Penghu

Penghu
Traditional Chinese	澎湖群島
Simplified Chinese	澎湖群岛
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Pénghú Qúndăo Wade–Giles P'eng-Hu Ch'ün-Tao Tongyong Pinyin Pénghú Cyúndăo Southern Min Hokkien POJ Phêⁿ-ô·-kûn-tó

The Penghu Islands, also known as Pescadores (from Portuguese: "fishermen") are an archipelago off the western coast of Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait consisting of 90 small islands and islets covering an area of 141 square kilometers.

The whole archipelago forms Penghu County, Taiwan Province.

History

'Peng-hu' was first recorded in unofficial historical records and regional logs in 1171 during the Southern Song Dynasty. From the middle of the 17th century to 1895, Taiwan and the archipelago were ruled by pirates, the colonial Dutch Empire (attempts at conquest from 1622 onward), the Koxinga kingdom, and the Qing Dynasty, successively.

Sino-French War

The Penghu archipelago was captured by the French in March 1885, in the closing weeks of the Sino-French War, and evacuated four months later. The Pescadores Campaign was the last campaign of Admiral Amédée Courbet, whose naval victories during the war had made him a national hero in France. Courbet was among several French soldiers and sailors who succumbed to cholera during the French occupation of Penghu. He died aboard his flagship Bayard in Makung harbour on 11 June 1885.

First Sino-Japanese War

Defeated in northern China by the Japanese in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government ceded the islands to Japan along with Taiwan in the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Shimonoseki of April 1895. The Japanese suspected that they might meet resistance when they attempted to occupy Taiwan, and their invasion of Taiwan, hastily launched in late May 1895 in response to the proclamation of the Republic of Formosa, was preceded by an attack on Qing forces on Penghu in March 1895, in which the Japanese defeated the Chinese garrison of the islands and occupied Makung. The Japanese occupation of Penghu prevented more Chinese troops from being sent to Taiwan, persuaded the Chinese negotiators at Shimonoseki that Japan was determined to annex Taiwan, and helped to ensure the success of the subsequent Japanese invasion of Taiwan.

Second Sino-Japanese War

In the Second Sino-Japanese War, Mako (Makung) was a major base for the Imperial Japanese Navy and embarkation point for the invasion of the Philippines.

Cairo Declaration

In the Cairo Declaration of 1943, the United States, United Kingdom, and China stated it to be their purpose that "all the territories that Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Formosa and The Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China."

On 26 July 1945, the three governments issued the Potsdam Declaration, declaring that "the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out." In the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan renounced sovereignty over Taiwan and Penghu but left their final disposition unsettled. The archipelago has been administered by the Republic of China.

In the early 1990s the Penghu National Scenic Area that comprises most but not all of the islands and islets of the archipelago was created. Tourism has since become one of the main sources of income of the county.

China Airlines Disaster

On 25 May 2002, China Airlines Flight 611, a Boeing 747-200 aircraft flying from Taipei, Taiwan to Hong Kong disintegrated and exploded over the Islands. The wreckage slammed into the Taiwan Strait a couple of miles off the coast. All 225 passengers and crew on board were killed.

Relationship to Taiwan

Despite the controversy over the political status of Taiwan, both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China agree that Penghu is a county in (their own respective) "Taiwan Province" (Taiwan Province, Republic of China and Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China). However, geographically, the island of Taiwan does not include Penghu, although it is closer to Taiwan than the mainland. Thus Penghu is listed separately from "Taiwan" in some contexts, e.g. the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu (the official WTO name for the Republic of China), in the Treaty of Shimonoseki and the Cairo Declaration (see above), and in the introduction to the Republic of China article.

Sub-county divisions

Subdivision of Penghu County

Name (Hanyu Pinyin)	Hanzi	Wade-Giles	Tongyong Pinyin	Hanyu Pinyin	Taiwanese (POJ)	Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ	Literal meaning
City
Magong City	馬公市	Ma-kung	Magong	Mǎgōng	Má-keng	Mâ-kûng	originally Matsu Palace
Rural township
Huxi Township	湖西鄉	Hu-hsi	Husi	Húxī	Ô͘-sai	Fù-sî	Lake West
Baisha Township	白沙鄉	Pai-sha	Baisha	Báishā	Pe̍h-soa	Pha̍k-sâ	White Sand
Xiyu Township	西嶼鄉	Hsi-yü	Siyu	Xīyǔ	Sai-sū	Sî-yí	Western Isle
Qimei Township	七美鄉	Ch'i-mei	Cimei	Qīmei	Chhit-bí	Tshit-mî	Seven Beauties
Wang'an Township	望安鄉	Wang-an	Wang-an	Wàng'ān	Bāng-oaⁿ	Mong-ôn	Hope Safe

Altogether, there are 97 villages.

The main islands of Magong City/Husi Township, Baisha Township, and Siyu Township are the three most populous islands and are connected via bridges. Two shorter bridges connect Husi and Baisha. The bridge connecting Baisha and Siyu is the longest bridge in the Republic of China and is called the Penghu Trans-Oceanic Bridge (澎湖跨海大橋 Peng Hu Kua Hai Da Qiao).

See also

• Administrative divisions of the Republic of China
• Republic of China
• China Airlines Flight 611
• List of cities in the Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Penghu National Scenic Area
• Township (Republic of China)

References

• Loir, M., L'escadre de l'amiral Courbet (Paris, 1886)
• Yosaburo Takekoshi, Japanese Rule in Formosa (London, 1907)

External links

• Template:Wikitravel
• Penghu County Government Official Website
• Penghu Tour Official Website
• 澎湖研究學術研討會 第1-8屆論文輯全球資訊網-歷屆論文 (Traditional Chinese)