Taiwan

Formosa, Republic of China

1st January 1950 ⊗

↓

Asia


	1950 Sc1007 SG100	xxx

Description	Surcharge	Scott	ΘSG	Mi
Overprints of Chinese Provincial Issues for Taiwan perf 12½
$1 green	black	1007	100	96
$2 green	red	1008	101
$5 green	violet	1009	102
$10 green	brown	1010	103
$20 green	blue	1011	104

The Scott Stamp Atlas [1] decribes Taiwan as, "Chinese island, also known as Formosa, since 1949 the seat of the Nationalist Chinese Republican government which had been established under the leadership of the late Chiang Kai-shek." and then notes the earlier issues.

According to Gibbons [2], there are five phases of postal activity, all listed under Taiwan :

Chinese province - 1886-1895, where Gibbons lists 24 stamps (C1-C24). Most of these stamps are Officials and, essentially, small forms to be "completed in manuscript by the Postmaster with the amount received, the destination, date and weight". A representative example is shown.
Republic - 1895: after the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95, China ceded Formosa to Japan. The governer, Tang Ching-sun, refused to acknowledge the arrangement and declared a republic with himself as president. Japan sent in troops and the republic lasted only five months. Gibbons shows four designs of the republic's stamps in various denominations (R1-R15), all showing the tiger emblem from its flag. SG-R1 is described as 'yellow-green' and all the images found have been badly faded, so, again, a representative example from the issue is shown.
Japanese possession - 1895-1945: Japanese stamps were used for fifty years, but in March 1945, US naval operations isolated the island and stamps had to be produced locally. Three definitives were issued (three other valued were printed but not used).
Chinese province - 1945-1949: The local issues, overprinted were used at first when control reverted to Japan.
Chinese Nationalist Republic - 1949 onwards: Chiang Kai-shek and his government rereated to Taiwan and established their capital in Taipeh. They continued to hold the Chinese seat at the United Nations until 1971, when reality reasserted itself. The initial stamps were overprints of Chinese or Chinese provincial issues.

Tim Balm (FICC 91) explained the Scott approach to Taiwan in Journal v13n2p7. The following extract deals with the final phase,

" Civil war continued on the mainland between the Communist and Nationalist forces until 1949 when the Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established the government of the "Republic of China" there. Scott lists their stamps as a continuation of "China", the first one being #1007 issued on January 1, 1950 under the heading "Republic of China (Taiwan)" in Vol 2. [The communists then controlled the entire mainland and established the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) with their first stamp as #1 issued on October 8, 1949.]
To summarize, the multiple first issues of Taiwan include:

Japan, Taiwan #1-3 [1945]

China, Taiwan #1-9 [1945]

ROC (Taiwan) #1007-1011 [1950]"

Gibbons Phase [Scott listing]	Date	Gibbons	Scott
Chinese Province	1886-95	SG C1-C24
Republic	1895	SG R1-R15
Japanese Possession [†Japanese Offices Abroad, Taiwan (Formosa)]	1895-1945	SG J1-J3	Sc1-3
Chinese Province [‡China, Republic of China, Taiwan]	1945-49	SG1-89	Sc1-103
Chinese Nationalist Republic [§Republic of China(Taiwan)]	1949+	ΘSG90+	Sc1007+

Θ Scott and Gibbons differ on the sequence of overprints. Scott's first set (Sc1007) is the third group listed by Gibbons. ⊗ Gibbons dates SG90 as 1st December 1949: Scott includes this as the last set set in the previous phase , Chinese Province (Sc101-103, SG90-92).


Chinese Province	Republic	Japanese Possession	Chinese Province	Chinese Nationalist Republic
1868	1895	1945 †Sc1 SG-J1	1945 ‡Sc1 SG1	1949 ⊗Sc102 SG90	1950 §Sc1007 SG100