japan
after the war of 1894. The Chinese government restored its administrative organs in Taiwan Province after victory in the War of
Resistance Against Japan in 1945. On the eve of the founding of the PRC in 1949, the Kuomintang authorities retreated from the
mainland to Taiwan. In 1950, the Korean War broke out, and the Untied States dispatched its Seventh Fleet to invade Taiwan
and the Taiwan Straits. In 1954, the government of the United States and the Taiwan authorities signed a "Mutual Defense
Treaty," bringing about the separation of Taiwan from the mainland.
The government of the PRC has made unremitting efforts to solve the Taiwan issue and realize the reunification of the country. In
February 1972, when President Richard M. Nixon of the United States visited China, the two sides issued the Shanghai
Communiqué. On January 1, 1979, the United States established official diplomatic relations with China, formally recognizing the
government of the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China and Taiwan as a part of China and, at the same time
announcing the "cessation of diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan authorities, the annulment of the "Mutual Defense Treaty" and
the withdrawal of all its military personnel from Taiwan. Under these historical conditions, the Chinese government, out of
consideration for the interests and future of the whole nation, put forward the basic policy of "peaceful reunification, and one
country, two systems" in accordance with the principle of respecting history and reality, seeking truth from facts and taking into
account the interests of all sides. The main points of the basic and related policies are:
| |
