The Fujian–Taiwan relations, also known as the Min–Tai relations (),See, for example, , which uses the term "Minnan-Taiwan Relationships". refers to the relationship between Fujian, which is located in mainland China, and Taiwan, which is across the Taiwan Strait. Since the average width of the Taiwan Strait is 180 kilometers, Fujian and Taiwan are adjacent, similar in both climate and environment. Although the relationship between Taiwan and Fujian has changed with the development of history, the two places have maintained close relations in terms of personnel, economy, military, culture and other aspects. At present, Taiwan residents are mostly descendants of immigrants from mainland China, of which the southern Fujian ethnic group is the main group, accounting for 73.5% of Taiwan's total population. In terms of culture, language, religion, and customs, Fujian and Taiwan also share similarities.

On the other hand, after the Government of the Republic of China relocated to Taiwan in 1949, the Voice of Free China and the Radio Taiwan International mainland broadcasting group were set up to broadcast to the mainland. Frontline radio stations broadcast on Taiwan, and the cross-strait propaganda between the Taiwan Strait did not officially end until 1990. The People's Republic of China deployed missiles at its southeastern coast to attack Taiwan at any time and test-fired missiles off the coast of Taiwan before the presidential election of the Republic of China from 1995 to 1996. According to incomplete statistics, from 1989 to 2013, the Republic of China military police intercepted and arrested 223 mainland fishing vessels and 3,160 fishermen on the mainland side of the Taiwan Strait, and suffocated or drowned 46 people from mainland China, including 25 Fujian fishermen in a major tragedy called the Min Ping Yu No. 5540 incident. The Republic of China government only expressed regret and did not hold anyone accountable.

History

Before the Sino-Japanese War

Before the Tang dynasty, few people went from the mainland to Taiwan. They either engaged in agricultural activities or traded with indigenous peoples. They mainly went in spring and returned in autumn. In the Kaiyuan era of the Tang dynasty, Lin Yan () from Dongshi, Fujian settled in Taiwan after commerce. 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.

During the Dutch Formosa period of Taiwan, a large number of Hoklo people were recruited to cultivate in Taiwan, and then settled there. The genealogies of the Yans of Anhai and the Guos of Dongshi both recorded settling in Taiwan. In 1661, Zheng Chenggong established the Chengtian Prefecture in Taiwan after defeating the Dutch East India Company in the Siege of Fort Zeelandia.

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.

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 Hoklos and 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.

During the Sino-French War in 1884, French warships entered Taiwan seas and disrupted coastal provinces. In 1885 (the 11th year of the reign of 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, and former Governor of Fujian, Liu Mingchuan, was appointed Governor of Taiwan Province. The funding of the Taiwan Province was mainly borne by Fujian.

Japanese rule

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.

Soon after the Japanese started ruling Taiwan, they used it as a base to launch an invasion of Fujian. As a crucial part of the Japanese Empire's south invasion strategy, Japan's Governor-General of Taiwan formulated a policy against Fujian, 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.

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.

Around 1896, the then Governor-General of Japan, Kodama Gentarō, sent the then abbot of Lanyang Temple, Yilan to Xiamen to preach. Later, the monks of the Higashi Hongan-ji established the "Xiamen Higashi Hongan-ji Preaching Center". On August 24, 1900, the center was burned down. On the 25th, an army was sent to cross the sea in preparation for occupying Xiamen. Western powers reacted strongly. England, Germany, the United States and Russia all sent warships into the port of Xiamen. The incident was called the "Xiamen incident of 1900".

In February 1934, Chen Yi was appointed chairman of the Fujian Provincial Government. 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.

After the Second World War

On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its surrender. On August 29, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Chen Yi, then the head of Fujian Province, as the head of Taiwan Province. On October 25, the Republic of China began to take over Taiwan and Penghu. In 1949, the Republic of China government moved to Taipei after the defeat of the Chinese Civil War; because of it, Fujian and Taiwan faced a long confrontation. In 1979, at the beginning of the reform and opening up, the mainland issued the "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan", replacing the original "Liberation of Taiwan" with "peaceful reunification". In response, Chiang Ching-kuo responded with the "Three Noes" in Taiwan.

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, Deng Xiaoping delivered a speech on his southern tour, reiterating that reform and opening up should continue. In April 1993, the "Wang-Koo summit" reached the 1992 Consensus. In 1997, Fujian established the "Cross-Strait (Fuzhou) Agricultural Cooperation Experimental Area" and "Cross-Strait (Zhangzhou) Agricultural Cooperation Experimental Area". By the end of 1999, Fujian Province had accumulatively approved 5,894 Taiwanese-invested enterprises, and the actual amount of capital invested by Taiwanese businessmen was nearly US$8 billion. In 2000, the Democratic Progressive Party served as the ruling party of the Republic of China for the first time. In 2001, Matsu islands and Kinmen in Taiwan, and 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.

In 2015, the Fujian Provincial Department of Transportation stated that it would launch a related management plan for vehicles operating in and out of Pingtan to accelerate cross-strait convenience. Taiwan responded by saying that "Taiwanese cars enter through Pingtan" is a unilateral act of the mainland, and no comment would be made. Politician Lai Cheng-chang compared China's plans to Qin Shi Huang's "writing the same language and having the same roads" (referring to Qin's unification of China).

Geography Taiwan strait

Fujian and Taiwan are separated by the narrow Taiwan Strait, about 300 kilometers long from north to south, with an average width of 180 kilometers, an average water depth of 50 meters, and an area of about 80,000 square kilometers. The narrowest point of the Taiwan Strait is between Pingtan Island in Fujian and the Hsinchu Commercial Port in Taiwan, with a distance of 130 kilometers; the widest point is from Taiwan's Kenting National Park to Fujian's Dongshan Island, with a distance of 410 kilometers. When visibility is high, Taiwan can be directly seen from Fuzhou.

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.

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" () to describe the difficulty of travel.

Kinmen-Matsu area