National Standard Time[I] is the official time zone in Taiwan defined by an UTC offset of +08:00. This standard is also known as Taipei Time (臺北時間), Taiwan Time (臺灣時間) or Taiwan Standard Time (TST).[1]

National Standard Time
National Standard Time digital clock of Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), Taiwan.
Traditional Chinese國家標準時間
Simplified Chinese国家标准时间
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinGuójiā Biāozhǔn Shíjiān
Bopomofoㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄐㄧㄚ ㄅㄧㄠ ㄓㄨㄣˇ ㄕˊ ㄐㄧㄢ
Gwoyeu RomatzyhGwojia Biaujuun Shyrjian
Wade–GilesKuo²-chia¹ Piao¹-chun³ Shih²-chien¹
Tongyong PinyinGuójia Biaojhǔn Shíhjian
MPS2Guójiā Biāujǔn Shŕjiān
IPA[kwǒtɕjá pjáʊʈʂwə̀n ʂɻ̩̌tɕjɛ́n]
Hakka
RomanizationKoet-kâ Phêu-chún Sṳ̀-kiên
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingGwok3 Gaa1 Biu1 Zeon2 Si4 Gaan3
Southern Min
Hokkien POJKok-ka Piau-chún Sî-kan
Tâi-lôKok-ka Piau-tsún Sî-kan

History

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History of time standard in Taiwan
Time offset Name Character Romanization Start date End date
UTC+08:00 Western Standard Time 西部標準時 Seibu Hyōjunji 1896-01-01 1937-09-30
UTC+09:00 Central Standard Time 中央標準時 Chūō Hyōjunji 1937-10-01 1945-09-20
UTC+08:00 Western Standard Time 西部標準時 Seibu Hyōjunji 1945-09-21 1945-10-25
UTC+08:00 Chungyuan Standard Time 中原標準時間 Zhōngyuán Biāozhǔn Shíjiān 1945-10-25 Early 2000s
UTC+08:00 National Standard Time 國家標準時間 Guójiā Biāozhǔn Shíjiān 2000s

The first time zone standard in Taiwan was enforced on 1 January 1896,[2] the second year of Taiwan under Japanese rule. The standard was called Western Standard Time (西部標準時) with time offset of UTC+08:00, based on 120°E longitude. On 1 October 1937, the Western Standard Time zone was abolished and the Central Standard Time (中央標準時), with time offset of UTC+09:00, was enforced in the entire country of Japan including Taiwan. This time was used until the end of the Second World War. On 21 September 1945, the Governor-General of Taiwan announced that the order issued in 1937 was revoked.[3] Time Memorial Day was observed every 10 June from 1921 to 1941, which led to an increase in the observance of an official time.[2]

After the war's end, Taiwan was annexed to the five time zones system of the Republic of China. It was classified in the "Chungyuan Standard Time" with a time offset of UTC+08:00. After the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the Government of the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan and lost nearly all the territory in mainland China. Since then, the five time zones system was no longer implemented except for the Chungyuan Standard Time in Taiwan. Because the term "Chungyuan" (Zhongyuan) refers to the Central Plain of China, the government gradually phased out the name in favor of "National Standard Time". However, some radio channels continued using "Chungyuan", most notably the Broadcasting Corporation of China until 2007.[4][5] Other alternatives include "Taiwan Standard Time" (臺灣標準時間) and "Taipei Time" (臺北時間).

Daylight saving time was implemented in Taiwan after the Second World War on the summer of 1946–1961, 1974, 1975, 1979.[6]

In October 2017, a petition took place to change the offset to UTC+09:00, which was responded by an assessment of potential impact by the government.[7]

Present development

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National Standard Time is now managed by the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.[8] The time is released according to the caesium atomic clocks aggregated by National Standard Time and Frequency Laboratory under Chunghwa Telecom after consulting the data provided by International Bureau of Weights and Measures.[9][10]

National Standard Time used in Taiwan is also the same as China, Hong Kong, Macau, Ulaanbaatar Mongolia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Western Australia, Brunei and Central Indonesia.

IANA time zone database

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The IANA time zone database contains one zone for Taiwan, named Asia/Taipei.

c.c.* coordinates* TZ* comments* Standard time Summer time
TW +2503+12130 Asia/Taipei tUTC+08:00

Notes

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Words in native languages

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  1. ^

References

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  1. ^ 仝澤蓉 (2005-01-12). 標準局:沒有「中原」標準時間 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on December 5, 2005. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Han Cheung (7 June 2020). "Taiwan in Time: Colonial masters of time". Taipei Times. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  3. ^ wikisource:ja:臺灣ノ標準時ニ關スル件 (昭和二十年台湾総督府告示第三百八十六号)
  4. ^ "中原標準時間 早已不適用 - 生活 - 自由時報電子報". 自由電子報 (in Chinese). 2005-06-25. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  5. ^ "「中原標準時間」 中廣報時不復見". TVBS (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  6. ^ Yu-Cheng Chuang (Jul 11, 2014) [台灣日光節約時間之考據 https://blog.yorkxin.org/posts/2014/07/11/dst-in-taiwan-study/]
  7. ^ "我國應調整時區至GMT +9". join.gov.tw (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  8. ^ "National Standard Time and Frequency Laboratory" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 31 December 2005. Retrieved 9 January 2006.
  9. ^ Calvin Lin (November 1998). 時間網站 - 秒的由來 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 5 December 2005. Retrieved 9 January 2006.
  10. ^ "National Standard Time and Frequency Laboratory - History and Introduction" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2006.
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