Time in Taiwan
Encyclopedia
The official time of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

, commonly known as Taiwan, is defined by an UTC offset of +08:00. It is known as National Standard Time (國家標準時間). Previously, Chungyuan Standard Time was widely used by government as well as citizens.

History

Taiwan was using the Western Standard Time (西部標準時 Seibu Hyōjunji) at 120° longitude from January, 1896 to September, 1937 under Japanese rule
Taiwan under Japanese rule
Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a dependency of the Empire of Japan. The expansion into Taiwan was a part of Imperial Japan's general policy of southward expansion during the late 19th century....

. It was the same UTC+8
UTC+8
UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00. In ISO 8601 the associated time would be written as .With an estimated population of 1.53 billion living within the time zone, roughly 22.5% of the world population, it is the most populous time zone in world, as well as a possible...

 as Taiwan uses today. However, Taiwan started applying the Central Standard Time (中央標準時 Chūō Hyōjunji), the UTC+9 time used by Japan, from October, 1937 to 1945 until Japan lost Taiwan after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

As a territory retroceded to the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

 (ROC) in 1945, Taiwan started using the Chungyuan Standard Time (中原標準時間), which is in the UTC+8 time zone. Although the Republic of China government was defeated in the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...

 a few years later, and retained its authority on Taiwan only, it still uses the term of Chungyuan, as the way people called it before the war. As it consists of highly political implication, implying the five different time zones
Time in China
China spans across five different standard time zones, from UTC+05:00 in the west to UTC+09:00 in the east, yet since 1949 China has only had a single standard time at UTC+08:00. The time UTC+06:00 is also used unofficially in Xinjiang and Tibet...

 when the ROC was still ruling China, the notation of Chungyuan has become less and less favorable in Taiwan. Recently, both government and citizens have abandoned the use of the name of Chungyuan, and various alternatives including Taiwan Standard Time, Taipei Time, or even Formosan Time (寶島時間) occur. Though never officially declared, National Standard Time is believed to be the official name of the time being used in the Republic of China, or Taiwan.

Present development

National Standard Time is now managed by the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China
Ministry of Economic Affairs (Republic of China)
Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China is responsible for formulating policy and laws for industry and trade, foreign direct investment, energy, minerals, measurement standards, intellectual property, state-owned enterprises throughout the Free Area of the Republic of China. The...

. The time is released according to the caesium atomic clocks aggregated by National Standard Time and Frequency Laboratory under Chunghwa Telecom
Chunghwa Telecom
Chunghwa Telecom is the largest telecommunications company in Taiwan. It has its headquarters in Zhongzheng District, Taipei on the remains of the old Taipei Prison.- History :...

 after consulting the data provided by Bureau International des Poids et Measures
International Bureau of Weights and Measures
The International Bureau of Weights and Measures , is an international standards organisation, one of three such organisations established to maintain the International System of Units under the terms of the Metre Convention...

.

National Standard Time used in Taiwan is also the same as that used in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, including its two territories of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 and Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

. All four places, however, have their own authorities managing the time.

The tz database contains one zone for Taiwan, named Asia/Taipei
Asia/Taipei
Asia/Kashgar is a time zone identifier from the zone file of the tz database. The data is as follows: The reference point is Taipei....

.

See also

  • Time in China
    Time in China
    China spans across five different standard time zones, from UTC+05:00 in the west to UTC+09:00 in the east, yet since 1949 China has only had a single standard time at UTC+08:00. The time UTC+06:00 is also used unofficially in Xinjiang and Tibet...

  • Historical time zones of China
    Historical time zones of China
    In 1912, the Central Observatory of the Republic of China in Peking divided the country into five time zones, namely Kunlun Time Zone , Sinkiang-Tibet Time Zone , Kansu-Szechuan Time Zone , Chungyuan Standard Time Zone , and Changpai Time Zone...

    , the time zones setup by the ROC on mainland China
    Mainland China
    Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...


External links

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