Postage stamps and postal history of Taiwan Postage stamps and postal history of Taiwan This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Taiwan, otherwise known as Formosa, and currently governed by the Republic of China. The Republic of China comprises the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands, which are located off the east coast of mainland China. Neighboring states include the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the north-east, and the Philippines to the south. In 1886 Taiwan was upgraded from a prefecture to a province. A postal service was organised by Governor Liu Mingchuan, and
Mainland China people often call the area of non-coastal provinces in of Mainland China as "Inland" (). In Taiwan, certain people, the Kuomintang (KMT, "Chinese Nationalist Party") and its supporters use the term "mainland" is to refer to the territory of the PRC (Hong Kong and Macau excluded). This accords with the KMT position that "China" encompasses both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Since the KMT was the ruling party in Taiwan until 2000 and the only party allowed until the late 1980s, and had set up the educational system and taught children the term since its takeover in 1945, the term