Taiwan , also known as
Formosa "), is the largest
islandAn island or isle is any piece of land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls are called islets. A key or cay is another name for a small island or islet. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot, .There are two main types of islands:...
of the
Republic of China (ROC)The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
in
East AsiaEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Geographically and geo-politically, it covers about , or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang,...
. Taiwan is located east of the
Taiwan StraitThe Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait is a 180-km-wide strait between mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast...
, off the southeastern coast of
mainland ChinaMainland China, Continental 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 , excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which are under the jurisdiction of the PRC but run on different economic and...
. Since the end of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1945, the island group has been under the government of the
Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
.
Separated from the Asian continent by the 180-kilometre-wide
Taiwan StraitThe Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait is a 180-km-wide strait between mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast...
, the main island of the group is long and wide. To the northeast are the
main islandThe , which forms the country of Japan, extends roughly from northeast to southwest along the northeastern coast of the Eurasia mainland, washing upon the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean. The term Home Islands was used at the end of World War II to define the area of Japan to which its...
s of
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and the southern end of the
Ryukyu IslandsThe Ryukyu Islands, also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyūshū in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the...
of Japan is directly to the east; the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
lie to its south. The mountainous island spans across the
Tropic of CancerThe Tropic of Cancer, or the Northern tropic, is one of five major degree measures or major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It is the northmost latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon...
and is covered by tropical and
subtropicalHumid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and cool winters. This climate type covers a broad category of climates, and the term "subtropical" may be a misnomer for the winter climate....
vegetation. Other minor islands and islets of the group include the
PescadoresThe Penghu islands are an archipelago off the western coast of Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait consisting of 90 small islands and islets covering an area of 141 square kilometers...
,
Green IslandGreen Island is a small volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean, about 33 km off the eastern coast of Taiwan. In the 19th century it was known as Samasana Island and the Japanese called it Kasho-to . The island is 15.092 km² at high tide and 17.329 km² at low tide...
, and
Orchid IslandOrchid Island is a 45-km² volcanic island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan island and separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. It is governed as Lanyu Township of Taitung County, Republic of China...
among others; as well as the
Diaoyutai IslandsThe , also known as Diaoyutai Islands , or the Pinnacle Islands, are a group of disputed, uninhabited islands currently controlled by Japan, but also claimed by both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China as part of Taiwan Province, Toucheng Township in Yilan County...
which are controlled by Japan since the 1970s and known as the Senkaku-shotō.
The island group has been governed by the
Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
(ROC) since 1945 when the ROC acquired Taiwan from Japan as a result of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Four years later the ROC lost the
Chinese Civil WarThe Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China . The war began in April 1927, amidst the Northern Expedition,. The war represented an ideological split between the Western-supported Nationalist KMT and the Soviet-supported Communist CPC...
to the
Communist Party of ChinaThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and the ruling political party of the People's Republic of China and the world's largest political party...
and retreated to Taiwan. Taiwan now composes most of ROC's territory and the ROC itself is commonly known as "Taiwan". The
political status of TaiwanThe controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan hinges on whether Taiwan, including Penghu, should remain effectively independent as territory of the Republic of China , become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China , or formally declare independence...
is complex because it is claimed by the
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
(PRC) which was established in 1949 on mainland China and considers itself the successor state to the ROC. Japan had originally annexed Taiwan by
Qing DynastyThe Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912...
in 1895. At the end of World War II, Japan had agreed to give up sovereignty over Taiwan.. However Japan regards sovereign of Taiwan is undefined until now. The status of Taiwan was unclear..
Taiwan's rapid economic growth in the decades after World War II has transformed it into an
advanced economyThe term developed country is used to describe countries that have a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue and there is fierce debate about this. Economic criteria have tended to dominate...
as one of the Four Asian Tigers. This economic rise is known as the
Taiwan MiracleThe Taiwan Miracle or Taiwan Economic Miracle refers to the rapid industrialization and economic growth of Taiwan during the latter half of the twentieth century...
. It is categorized as an advanced economy by the IMF and high-income economy by the
World BankThe World Bank is an international financial institution that provides leveraged loans to poorer countries for capital programs, tied to neoliberal market restructurings...
. Its technology industry plays a key role in the global economy. Taiwanese companies manufacture a large proportion of the world's consumer electronics, although most of them are made in their factories in mainland China.
Prehistory and early settlements
Evidence of human settlement in Taiwan dates back 30,000 years, although the first inhabitants of Taiwan may have been genetically distinct from any groups currently on the island. About 4,000 years ago, ancestors of current Taiwanese aborigines settled in Taiwan. These aborigines are genetically related to
MalayThe concept of a Malay race was proposed by the German scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach . Since Blumenbach, many anthropologists have rejected his theory of five races, citing the enormous complexity of classifying races. However, the term Malay is still often used in this context, and it is...
and maternally to
PolynesiansThe Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that traditionally spoke Polynesian languages and inhabited Polynesia.-Polynesian peoples:The Polynesian peoples include:*Aniwa*Anuta*Austral*Fijian*Futunan*Hawaiian*Kapingamarangi...
, and linguists classify their languages as Austronesian. It is thought likely that Polynesian ancestry may be traceable throughout Taiwan.
Han ChineseHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and, by most modern definitions, the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92 percent of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98 percent of the population of the Republic of China , 75 percent of the...
began settling in the Penghu islands in the 1200s, but Taiwan's hostile tribes and its lack of the trade resources valued in that era rendered it unattractive to all but "occasional adventurers or fishermen engaging in barter" until the 16th century.
Records from ancient China indicate that the Han Chinese might have known of the existence of the main island of Taiwan since the
Three KingdomsThe Three Kingdoms period is a period in the history of China, part of an era of disunity called the Six Dynasties following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty emperors. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the Wei in 220 and the...
period (third century, 230 A.D.), having assigned offshore islands in the vicinity names like Greater
LiuqiuLiuqiu or Lewchew was the name given by the Chinese to islands in the East China Sea and nearby waters, sometimes in mythical or legendary contexts...
and Lesser Liuqiu (
etymologicallyEtymology is the study of the history of words and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages, and texts about the languages, to gather knowledge about how words were used at earlier stages, and...
, but perhaps not
semanticallySemantics is the study of meaning, usually in language. The word "semantics" itself denotes a range of ideas, from the popular to the highly technical. It is often used in ordinary language to denote a problem of understanding that comes down to word selection or connotation. This problem of...
, identical to Ryūkyū in
Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
), though none of these names has been definitively matched to the main island of Taiwan. The
Ming DynastyThe Ming Dynasty , or Empire of the Great Ming , was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history," was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
admiralAdmiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above Vice Admiral and below Admiral of the Fleet/Fleet Admiral. It is usually abbreviated to "Adm." or "ADM"...
Cheng Ho (
Zheng HeZheng He , was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who made the voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the travels of "Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean" or "Zheng He to the Western Ocean", from 1405 to 1433.-Life:Zheng He...
) visited Taiwan in 1430.
European settlement
In 1544, a
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
ship sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it
Ilha Formosa, which means "Beautiful Island."
In 1624, the
DutchThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
established a commercial base on Taiwan and began to import workers from
Fujian' is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
and Penghu (Pescadores) as laborers, many of whom settled. The Dutch made Taiwan a colony with its colonial capital at Tayoan City (present day
Anping, TainanAnping District is a district of Tainan City. The history of Anping dates back to the 17th century, when Dutch East India Company occupied Tayuan/Tayoan/Tayouan/Tayowan...
). Both
Tayoan and the island name
Taiwan derive from a word in
SirayanSiraya is a Formosan language spoken until the end of the 19th century by the indigenous Siraya people of Taiwan. Taivoa and Makatao were dialects....
, one of the
Formosan languagesThe Formosan languages are the languages of the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Taiwanese aborigines currently comprise about 2% of the island's population. However, far fewer can still speak their ancestral language, after centuries of language shift...
.
The Dutch military presence was concentrated at a stronghold called
Castle ZeelandiaFort Zeelandia was a fortress built over ten years from 1624–1634 by the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, in the town of Anping on the island of Formosa, present day Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of it...
. The Dutch colonists also started to hunt the native
Formosan Sika deerThe Sika Deer is a member of the deer family Cervidae that inhabits much of East Asia. It is found in mixed deciduous forests to the north, and mixed subtropical deciduous and evergreen forests to the south. The Sika Deer are closely related to Red Deer, Central Asian Red Deer and elk...
(
Cervus nippon taioanus) that inhabited Taiwan, contributing to the eventual extinction of the subspecies on the island. Furthermore, this attributed to the consequential identification of native tribes.
In 1626, the Spanish landed on and occupied northern Taiwan (Keelong and Tanshui) as a base to extend its commercial trading. The colonial period lasted 16 years until 1642.
Koxinga and Qing rule
Chinese naval and troop forces of Southern
Fujian' is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
defeated the
DutchThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
in 1662, subsequently expelling the Dutch government and military from the island. They were led by
KoxingaKoxinga is the traditional Western spelling of the popular appellation of Zheng Chenggong . He was a Ming loyalist and military leader during of the Southern Ming Dynasty that opposed the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty...
. Following the fall of the
Ming DynastyThe Ming Dynasty , or Empire of the Great Ming , was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history," was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
, Koxinga retreated to Taiwan as a self-styled Ming loyalist and established the
Kingdom of TungningThe Kingdom of Tungning was a Han Chinese government which ruled Taiwan, between 1661 and 1683. It was a pro-Ming Dynasty kingdom, and was founded by Koxinga , after the destruction of Ming power by the Manchu...
(1662–83). Koxinga established his capital at
TainanTainan City is the fourth largest city in Taiwan after Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Taichung. By the end of 2010 the city and the adjacent Tainan County will merge to form a single municipality....
and he and his heirs,
Zheng JingZheng Jing was a seventeenth century Chinese warlord and Ming Dynasty loyalist. He was the eldest son of Koxinga and grandson of pirate-merchant Zheng Zhilong. After the conquest of Taiwan in 1662 by his father, Zheng Jing controlled the military forces in Xiamen and Quemoy on his father's behalf...
, who ruled from 1662–82, and Zheng Keshuang, who served less than a year, continued to launch raids on the south-east coast of mainland China well into the
Qing DynastyThe Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912...
, attempting to recapture mainland China.
In 1683, following the defeat of Koxinga's grandson by an armada led by Admiral
Shi LangShi Lang was a Ming-Qing admiral who had extensive experience in southeastern China. He was commander-in-chief of the Manchu fleets which destroyed the power of the Zheng family and conquered Taiwan in 1681....
of Southern Fujian, the Qing formally annexed Taiwan, placing it under the jurisdiction of Fujian province. The Qing government tried to reduce piracy and vagrancy in the area, issuing a series of edicts to manage immigration and respect aboriginal land rights. Immigrants mostly from Southern Fujian continued to enter Taiwan. The border between taxpaying lands and "savage" lands shifted eastward, with some aborigines '
SinicizingSinicization, Sinicisation or Sinification, is the linguistic assimilation or cultural assimilation of terms and concepts of the language and culture of China...
' while others retreated into the mountains. During this time, there were a number of conflicts between
ChineseHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and, by most modern definitions, the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92 percent of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98 percent of the population of the Republic of China , 75 percent of the...
from different regions of Southern Fujian, and between Southern Fujian Chinese and aborigines.
Northern Taiwan and the Penghu Islands were the scene of an important subsidiary campaign in the
Sino-French WarThe Sino-French War was a limited conflict fought between August 1884 and April 1885 to decide whether France should replace China in control of Tonkin . As the French achieved their war aims, they are usually considered to have won the war...
(August 1884 to April 1885). The French occupied Keelung from 1 October 1884 to 22 June 1885 and the Penghu Islands from 31 March to 22 July 1885. A French attempt to capture Tamsui was defeated at the
Battle of TamsuiThe Battle of Tamsui , fought on 8 October 1884, was a significant French defeat during the Sino-French War.- Background :...
(8 October 1884). Several battles were fought around Keelung between October 1884 and March 1885 between Liu Ming-ch'uan's Army of Northern Taiwan and Colonel
Jacques DuchesneJacques Charles René Achille Duchesne was a French general of the 19th century. He was born at Sens on March 3, 1837. He entered Saint-Cyr in 1855, and became a Lieutenant in 1861.-Career:...
's Formosa Expeditionary Corps. The
Keelung CampaignThe Keelung Campaign was a controversial military campaign undertaken by the French in northern Formosa during the Sino-French War. After making a botched attack on Keelung in August 1884, the French landed an expeditionary corps of 2,000 men and captured the port in October 1884...
, despite some notable French tactical victories, ended in a stalemate. The
Pescadores CampaignThe Pescadores Campaign in late March 1885 was one of the last campaigns of the Sino-French War . It was fought to capture a strategically-important island group off the western coast of Taiwan...
was a French victory, but had no long-term consequences. The French evacuated both Keelung and the Penghu archipelago at the end of the war.
In 1885, the Qing upgraded Taiwan's status from prefecture of Fujian to full province, the twentieth in the country, with its capital at
TaipeiTaipei is the largest city in Taiwan and has served as the de facto capital of the Republic of China since the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It is situated on the Danshui River, almost at the northern tip of the island, about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
. This was accompanied by a modernization drive that included building Taiwan's first railroad and starting a postal service.
Japanese rule
Imperial Japan had sought to control Taiwan since 1592, when
Toyotomi Hideyoshiwas a daimyo in the Sengoku period who unified Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle. He is noted for a number of cultural legacies, including the...
began extending
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese influence overseas. In 1609, the Tokugawa Shogunate sent
Arima HarunobuArima Harunobu was the second son and successor of Japanese daimyo Arima Yoshisada. Harunobu was born in the castle of Arima and controlled the Shimabara area of Hizen province. After Harunobu's father's death, he began the persecution of Christians in his region. With Ryūzōji Takanobu expanding...
on an exploratory mission. In 1616, Murayama Toan led an unsuccessful invasion of the island.
In 1871, an Okinawan vessel shipwrecked on the southern tip of Taiwan and the crew of fifty-four was beheaded by the Paiwan aborigines. The
Ryūkyū KingdomThe Ryūkyū Kingdom was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryūkyū unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan...
kept a tributary relationship with Great Qing, at the same time was subordinate to Satsuma Domain of Japan. When Japan sought compensation from Qing China, it was first rejected because Qing considered the incident an internal affair since Taiwan was a prefecture of Fujian Province of Qing and the Ryūkyū Kingdom was a tributary of Qing. When Japanese foreign minister
Soejima Taneomiwas a diplomat and statesman during early Meiji period Japan.-Biography:Soejima was born into a samurai family in Saga, in Hizen province . His father was a teacher in the domain's school and a scholar of National Learning . Soejima was sent to Nagasaki by the domain leaders to study the English...
asked the compensation again claiming four of the victims were Japanese citizens from Okayama prefecture of Japan, Qing officials rejected the demand on the grounds that the "wild" and "unsubjugated" aboriginals were outside its jurisdiction. Such aboriginals were treated extremely harshly; American consul J.W. Davidson described how the Chinese in Taiwan ate and traded in their aboriginal victims' flesh. The open renunciation of sovereignty led to a Japanese invasion of Taiwan. In 1874, an expeditionary force of three thousand troops was sent to the island. There were about thirty Taiwanese and 543 Japanese casualties (twelve in battle and 531 by
endemicIn epidemiology, an infection is said to be endemic in a population when that infection is maintained in the population without the need for external inputs. For example, chickenpox is endemic in the UK, but malaria is not...
diseases for the Japanese side).
Great Qing was defeated in the
First Sino-Japanese WarThe First Sino-Japanese War was a war fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over the control of Korea...
(1894–95) and Taiwan and Penghu were
ceded in full sovereigntyThe Treaty of Shimonoseki , known as the Treaty of Maguan in China, was signed at the Shunpanrō hall on April 17, 1895 between the Empire of Japan and Qing Empire of China, ending the First Sino-Japanese War...
to Japan. Inhabitants wishing to remain Qing subjects were given a two-year grace period to sell their property and move to mainland China. Very few Taiwanese saw this as feasible.
On May 25, 1895, a group of pro-Qing high officials proclaimed the
Republic of FormosaThe Republic of Formosa was a short-lived republic that existed on the island of Taiwan in 1895 between the formal cession of Taiwan by the Qing Dynasty of China to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki and its invasion and...
to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital at Tainan and quelled this resistance on October 21, 1895.
The Japanese were instrumental in the industrialization of the island; they extended the railroads and other transportation networks, built an extensive sanitation system and revised the public school system. During this period, both rice and sugarcane production greatly increased. By 1939, Taiwan was the seventh greatest sugar producer in the world. Still, the Taiwanese and Aborigines were classified as second- and third-class citizens. Large-scale violence continued in the first decade of rule. Japan launched over 160 battles to destroy Taiwan's aboriginal tribes during its 51-year rule of the island …' Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the Japanese Empire and people were taught to see themselves as Japanese. During WWII, tens of thousands of Taiwanese served in the Japanese military. For example, former ROC President Lee Teng-hui's elder brother served in the Japanese navy and died while on duty in February 1945 in the Philippines.
The
Imperial Japanese NavyThe Imperial Japanese Navy , literally Navy of the Empire of Greater Japan was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
operated heavily out of Taiwan. The "South Strike Group" was based out of the Taihoku Imperial University in Taiwan. Many of the Japanese forces participating in the
Aerial Battle of Taiwan-OkinawaThe Aerial Battle of Taiwan-Okinawa took place between October 12 and 16, 1944, off the eastern coast of the island of Taiwan, and was fought by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and the approaching Task Force 38 of the United States Third Fleet and was one of a series of Air raids on Japan...
were based in Taiwan. Important Japanese military bases and industrial centers throughout Taiwan, like Kaohsiung, were targets of heavy American bombing.
Japan's rule of Taiwan ended after it lost World War II and signed the Instrument of Surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945. But the Japanese rule had long lasting effects on Taiwan and Taiwanese culture. Japanese pop culture is popular in Taiwan, influenced by the 50-year Japanese rule. Significant parts of Taiwanese infrastructure were started under the Japanese rule. The current Presidential Building was also built during that time. In 1938 there were 309,000
JapaneseThe Japanese diaspora, and its individual members known as , are Japanese emigrants from Japan and their descendants to other parts of the world...
settlers in Taiwan. After World War II, most of the Japanese
were repatriated to JapanForced deportation, mass evacuation and displacement of peoples took place in many of the countries involved in World War II. These were caused both by the direct hostilities between Axis and Allied powers, and the border changes enacted in the pre-war settlement...
.
Kuomintang martial law period
The
Cairo ConferenceThe Cairo Conference of November 22 - 26 1943, held in Cairo, Egypt, addressed the Allied position against Japan during World War II and made decisions about postwar Asia...
from November 22 to 26, 1943 in
CairoCairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab World. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life...
,
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
was held to address the
AlliedThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . The involvement of the Allies in World War II was either natural and inevitable they were invaded or under the direct threat of invasion by the Axis or compelled by concerns that the Axis powers...
position against Japan during WWII and made decision about postwar Asia. One of the three main clauses of the
Cairo DeclarationThe Cairo Declaration was the outcome of the Cairo Conference in Cairo, Egypt, on November 27, 1943. President Franklin Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China were present...
is that "all the territories Japan has stolen from China, including Manchuria, Taiwan and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China'. This ultimatum was accepted when Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender.
On October 25, 1945, ROC troops representing the Allied Command accepted the formal surrender of Japanese military forces in Taipei (then called Taihoku). The ROC Government, led by
Chiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He was an influential member of the Kuomintang and Sun Yat-sen's close ally. He became the commandant of Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun's place in the party when the latter died in 1925...
, announced that date as "Taiwan
Retrocession DayRetrocession Day is an annual observance in Taiwan to commemorate the end of 50 years of Japanese colonial rule on October 25, 1945.Taiwan, then more commonly known as Formosa, became a colony of the Empire of Japan when Qing China lost the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and ceded the island with...
". The ROC under Chen Yi was strained by social and political instabilities, which were compounded by economic woes, such as
hyperinflationIn economics, hyperinflation is inflation that is very high or "out of control", a condition in which prices increase rapidly as a currency loses its value....
. Further, cultural and linguistic differences between the Taiwanese and the mainland Chinese, quickly led to the loss of popular support for the new government. This culminated in a series of severe clashes between the ROC government and the Taiwanese, in turn leading to the
228 incidentThe 228 Incident, also known as the 228 Massacre, was an anti-government uprising in Taiwan that began on February 27, 1947 and was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang government. Estimates of the number of deaths vary from ten thousand to thirty thousand or more...
and the reign of
White TerrorIn general, the term White Terror refers to acts of violence carried out by reactionary groups as part of a counter-revolution...
.
In 1949, during the
Chinese Civil WarThe Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China . The war began in April 1927, amidst the Northern Expedition,. The war represented an ideological split between the Western-supported Nationalist KMT and the Soviet-supported Communist CPC...
, the
KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party, is a political party of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan since the 1970s. It is the founding and the ruling political party of the ROC...
(KMT), led by
Chiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He was an influential member of the Kuomintang and Sun Yat-sen's close ally. He became the commandant of Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun's place in the party when the latter died in 1925...
, retreated from
mainland ChinaMainland China, Continental 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 , excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which are under the jurisdiction of the PRC but run on different economic and...
and the ROC government fled from
Nanjing' , abbreviated in Chinese as Ning , is the capital of China's Jiangsu Province, and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture...
(then romanised as "Nanking") to
TaipeiTaipei is the largest city in Taiwan and has served as the de facto capital of the Republic of China since the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It is situated on the Danshui River, almost at the northern tip of the island, about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
, Taiwan's largest city, while continuing to claim sovereignty over all
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, which the ROC defines to include
mainland ChinaMainland China, Continental 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 , excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which are under the jurisdiction of the PRC but run on different economic and...
, Taiwan,
Outer MongoliaOuter Mongolia was an administrative division of the Qing Empire. The area was roughly equivalent to that of the modern state of Mongolia...
and other areas. In mainland China, the victorious Communists established the PRC, claiming to be the sole representative of China (which it claimed included Taiwan) and portraying the ROC government as an illegitimate entity.
Some 2 million people, consisting mainly of soldiers, KMT party members and most importantly the intellectual and business elites also fled mainland China and arrived in Taiwan around that time. In addition, as part of its escape from Communists in mainland China, the ROC government relocated to Taipei with many national treasures including gold reserves and foreign currency reserves. This was often used by the PRC government to explain its economic difficulties and Taiwan's comparative prosperity. From this period through the 1980s, Taiwan was governed by a party-state dictatorship, with the KMT as the
ruling partyThe ruling party in a parliamentary system is the political party or coalition of the majority in parliament. Within a parliamentary system, the majority in the legislature also controls the executive branch of government, thus leaving no possibility of dueling parties concurrently occupying the...
. Military rule continued and little to no distinction was made between the government and the party, with public property, government property, and party property being interchangeable. Government workers and party members were indistinguishable, with government workers, such as teachers, required to become KMT members, and party workers paid salaries and promised retirement benefits along the lines of government employees. In addition all other parties were outlawed, and political opponents were persecuted, incarcerated, and executed.
Taiwan remained under
martial lawMartial law is the system of rules that takes effect when the military takes control of the normal administration of justice.Martial law is sometimes imposed during wars or occupations in the absence of any other civil government. Examples of this form of military rule include Germany and Japan...
and one-party rule, under the name of the "
Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist RebellionThe Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion was a series of temporary constitutional provisions passed by the National Assembly of the Republic of China on May 10, 1948 that provided to the then President Chiang Kai-shek extended powers amid the height of the Chinese...
", from 1948 to 1987, when the ROC Presidents
Chiang Ching-kuoChiang Ching-kuo , Kuomintang politician and leader, was the son of President Chiang Kai-shek and held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China...
and
Lee Teng-huiLee Teng-hui is a politician of Republic of China . He was President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000. He presided over major advancements in democratic reforms including his own re-election which marked the first direct presidential election for the...
gradually
liberalizedLiberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history...
and democratized the system. With the advent of democratization, the issue of the
political status of TaiwanThe controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan hinges on whether Taiwan, including Penghu, should remain effectively independent as territory of the Republic of China , become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China , or formally declare independence...
has resurfaced as a controversial issue (previously, discussion of anything other than unification under the ROC was
tabooA taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and forbidden. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. The term comes from the Tongan language, and appears in many Polynesian cultures...
).
As the Chinese Civil War continued without truce, the ROC built up military fortifications throughout Taiwan. Within this effort, former KMT soldiers built the now famous
Central Cross-Island HighwayThe Central Cross-Island Highway is one of three highway systems that connect the west coast with the east of Taiwan. It is Taiwan Provincial Road number 8.-Construction:The construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway began on July 7, 1956...
through the Taroko Gorge in the 1950s. The two sides would continue to engage in sporadic military clashes with seldom publicized details well into the 1960’s on the nearby islands with an unknown number of night raids. During the
Second Taiwan Strait CrisisThe Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was a conflict that took place between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China governments in which the PRC shelled the islands of Matsu and Quemoy in the Taiwan Strait in an attempt to seize them from...
in September 1958, Taiwan's landscape saw
Nike-Hercules missileNike-Hercules Missile, designation MIM-14 , was a solid fuel propelled surface-to-air missile, used by US and NATO armed forces for high- and medium-altitude air defense...
batteries added, with the formation of the 1st Missile Battalion Chinese Army that would not be deactivated until 1997. Newer generations of missile batteries have since replaced the Nike Hercules systems throughout the island.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the ROC began to develop into a prosperous, industrialized
developed countryThe term developed country is used to describe countries that have a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue and there is fierce debate about this. Economic criteria have tended to dominate...
with a strong and dynamic economy, becoming one of the Four Asian Tigers while maintaining the authoritarian, single-party government. Because of the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
, most Western nations and the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
regarded the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s, when most nations began switching recognition to the PRC.
Modern democratic era
Chiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He was an influential member of the Kuomintang and Sun Yat-sen's close ally. He became the commandant of Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun's place in the party when the latter died in 1925...
's eventual successor, his son
Chiang Ching-kuoChiang Ching-kuo , Kuomintang politician and leader, was the son of President Chiang Kai-shek and held numerous posts in the government of the Republic of China...
, began to liberalize Taiwan's political system. In 1984, the younger Chiang selected
Lee Teng-huiLee Teng-hui is a politician of Republic of China . He was President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000. He presided over major advancements in democratic reforms including his own re-election which marked the first direct presidential election for the...
, an ethnically Taiwanese technocrat, to be his vice president. In 1986, the
Democratic Progressive PartyThe Democratic Progressive Party is a major political party in the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. It is the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity, including promotion of...
(DPP) was formed and inaugurated as the first opposition party in Taiwan to counter the KMT. A year later Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law.
After the 1988 death of Chiang Ching-Kuo, President Lee Teng-hui became the first ethnically Taiwanese president of the ROC. Lee continued to democratize the government and decrease the concentration of government authority in the hands of mainland Chinese. Under Lee, Taiwan underwent a process of
localizationTaiwanization , also known as the Taiwanese localization movement, is a political term used in Taiwan to emphasize the importance of a separate Taiwanese culture rather than to regard Taiwan as solely an appendage of China...
in which Taiwanese culture and history were promoted over a pan-China viewpoint in contrast to earlier KMT policies which had promoted a Chinese identity. Lee's reforms included printing banknotes from the Central Bank rather than the Provincial Bank of Taiwan, and streamlining the
Taiwan Provincial GovernmentTaiwan Province is one of the two administrative divisions referred to as provinces and governed by the Republic of China also commonly known as "Taiwan". The province covers approproximately 98% of the territory under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China...
with most of its functions transferred to the
Executive YuanThe Executive Yuan is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China .-Organization and structure:...
. Under Lee, the original members of the
Legislative YuanThe Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China , which administers Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu Islands....
and
National AssemblyThe National Assembly of the Republic of China refers to several parliamentary bodies that existed in the history of the Republic of China. The National Assembly was originally founded in 1913 as the first legislature in Chinese history, but was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan...
, elected in 1947 to represent mainland Chinese constituencies and having taken the seats without re-election for more than four decades, were forced to resign in 1991. The previously nominal representation in the Legislative Yuan was brought to an end, to reflect the reality that the ROC government had no jurisdiction over mainland China. Restrictions on the use of Taiwanese Hokkien in the broadcast media and in schools were lifted as well. During later years of Lee's administration, he was involved in corruption controversies relating to government release of land and weapons purchase, although no legal proceedings commenced.
In the 1990s, the ROC continued its democratic reforms, as President
Lee Teng-huiLee Teng-hui is a politician of Republic of China . He was President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000. He presided over major advancements in democratic reforms including his own re-election which marked the first direct presidential election for the...
was elected by the first popular vote held in Taiwan during the 1996 Presidential election. In 2000,
Chen Shui-bianChen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan...
of the
DPPThe Democratic Progressive Party is a major political party in the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. It is the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity, including promotion of...
, was elected as the first non-
KMTThe Kuomintang of China , translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party, is a political party of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan since the 1970s. It is the founding and the ruling political party of the ROC...
PresidentPresident is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
and was re-elected to serve his second and last term since 2004. Polarized politics has emerged in Taiwan with the formation of the
Pan-Blue CoalitionThe Pan-Blue Coalition or Pan-Blue Force is a political alliance in the Republic of China , commonly known as "Taiwan", consisting of the Kuomintang , the People First Party , and the New Party . The name comes from the party colors of the Kuomintang...
of parties led by the
KMTThe Kuomintang of China , translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party, is a political party of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan since the 1970s. It is the founding and the ruling political party of the ROC...
, favoring eventual
Chinese reunificationChinese reunification is a goal of Chinese nationalism that refers to the bringing together of all of the territories controlled by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China under a single political entity...
, and the
Pan-Green CoalitionThe Pan-Green Coalition or Pan-Green Camp, is currently an informal political alliance of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party , Taiwan Solidarity Union , and the minor Taiwan Independence Party...
of parties led by the
DPPThe Democratic Progressive Party is a major political party in the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. It is the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity, including promotion of...
, favoring an eventual and official declaration of
Taiwan independenceTaiwan independence is a political movement whose goal is primarily to create an independent and sovereign Republic of Taiwan out of the lands currently governed by the Republic of China and claimed by the People's Republic of China .This movement is supported by the Pan-Green Coalition in Taiwan...
.
On September 30, 2007, the ruling
Democratic Progressive PartyThe Democratic Progressive Party is a major political party in the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan. It is the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity, including promotion of...
approved a
resolutionA resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. For long or important motions, though, it is often better to have them written out so that discussion is easier or so that it can be...
asserting separate identity from
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
and called for the enactment of a new
constitutionA constitution is a set of rules for government—often codified as a written document—that establishes principles of an autonomous political entity. In the case of countries, this term refers specifically to a national constitution defining the fundamental political principles, and establishing the...
for a "
normal country". It also called for general use of "
Taiwan" as the island's name, without abolishing its formal name, the
Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
. The Chen administration also pushed for referendums on national defense and UN entry in the 2004 and 2008 elections, which failed due to voter turnout below the required legal threshold of 50% of all registered voters. The Chen administration was dogged by public concerns over reduced economic growth, legislative gridlock due to a pan-blue, opposition controlled Legislative Yuan, and corruption involving the First Family as well as government officials.
The KMT increased its majority in the
Legislative YuanThe Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China , which administers Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu Islands....
in the
January 2008 legislative electionsLegislative elections were held on January 12, 2008 in the Republic of China . The results gave the Kuomintang and the Pan-Blue Coalition a supermajority in the legislature, handing a heavy defeat to then-President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party, which won the remaining 27 seats only...
, while its nominee
Ma Ying-jeouMa Ying-jeou is the current President of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, and the Chairman of the Kuomintang Party, also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party...
went on to win the presidency in March of the same year, campaigning on a platform of increased economic growth, and better ties with the PRC under a policy of "
mutual nondenialSpecial Non-State-to-State Relations is a concept and government policy espoused by Ma Ying-jeou, the President of the Republic of China, commonly known as "Taiwan" since the 1970s, regarding the political status of Taiwan and the relations between the Republic of China and the People's Republic...
". Ma took office on May 20, 2008. Part of the rationale for campaigning for closer economic ties with the PRC stem from the strong economic growth China attained since joining the
World Trade OrganizationThe World Trade Organization is an international organization designed by its founders to supervise and liberalize international capital trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade , which...
. However, some analysts say that despite the election of
Ma Ying-jeouMa Ying-jeou is the current President of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, and the Chairman of the Kuomintang Party, also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party...
, military tensions with the PRC have not been reduced
Geography
The island of Taiwan lies some 120 kilometers off the southeastern coast of
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, across the
Taiwan StraitThe Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait is a 180-km-wide strait between mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast...
, and has an area of . The
East China SeaThe East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km². In China, the sea is called the East Sea....
lies to the north, the
Philippine SeaThe Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and north of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 2 Million mi² on the western part of the North Pacific Ocean...
to the east, the
Luzon StraitThe Luzon Strait is an important strait connecting the Philippine Sea, in the western Pacific, to the South China Sea, between Taiwan and Luzon in the Philippines.The strait is approximately 250 km wide...
directly to the south and the
South China SeaThe South China Sea is a marginal sea*south of mainland China and Taiwan,*west of the Philippines,*north west of Sabah , Sarawak and Brunei,*north of Indonesia,*north east of the Malay peninsula and Singapore, and...
to the southwest. The island is characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of rugged mountains running in five ranges from the northern to the southern tip of the island, and the flat to gently rolling plains in the west that are also home to most of Taiwan's population. Taiwan's highest point is Yu Shan at 3,952 meters, and there are five other peaks over 3,500 meters. This makes it the world's
fourth-highest island.
Taroko National ParkTaroko National Park is one of the seven national parks in Taiwan and was named after the Taroko Gorge, the landmark gorge of the park...
, located on the mountainous eastern side of the island, has good examples of mountainous terrain, gorges and
erosionErosion is a gravity driven process that moves solids in the natural environment or their source and deposits them elsewhere...
caused by a swiftly flowing river.
The shape of the main island of Taiwan is similar to a
sweet potatoThe sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Amongst the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of this family, only I. batatas is a crop plant whose large, starchy, sweet tasting tuberous roots are an important root vegetable...
seen in a south-to-north direction, and therefore, Taiwanese, especially the Min-nan division, often call themselves "children of the Sweet Potato." There are also other interpretations of the island shape, one of which is a
whaleWhale is the common name for marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale is sometimes used to refer to all cetaceans, but in more common English usage it generally excludes the members of the Delphinoidea superfamily, such as dolphins and porpoises...
in the ocean (the Pacific Ocean) if viewed in a west-to-east direction, which is a common orientation in ancient maps, plotted either by
WesternThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
explorers or the Great Qing.
Geology
The island of Taiwan lies in a complex
tectonicTectonics is a field of study within geology concerned generally with the structures within the lithosphere of the Earth and particularly with the forces and movements that have operated in a region to create these structures.Tectonics is concerned with the orogenies and tectonic development of...
area between the
Yangtze PlateThe Yangtze Plate, also called the South China Block or the South China Subplate, comprises the bulk of southern China. It is separated on the east from the Okinawa Plate by a rift that forms the Okinawa Trough which is a Back arc basin, on the south by the Sunda Plate and the Philippine Sea...
to the west and north, the
Okinawa PlateThe Okinawa Plate is a long narrow tectonic plate stretching from the northern end of Taiwan to the southern tip of the island of Kyūshū. To the east lies the Ryukyu Trench and the Pacific Plate. It is separated from the Yangtze Plate by a rift that forms the Okinawa Trough which is a Back arc...
on the north-east, and the
Philippine Mobile BeltMost segments of the Philippines, including northern Luzon, are part of the Philippine Mobile Belt, which is separate from the Philippine Sea Plate to the east, the Molucca Sea Collision Zone to the south, Sunda Plate to the southwest, and the South China Sea Basin to the west and north-west...
on the east and south. The upper part of the crust on the island is primarily made up of a series of
terraneA terrane in geology is a fragment of crustal material formed on, or broken off from, one tectonic plate and accreted — "sutured" — to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its own distinctive geologic history, which is different from that of the surrounding areas...
s, mostly old
island arcAn island arc is a type of archipelago formed by plate tectonics as one oceanic tectonic plate subducts under another and produces magma. Island arcs that develop along the edges of a continent may be known as a volcanic arc, though most people find the distinction of little benefit.In the...
s which have been forced together by the collision of the forerunners of the
Eurasian PlateThe Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...
and the Philippine Sea Plate. These have been further uplifted as a result of the detachment of a portion of the Eurasian Plate as it was
subductedIn geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate, sinking into the Earth's mantle, as the plates converge. A subduction zone is an area on Earth where two tectonic plates move towards one another and...
beneath remnants of the Philippine Sea Plate, a process which left the crust under Taiwan more buoyant.
The east and south of Taiwan are a complex system of belts formed by, and part of the zone of, active collision between the North Luzon Trough portion of the Luzon Arc and South China, where accreted portions of the Luzon Arc and Luzon forearc form the eastern Coastal Range and parallel inland Longitudinal Valley of Taiwan respectively.
The major seismic faults in Taiwan correspond to the various suture zones between the various terranes. These have produced major quakes throughout the history of the island. On September 21, 1999, a 7.3 quake known as the "921 earthquake" occurred. The
seismic hazard mapA seismic hazard map is a map that shows the approximate destructive power of earthquakes on the earth's surface for a given area for a given amount of time...
for Taiwan by the USGS shows 9/10 of the island as the highest rating (most hazardous).
Climate
Taiwan's
climateClimate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time...
is marine
tropicalA tropical climate is a kind of climate typical in the tropics. Köppen's widely-recognized scheme of climate classification defines it as a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures above .- Examples of tropical climates :...
. The Northern part of the island has a rainy season that lasts from January to late March during the northeast
monsoonA pennis is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by seasonal changes in precipitation, but now is used to describe seasonal changes atmospheric circulation and precipitation The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the African and Asia-Australian monsoons...
, and also experiences
meiyu in May. The entire island succumbs to hot humid weather from June until September, while October to December are arguably the most pleasant times of year. The middle and southern parts of the island do not have an extended monsoon season during the winter months. Natural hazards such as typhoons and
earthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph...
s are common in the region.
Taiwan is a center of bird
endemismEndemism is the ecological state of being unique to a particular geographic location, such as a specific island, habitat type, nation, or other defined zone. To be endemic to a place or area means that it is found only in that part of the world and nowhere else. For example, many species of lemur...
; see
Endemic birds of TaiwanThis article is one of a series providing information about endemism among birds in the World's various zoogeographic zones. For an overview of this subject see Endemism in birds.-Endemic Bird Areas:...
for further information.
Environment and pollution
With its high population density and many factories, some areas in Taiwan suffer from heavy pollution. Most notable are the southern suburbs of Taipei and the western stretch from Tainan to Lin Yuan, south of Kaohsiung. In the past, Taipei suffered from extensive vehicle and factory
air pollutionAir pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment, into the atmosphere....
, but with mandatory use of unleaded gasoline and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, the air quality of Taiwan has improved dramatically.
Motor scootersA scooter is a motorcycle with step-through architecture and either a platform for the operator's feet or footrests integral with the bodywork. Elements of scooter design have been noted in some of the earliest motorcycles, and motorcycles identifiable as scooters have been made from 1914 or earlier...
, especially older or cheaper two-stroke versions, which are ubiquitous in Taiwan, also contribute disproportionately to air pollution.
Natural resources
Because of the intensive exploitation throughout Taiwan's pre-modern and modern history, the island's mineral resources (eg.
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
,
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
,
marbleMarble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications...
), as well as wild animal reserves (eg. deer), have been virtually exhausted. Moreover, much of its forestry resources, especially
firsAbies kawakamii is a species of conifer in the Pinaceae family.It is found only in Taiwan.-Source:* Conifer Specialist Group 1998. . Downloaded on 10 July 2007....
were harvested during Japanese rule for the construction of shrines and have only recovered slightly since then. The remaining forests nowadays do not contribute to significant timber production mainly because of concerns about production costs and environmental regulations.
Camphor
oilCamphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C
10H
16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel , a large evergreen tree found in Asia and also of Dryobalanops aromatica, a giant of the Bornean forests...
extraction and
caneSugarcane, or sugar cane, is any of six to thirty-seven species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six meters tall...
sugarSucrose, commonly called table sugar, is a moosaccharide of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula C12H22O11. This white, odorless, crystalline powder has a pleasing, sweet taste. It is best known for its role in human nutrition...
production played an important role in Taiwan's exportation from the late nineteenth century through the first half of the twentieth century. The importance of the above industries subsequently declined not because of the exhaustion of related natural resources but mainly of the decline of international market demands.
Nowadays, few natural resources with significant economic value are retained in Taiwan, which are essentially agriculture-associated. Domestic agriculture (
riceRice is the seed of a monocot plant Oryza sativa, of the grass family . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East, South, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the West Indies...
being the dominant kind of crop) and fisheries retain importance to a certain degree, but they have been greatly challenged by foreign imports since Taiwan's accession to the
World Trade OrganizationThe World Trade Organization is an international organization designed by its founders to supervise and liberalize international capital trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade , which...
in 2001. Consequently, upon the decline of subsistent importance, Taiwan's agriculture now relies heavily on the marketing and exportation of certain kinds of specialty fruits, such as
bananaBanana is the common name for a herbaceous plants of the genus Musa, and the commonly eaten fruit it produces. They are native to the tropical region of Southeast Asia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics.Banana...
,
guavaGuavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium, which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America...
,
lycheeThe lychee or laichi and lichu is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. It is a tropical fruit tree. It is primarily found in China, India, Madagascar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Southern Africa and Mexico...
, wax apple, and high-mountain
teaTea is the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods...
.
Energy resources
Taiwan has significant coal deposits and some insignificant
petroleumPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
and
natural gasNatural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills...
deposits. Electrical power generation is nearly 55% coal-based, 18%
nuclear powerNuclear power is power produced from controlled nuclear reactions. Commercial plants in use to date use nuclear fission reactions....
, 17% natural gas, 5% oil, and 5% from renewable energy sources. Nearly all oil and gas for transportation and power needs must be imported, making Taiwan particularly sensitive to fluctuations in energy prices. Because of this, Taiwan's Executive Yuan is pushing for 10% of energy generation to come from renewable energy by 2010, double from the current figure of approximately 5%. In fact, several
wind farmA wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used for production of electric power. Individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage power collection system and communications network...
s built by
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
companies have come online or will in the near future. Taiwan is rich in
wind energyWind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as electricity, using wind turbines. At the end of 2008, worldwide nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was 121.2 gigawatts . In 2008, wind power produced about 1.5% of worldwide electricity usage; and is...
resources, both onshore and offshore, though limited land area favors offshore wind resources. Solar energy is also a potential resource to some extent. By promoting renewable energy, Taiwan's government hopes to also aid the nascent renewable energy manufacturing industry, and develop it into an export market.
Ethnic groups
Taiwan's population was estimated in 2005 at 22.9 million, most of whom are on the island of Taiwan. About 98% of the population is of
Han ChineseHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and, by most modern definitions, the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92 percent of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98 percent of the population of the Republic of China , 75 percent of the...
ethnicity. Of these, 86% are descendants of early Han Chinese immigrants known as the "
home-province people" . This group contains two subgroups: the Southern
FujianeseMin-speaking peoples are a major subgroup of the Han Chinese . They are a Min Chinese-speaking people that mainly live in Fujian Province, Hainan Province, Southern Zhejiang, Leizhou and Chaoshan in Guangdong Province as well as the majority of Taiwanese in Taiwan.- Fujian :Fuzhou...
or "Hokkien" or "Min-nan" (70% of the total population), who migrated from the coastal
Southern Fujian (Min-nan)' is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
region in the southeast of
mainland ChinaMainland China, Continental 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 , excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which are under the jurisdiction of the PRC but run on different economic and...
; and the Hakka (15% of the total population), who originally migrated south to
GuangdongGuangdong is a province on the southern coast of People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, its surrounding areas and Taiwan. 12% of population are known as
waishengren or "mainlanders" in English and are composed of and descend from mainland Chinese immigrants who arrived after the Second World War. This group mostly includes those who fled
mainland ChinaMainland China, Continental 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 , excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which are under the jurisdiction of the PRC but run on different economic and...
in 1949 following the
KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party, is a political party of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan since the 1970s. It is the founding and the ruling political party of the ROC...
defeat in the
Chinese Civil WarThe Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China . The war began in April 1927, amidst the Northern Expedition,. The war represented an ideological split between the Western-supported Nationalist KMT and the Soviet-supported Communist CPC...
. For
political reasonsThe controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan hinges on whether Taiwan, including Penghu, should remain effectively independent as territory of the Republic of China , become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China , or formally declare independence...
, the
mainlanderMainlanders are people who live in a region considered a "mainland". It is frequently used in the context of areas ruled by either the People's Republic of China or the Republic of China, referring to people from mainland China as opposed other areas controlled by those states such as Taiwan, Hong...
s are also called
xin zhùmín , or "new residents", although the term is considered offensive by many of the mainlanders themselves. , there were 343,000 foreign workers.
The other 2% of Taiwan's population, numbering about 458,000, are listed as the
Taiwanese aboriginesTaiwanese aborigines is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan...
, divided into 13 major groups: Ami, Atayal, Paiwan,
BununThe Bunun , also historically known as the Vonum, are a tribe of Taiwanese aborigines and are best-known for their sophisticated polyphonic vocal music. They speak the Bunun language. Unlike other aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, the Bunun are widely dispersed across the island. In the year 2000 the...
, Rukai, Puyuma,
TsouThe Tsou are an Indigenous people of central southern Taiwan. They are spread across three districts, Nantou County, Chiayi County and Kaohsiung County....
, Saisiyat,
TaoThe Tao , commonly known by the misnomer Yami , are a Taiwanese aboriginal people, native to tiny outlying Orchid Island in Taiwan. The Tao are an Austronesian people linguistically and culturally closer to the Ivatan people of the Batanes islands in the Philippines than to other aboriginal peoples...
(Yami), Thao,
KavalanThe Kavalan or Kuvalan are an indigenous people of Taiwan, part of the larger Taiwanese aborigine ethnic group. The Kavalan originally inhabited modern-day Yilan County. Most of them moved to the coastal area of Hualien County and Taitung County in the 19th century...
, Truku and Sakizaya.
Languages
About 70% of the people in Taiwan belong to the
HokloHoklo commonly refers to those Chaozhou people, Hainanese people and Taiwanese people who claim Han Chinese ancestry from the southern part of Fujian province of China...
ethnic group and speak both
Standard MandarinStandard Mandarin, or Standard Chinese, known by various names to native speakers, is the official modern Chinese spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan, and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
(officially recognized by the ROC as the National Language) and Taiwanese Hokkien (commonly known as "Taiwanese"; a variant of
Min NanThe Southern Min language, or Min Nan , is a family of Chinese languages which are spoken in southern Fujian and neighboring areas, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora. In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to the Hokkien, in particular the Amoy and Taiwanese...
spoken in
Fujian' is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
province). Standard Mandarin is the primary language of instruction in schools. The Hakka, about 15% of the population, have a distinct Hakka dialect. Aboriginal minority groups still speak their native languages, although most also speak Mandarin.
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
is a common second language, with some large private schools providing English instruction. English is compulsory in students' curriculum once they enter elementary school. English as a school subject is also featured on Taiwan's education exams.
Although Mandarin is still the language of instruction in schools and dominates television and radio, non-Mandarin languages or dialects have undergone a revival in public life in Taiwan. A large proportion of the population can speak Taiwanese, and many others have some degree of understanding. Some also speak Hakka. People educated during the Japanese period of 1900 to 1945 used
Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
as the medium of instruction. Some in the older generations only speak the Japanese they learned at school and the Taiwanese they spoke at home and are unable to communicate with many in the younger generations who only speak Mandarin.
Most aboriginal groups in Taiwan have their own languages which, unlike Taiwanese or Hakka, do not belong to the Chinese language family, but rather to the
Austronesian language familyThe Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. It is on par with Bantu, Indo-European, Afro-Asiatic and Uralic as one of the best-established ancient language families...
.
Religion
Over 93% of Taiwanese are adherents of a combination of
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
,
ConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia...
, and
TaoismDaoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts that have influenced East Asia for over two millennia and the West for over two centuries. The word 道, Tao , means "path" or "way", although in Chinese folk religion and philosophy it has taken on more...
; 4.5% are adherents of
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
, which includes Protestants, Catholics, and other non-denominational Christian groups; Latter-day Saints, and 2.5% are adherents of other religions, such as
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
.
Taiwanese aboriginesTaiwanese aborigines is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan...
comprise a notable subgroup among professing Christians: "...over 64 percent identify as Christian... Church buildings are the most obvious markers of Aboriginal villages, distinguishing them from Taiwanese or Hakka villages."
ConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia...
is a philosophy that deals with secular
moralA moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim...
ethicsEthics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality, such as what the fundamental semantic, ontological, and epistemic nature of ethics or morality is , how moral values should be determined , how a moral outcome can be achieved in specific situations , how moral...
, and serves as the foundation of both
ChineseThe Culture of China is one of the world's oldest and most complex cultures...
and
Taiwanese cultureThe Taiwanese culture is a hybrid blend of Confucianist Han Chinese, Japanese, European, American, global, local and Taiwanese aborigines cultures, which are often perceived in both traditional and modern understandings...
. The majority of
Taiwanese peopleTaiwanese people may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or the lands and territories which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945...
usually combine the secular moral teachings of
ConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia...
with whatever religions they are affiliated with.
One especially important goddess for Taiwanese people is
MatsuMazu , also spelt Matsu, is the indigenous goddess of the sea who protects fishermen and sailors, and is invoked as the goddess who protects East Asians who are associated with the ocean...
, who symbolizes the seafaring spirit of Taiwan's ancestors from
Fujian' is a province on the southeast coast of China. Fujian borders Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
and
GuangdongGuangdong is a province on the southern coast of People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
.
As of 2009, there are 14,993 temples in Taiwan, approximately one place of worship per 1,500 residents. 9,202 of those temples were dedicated to
TaoismDaoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts that have influenced East Asia for over two millennia and the West for over two centuries. The word 道, Tao , means "path" or "way", although in Chinese folk religion and philosophy it has taken on more...
. In 2008, Taiwan had 3,262 Churches, an increase of 145.
Culture
The cultures of Taiwan are a hybrid blend of various sources, incorporating elements of traditional Chinese culture, attributable to the historical and ancestry origin of the majority of its current residents, Japanese culture, traditional Confucianist beliefs, and increasingly globalized values.
After the escape to Taiwan, the
KuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party, is a political party of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan since the 1970s. It is the founding and the ruling political party of the ROC...
imposed an official interpretation of traditional Chinese culture over Taiwanese cultures. The government launched a program promoting Chinese calligraphy,
traditional Chinese paintingChinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Stone Age pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals...
,
folk artChinese folk art are artistic forms inherited from a regional or ethnic scene in China. Usually there are some variation between provinces. Individual folk arts have a long history, and many traditions are still practiced today...
, and
Chinese operaChinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE. There are numerous regional branches of Chinese opera, of which the Beijing opera is one of the most notable.-Dynastic periods:Canjun opera of the Three Kingdoms period was...
.
Since the Taiwan localization movement of the 1990s, Taiwan's cultural identity has enjoyed greater expression.
Identity politicsIdentity politics refers to political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of social minorities, or self-identified social interest groups. Not all members of any given group are necessarily involved in identity politics....
, along with the over one hundred years of political separation from
mainland ChinaMainland China, Continental 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 , excluding Hong Kong and Macau, which are under the jurisdiction of the PRC but run on different economic and...
has led to distinct traditions in many areas, including
cuisineCuisines in Taiwan have several variations. In addition to the following representative dishes from the people of Hoklo ethnicity , there are also Aboriginal, Hakka, and local derivatives of Chinese cuisines .Taiwanese cuisine itself is often associated with influences from mid...
and
musicTaiwan is densely-populated and culturally diverse, including a majority of ethnic Taiwanese , a powerful faction mainlanders who arrived with Chiang Kai-shek in the middle of the 20th century) and the minority of aboriginal peoples...
.
The status of Taiwanese culture is debated. It is disputed whether Taiwanese culture is a regional form of Chinese culture or a distinct culture. Speaking Taiwanese as a symbol of the localization movement has become an emblem of Taiwanese identity.
One of Taiwan's greatest attractions is the
National Palace MuseumThe National Palace Museum is an art museum in Taipei, Taiwan. It is the national museum of the Republic of China, and has a permanent collection of over 650,000 pieces of ancient Chinese artifacts and artworks, making it one of the largest in the world. The collection encompasses over 8,000 years...
, which houses more than 650,000 pieces of Chinese bronze, jade, calligraphy, painting and porcelain, and is considered one of the greatest collection of Chinese art and objects in the world. The KMT moved this collection from the
Forbidden CityThe Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
in
BeijingBeijing is a metropolis in northern China and the capital of the People's Republic of China...
in 1949 when it fled to Taiwan. The collection, estimated to be one-tenth of China's cultural treasures, is so extensive that only 1% is on display at any time. The PRC had said that the collection was stolen and that it legitimately belongs in China, but Taiwan has long defended its collection as a necessary act to protect the pieces from destruction especially during the
cultural revolutionThe Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a period of widespread social and political upheaval in the People’s Republic of China between 1966 and 1976, resulting in nation-wide chaos and economic disarray.It was launched by Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Communist Party of China, on May 16,...
. Relations regarding this treasure have warmed recently as the PRC has agreed to lending relics and that that Beijing Palace Museum Curator Zheng Xinmiao said that artifacts in both Chinese and Taiwanese museums are "China's cultural heritage jointly owned by people across the Taiwan Strait."
Popular sports in Taiwan include
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
and
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
.
International Community Radio TaipeiInternational Community Radio Taipei, ICRT, is Taiwan's only English-language radio station. Prior to 1979, the station served the U.S. military community in Taiwan as the United States Armed Forces Network Radio Taiwan...
is the most listened to International Radio Media in Taiwan.
Karaokeis a form of entertainment in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol or changing color and/or...
, drawn from contemporary Japanese culture, is extremely popular in Taiwan, where it is known as KTV.
Taiwan has a high density of 24-hour convenience stores, which in addition to the usual services, provide services on behalf of financial institutions or government agencies such as collection of parking fees, utility bills, traffic violation fines, and credit card payments. They even provide the service of mailing packages.
Taiwanese culture has also influenced other cultures.
Bubble teaBubble tea is a tea beverage typically served cold. It originated in Taiwan in the 1980s, first spread to nearby East Asian countries, migrated to Canada before spreading to Chinatown in New York City, and then to various spots throughout the West Coast of the United States.There are many variants...
and
milk teaMilk tea may refer to:*Bubble tea, also known as pearl milk tea or boba milk tea, with chewy tapioca balls*Hong Kong-style milk tea, black tea sweetened with evaporated milk...
are available in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
,
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
. Taiwan television variety shows are very popular in Singapore, Malaysia and other Asian countries. Taiwanese films have won various international awards at film festivals around the world.
Ang LeeAng Lee is an Academy Award-winning Taiwanese American film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director, and...
, a Taiwanese, has directed critically acclaimed films such as
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,
Eat Drink Man WomanEat Drink Man Woman is a Taiwanese film directed by Ang Lee and starring Sihung Lung, Yu-wen Wang, Chien-lien Wu, Kuei-mei Yang. Many of the cast had starred in Ang Lee's previous film, The Wedding Banquet with Sihung Lung and Ah Lei Gua once more playing central elderly figures, and Winston Chao....
,
Sense and Sensibility,
Brokeback MountainBrokeback Mountain is a 2005 American romantic-drama film that depicts the complex romantic and sexual relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1981....
, and Lust, Caution. Other famous Taiwanese directors include Tsai Ming-Liang, Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien.
Sports
BaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
is considered Taiwan's national sport and it is a popular spectator sport. One of the most famous Taiwanese baseball pitchers is
Chien-Ming WangChien-Ming Wang is a Taiwanese starting pitcher for the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball. He was initially signed as an amateur free agent for the 2000 season, playing for the Staten Island Yankees...
, who is a starting pitcher for the
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division...
in
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
. Other notable players in the league include
Chin-hui TsaoChin-hui Tsao is a Major League Baseball pitcher who currently plays for Brother Elephants of the CPBL, which is the top-tier professional league in Republic of China...
who played for the
Colorado RockiesThe Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1991, they started play in 1993, the Rockies play in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains, which pass through Colorado, just west of Denver...
(2003–2005) and the
Los Angeles DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles, California, USA. The team is in the Western Division of the National League. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming the Brooklyn...
(2007), Kuo Hong-chih and Hu Chin-lung who are both part of the
Los Angeles DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles, California, USA. The team is in the Western Division of the National League. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming the Brooklyn...
. The
Chinese Professional Baseball LeagueThe Chinese Professional Baseball League , or CPBL, is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and was, at the time, the 4th professional baseball league organized in the world, after MLB of the USA, NPB of Japan, and KBO of Korea. CPBL eventually...
in Taiwan was established in 1989, and eventually absorbed the competing
Taiwan Major LeagueThe Taiwan Major League was a professional baseball league in Taiwan that operated from 1996 to 2003. It was established by TV tycoon Chiu Fu-sheng after a row over CPBL broadcasting rights...
in 2003. , the CPBL has four teams with average attendance of approximately 3,000 per game.
Besides baseball,
martial artsMartial arts or fighting arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. While they may be studied for various reasons, martial arts share a single objective: to physically defeat other persons and to defend oneself or others from physical threat...
such as
taekwondoTaekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way," "method," or "art." Thus, "taekwondo" may be loosely translated as "the way of the foot and fist" or "the...
,
karateis a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands...
, and kung fu are also widely practiced and competed.
In 2009, Taiwan hosted two international sporting events on the island. The
World Games 2009The World Games of 2009 took place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, from July 16, 2009 to July 26, 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games....
were held in Kaohsiung City between July 16, 2009 and July 26, 2009. Taipei City hosted the 21st Summer Deaflympics in September of the same year.
Political status
Economy
Taiwan's quick industrialization and rapid growth during the latter half of the twentieth century, has been called the "
Taiwan MiracleThe Taiwan Miracle or Taiwan Economic Miracle refers to the rapid industrialization and economic growth of Taiwan during the latter half of the twentieth century...
" (台灣奇蹟) or "Taiwan Economic Miracle". As it has developed alongside
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
,
South KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
, and
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
, Taiwan is one of the
industrializedIndustrialisation is the process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a pre-industrial society into an industrial one...
developed countriesThe term developed country is used to describe countries that have a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue and there is fierce debate about this. Economic criteria have tended to dominate...
known as the "Four Asian Tigers".
Japanese rule prior to and during World War II brought forth changes in the public and private sectors of the economy, most notably in the area of public works, which enabled rapid communications and facilitated transport throughout much of the island. The Japanese also improved public education and made the system compulsory for all Taiwanese citizens during this time.
When the KMT government fled to Taiwan it brought the entire gold reserve and the foreign currency reserve of mainland China to the island which stabilized prices and reduced hyperinflation. More importantly, as part of its retreat to Taiwan, KMT brought with them the intellectual and business elites from mainland China. The KMT government instituted many laws and land reforms that it had never effectively enacted on mainland China. The government also implemented a policy of import-substitution, attempting to produce imported goods domestically. Much of this was made possible through US economic aid, subsidizing the higher cost of domestic production.
In 1962, Taiwan had a per capita gross national product (GNP) of $170, placing the island's economy squarely between Zaire and Congo. By 2008 Taiwan's per capita GNP, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), had soared to $33,000 (2008 est.) contributing to a
Human Development IndexThe Human Development Index is an index used to rank countries by level of "human development", which usually also implies whether a country is developed, developing, or underdeveloped.-Summary:...
equivalent to that of other developed countries.
Today Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist, export-driven economy with gradually decreasing state involvement in investment and foreign trade. In keeping with this trend, some large government-owned banks and industrial firms are being
privatizedPrivatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector...
. Real growth in
GDPThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is a basic measure of a country's economic performance and is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year...
has averaged about eight percent during the past three decades. Exports have provided the primary impetus for industrialization. The trade surplus is substantial, and foreign reserves are the
world's fifth largest as of 31 December 2007.
Taiwan has its own currency, the
New Taiwan dollarThe New Taiwan dollar , or simply Taiwan dollar, is the official currency of the Taiwan Area of the Republic of China since 1949...
.
AgricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
constitutes only two percent of the GDP, down from 35 percent in 1952. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being moved offshore and with more capital and technology-intensive industries replacing them. Taiwan has become a major foreign investor in mainland China,
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
,
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
,
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
, and
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
. It is estimated that some 50,000 Taiwanese businesses and 1,000,000 businesspeople and their dependents are established in the PRC.
Because of its conservative financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan suffered little compared with many of its neighbors from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Unlike its neighbors South Korea and Japan, the Taiwanese economy is dominated by small and medium sized businesses, rather than the large business groups. The global economic downturn, however, combined with poor policy coordination by the new administration and increasing bad debts in the banking system, pushed Taiwan into
recessionIn economics, a recession is a general slowdown in economic activity over a long period of time, or a business cycle contraction. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
in 2001, the first whole year of negative growth since 1947. Due to the relocation of many manufacturing and labor intensive industries to mainland China,
unemploymentUnemployment occurs when a person is available to work and seeking work but currently without work. The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate, which is defined as the percentage of those in the labor force who are unemployed...
also reached a level not seen since the
1973 oil crisisThe 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo" in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war; it lasted until March 1974...
. This became a major issue in the 2004 presidential election. Growth averaged more than 4% in the 2002–2006 period and the unemployment rate fell below 4%. Since the global financial crisis starting with United States in 2007, unemployment rate has risen to over 5.9% and Economic Growth fallen to -2.9%.
Leading technologies of Taiwan include:
- Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, push bike or cycle, is a pedal-driven, human-powered vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist or a bicyclist....
manufacturing, ex: Giant BicyclesGiant Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is a Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer which bills itself as the world's largest bicycle manufacturer. Giant has manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, Netherlands, and China.-History:...
, MeridaMerida Industry Co., Ltd is a Taiwan based bicycle design, manufacture, and sales company. It was started in 1972 as a small contract shop under a Japanese bicycle parts brand by current chairman D.H. Ike, Tseng. Merida has expanded to the US and Europe and now is a global player in bicycle design...
- Biotechnology
Biotechnology is technology based on biology, agriculture, food science, and medicine. Modern use of the term usually refers to genetic engineering as well as cell- and tissue culture technologies...
- Semiconductor device fabrication
- Laptops, ex: Acer, Asus, BenQ
BenQ Corporation is a Taiwanese multi-national company that sells and markets consumer electronics, computing and communications devices under the "BenQ" brand name.- Company :...
- Smartphones, ex: HTC
See also
Further reading
- Bush, R. & O'Hanlon, M
Michael Edward O'Hanlon is a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, specializing in defense and foreign policy issues. He began his career as a budget analyst in the defense field.-Education and early career:...
. (2007). A War Like No Other: The Truth About China's Challenge to America. Wiley. ISBN 0471986771
- Bush, R. (2006). Untying the Knot: Making Peace in the Taiwan Strait. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 0815712901
- Carpenter, T. (2006). America's Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1403968411
- Cole, B. (2006). Taiwan's Security: History and Prospects. Routledge. ISBN 0415365813
- Copper, J. (2006). Playing with Fire: The Looming War with China over Taiwan. Praeger Security International General Interest. ISBN 0275988880
- Copper, J. (2000). Historical Dictionary of Taiwan (Republic of China). The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810836653
- Federation of American Scientists et al. (2006). Chinese Nuclear Forces and U.S. Nuclear War Planning
- Gill, B. (2007). Rising Star: China's New Security Diplomacy. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 0815731469
- Knapp, R. (1980). China's Island Frontier: Studies in the Historical Geography of Taiwan. University of Hawai`i Press. ISBN 0824807057
- Rubinstein, M. (2006). Taiwan: A New History. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0765614952
- Shirk, S. (2007). China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195306090
- Tsang, S. (2006). If China Attacks Taiwan: Military Strategy, Politics and Economics. Routledge. ISBN 0415407850
- Tucker, N.B. (2005). Dangerous Strait: the U.S.-Taiwan-China Crisis. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231135645
External links