The name Xinjiang was acquired by Qianlong and means newly opened territory. After quelling the rebellion in the northwest, the Qing government set up president Ili and other generals in Ili to rule the whole territory of Xinjiang. In November 1884, Xinjiang was established as a province with the capital being Dihua [Urumqi]. Liu Jintang, the first governor of Xinjiang.
Since the beginning of the Kangxi Dynasty, Taiwan and its affiliated islands have always been subordinate to Fujian Province, and Taiwan has very close political, economic, cultural and other ties with the mainland, and it is an inseparable part. In 1885, the Qing government established Taiwan Province, and Liu Mingchuan served as the first inspector of Taiwan Province.
So one is the border of the northwestern land frontier, the other is the southeast sea frontier, why did Xinjiang and Taiwan establish provinces so late?
After the heyday of Kangqian, the Qing Dynasty gradually went into decline and became more and more powerless in the frontier areas. In particular, after the Opium War, the door of the country was opened, and the Western powers continued to encroach on China's territory and sovereignty, and ceded more than one million square kilometers of land through several unequal treaties in the northeast and northwest.
Even so, Tsarist Russia was not satisfied, and continued to encroach on Chinese territory and encroach on Ili. Not only that, Agubai, a small central Asian country, also tried to encroach on Xinjiang, and even occupied Xinjiang for more than a decade. After occupying India, the British also went north in a vain attempt to insert a foot. It can be said that Xinjiang is facing a huge crisis.
Just after Zuo Zongtang defeated Agubai and recovered Ili, he made a concert with the imperial court, and the central idea was about the establishment of Xinjiang as a province. Eventually, the imperial court adopted the proposal and made Xinjiang a province. The name of Xinjiang Province was originally called "Gansu Xinjiang Province", which was to strengthen Xinjiang's ties with the interior and not to leave Xinjiang isolated and difficult to survive.
Far from Xinjiang, Taiwan, as China's southeast maritime gateway, is also constantly facing threats from the great powers. In particular, Japan and France have set their sights on the treasure island of Taiwan.
Japan even found a reason to invade and occupy Taiwan, and the Qing government finally ransomed it with money. During the Sino-French War, the French army invaded and occupied Keelung and Penghu in Taiwan, blocking the surface of the Taiwan Sea, which once again stimulated the fragile nerves of the imperial court.
The imperial court also realized that Taiwan was the gateway to the southeast and the relationship was very important, so since Xinjiang, Taiwan also separated from Fujian and established a province. It was also under the influence of Japan and France that the navy of the late Qing Dynasty began to be vigorously built.
Like Xinjiang, Taiwan at that time was not called "Taiwan Province" but "Fujian Taiwan Province" to show that Taiwan and Fujian should be united.
However, Taiwan Province existed for only a decade, and then the Sino-Japanese War was defeated, ceding Taiwan to Japan, and also beginning Japan's fifty years of colonial rule in Taiwan.