It is also used sometimes by persons in the People's Republic of China to refer to Taiwan and depending on the context (if referring to the entire ROC government as "provincial") can provoke a bad reaction by some people from Taiwan, especially supporters of Taiwan independence.
Taiwan Province was established in 1885. In 1895, it was transferred to Japan, and in 1945, the province was reconstituted. When the Kuomintang (KMT) fled to Taiwan, the provincial administration remained in place under the theory that the ROC was still the government of all of China.
In the early 1990s, the status of Taiwan Province was reopened. The then opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) agreed to retain the province with an elected governor in the hopes of creating a Yeltsin effect in which a popular local leader could overwhelm the national government. These hopes proved unfulfilled as Kuomintang member James Soong was elected governor of Taiwan by a wide margin.
In 1999, as the result of an agreement between the KMT and the DPP, the administration of the province was streamlined. Although the stated purpose was administrative efficiency, many believe that it was actually intended to destroy James Soong's power base and eliminate him from political life.
See also: Politics of Taiwan
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