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I. Taiwan -- an Inalienable
Part of China

Lying off the southeastern coast of the China mainland, Taiwan is China'slargest island and forms an integral whole with the mainland.

Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times. It was knownas Yizhou or Liuqiu in antiquities. Many historical records and annalsdocumented the development of Taiwan by the Chinese people in earlier periods.References to this effect were to be found, among others, in SeaboardGeographic Gazetteer compiled more than 1,700 years ago by Shen Yingof the State of Wu during the period of the Three Kingdoms. This was theworld's earliest written account of Taiwan. Several expeditions, each numberingover ten thousand men, had been sent to Taiwan by the State of Wu (thirdcentury A.D.) and the Sui Dynasty (seventh century A.D.) respectively.Since early seventeenth century the Chinese people began to step up thedevelopment of Taiwan. Their numbers topped one hundred thousand at theend of the century. By 1893 (19th year of the reign of Qing Emperor Guangxu)their population exceeded 2.54 million people in 507,000 or more households.That was a 25-fold increase in 200 years. They brought in a more advancedmode of production and settled the whole length and breadth of Taiwan.Thanks to the determined efforts and hard toil of the pioneers,the development of the island as a whole greatly accelerated. This wasthe historical fact of how Taiwan, like the other parts of China, cameto be opened up and settled by the Chinese people of various nationalities.From the very beginning the Taiwan society derived from the source of theChinese cultural tradition. This basic fact had not changed even duringthe half century of Japanese occupation. The history of Taiwan's developmentis imbued with the blood, sweat, and ingenuity of the Chinese people includingthe local ethnic minorities.

Chinese governments of different periods set up administrative bodiesto exercise jurisdiction over Taiwan. As early as in the mid-12th centurythe Song Dynasty set up a garrison in Penghu, putting the territory underthe jurisdiction of Jinjiang County of Fujian's Quanzhou Prefecture. TheYuan Dynasty installed an agency of patrol and inspection in Penghu toadminister the territory. During the mid- and late 16th century the MingDynasty reinstated the once abolished agency and sent reinforcements toPenghu in order to ward off foreign invaders. In 1662 (first year of thereign of Qing Emperor Kangxi) General Zheng Chenggong (known in the Westas Koxinga) instituted Chengtian Prefecture on Taiwan. Subsequently, theQing government expanded the administrative structure in Taiwan, therebystrengthening its rule over the territory. In 1684 (23rd year of the reignof Emperor Kangxi) a Taiwan-Xiamen Patrol Command and a Taiwan PrefectureAdministration were set up under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province. Thesein turn exercised jurisdiction over three counties on the island: Taiwan(present-day Tainan), Fengshan (present-day Gaoxiong) and Zhuluo(present-day Jiayi). In 1714 (53rd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi)the Qing government ordered the mapping of Taiwan to determine its size.In 1721 (60th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi) an office of imperialsupervisor of inspecting Taiwan was created and the Taiwan-Xiamen PatrolCommand was renamed Prefecture Administration of Taiwan and Xiamen, incorporatingthe subsequently-created Zhanghua County and Danshui Canton. In 1727 (5thyear of the reign of Emperor Yongzheng) the administration on the islandwas reconstituted as the Prefecture Administration of Taiwan (which waslater renamed Prefecture Command for Patrol of Taiwan) and incorporatedthe new Penghu Canton. The territory then became officially known as Taiwan.In order to upgrade the administration of Taiwan, the Qing government createdTaibei Prefecture, Jilong Canton and three counties of Danshui, Xinzhuand Yilan in 1875 (1st year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu). In 1885 (11thyear of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), the government formally made Taiwana full province covering three prefectures and one subprefecture and incorporating11 counties and 5 cantons. Liu Mingchuan was appointed first Governor ofTaiwan. During his tenure of office, railways were laid, mines opened,telegraph service installed, merchant ships built, industries started andnew-style schools set up. Considerable social, economic and cultural advancementin Taiwan was achieved as a result.

After the Chinese people's victory in the war against Japanese aggressionin 1945, the Chinese government reinstated its administrative authorityin 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 conquercolonies in a big way. In 1624 (4th year of the reign of Ming Emperor Tianqi)Dutch colonialists invaded and occupied the southern part of Taiwan. Twoyears later Spanish colonialists seized the northern part of Taiwan. In1642 (15th year of the reign of Ming Emperor Chongzhen) the Dutch evictedthe Spaniards and took over north Taiwan. The Chinese people on both sidesof the Straits waged various forms of struggle including armed insurrectionsagainst the invasion and occupation of Taiwan by foreign colonialists.In 1661 (18th year of the reign of Qing Emperor Shunzhi) General ZhengChenggong (Koxinga) led an expedition to Taiwan and expelled the Dutchcolonialists from the island in the following year.

Japan launched a war of aggression against China in 1894 (20th yearof the reign of Qing Emperor Guangxu). In the ensuing year, as a resultof defeat the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki,ceding Taiwan to Japan. This wanton betrayal and humiliation shocked thewhole nation and touched off a storm of protests. A thousand or more candidatesfrom all 18 provinces including Taiwan who had assembled in Beijing forthe Imperial Examination signed a strongly-worded petition opposing theceding of Taiwan. In Taiwan itself, people wailed and bemoaned the betrayaland went on general strikes. General Liu Yongfu and others of the garrisoncommand stood with Taiwan compatriots and put up a fierce fightagainst the Japanese landing forces. To support this struggle, people onthe mainland, particularly in the southeastern region, showed their solidarityby generous donations or organizing volunteers to Taiwan to fight the Japaneseforces. Taiwan compatriots never ceased their dauntless struggle throughoutthe Japanese occupation. Initially, they formed insurgent groups to wageguerrilla warfare for as long as seven years. When the Revolution of 1911overthrew the Qing monarchy they in turn lent support to their mainlandcompatriots by staging more than a dozen armed insurrections. The 1920sand 1930s witnessed surging waves of mass action sweeping across the islandagainst Japanese colonial rule.

In 1937 the Chinese people threw themselves into an all-out war of resistanceagainst Japanese aggression. In its declaration of war against Japan, theChinese Government proclaimed that all treaties, conventions, agreements,and contracts regarding relations between China and Japan, including theTreaty of Shimonoseki, had been abrogated. The declaration stressed thatChina would recover Taiwan, Penghu and the four northeastern provinces.After eight years of grueling war against Japanese aggression the Chinesepeople won final victory and recovered the lost territory of Taiwan in1945. Taiwan compatriots displayed an outburst of passion and celebratedthe great triumph of their return to the fold of the motherland by settingoff big bangs of fireworks and performing rites to communicate the eventto their ancestors.

The international community has acknowledged the fact that Taiwanbelongs to China. The Chinese people's war of resistance against Japaneseaggression, being part of the world-wide struggle against Fascism, receivedextensive support from people all over the world. During the Second WorldWar China, the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France andothers formed an alliance to oppose the Axis of Germany, Japan and Italy.The Cairo Declaration issued by China, the United States and Great Britainon 1 December 1943 stated: "It is the purpose of the three great Alliesthat Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which shehas seized or occupied since the beginning of the First World War in 1914,and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such asManchuria, Formosa [Taiwan] and the Pescadores [Penghu], shall be restoredto China." The Potsdam Proclamation signed by China, the United Statesand Great Britain on 26 July 1945 (subsequently adhered to by the SovietUnion) reiterated: "The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carriedout." On 15 August of the same year, Japan declared surrender. Theinstrument of Japan's surrender stipulated that "Japan hereby acceptsthe provisions in the declaration issued by the heads of the Governmentsof the United States, China and Great Britain on July 26, 1945 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 Provinceof the China war theater of the Allied powers was held in Taibei. On theoccasion the chief officer for accepting the surrender proclaimed on behalfof the Chinese government that from that day forward Taiwan and the PenghuArchipelago had again been incorporated formally into the territory ofChina and that the territory, people, and administration had now been placedunder 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, 157 countrieshave established diplomatic relations with China. All these countries recognizethat there is only one China and that the Government of the People's Republicof China is the sole legal government of China and Taiwan is part of China.