Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
in
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
, at the junction of the
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
s in the northwestern
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, with the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(PRC) to the northwest,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
to the northeast, and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
to the south. The
territories controlled by the ROC consist of
168 islands, with a combined area of .
The main
island of Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, News media, press and Western literature, literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of ...
, also known as ''Formosa'', has an area of , with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its
highly urbanised population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
is concentrated. The capital,
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
, forms along with
New Taipei City
New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, be ...
and
Keelung
Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...
the
largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Other major cities include
Taoyuan,
Taichung
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...
,
Tainan
Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" ...
, and
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
. With around 23.9 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the
most densely populated countries in the world.
Taiwan has been settled for at least 25,000 years. Ancestors of
Taiwanese indigenous peoples
Taiwanese indigenous peoples (formerly Taiwanese aborigines), also known as Formosan people, Austronesian Taiwanese, Yuanzhumin or Gaoshan people, are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, with the nationally recognized subgroups numbering about 5 ...
settled the
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
around 6,000 years ago. In the 17th century, large-scale
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
(specifically the
Hakkas
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan ...
and
Hoklos
The Hoklo people or Hokkien people () are a Han Chinese (also Han Taiwanese) subgroup who speak Hokkien, a Southern Min language, or trace their ancestry to Minnan region, Southeastern Fujian, China and known by various endonyms or other relate ...
) immigration to western Taiwan began under a
Dutch colony and continued under the
Kingdom of Tungning
The Kingdom of Tungning (), also known as Tywan by the British at the time, was a dynastic maritime state that ruled part of southwestern Taiwan and the Penghu islands between 1661 and 1683. It is the first predominantly Han Chinese state in Ta ...
. The island was
annexed in 1683 by the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
of China and
ceded
The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...
to the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
in 1895. The
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
, which had
overthrown the Qing in 1911, took control of Taiwan on behalf of the
Allies of World War II
The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. ...
following the
surrender of Japan
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...
in 1945. The immediate resumption of the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
resulted in the loss of the
Chinese mainland
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
to
Communist forces who
established the People's Republic of China, and
the flight of the ROC central government to Taiwan in 1949. The effective jurisdiction of the ROC has since been limited to
Formosa, Penghu, and smaller islands.
In the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialisation called the "
Taiwan Miracle
The Taiwan Miracle () or Taiwan Economic Miracle refers to the rapid industrialization and economic growth of Taiwan during the latter half of the twentieth century.
As it developed alongside Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong, Taiwan becam ...
". In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the ROC transitioned from a
one-party state
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
under
martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
to a
multi-party democracy
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...
, with democratically elected presidents
since 1996. Taiwan's
export-oriented industrial economy is the
21st-largest in the world by nominal GDP and
19th-largest by PPP measures, with a focus on steel, machinery, electronics and chemicals manufacturing. Taiwan is a
developed country
A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...
,
[World Bank Country and Lending Groups](_blank)
, World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
. Retrieved 10 July 2018. ranking 20th on
GDP per capita
Lists of countries by GDP per capita list the countries in the world by their gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The lists may be based on nominal or purchasing power parity GDP. Gross national income (GNI) per capita accounts for inflows ...
. It is ranked highly in terms of
civil liberties
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
,
healthcare
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
, and
human development Human development may refer to:
* Development of the human body
* Developmental psychology
* Human development (economics)
* Human Development Index, an index used to rank countries by level of human development
* Human evolution, the prehistoric ...
.
The
political status of Taiwan
The controversy surrounding the political status of Taiwan or the Taiwan issue is a result of World War II, the second phase of the Chinese Civil War (1945–1949), and the Cold War.
The basic issue hinges on who the islands of Taiwan, Peng ...
is contentious. The ROC no longer represents China as a member of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
, after UN members voted in 1971 to
recognize the PRC instead.
The ROC maintained its claim of being the sole
legitimate representative of China and its territory, although this has been downplayed since its
democratization
Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a ful ...
in the 1990s. Taiwan is claimed by the PRC, which refuses diplomatic relations with countries that recognise the ROC. Taiwan
maintains official diplomatic relations with 13 out of 193 UN member states and the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
,
though many others maintain unofficial diplomatic ties through
representative offices and institutions that function as
''de facto'' embassies and consulates. International organisations in which the PRC participates either refuse to grant membership to Taiwan or allow it to participate only on a non-state basis under various names. Domestically, the major political contention is between parties favouring eventual
Chinese unification
Chinese unification, also known as the Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China ("China" or "Mainland China") and the ...
and promoting a pan-Chinese identity, contrasted with those
aspiring to formal international recognition and promoting a
Taiwanese identity
Taiwanese people may be generally considered the people of Taiwan who share a common culture, ancestry and speak Taiwanese Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka or indigenous Taiwanese languages as a mother tongue. Taiwanese people may also refer to the i ...
; into the 21st century, both sides have moderated their positions to broaden their appeal.
Etymology
Name of the island
Various names for the island of Taiwan remain in use, each derived from explorers or rulers during a particular historical period.
In his ''
Daoyi Zhilüe
''Daoyi Zhilüe'' () or ''Daoyi Zhi'' () which may be translated as ''A Brief Account of Island Barbarians'' or other similar titles, is a book written c. 1339 (completed c. 1349) by Yuan Dynasty Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan recounting his trave ...
'' (1349),
Wang Dayuan Wang Dayuan (, fl. 1311–1350), courtesy name Huanzhang (), was a Chinese traveller of the Yuan dynasty from Quanzhou in the 14th century. He is known for his two major ship voyages.
Wang Dayuan was born around 1311 at Hongzhou (present-day Nanch ...
used "
Liuqiu" as a name for the island of Taiwan, or the part of it closest to
Penghu
The Penghu (, Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, covering an area ...
. Elsewhere, the name was used for the
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...
in general or
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
, the largest of the islands; the name ''Ryūkyū'' is the Japanese form of ''Liúqiú''. The name also appears in the ''
Book of Sui
The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...
'' (636) and other early works, but scholars cannot agree on whether these references are to the Ryukyus, Taiwan or even
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
.
The name
Formosa
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
() dates from 1542, when
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
sailors sighted an uncharted island and noted it on their maps as ''Ilha Formosa'' ("beautiful island").
The name ''Formosa'' eventually "replaced all others in European literature" and remained in common use among English speakers into the 20th century.
In the winter of 1602-1603, a Chinese expedition fleet anchored at a place in Taiwan called Dayuan, a variant of "Taiwan", and met with the native chieftain named Damila. In the early 17th century, the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
established a commercial post at
Fort Zeelandia (modern-day
Anping,
Tainan
Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" ...
) on a coastal sandbar called "Tayouan", after their
ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
for a nearby
Taiwanese aboriginal
Taiwanese indigenous peoples (formerly Taiwanese aborigines), also known as Formosan people, Austronesian Taiwanese, Yuanzhumin or Gaoshan people, are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, with the nationally recognized subgroups numbering about 5 ...
tribe, possibly
Taivoan people
The Taivoan (; ) or Tevorangh (; ) people or Shisha (), also written Taivuan and Tevorang, Tivorang, Tivorangh, are a Taiwanese indigenous people.
The Taivoan originally settled around hill and basin areas in Tainan, especially in the , which ar ...
, written by the Dutch and Portuguese variously as ''Taiouwang'', ''Tayowan'', ''Teijoan'', etc.
This name was also adopted into the Chinese vernacular (in particular,
Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...
, as ) as the name of the sandbar and nearby area (Tainan). The modern word "Taiwan" is derived from this usage, which is written in different transliterations ( and ) in Chinese historical records. The area occupied by modern-day Tainan was the first permanent settlement by both European colonists and Chinese immigrants. The settlement grew to be the island's most important trading centre and served as its capital until 1887.
Use of the current Chinese name () became official as early as 1684 during the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
with the establishment of
Taiwan Prefecture
Taiwan Prefecture or Taiwanfu was a prefecture of Taiwan during the Qing dynasty. The prefecture was established by the Qing government in 1684, after the island came under Qing dynasty rule in 1683 following its conquest of the Kingdom of Tungnin ...
centered in modern-day Tainan. Through its rapid development the entire Taiwanese mainland eventually became known as "Taiwan".
Name of the country
The official name of the country in English is the "Republic of China"; it has also been known under various names throughout its existence. Shortly after the ROC's establishment in 1912, while it was still located on the Chinese mainland, the government used the short form "China" (' ()) to refer to itself, which derives from ' ("central" or "middle") and ' ("state, nation-state"), a term which also developed under the
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...
in reference to its
royal demesne
Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it ...
, and the name was then applied to the area around
Luoyi
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang ...
(present-day Luoyang) during the
Eastern Zhou
The Eastern Zhou (; zh, c=, p=Dōngzhōu, w=Tung1-chou1, t= ; 771–256 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the second half of the Zhou dynasty. It was divided into two periods: the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States.
History
In 770 ...
and then to China's
Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state during the
Qing era.
The name of the Republic had stemmed from the party manifesto of
Tongmenghui
The Tongmenghui of China (or T'ung-meng Hui, variously translated as Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance, United Allegiance Society, ) was a secret society and underground resistance movement ...
in 1905, which says the four goals of the Chinese revolution was "to expel the
Manchu
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
rulers, to revive
''Chunghwa'', to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people.()." The convener of Tongmenghui and Chinese revolutionary leader
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
proposed the name ''Chunghwa Minkuo'' as the assumed name of the new country when the revolution succeeded.
During the 1950s and 1960s, after the ROC government had withdrawn to Taiwan upon losing the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
, it was commonly referred to as "Nationalist China" (or "
Free China") to differentiate it from "Communist China" (or "
Red China"). It was a member of the United Nations representing China until 1971, when the ROC
lost its seat to the People's Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become commonly known as "Taiwan", after the main island. In some contexts, including ROC government publications, the name is written as "Republic of China (Taiwan)", "Republic of China/Taiwan", or sometimes "Taiwan (ROC)".
The Republic of China participates in most international forums and organizations under the name "
Chinese Taipei
"Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan.
Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...
" as a compromise with the People's Republic of China (PRC). For instance, it is the name under which it has participated in the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
as well as the
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
. In 2009, after reaching an agreement with Beijing, the ROC participated in the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
for the first time in 38 years, under the name "Chinese Taipei".
"Taiwan authorities" is sometimes used by the PRC to refer to the current government in Taiwan.
History
Early settlement (to 1683)
Taiwan was joined to the Asian mainland in the
Late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...
, until sea levels rose about 10,000 years ago.
Fragmentary human remains dated 20,000 to 30,000 years ago have been found on the island, as well as later artifacts of a
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
culture.
These people were similar to the
negrito
The term Negrito () refers to several diverse ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia and the Andaman Islands. Populations often described as Negrito include: the Andamanese peoples (including the Great Andamanese, the Onge, ...
s of the Philippines.
Around 6,000 years ago, Taiwan was settled by farmers, most likely from what is now southeast China.
They are believed to be the ancestors of today's Taiwanese indigenous peoples, whose languages belong to the
Austronesian language family, but show much greater diversity than the
rest of the family, which spans a huge area from
Maritime Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...
west to
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
and east as far as New Zealand, Hawaii and
Easter Island
Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...
. This has led linguists to propose Taiwan as the
urheimat
In historical linguistics, the homeland or ''Urheimat'' (, from German '' ur-'' "original" and ''Heimat'', home) of a proto-language is the region in which it was spoken before splitting into different daughter languages. A proto-language is the r ...
of the family, from which seafaring peoples dispersed across Southeast Asia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Trade links with the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
subsisted from the early 2nd millennium BC, including the use of
jade
Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
from eastern Taiwan in the
Philippine jade culture
Philippine jade Culture or Jade Artifacts, made from white and green nephrite and dating as far back as 2000–1500 BC, have been discovered at a number of archeological excavations in the Philippines since the 1930s. The artifacts have been b ...
. The raw jade from Taiwan which was further processed in the Philippines was the basis for Taiwanese-Philippine commerce with ancient
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, and
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
.
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
fishermen had settled on the Penghu Islands by 1171, when a group of "Bisheye" bandits with dark skin speaking a foreign language, a Taiwanese people related to the Bisaya of the
Visayas
The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao ...
, Philippines had landed on Penghu and plundered the fields planted by Chinese migrants. The
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
sent soldiers after them and from that time on, Song patrols regularly visited Penghu in the spring and summer. A local official, Wang Dayou, had houses built on Penghu and stationed troops there to prevent depredations from the Bisheye. In 1225, the ''
Book of Barbarian Nations'' anecdotally indicated that Penghu was attached to
Jinjiang,
Quanzhou
Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...
Prefecture.
A group of Quanzhou immigrants lived on Penghu. In November 1281, the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
under
Emperor Shizu officially established the ''
Penghu
The Penghu (, Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, covering an area ...
Patrol and Inspection Agency'' under the jurisdiction of
Tong'an
Tong'an District () is a northern mainland district of Amoy which faces Quemoy County, Republic of China. To the north is Anxi and Nan'an, and to the south is Jimei. Tong'an is also east of Lianxiang and Changqin to the West. It covers County, incorporating Penghu into China's sovereign domain, 403 years earlier than Taiwan island.
Hostile tribes, and a lack of valuable trade products, meant that few outsiders visited the main island until the 16th century.
[ Reprinted Taipei: SMC Publishing, 1995.] During the 16th century, visits to the coast by fishermen and traders from Fujian, as well as Chinese and Japanese pirates, became more frequent.
In the 15th century, the
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
ordered the evacuation of the Penghu Islands as part of their
maritime ban. When these restrictions were removed in the late 16th century, legal fishing communities, most of which hailing from
Tong'an
Tong'an District () is a northern mainland district of Amoy which faces Quemoy County, Republic of China. To the north is Anxi and Nan'an, and to the south is Jimei. Tong'an is also east of Lianxiang and Changqin to the West. It covers County,
[「明萬曆年以後,澎湖第二次有移住民,以福建泉州府屬同安縣金門人遷來最早; 其後接踵而至者,亦以同安縣人為最多。彼等捷足先至者,得以優先選擇良好地區定居之,澎湖本島即多被同安人所先占; 尤其素稱土地沃之湖西鄉,完全成為同安人之區域。](_blank)
李紹章《澎湖縣誌》,《續修澎湖縣志(卷三)|人民志》 were re-established on the Penghu Islands. The
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
(the VOC) attempted to establish a trading outpost on the Penghu Islands (Pescadores) in 1622, but was
driven off by Ming forces.
In 1624, the VOC established a stronghold called Fort Zeelandia on the coastal islet of Tayouan, which is now part of the main island at
Anping, Tainan
Anping District is a District (Taiwan), district of Tainan, Taiwan. In March 2012, it was named one of the ''Top 10 Small Tourist Towns'' by the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan. It is home to 67,263 people.
Name
The older place name of Tayouan ...
.
When the Dutch arrived, they found southwestern Taiwan already frequented by a mostly transient Chinese population numbering close to 1,500. David Wright, a Scottish agent of the VOC who lived on the island in the 1650s, described the lowland areas of the island as being divided among 11
chiefdom
A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...
s ranging in size from two settlements to 72. Some of these fell under Dutch control, including the
Kingdom of Middag
The Kingdom of Middag (), also known as the Kingdom of Dadu (), was a supra-tribal alliance located in the central-western plains of Taiwan in the 17th century. This polity was established by the Taiwanese indigenous peoples of Papora, Babuza, ...
in the central western plains, while others remained independent.
The VOC encouraged farmers to immigrate from
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
and work the lands under Dutch control. By the 1660s, some 30,000 to 50,000 Chinese were living on the island. Most of the farmers cultivated rice for local consumption and sugar for export. Some immigrants were engaged in commercial deer hunting. Deerskins were sold to the Dutch and exported to Japan. Venison, horns and genitals were exported to China where the products were used as food or medicine.
![Atlas Blaeu-Van der Hem - Taioan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Atlas_Blaeu-Van_der_Hem_-_Taioan.jpg)
In 1626, the
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
landed on and occupied northern Taiwan as a trading base, first at
Keelung
Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...
and in 1628 building
Fort San Domingo
Fort Santo Domingo is a historical fortress in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It was originally a wooden fort built in 1628 by the Spanish Empire, who named it "Fort Santo Domingo". However, the fort was then destroyed by the Spani ...
at
Tamsui
Tamsui District (Hokkien POJ: ''Tām-chúi''; Hokkien Tâi-lô: ''Tām-tsuí''; Mandarin Pinyin: ''Dànshuǐ'') is a seaside district in New Taipei, Taiwan. It is named after the Tamsui River; the name means "fresh water". The town is popula ...
. This colony lasted 16 years until 1642, when the last Spanish fortress fell to Dutch forces. The Dutch then marched south, subduing hundreds of villages in the western plains between their new possessions in the north and their base at Tayouan.
Following the fall of the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
in Beijing in 1644,
Koxinga
Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...
(Zheng Chenggong) pledged allegiance to the
Yongli Emperor
The Yongli Emperor (; 1623–1662; reigned 18 November 1646 – 1 June 1662), personal name Zhu Youlang, was a royal member to the imperial family of Ming dynasty, and the fourth and last commonly recognised emperor of the Southern Ming, reigni ...
of
Southern Ming
The Southern Ming (), also known as the Later Ming (), officially the Great Ming (), was an imperial dynasty of China and a series of rump states of the Ming dynasty that came into existence following the Jiashen Incident of 1644. Shun forces ...
and attacked the Qing dynasty along the southeastern coast of China.
[.] In 1661, under increasing Qing pressure, he moved his forces from his base in
Xiamen
Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...
to Taiwan,
expelling the Dutch in the following year. After being ousted from Taiwan, the Dutch allied with the new Qing dynasty in China against the Zheng regime in Taiwan. Following some skirmishes the Dutch retook the northern fortress at
Keelung
Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...
in 1664.
Zheng Jing
Zheng Jing, Prince of Yanping (; 25 October 1642 – 17 March 1681), courtesy names Xianzhi () and Yuanzhi (), pseudonym Shitian (), was a 17th-century Chinese warlord, Ming dynasty loyalist and ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan.
Bio ...
sent troops to dislodge the Dutch, but they were unsuccessful. The Dutch held out at Keelung until 1668, when aborigine resistance, and the lack of progress in retaking any other parts of the island persuaded the colonial authorities to abandon this final stronghold and withdraw from Taiwan altogether.
The Zheng regime, known as
Kingdom of Tungning
The Kingdom of Tungning (), also known as Tywan by the British at the time, was a dynastic maritime state that ruled part of southwestern Taiwan and the Penghu islands between 1661 and 1683. It is the first predominantly Han Chinese state in Ta ...
, is considered to be loyal to the Ming, while others argue that the regime acted as an independent ruler.
However, Zheng Jing's return to China to participate in the
Revolt of the Three Feudatories
The Revolt of the Three Feudatories, () also known as the Rebellion of Wu Sangui, was a rebellion in China lasting from 1673 to 1681, during the early reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722) of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). The revolt was ...
, a rebellion against the Qing court, ruined the regime and paved the way for the Qing invasion and occupation of Taiwan in 1683.
Qing rule (1683–1895)
Following the defeat of
Koxinga
Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...
's grandson by an armada led by Admiral
Shi Lang
Shi Lang (1621–1696), Marquis Jinghai, also known as Secoe or Sego, was a Chinese admiral who served under the Ming and Qing dynasties in the 17th century. He was the commander-in-chief of the Qing fleets which destroyed the power of Zheng Che ...
in 1683, the Qing dynasty formally annexed Taiwan in May 1684, making it a
prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
of Fujian province while retaining its administrative seat (now Tainan) under Koxinga as the capital.
The Qing government generally tried to restrict migration to Taiwan throughout the duration of its administration because it believed that Taiwan could not sustain too large a population without leading to conflict. After the defeat of the Kingdom of Tungning, most of its population in Taiwan was sent back to the mainland, leaving the official population count at only 50,000: 546 inhabitants in Penghu, 30,229 in Taiwan, 8,108 aborigines, and 10,000 troops. Despite official restrictions, officials in Taiwan solicited settlers from the mainland, causing tens of thousands of annual arrivals from Fujian and Guangdong by 1711. A permit system was officially recorded in 1712 but it likely existed as early as 1684. Restrictions related to the permit system included only allowing those who had property on the mainland, family in Taiwan, and those who were not accompanied by wives or children, to enter Taiwan. Many of the male migrants married local indigenous women. Over the 18th century, restrictions on entering Taiwan were relaxed. In 1732, families were allowed to move to Taiwan, and in 1790, an office to manage cross-strait travel was established. By 1811 there were more than two million Han settlers in Taiwan and profitable sugar and rice production industries that provided exports to the mainland. In 1875, restrictions on entering Taiwan were repealed.
Three counties nominally covered the entire western plains, but actual control was restricted to a smaller area. A government permit was required for settlers to go beyond the
Dajia River
Dajia River () is the fifth-longest river in Taiwan located in the north-central of the island. It flows through Taichung City for 142 km.
The sources of the Dajia are: Hsuehshan and Nanhu Mountain in the Central Mountain Range. The Dajia R ...
at the mid-point of the western plains. Qing administration expanded across the western plains area over the 18th century, however this was not due to an active colonization policy, but a reflection of continued illegal crossings and settlement. The Taiwanese indigenous peoples were categorized by the Qing administration into acculturated aborigines who had adopted Han culture to some degree and non-acculturated aborigines who had not. The Qing did little to administer or subjugate them. When Taiwan was annexed, there were 46 aboriginal villages under its control, likely inherited from the Kingdom of Tungning. During the early
Qianlong
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...
period there were 93 acculturated villages and 61 non-acculturated villages that paid taxes. The number of acculturated villages remained unchanged throughout the 18th century. In response to the
Zhu Yigui
Zhu Yigui (; 1690–1722) was the leader of a Taiwanese uprising against Qing dynasty rule in mid-1721.
He came from a peasant family of Zhangzhou Hokkien ancestry and lived in the village of Lohanmen located in the area of modern-day Neimen Dist ...
uprising, a settler rebellion in 1722, separation of aboriginals and settlers became official policy via 54 stelae used to mark the frontier boundary. The markings were changed four times over the latter half of the 18th century due to continued settler encroachment. Two aboriginal affairs sub-prefects, one for the north and one for the south, were appointed in 1766.
During the 200 years of Qing rule in Taiwan, the plains aborigines rarely rebelled against the government and the mountain aborigines were left to their own devices until the last 20 years of Qing rule. Most of the rebellions, of which there were more than 100 during the Qing period, were caused by Han settlers.
More than a hundred rebellions, riots, and instances of civil strife occurred under the Qing administration, including the
Lin Shuangwen rebellion
The Lin Shuangwen rebellion () occurred in 17871788 in Taiwan under the rule of the Qing dynasty. The rebellion was started by the rebel Lin Shuangwen and was pacified by the Qianlong Emperor. Lin Shuangwen was then executed.
It started when the ...
(1786–1788). Their frequency was evoked by the common saying "every three years an uprising, every five years a rebellion" (三年一反、五年一亂), primarily in reference to the period between 1820 and 1850.
[.]
Many officials stationed in Taiwan called for an active colonization policy over the 19th century. In 1788, Taiwan Prefect Yang Tingli supported the efforts of a settler named Wu Sha in his attempt to claim land held by the
Kavalan people
The Kavalan (endonym ; "people living in the plain"; ) or Kuvalan are an indigenous people of Taiwan. Most of them moved to the coastal area of Hualien County and Taitung County in the 19th century due to encroachment by Han settlers. Their lan ...
in modern
Yilan County. In 1797, Wu Sha was able to recruit settlers with financial support from the local government but was unable to officially register the land. In the early 1800s, local officials convinced the emperor to officially incorporate the area by playing up the issue of piracy if the land was left alone. In 1814, some settlers attempted to colonize central Taiwan by fabricating rights to lease aboriginal land. They were evicted by government troops two years later. Local officials continued to advocate for the colonization of the area but were ignored.
The Qing took on a more active colonization policy after 1874 when Japan
invaded aboriginal territory in southern Taiwan and the Qing government was forced to pay an indemnity for them to leave. The administration of Taiwan was expanded with new prefectures, sub-prefectures, and counties. Mountain roads were constructed to make inner Taiwan more accessible. Restrictions on entering Taiwan were ended in 1875 and agencies for recruiting settlers were established on the mainland, but efforts to promote settlement ended soon after. In 1884,
Keelung
Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...
in northern Taiwan was occupied during the
Sino-French War
The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...
but the French forces failed to advance any further inland while their victory at Penghu in 1885 resulted in disease and retreat soon afterward as the war ended. Colonization efforts were renewed under
Liu Mingchuan
Liu Ming-chuan (1836–1896), courtesy name Xingsan, lived in the late Qing dynasty. He was born in Hefei, Anhui. Liu became involved in the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion at an early age, and worked closely with Zeng Guofan and Li Hongz ...
. In 1887, Taiwan's status was upgraded to a
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
.
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
became a temporary capital and then the permanent capital in 1893. Liu's efforts to increase revenues on Taiwan's produce were hampered by foreign pressure not to increase levies. A land reform was implemented, increasing revenue which still fell short of expectation. Modern technologies such as electric lighting, a railway, telegraph lines, steamship service, and industrial machinery were introduced under Liu's governance, but several of these projects had mixed results. The telegraph line did not function at all times due to a difficult overland connection and the railway required an overhaul while servicing only small rolling stock with little freight load. A campaign to formally subjugate the aborigines was launched with 17,500 soldiers but ended with the loss of a third of the army after fierce resistance from the Mkgogan and Msbtunux peoples. Liu resigned in 1891 due to criticism of these costly projects.
By the end of the Qing period, the western plains were fully developed as farmland with about 2.5 million Chinese settlers. The mountainous areas were still largely autonomous under the control of aborigines. Aboriginal land loss under the Qing occurred at a relatively slow pace due to the absence of state sponsored land deprivation for the majority of Qing rule. Qing rule ended after the
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...
when it ceded Taiwan and the Penghu islands to Japan on 17 April 1895, according to the terms of the
Treaty of Shimonoseki
The , also known as the Treaty of Maguan () in China and in the period before and during World War II in Japan, was a treaty signed at the , Shimonoseki, Japan on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing China, ending the Firs ...
.
Japanese rule (1895–1945)
Following the Qing defeat in the
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...
(1894–1895), Taiwan, its associated islands, and the Penghu archipelago were ceded to the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
by the
Treaty of Shimonoseki
The , also known as the Treaty of Maguan () in China and in the period before and during World War II in Japan, was a treaty signed at the , Shimonoseki, Japan on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing China, ending the Firs ...
, along with other concessions.
[.] Inhabitants on Taiwan and Penghu wishing to remain Qing subjects and not to become Japanese had to move to mainland China within a two-year grace period. Very few Formosans saw this as feasible. Estimates say around four to six thousand departed before the expiration of the grace period, and two to three hundred thousand followed during the subsequent disorder. On 25 May 1895, a group of pro-Qing high officials proclaimed the
Republic of Formosa
The 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 being taken over by ...
to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital at Tainan and quelled this resistance on 21 October 1895. About 6,000 inhabitants died in the initial fighting and some 14,000 died in the first year of Japanese rule. Another 12,000 "bandit-rebels" were killed from 1898 to 1902.
Several subsequent rebellions against the Japanese (the
Beipu uprising
The Beipu Incident (), or the Beipu Uprising, in 1907 was the first instance of an armed local uprising against the Japanese rule of the island of Taiwan. In response to oppression of the local population by the Japanese authorities, a group o ...
of 1907, the
Tapani incident
The Tapani incident or Tapani uprising in 1915 was one of the biggest armed uprisings by Taiwanese Han and Aboriginals, including Taivoan, against Japanese rule in Taiwan. Alternative names used to refer to the incident include the Xilai Templ ...
of 1915, and the
Musha incident
The Musha Incident (; ), also known as the Wushe Rebellion and several other similar names, began in October 1930 and was the last major uprising against colonial Japanese forces in Japanese Taiwan. In response to long-term oppression by Japanese ...
of 1930) were all unsuccessful but demonstrated opposition to Japanese colonial rule.
![Taiwan Seito Wanli Factory 1930s](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Taiwan_Seito_Wanli_Factory_1930s.jpg)
The colonial period was instrumental to the industrialization of the island, with its expansion of railways and other transport networks, the building of an extensive sanitation system, the establishment of a formal
education system
The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...
, and an end to the practice of
headhunting
Headhunting is the practice of hunting a human and collecting the severed head after killing the victim, although sometimes more portable body parts (such as ear, nose or scalp) are taken instead as trophies. Headhunting was practiced in hi ...
. During this period, the human and natural resources of Taiwan were used to aid the development of Japan. The production of
cash crops
A cash crop or profit crop is an agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") in subsist ...
such as sugar greatly increased, especially since sugar cane was salable only to a few Japanese sugar mills, and large areas were therefore diverted from the production of rice, which the Formosans could market or consume themselves. By 1939, Taiwan was the seventh-greatest sugar producer in the world.
The Han and aboriginal populations were classified as second- and third-class citizens. Many prestigious government and business positions were closed to them, leaving few natives capable of taking on leadership and management roles decades later when Japan relinquished the island. After suppressing Han guerrillas in the first decade of their rule, Japanese authorities engaged in a series of bloody campaigns against the indigenous people residing in mountainous regions, culminating in the Musha Incident of 1930. Intellectuals and labourers who participated in left-wing movements within Taiwan were also arrested and massacred (e.g.
Chiang Wei-shui
Chiang Wei-shui (; 6 August 1890 – 5 August 1931) was a Taiwanese physician and activist. He was a founding member of the Taiwanese Cultural Association and the Taiwanese People's Party. He is seen as one of the most important figures in Ta ...
and
Masanosuke Watanabe
was a member of the Japanese Communist Party. He was born in 1899 in Ichikawa, Chiba, Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. He was the son of a tatami mat maker. After graduating primary school in 1912, he went to Tokyo to work in a wine shop. In 1917, he w ...
). Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide
assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the Japanese Empire.
Han culture was to be removed, and Chinese-language newspapers and curriculums were abolished. Taiwanese music and theater were outlawed. A national
Shinto
Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...
religion (國家神道) was promoted in parallel with the suppression of traditional Taiwanese beliefs through the reorganization of their temples and ancestral halls. Starting from 1940, families were also required to adopt
Japanese surname
Officially, among Japanese names there are 291,129 different Japanese surnames, as determined by their kanji, although many of these are Japanese orthography, pronounced and romanization of Japanese, romanized similarly. Conversely, some surnames w ...
s, although only 2% had done so by 1943.
By 1938, 309,000
Japanese settlers were residing in Taiwan.
Burdened by Japan's upcoming war effort, the island was developed into a naval and air base while its agriculture, industry, and commerce suffered. Initial air attacks and the subsequent invasion of the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
were launched from Taiwan. The
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
operated heavily from Taiwanese ports, and its think tank "
South Strike Group
was a political doctrine in the Empire of Japan that stated that Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands were Japan's sphere of interest and that their potential value to the Empire for economic and territorial expansion was greater than elsewh ...
" was based at the
Taihoku Imperial University
National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan.
The university was founded in 1928 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imper ...
in Taipei. Military bases and industrial centres, such as
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
and
Keelung
Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with its neighbors, New Taipe ...
, became targets of heavy
Allied bombings, which also destroyed many of the factories, dams, and transport facilities built by the Japanese. In October 1944, the
Formosa Air Battle
The Formosa Air Battle ( ja, 台湾沖航空戦, translation=Battle of the Taiwan Sea, ), 12–16 October 1944, was a series of large-scale aerial engagements between carrier air groups of the United States Navy Fast Carrier Task Force (TF38) an ...
was fought between American carriers and Japanese forces in Taiwan.
During the course of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, tens of thousands of Taiwanese served in the Japanese military. In 1944, Lee Teng-hui, who would become Taiwan's president later in life, volunteered for service in the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
and became a
second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
. His elder brother, Lee Teng-chin (李登欽), also volunteered for the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
and died in
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
.
In addition, over 2,000 women, euphemistically called "
comfort women
Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ia ...
", were forced into sexual slavery for Imperial Japanese troops.
After
Japan's surrender
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...
in WWII, most of Taiwan's approximately 300,000 Japanese residents were
expelled and sent to Japan.
Republic of China (1945–present)
![Ando Rikichi surrender](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Ando_Rikichi_surrender.jpg)
While Taiwan was still under Japanese rule, the Republic of China was founded on the mainland on 1 January 1912, following the
Xinhai Revolution
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...
, which began with the
Wuchang uprising
The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan), Hubei, China on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthrew China's last i ...
on 10 October 1911, replacing the Qing dynasty and ending over two thousand years of
imperial rule in China.
From its founding until 1949 it was based in mainland China. Central authority waxed and waned in response to
warlordism
A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...
(1915–28),
Japanese invasion (1937–45), and the Chinese Civil War (1927–50), with central authority strongest during the
Nanjing decade
The Nanjing decade (also Nanking decade, , or the Golden decade, ) is an informal name for the decade from 1927 (or 1928) to 1937 in the Republic of China. It began when Nationalist Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek took Nanjing from Zhili clique w ...
(1927–37), when most of China came under the control of the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
(KMT) under an
authoritarian
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...
one-party state
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
.
In September 1945 following
Japan's surrender in WWII, ROC forces, assisted by small American teams, prepared an amphibious lift into Taiwan to accept the surrender of the Japanese military forces there, under
General Order No. 1
General Order No. 1 (Japanese language, Japanese:一般命令第一号) for the surrender of Japan was prepared by the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff and approved by President of the United States, President Harry Truman on August 17, 1945.
...
, and take over the administration of Taiwan. On 25 October, General
Rikichi Andō
was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and 19th and final Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan from 30 December 1944 to October 1945.
Biography
Early career
Andō was a native of Miyagi Prefecture. He served as an instructor at the Army Wa ...
, governor-general of Taiwan and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island, signed the receipt and handed it over to ROC General
Chen Yi Chen Yi may refer to:
* Xuanzang (602–664), born as Chen Yi, Chinese Buddhist monk in Tang Dynasty
* Chen Yi (Kuomintang)
Chen Yi (; courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); May 3, 1883 – June ...
to complete the official turnover. Chen proclaimed that day to be "
Taiwan Retrocession Day
Retrocession Day is the name given to the annual observance and a former public holiday in Taiwan to commemorate the end of Japanese rule of Taiwan and Penghu, and the claimed retrocession ("return") of Taiwan to the Republic of China on 25 Oct ...
", but the Allies, having entrusted Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Chinese administration and military occupation, nonetheless considered them to be under Japanese sovereignty until 1952 when the
Treaty of San Francisco
The , also called the , re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers on behalf of the United Nations by ending the legal state of war and providing for redress for hostile actions up to and including World War II. It w ...
took effect. In the
1943 Cairo Declaration
The Cairo Declaration was the outcome of the Cairo Conference in Cairo, Egypt, on 27 November 1943. President Franklin Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of t ...
, US, UK, and ROC representatives specified territories such as Formosa and the Pescadores to be restored by Japan to the Republic of China.
Its terms were later referred to in the
1945 Potsdam Declaration,
whose provisions Japan agreed to carry out in its
instrument of surrender.
Due to disagreements over which government (PRC or ROC) to invite, China did not attend the eventual signing of the Treaty of San Francisco, whereby Japan renounced all titles and claims to Formosa and the Pescadores without specifying to whom they were surrendered.
In 1952, Japan and the ROC signed the
Treaty of Taipei
The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty (), formally the Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan () and commonly known as the Treaty of Taipei (), was a peace treaty between Japan and the Republic of China (ROC) signed in Taipei, Taiwan o ...
, recognizing that all treaties concluded before 9 December 1941 between China and Japan have become null and void.
Interpretations of these documents and their legal implications give rise to the debate over the
sovereignty status of Taiwan.
While initially enthusiastic about the return of Chinese administration and the
Three Principles of the People
The Three Principles of the People (; also translated as the Three People's Principles, San-min Doctrine, or Tridemism) is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to improve China made during the Republican Era. ...
, Formosans grew increasingly dissatisfied about being excluded from higher positions, the postponement of local elections even after the enactment of a
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
on the mainland, the smuggling of valuables off the island, the expropriation of businesses into government operated monopolies, and the
hyperinflation
In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...
of 1945–1949. The shooting of a civilian on 28 February 1947 triggered island-wide unrest, which was suppressed by Chen with military force in what is now called the
February 28 Incident. Mainstream estimates of the number killed range from 18,000 to 30,000. Many native leaders were killed, as well as students and some mainlanders. Chen was later relieved and replaced by
Wei Tao-ming
Wei Tao-ming (; October 28, 1899 – May 18, 1978) was a distinguished Chinese diplomat and public servant. He was prominent as the Republic of China's Ambassador to the United States during the Second World War and foreign minister during the ...
, who made an effort to undo previous mismanagement by re-appointing a good proportion of islanders and re-privatizing businesses.
![Movement KMTretreat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Movement_KMTretreat.svg)
After the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War resumed between the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang), led by Generalissimo
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
, and the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP), led by
CCP Chairman Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
. Throughout the months of 1949, a series of Chinese Communist offensives led to the capture of its capital
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
on 23 April and the subsequent defeat of the Nationalist army on the mainland, and the Communists
founded the People's Republic of China on 1 October.
On 7 December 1949, after the loss of four capitals, Chiang
evacuated his Nationalist government to Taiwan and made Taipei the
temporary capital A temporary capital or a provisional capital is a city or town chosen by a government as an interim base of operations due to some difficulty in retaining or establishing control of a different metropolitan area. The most common circumstances leadin ...
of the ROC (also called the "wartime capital" by Chiang Kai-shek).
Some 2 million people, consisting mainly of soldiers, members of the ruling Kuomintang and intellectual and business elites, were evacuated from mainland China to Taiwan at that time, adding to the earlier population of approximately six million. These people came to be known in Taiwan as "
waisheng ren
''Waishengren'' (), sometimes called mainlanders, are a group of migrants who arrived in Taiwan from mainland China between the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945, and Kuomintang retreat and the end of the Chinese Civil War i ...
" (), residents who came to the island in the 1940s and 50s after Japan's surrender, as well as their descendants. In addition, the ROC government took to Taipei many national treasures and much of China's
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
and foreign currency reserves.
After losing control of mainland China in 1949, the ROC retained control of Taiwan and Penghu (
Taiwan, ROC), parts of Fujian (
Fujian, ROC)—specifically Kinmen,
Wuqiu (now part of Kinmen) and the Matsu Islands and two major
islands in the South China Sea (within the
Dongsha/Pratas and
Nansha/Spratly island groups). These territories have remained under ROC governance until the present day. The ROC also briefly retained control of the entirety of
Hainan
Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...
(an island province), parts of
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
(
Chekiang)—specifically the
Dachen Islands
The Dachen Islands, Tachen Islands or Tachens () are a group of islands off the coast of Taizhou, Zhejiang, China, in the East China Sea. They are administered by the Jiaojiang District of Taizhou. Before the First Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1955, ...
and
Yijiangshan Islands
The Yijiangshan Islands () are two small islands eight miles from the Dachen Islands, located off the coast of Taizhou, Zhejiang in the East China Sea.
During the First Taiwan Strait crisis the islands were captured in January 1955 by the People's ...
—and portions of
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
,
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
,
Sinkiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
and
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
. The Communists
captured Hainan in 1950, captured the Dachen Islands and Yijiangshan Islands during the
First Taiwan Strait Crisis
The First Taiwan Strait Crisis (also the Formosa Crisis, the 1954–1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis, the Offshore Islands Crisis, the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis, and the 1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis) was a brief armed conflict between the Communist People's ...
in 1955 and defeated the
ROC revolts in Northwest China in 1958. ROC forces in Yunnan province entered Burma and Thailand in the 1950s and
were defeated by Communists in 1961. Ever since losing control of mainland China, the Kuomintang continued to claim sovereignty over 'all of China', which it defined to include mainland China (including Tibet), Taiwan (including Penghu),
Outer Mongolia
Outer Mongolia was the name of a territory in the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China from 1691 to 1911. It corresponds to the modern-day independent state of Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva. The historical region gained ''de facto' ...
, and
other minor territories.
Martial law era (1949–1987)
![Chiang Kai-shek in full uniform](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Chiang_Kai-shek_in_full_uniform.jpeg)
Martial law, declared on Taiwan in May 1949,
continued to be in effect after the central government relocated to Taiwan. It was also used as a way to suppress the political opposition and was not repealed until 38 years later in 1987.
During the
White Terror
White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups. It is sometimes contrasted wit ...
, as the period is known, 140,000 people were imprisoned or executed for being perceived as anti-KMT or pro-Communist. Many citizens were arrested, tortured, imprisoned and executed for their real or perceived link to the Chinese Communist Party. Since these people were mainly from the intellectual and social elite, an entire generation of political and social leaders was decimated.
Due to the eruption of the
Korean war
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, and in the context of the Cold War, US President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
decided to intervene again and dispatched the
United States Seventh Fleet
The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...
into the
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide.
The Taiwan Strait is itself a s ...
to prevent hostilities between Taiwan and mainland China.
Continuing fierce combat between both sides of the Chinese Civil War through the 1950s, and intervention by the United States notably resulted in legislation such as the
Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty
The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty (SAMDT), formally Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of China, was a defense pact signed between the United States and the Republic of China (Taiwan) effective from ...
and the
Formosa Resolution of 1955
The Formosa Resolution of 1955 was a joint resolution passed by the U.S. Senate and signed by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 29, 1955, to counteract the threat of an invasion of Taiwan (Republic of China) by the People’s Republic ...
. By virtue of these pacts, the KMT regime received substantial
foreign aid
In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another.
Ai ...
from the US between 1951 and 1965. In the
Treaty of San Francisco
The , also called the , re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers on behalf of the United Nations by ending the legal state of war and providing for redress for hostile actions up to and including World War II. It w ...
and the
Treaty of Taipei
The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty (), formally the Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan () and commonly known as the Treaty of Taipei (), was a peace treaty between Japan and the Republic of China (ROC) signed in Taipei, Taiwan o ...
, which came into force respectively on 28 April 1952 and 5 August 1952, Japan formally renounced all right, claim and title to Taiwan and Penghu, and renounced all treaties signed with China before 1942. Neither treaty specified to whom sovereignty over the islands should be transferred, because the United States and the United Kingdom disagreed on whether the ROC or the PRC was the legitimate government of China.
As the Chinese Civil War continued without truce, the government built up military fortifications throughout Taiwan. Within this effort, KMT veterans built the now famous
Central Cross-Island Highway
The Central Cross-Island Highway () or Provincial Highway 8 is one of three highway systems that connect the west coast with the east of Taiwan.
Construction
The construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway began on July 7, 1956 and was ...
through the
Taroko Gorge
Taroko National Park () is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the Taroko Gorge, the landmark gorge of the park carved by the Liwu River. The park spans Taichung Municipality, Nantou County, and Hualien County and is lo ...
in the 1950s. The two sides would continue to engage in sporadic military clashes with seldom publicized details well into the 1960s on the China coastal islands with an unknown number of
night raids. During the
Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was a conflict that took place between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). In this conflict, the PRC shelled the islands of Kinme ...
in September 1958, Taiwan's landscape saw
Nike-Hercules missile
The Nike Hercules, initially designated SAM-A-25 and later MIM-14, was a surface-to-air missile (SAM) used by U.S. and NATO armed forces for medium- and high-altitude long-range air defense. It was normally armed with the W31 nuclear warhead, but ...
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 maintained an authoritarian, single-party government under the Kuomintang's
Dang Guo
''Dang Guo'' ( zh, t=黨國, p=Dǎngguó, l=party-state) was the one-party system adopted by the Republic of China under the Kuomintang. It was from 1924 onwards, after Sun Yat-sen acknowledged the efficacy of the nascent Soviet Union's politi ...
system while its economy became industrialized and technology-oriented.
This rapid economic growth, known as the
Taiwan Miracle
The Taiwan Miracle () or Taiwan Economic Miracle refers to the rapid industrialization and economic growth of Taiwan during the latter half of the twentieth century.
As it developed alongside Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong, Taiwan becam ...
, occurred following a strategy of prioritizing agriculture, light industries, and heavy industries in that order.
Infrastructure projects such as the
Sun Yat-sen Freeway,
Taoyuan International Airport
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is an international airport serving Taipei and northern Taiwan. Located about west of Taipei in Dayuan District, Taoyuan, the airport is Taiwan's largest. It was also the busiest airport in Taiwan before t ...
,
Taichung Harbor
The Port of Taichung (), also Taichung Port, is a port located in Wuqi District, Taichung, Taiwan. It is the second-largest port in Taiwan after Kaohsiung Port and operated by Taiwan International Ports Corporation, Taiwan's state-owned harbor m ...
, and
Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant
The Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant or Chin Shan Nuclear Power Plant (金山核能發電廠), First Nuclear Power Plant (第一核能發電廠 or 核一), is a nuclear power plant being definitely shutdown in Shimen District, New Taipei, Taiwan. Comm ...
were launched, while the rise of steel, petrochemical, and shipbuilding industries in southern Taiwan saw the transformation of Kaohsiung into a special municipality on par with Taipei. In the 1970s, Taiwan became the second fastest growing economy in Asia after Japan. In 1978, the combination of tax incentives and a cheap, well-trained labor force attracted investments of over $1.9 billion from
overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Terminology
() or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...
, the United States, and Japan, especially in the manufacturing of electrical and electronic products. By 1980, foreign trade reached $39 billion per year and generated a surplus of $46.5 million, while the income ratio of the highest to the lowest 20 percent of wage earners dropped from 15:1 to 4:1 between 1952 and 1978, less than even that of the United States. Along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea, Taiwan became known as one of the
Four Asian Tigers
The Four Asian Tigers (also known as the Four Asian Dragons or Four Little Dragons in Chinese and Korean) are the developed East Asian economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Between the early 1960s and 1990s, they underwent ra ...
.
Because of the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s. Eventually, especially after the termination of the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, most nations switched
diplomatic recognition
Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state (may be also a recognized state). Recognition can be accorde ...
to the PRC (see United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758). Until the 1970s, the ROC government was regarded by Western critics as undemocratic for upholding
martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
, severely repressing any political opposition, and controlling the media. The KMT did not allow the creation of new parties and those that existed did not seriously compete with the KMT. Thus, competitive democratic elections did not exist. From the late 1970s to the 1990s, however, Taiwan went through reforms and social changes that transformed it from an authoritarian state to a democracy. In 1979, a pro-democracy protest known as the
Kaohsiung Incident
The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident, or the ''Formosa Magazine'' incident,tang was a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 10 December 1979 during Taiwan's ...
took place in
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
to celebrate
Human Rights Day
Human Rights Day is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year.
The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Right ...
. Although the protest was rapidly crushed by the authorities, it is today considered as the main event that united Taiwan's opposition.
Chiang Ching-kuo
Chiang Ching-kuo (27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the Republic of China after its retreat to Taiwan. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government ...
, Chiang Kai-shek's son and successor as the ROC president and chairman of the KMT, began
reforms
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
to the political system in the mid-1980s. He sought to move more authority to "
bensheng ren
Taiwanese people may be generally considered the people of Taiwan who share a common culture, ancestry and speak Taiwanese Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka or indigenous Taiwanese languages as a mother tongue. Taiwanese people may also refer to the i ...
" (residents of Taiwan before Japan's surrender in World War II and their descendants) instead of continuing to promote "
waisheng ren
''Waishengren'' (), sometimes called mainlanders, are a group of migrants who arrived in Taiwan from mainland China between the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945, and Kuomintang retreat and the end of the Chinese Civil War i ...
" (residents who came to the island in the 1940s and 50s after Japan's surrender and their descendants) as his father had.
[Richard Kagan. ''Taiwan's Statesman: Lee Teng-hui and Democracy in Asia.'' Naval Institute Press, 2014. p. 91-93. ] In 1984, the younger Chiang selected
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the fir ...
, a Taiwan-born, US-educated technocrat, to be his vice-president. In 1986, the
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a Taiwanese nationalist and centre-left political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Controlling both the Republic of China presidency and the unicameral Legislative Yuan, it is the majori ...
(DPP) was established and inaugurated as the first opposition party in the ROC to counter the KMT. On July 15th 1987, Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law on the main island of Taiwan (martial law was lifted on Kinmen and Matsu later in 1992).
Transition to democracy (1988–present)
![President Lee teng hui](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/President_Lee_teng_hui.png)
After the death of Chiang Ching-kuo in January 1988, Lee Teng-hui succeeded him and became the first president born in Taiwan. Lee continued the democratic reforms to the government and replaced many "waisheng ren" in government positions with "bensheng ren". Under Lee, Taiwan underwent a process of
localization
Localization or localisation may refer to:
Biology
* Localization of function, locating psychological functions in the brain or nervous system; see Linguistic intelligence
* Localization of sensation, ability to tell what part of the body is a ...
in which Taiwanese culture and history were promoted over a pan-China viewpoint in contrast to earlier KMT policies. Lee's reforms included printing banknotes from the Central Bank rather than the Provincial Bank of Taiwan, and streamlining the
Taiwan Provincial Government
The Taiwan Provincial Government was the government that governed Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. Its functions have been transferred to the National Development Council and other ministries of the Executive Yuan.
History
At the ...
with most of its functions transferred to the
Executive Yuan
The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan.
...
. Under Lee, the original members of the
Legislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
and
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
(a former supreme legislative body defunct in 2005), elected in 1947 to represent mainland Chinese constituencies and having held 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, reflecting the reality that the ROC had no jurisdiction over mainland China, and vice versa. Restrictions on the use of
Taiwanese Hokkien
Taiwanese Hokkien () (; Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-uân-uē''), also known as Taigi/Taigu (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī/Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-gí / Tâi-gú''), Taiwanese, Taiwanese Minnan, Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively by about 70% ...
in the broadcast media and in schools were also lifted.
Reforms continued in the 1990s. The
and the
defined the status of the ROC, making Taiwan its ''de facto'' territory. Lee Teng-hui was re-elected as the KMT candidate in 1996, in the first direct presidential election in the history of the ROC, defeating DDP candidate Peng Ming-min. With democratization, the issue of the political status of Taiwan gradually resurfaced as a controversial issue where, previously, the discussion of anything other than unification under the ROC was
taboo
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
. During the 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 1997, "To meet the requisites of the nation prior to national unification", the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China was passed and then the former "constitution of five powers" turns to be more tripartite.
In 2000,
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
of the Democratic Progressive Party was elected as the first non-Kuomintang (KMT) President and was re-elected to serve his second and last term since 2004, even after he backtracked on the need to declare Taiwan's independence.
Meanwhile, polarized politics emerged in Taiwan with the formation of the
Pan-Blue Coalition
The pan-Blue coalition, pan-Blue force or pan-Blue groups is a political coalition in the Republic of China (Taiwan) consisting of the Kuomintang (KMT), People First Party (PFP), New Party (CNP), Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU), and Young ...
, led by the KMT, and the
Pan-Green Coalition
The pan-Green coalition, pan-Green force or pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China), consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Taiwan Solidarity Union (T ...
, led by the DPP. The former prefers eventual
Chinese unification
Chinese unification, also known as the Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China ("China" or "Mainland China") and the ...
, while the latter prefers
Taiwanese independence
The Taiwan independence movement is a political movement which advocates the formal declaration of an independent and sovereign Taiwanese state, as opposed to Chinese unification or the status quo in Cross-Strait relations.
Currently, Tai ...
.
In 2004, the Chen administration pushed for a referendum on
cross-Strait relations
Cross-Strait relations (sometimes called Mainland–Taiwan relations, or Taiwan-China relations) are the relations between China (officially the People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China).
The relationship ...
. In early 2006, Chen Shui-bian remarked: "The National Unification Council will cease to function. No budget will be ear-marked for it and its personnel must return to their original posts... The National Unification Guidelines will cease to apply." On 30 September 2007, the ruling DPP approved a
resolution
Resolution(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate
* Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body
* New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...
asserting a separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country". It also called for general use of "Taiwan" as the country's name, without abolishing its formal name, the Republic of China.
However, Chen alienated moderate constituents who supported the status quo and those with cross-strait economic ties, as well as creating tension with the mainland and disagreements with the United States.
In 2008,
referendums
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
were held on the same day as the presidential election asking whether Taiwan should join the UN under "Taiwan" (DPP's motion) or "Republic of China"/any other suitable name (KMT's motion). Both failed because only 35 percent of the electorate, below the required threshold of 50 percent, voted.
The Chen administration was also dogged by public concerns over reduced economic growth, legislative gridlock due to a pan-blue, opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan, and
corruption investigations involving the First Family as well as government officials, lowering the President's ratings to the 20s near the end of his second term.
In the
January 2008 legislative elections, the KMT's majority in the Legislative Yuan increased. Its nominee Ma Ying-jeou 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 non-denial".
Under Ma, Taiwan and China opened up direct flights and cargo shipments, with the latter country even making it possible for Taiwan to participate in the annual
World Health Assembly
The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states.
T ...
. Threats from China faded from the public's mind, although U.S. analysts Richard Fisher and Richard Bush argued that military tensions with the PRC had not been reduced. Ma has also made an official apology for the White Terror; a foundation had been created by law in 1998 to compensate the victims.
In 2014, a group of university students successfully occupied the Legislative Yuan and prevented the ratification of the
Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement
The Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, commonly abbreviated CSSTA and sometimes alternatively translated Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services, is a treaty between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) tha ...
in what became known as the
Sunflower Student Movement
The Sunflower Student Movement is associated with a protest movement driven by a coalition of students and civic groups that came to a head between March 18 and April 10, 2014, in the Legislative Yuan and, later, also the Executive Yuan of T ...
. The movement gave rise to youth-based third parties such as the
New Power Party
The New Power Party (NPP) is a political party in Taiwan formed in early 2015. The party emerged from the Sunflower Student Movement in 2014, and advocates for universal human rights, civil and political liberties, as well as Taiwan independenc ...
, and is viewed to have contributed to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) victories the
2016 presidential and
legislative elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. This marked the first time in Taiwanese history that the KMT lost its legislative majority.
In 2016,
Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...
of the DPP became the president of Taiwan. In 2020, she called on the international community to defend the self-ruled island's democracy in the face of renewed threats from China and called on the latter to democratize and renounce the use of military force against Taiwan.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
had earlier expressed that Taiwan was part of China, who reserves the right to use force but will strive to achieve "peaceful reunification." Xi also offered to discuss unification with parties or individuals under the precondition of "one China", but both Tsai and the KMT rejected Xi's proposal.
In January 2020, Tsai was
re-elected and in the simultaneous
legislative election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
President Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a majority with 61 out of 113 seats. The Kuomintang (KMT) got 38 seats. The 2020
Democracy Index
The ''Democracy Index'' is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research division of the Economist Group, a UK-based private company which publishes the weekly newspaper ''The Economist''. Akin to a Human Development I ...
published by London-based
Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, ...
upgraded Taiwan from a "flawed democracy" to a "full democracy", raising it from the 31st place previously to the 11th, a greater improvement than any other country. It ranked below Canada but above Germany, Japan, and the United States.
In the 2021 index, Taiwan ranks 8th place in the Democracy Index, with a score of 8.99 out of 10, now above Canada and the highest in Asia.
Geography
![Taiwan NASA Terra MODIS 2022-07-21](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Taiwan_NASA_Terra_MODIS_2022-07-21.jpg)
The land controlled by the ROC consists of
168 islands with a combined area of .
The main island, known historically as ''Formosa'', makes up 99 percent of this area, measuring and lying some across the
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide.
The Taiwan Strait is itself a s ...
from the southeastern coast of
mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
. The
East China Sea
The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...
lies to its north, the
Philippine Sea
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its ...
to its east, the
Luzon Strait
The Luzon Strait (Tagalog: ''Kipot ng Luzon'', ) is the strait between Taiwan and Luzon island of the Philippines. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean.
This body of water is an im ...
directly to its south and the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
to its southwest. Smaller islands include the
Penghu Islands
The Penghu (, Hokkien POJ: ''Phîⁿ-ô͘'' or ''Phêⁿ-ô͘'' ) or Pescadores Islands are an archipelago of 90 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait, located approximately west from the main island of Taiwan, covering an area ...
in the Taiwan Strait, the Kinmen, Matsu Islands, Matsu and
Wuqiu islands near the Chinese coast, and some of the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
islands.
The main island is a tilted fault block, characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of five rugged mountain ranges parallel to the east coast, and the flat to gently rolling plains of the western third, where the majority of Taiwan's population reside. There are several peaks over 3,500 metres, the highest being Yu Shan at , making Taiwan the world's list of islands by highest point, fourth-highest island. The tectonic boundary that formed these ranges is still active, and the island experiences many earthquakes, a few of them highly destructive. There are also many active submarine volcanoes in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan contains four terrestrial ecoregions: Jian Nan subtropical evergreen forests, South China Sea Islands, South Taiwan monsoon rain forests, and Taiwan subtropical evergreen forests.
The eastern mountains are heavily forested and home to a diverse range of wildlife, while land use in the western and northern lowlands is intensive. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.38/10, ranking it 76th globally out of 172 countries.
Climate
![Koppen-Geiger Map TWN present](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Koppen-Geiger_Map_TWN_present.svg)
Taiwan lies on the Tropic of Cancer, and its general climate is marine tropical climate, tropical.
The northern and central regions are subtropical, whereas the south is tropical and the mountainous regions are temperate. The average rainfall is per year for the island proper; the East Asian rainy season, rainy season is concurrent with the onset of the summer East Asian Monsoon in May and June. The entire island experiences hot, humid weather from June through September. Typhoons are most common in July, August and September. During the winter (November to March), the northeast experiences steady rain, while the central and southern parts of the island are mostly sunny.
Due to Climate change in Taiwan, climate change, the average temperature in Taiwan has risen in the last 100 years, which is twice the worldwide temperature rise. The goal of the Taiwanese government is to cut carbon emissions by 20 per cent in 2030 compared to 2005 levels, and by 50 per cent in 2050 compared to 2005 levels. Carbon emissions increased by 0.92 per cent between 2005 and 2016.
Geology
![大霸尖山](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/%E5%A4%A7%E9%9C%B8%E5%B0%96%E5%B1%B1.jpg)
The island of Taiwan lies in a complex tectonics, tectonic area between the Yangtze Plate to the west and north, the Okinawa Plate on the north-east, and the Philippine Mobile Belt on the east and south. The upper part of the crust on the island is primarily made up of a series of terranes, mostly old island arcs which have been forced together by the collision of the forerunners of the Eurasian Plate 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 subduction, subducted 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 Volcanic Arc and South China, where accreted portions of the Luzon Arc and Luzon forearc form the Haian Range, eastern Coastal Range and parallel inland Huatung Valley, 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 21 September 1999, a 7.3 quake known as the "1999 Jiji (Chichi) earthquake, 921 earthquake" killed more than 2,400 people. The seismic hazard map for Taiwan by the United States Geological Survey, USGS shows 9/10 of the island at the highest rating (most hazardous).
Political and legal status
The political and legal statuses of Taiwan are contentious issues. The People's Republic of China (PRC) claims that Taiwan is Chinese territory and that the PRC replaced the ROC government in 1949, becoming the sole legal government of China.
The ROC, however, has its New Taiwan dollar, own currency, Taiwan passport, widely accepted passport, Postage stamps and postal history of Taiwan, postage stamps, internet Top-level domain, TLD, armed forces and constitution with an independently elected president.
It has not formally renounced its claim to the mainland, but ROC government publications have increasingly downplayed this historical claim.
Though it was a Member states of the United Nations#Original members, founding member of United Nations, the ROC now has neither official membership nor observer status in the organization.
Relations with the PRC
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) of Taiwan is responsible for relations with the PRC, while the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of the PRC is responsible for relations with Taiwan. Exchanges are conducted through private organizations both founded in 1991: the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) of Taiwan and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) of the PRC.
The political environment is complicated by the potential for military conflict
should events outlined in the PRC's anti-secession law occur, such as Taiwan declaring ''de jure'' independence. The PRC suggested the "one country, two systems" employed in Hong Kong as a model for peaceful unification with Taiwan. While it aims for "peaceful reunification," the PRC does not rule out the use of force.
There is a substantial military presence on the Fujian coast as well as PRC sorties into Taiwan's ADIZ.
The PRC's One-China policy, One-China principle states that Taiwan and mainland China are both part of China, and that the PRC is the only legitimate Government of China (disambiguation), government of China.
It seeks to prevent or reduce any formal recognition of the ROC as an independent sovereign state, meaning that Taiwan participates in many international forums as a non-state member under names such as "Chinese Taipei".
In November 1992, the ARATS and SEF held a meeting which would later become known as the 1992 Consensus. The SEF announced that both sides agreed that there was only one China, but disagreed on the definition of China (i.e. the ROC vs. PRC), while the ARATS announced that the two agreed on the One China Policy, One China Principle, but did not mention differences regarding its definition made in the SEF statement.
This discrepancy between the two statements was criticized by the DPP and former president
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the fir ...
.
["Lee denies existence of '1992 Consensus,'"](_blank)
''The China Post'', 8 November 2001 The PRC has since viewed it as a prerequisite for dialogue between the ROC and PRC.
President
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
of the DPP, elected in March 2000, initially indicated a willingness to accept the 1992 Consensus, but later backed down due to pressure within his party and sought a middle ground by attempting dialogue with the PRC on the basis of the 1992 Consensus without explicitly accepting the One China Principle; this was not well received by the PRC and official dialogue was suspended. On 29 April 2005, Kuomintang Chairman of the Kuomintang, Chairman Lien Chan travelled to Beijing and 2005 Pan–Blue visits to mainland China, met with Chinese Communist Party General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, General Secretary Hu Jintao, the first meeting between the leaders of the two parties since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
According to US sources, Hu said in 2008 that talks between Taiwan and the mainland should be restored on the basis of the 1992 Consensus.
![2015 Ma–Xi Meeting 08](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/2015_Ma%E2%80%93Xi_Meeting_08.jpg)
Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT fully endorsed the 1992 Consensus, though he stated that there would be neither unification nor declaration of independence during his presidency.
After becoming elected president in 2008, talks between the ROC and PRC resumed. Direct weekend charter flights between Taiwan and mainland China began in July 2008, and the first direct daily charter flights took off in December 2008. On 11 February 2014, Mainland Affairs Council head Wang Yu-chi travelled to
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
and met with Taiwan Affairs Office head Zhang Zhijun, the 2014 Wang–Zhang meetings, first meeting between high-ranking officials from either side. Zhang paid a reciprocal visit to Taiwan and met Wang on 25 June 2014, making Zhang the first minister-level PRC official to ever visit Taiwan. On 7 November 2015, Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping had a 2015 Ma–Xi meeting, face-to-face meeting in Singapore, the first time two ROC and PRC leaders had met since 1949.
During the 2016 Taiwanese presidential election,
Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...
of the DPP initially pursued a similar strategy as
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
, but after winning the election she received a similarly frosty reception from the PRC. In 2019, Tsai, who supported the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, pledged that as long as she is Taiwan's president, she will never accept "one country, two systems", and that since the PRC equated the 1992 Consensus with "one country, two systems", she could not accept the 1992 Consensus as well.
Foreign relations
![Countries recognizing the Republic of China (Taiwan)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Countries_recognizing_the_Republic_of_China_%28Taiwan%29.svg)
Before 1928, the foreign policy of Republican China was complicated by a lack of internal unity—competing centres of power all claimed legitimacy. This situation changed after the defeat of the Beiyang Government, Peiyang Government by the Kuomintang (KMT), which led to widespread diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China.
After the KMT's retreat to Taiwan, most countries, notably the countries in the Western Bloc, continued to maintain relations with the ROC, but recognition gradually eroded and many countries switched recognition to the People's Republic of China in the 1970s. On 25 October 1971, UN Resolution 2758 was adopted by 76 votes to 35 with 17 abstensions, recognizing the PRC, founded in 1949 on the mainland, as China's sole representative in the United Nations; countries in support included France, India, the UK, and the USSR, and countries in opposition included Japan and the United States.
![Taiwanese Embassy in Mbabane](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Taiwanese_Embassy_in_Mbabane.JPG)
The PRC refuses to have diplomatic relations with any nation that has diplomatic relations with the ROC, and requires all nations with which it has diplomatic relations to make a statement recognizing its claims to Taiwan. As a result, only and the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
maintain official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China.
The ROC maintains unofficial relations with most countries via ''de facto'' embassy, embassies and consul (representative), consulates called Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices (TECRO), with branch offices called "Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices" (TECO). Both TECRO and TECO are "unofficial commercial entities" of the ROC in charge of maintaining diplomacy, diplomatic relations, providing consular services (i.e. visa applications), and serving the national interests of the ROC in other countries.
From 1954 to 1979, the United States was a partner with Taiwan in a mutual defense treaty. The United States remains one of the Republic of China-United States relations, main supporters of Taiwan and, through the Taiwan Relations Act passed in 1979, has continued selling arms and providing military training to the Republic of China Armed Forces, Armed Forces.
This situation continues to be an issue for the People's Republic of China, which considers US involvement disruptive to the stability of the region.
The official position of the United States is that the PRC is expected to "use no force or threat[en] to use force against Taiwan" and the ROC is to "exercise prudence in managing all aspects of Cross-Strait relations." Both are to refrain from performing actions or espousing statements "that would unilaterally alter Taiwan's status".
Participation in international events and organizations
The ROC was a founding member of the United Nations, and held the China and the United Nations, seat of China on the United Nations Security Council, Security Council and other UN bodies until 1971, when it was expelled by Resolution 2758 and replaced in all UN organs with the PRC. Since 1993, the ROC has petitioned the UN for entry, but its applications have not made it past committee stage. Due to the One China policy, most Member states of the United Nations, UN member states, including the United States, do not wish to discuss the issue of the ROC's political status for fear of souring diplomatic ties with the PRC.
The ROC government shifted its focus to organizations affiliated with the UN, as well as organizations outside the UN system. The government sought to participate in the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
(WHO) since 1997, their efforts were rejected until 2009, when they participated as an observer under the name "Chinese Taipei" after reaching an agreement with Beijing.
In 2017, Taiwan again began to be excluded from the WHO even in an observer capacity. This exclusion caused a number of scandals during the COVID-19 outbreak.
![Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Flag_of_Chinese_Taipei_for_Olympic_games.svg)
The Republic of China at the Olympics#Nagoya Resolution, Nagoya Resolution in 1979 approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) provided a compromise for the ROC to use the name "Chinese Taipei" in international events where the PRC is also a party, such as the Olympic Games.
Under the IOC charter, Flag of the Republic of China, ROC flags cannot be flown at any official Olympic venue or gathering. The ROC also participates in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (since 1991) and the
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
(since 2002) under the names "Chinese Taipei" and "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu", respectively. It was a founding member of the Asian Development Bank, but since China's ascension in 1986 has participated under the name "Taipei,China". The ROC is able to participate as "China" in organizations in which the PRC does not participate, such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
Due to its limited international recognition, the Republic of China has been a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) since the foundation of the organization in 1991, represented by a government-funded organization, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD), under the name "Taiwan".
Domestic opinion
Broadly speaking, domestic public opinion has preferred maintaining the status quo, though pro-independence sentiment has steadily risen since 1994. In June 2021, an annual poll run by the National Chengchi University found that 28.2 percent of respondents supported the status quo and postponing a decision, 27.5 percent supported maintaining the status quo indefinitely, 25.8 percent supported the status quo with a move toward independence, 5.9 percent supported the status quo with a move toward unification, 5.7 percent gave no response, 5.6 percent supported independence as soon as possible, and 1.5 percent supported unification as soon as possible.
A 2018 Taiwanese referendum, referendum question in 2018 asked if Taiwan's athletes should compete under "Taiwan" in the 2020 Summer Olympics but did not pass; the New York Times attributed the failure to a campaign cautioning that a name change might lead to Taiwan being banned "under Chinese pressure".
The KMT, the largest Pan-Blue Coalition, Pan-Blue party, supports the status quo for the indefinite future with a stated ultimate goal of unification. However, it does not support unification in the short term with the PRC as such a prospect would be unacceptable to most of its members and the public. Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of the KMT and former president of the ROC, has set out democracy, economic development to a level near that of Taiwan, and equitable wealth distribution as the conditions that the PRC must fulfill for unification to occur. Ma stated that the cross-Strait relations are neither between two Chinas nor two states. It is a special relationship. Further, he stated that the sovereignty issues between the two cannot be resolved at present.
The Democratic Progressive Party, the largest Pan-Green party, officially seeks independence, but in practice also supports the status quo because neither independence nor unification seems likely in the short or even medium term. In 2017, Taiwanese premier William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party said that he was a "political worker who advocates Taiwan independence", but that as Taiwan was already an independent country called the Republic of China,
it had no need to declare independence.
Government and politics
Government
![世界最美總統府](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E6%9C%80%E7%BE%8E%E7%B8%BD%E7%B5%B1%E5%BA%9C.jpg)
The government of the Republic of China was founded on the 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China, Constitution of the ROC and its
Three Principles of the People
The Three Principles of the People (; also translated as the Three People's Principles, San-min Doctrine, or Tridemism) is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to improve China made during the Republican Era. ...
, which states that the ROC "shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people".
It underwent significant revisions in the 1990s, known collectively as the Additional Articles. The government is divided into five branches (''Yuan''): the Executive Yuan (cabinet), the
Legislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
(Congress or Parliament), the Judicial Yuan, the Control Yuan (audit agency), and the Examination Yuan (civil service examination agency).
![蔡英文官方元首肖像照](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/%E8%94%A1%E8%8B%B1%E6%96%87%E5%AE%98%E6%96%B9%E5%85%83%E9%A6%96%E8%82%96%E5%83%8F%E7%85%A7.png)
The head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces is the President of the Republic of China, president, who is elected by popular vote for a maximum of 2 four-year terms on the same ticket as the vice-president. The president appoints the members of the Executive Yuan as their cabinet, including a Premier of the Republic of China, premier, who is officially the President of the Executive Yuan; members are responsible for policy and administration.
The main Legislature, legislative body is the Unicameralism, unicameral Legislative Yuan with 113 seats. Seventy-three are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies; thirty-four are elected based on the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties in a separate party list ballot; and six are elected from two three-member aboriginal constituencies. Members serve four-year terms. Originally the unicameral National Assembly, as a standing Constitutional convention (political meeting), constitutional convention and electoral college, held some parliamentary functions, but the National Assembly (Republic of China), National Assembly was abolished in 2005 with the power of constitutional amendments handed over to the Legislative Yuan and all eligible voters of the Republic via referendums.
The premier is selected by the president without the need for approval from the legislature, but the legislature can pass laws without regard for the president, as neither he nor the Premier wields veto power.
Thus, there is little incentive for the president and the legislature to negotiate on legislation if they are of opposing parties. After the election of the pan-Green's Chen Shui-bian as president in 2000, legislation repeatedly stalled because of deadlock with the Legislative Yuan, which was controlled by a pan-Blue majority. Historically, the ROC has been dominated by strongman single party politics. This legacy has resulted in executive powers currently being concentrated in the office of the president rather than the premier, even though the constitution does not explicitly state the extent of the president's executive power.
The Judicial Yuan is the highest judiciary, judicial organ. It interprets the constitution and other laws and decrees, judges administrative suits, and disciplines public functionaries. The president and vice-president of the Judicial Yuan and additional thirteen justices form the Council of Grand Justices. They are nominated and appointed by the president, with the consent of the Legislative Yuan. The highest court, the Supreme Court of the Republic of China, Supreme Court, consists of a number of civil and criminal divisions, each of which is formed by a presiding judge and four associate judges, all appointed for life. In 1993, a separate List of constitutional courts, constitutional court was established to resolve constitutional disputes, regulate the activities of political parties and accelerate the democratization process. There is no jury trial, trial by jury but the right to a fair public trial is protected by law and respected in practice; many cases are presided over by multiple judges.
The Control Yuan is a watchdog agency that monitors (controls) the actions of the executive. It can be considered a standing Government agency, commission for administrative inquiry and can be compared to the Court of Auditors of the European Union or the Government Accountability Office of the United States.
It is also responsible for the National Human Rights Commission (Taiwan), National Human Rights Commission.
The Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants. It is based on the old imperial examination system used in dynastic China. It can be compared to the European Personnel Selection Office of the European Union or the Office of Personnel Management of the United States.
It was downsized in 2019, and there have been calls for its abolition.
Constitution
The constitution was drafted in by the KMT while the ROC still governed the Chinese mainland, went into effect on 25 December 1947. The ROC remained under martial law from 1948 until 1987 and much of the constitution was not in effect. Political reforms beginning in the late 1970s resulted in the end of martial law in 1987, and Taiwan transformed into a multiparty democracy in the early 1990s. The constitutional basis for this transition to democracy was gradually laid in the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China. In addition, these articles localized the Constitution by suspending portions of the Constitution designed for the governance of mainland China and replacing them with articles adapted for the governance of and guaranteeing the political rights of residents of the Taiwan Area, as defined in the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.
National boundaries were not explicitly prescribed by the 1947 Constitution, and the Constitutional Court declined to define these boundaries in a 1993 interpretation, viewing the question as a political question to be resolved by the Executive and Legislative Yuans. The 1947 Constitution included articles regarding representatives from former Qing dynasty territories including Tibet and Mongolia (though it did not specify whether this excluded Outer Mongolia). The ROC recognized Mongolia as an independent country in 1946 after signing the 1945 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, but after retreating to Taiwan in 1949 it reneged on its agreement in order to preserve its claim over mainland China. The Additional Articles of the 1990s did not alter national boundaries, but suspended articles regarding Mongolian and Tibetan representatives. The ROC began to accept the Mongolian passport and removed clauses referring to Outer Mongolia from the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area in 2002. In 2012 the Mainland Affairs Council issued a statement clarifying that Outer Mongolia was not part of the ROC's national territory in 1947, and that the termination of the Sino-Soviet Treaty had not altered national territory according to the Constitution.
The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission in the Executive Yuan was abolished in 2017.
Major camps
Taiwan's political scene is divided into two major camps in terms of cross-Strait relations, i.e. how Taiwan should relate to China or the PRC. The Pan-Green Coalition (e.g. the Democratic Progressive Party) leans pro-independence, and the Pan-Blue Coalition (e.g. the Kuomintang) leans pro-unification. Moderates in both camps regard the Republic of China as a sovereign independent state, but the Pan-Green Coalition regard the ROC as Four-Stage Theory of the Republic of China, synonymous with Taiwan, while moderates in the Pan-Blue Coalition view it as 1992 Consensus, synonymous with China. These positions formed against the backdrop of the PRC's Anti-Secession Law, which threatens invasion in the event of formal independence.
The
Pan-Green Coalition
The pan-Green coalition, pan-Green force or pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China), consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Taiwan Solidarity Union (T ...
is mainly led by the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP). They oppose the idea that Taiwan is part of China, and seek wide diplomatic recognition and an eventual declaration of formal Taiwan independence. In September 2007, the then ruling Democratic Progressive Party approved a resolution asserting separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "''normal country''". It called also for general use of "''Taiwan''" as the country's name, without abolishing its formal name, the "Republic of China". The name "Taiwan" has been used increasingly often after the emergence of the Taiwanese independence movement.
Some members of the coalition, such as former President Chen Shui-bian, argue that it is unnecessary to proclaim independence because "Taiwan is already an independent, sovereign country" and the Republic of China is the same as Taiwan. Despite being a member of KMT prior to and during his presidency, Lee Teng-hui also held a similar view and was a supporter of the Taiwanization movement.
The
Pan-Blue Coalition
The pan-Blue coalition, pan-Blue force or pan-Blue groups is a political coalition in the Republic of China (Taiwan) consisting of the Kuomintang (KMT), People First Party (PFP), New Party (CNP), Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU), and Young ...
, composed of the pro-unification Kuomintang, People First Party (Republic of China), People First Party (PFP) and New Party (Republic of China), New Party generally support the spirit of the 1992 Consensus, where the KMT claimed that there is one China, but that the ROC and PRC have different interpretations of what "China" means. They favour eventual unification with China.
Regarding independence, the mainstream Pan-Blue position is to maintain the status quo, while refusing immediate unification. President Ma Ying-jeou stated that there will be no unification nor declaration of independence during his presidency.
, Pan-Blue members usually seek to improve relationships with PRC, with a current focus on improving economic ties.
National identity
![National Chengchi University identity survey](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/National_Chengchi_University_identity_survey.svg)
Roughly 84 per cent of Taiwan's population are descendants of Han Chinese immigrants from Qing China between 1683 and 1895. Another significant fraction descends from Han Chinese who immigrated from mainland China in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The shared cultural origin combined with several hundred years of geographical separation, some hundred years of political separation and foreign influences, as well as hostility between the rival ROC and PRC have resulted in national identity being a contentious issue with political overtones.
Since democratic reforms and the lifting of martial law, a distinct Taiwanese identity (as opposed to Taiwanese identity as a subset of a Chinese identity) is often at the heart of political debates. Its acceptance makes the island distinct from mainland China, and therefore may be seen as a step towards forming a consensus for ''de jure'' Taiwan independence.
The Pan-Green camp supports a predominantly Taiwanese identity (although "Chinese" may be viewed as cultural heritage), while the Pan-Blue camp supports a predominantly Chinese identity (with "Taiwanese" as a regional/diasporic Chinese identity).
The KMT has downplayed this stance in the recent years and now supports a Taiwanese identity as part of a Chinese identity.
In annual polls conducted by National Chengchi University, Taiwanese identification has increased substantially since the early 1990s, while Chinese identification has fallen to a low level, and identification as both has also seen a reduction. In 1992, 17.6 percent of respondents identified as Taiwanese, 25.5 percent as Chinese, 46.4 percent as both, and 10.5 percent non-response. In June 2021, 63.3 percent identified as Taiwanese, 2.6 percent as Chinese, 31.4 percent as both, and 2.7 percent non-response.
A survey conducted in Taiwan by Global Views Survey Research Center in July 2009 showed that 82.8 percent of respondents consider the ROC and the PRC as two separate countries with each developing on its own but 80.2 percent think they are members of the Chinese.
Administrative divisions
According to the 1947 constitution, the territory of the ROC is according to its "existing national boundaries".
[Article 4 of the constitution]
/ref> The ROC is, ''de jure'' constitutionally, divided into , special municipality (Taiwan), special municipalities (which are further divided into districts for local administration), and the province-level Tibet Area (administrative division), Tibet Area. Each province is subdivided into provincial city (Taiwan), cities and county (Taiwan), counties, which are further divided into townships and county-administered cities, each having elected mayors and city councillors who share duties with the county. Some divisions are indigenous divisions which have different degrees of autonomy to standard ones. In addition, districts, cities and townships are further divided into villages and neighbourhoods. The provinces have been "streamlined" and are no longer functional. Similarly, Banners of Inner Mongolia, banners in both Mongolia and mainland China (Inner Mongolia) also existed, but they were abolished in 2006 and the ROC reaffirmed its recognition of Mongolia in 2002, as stipulated in the 1946 constitution.
With provinces non-functional, Taiwan is, in practice, divided into 22 subnational divisions, each with a self-governing body led by an elected leader and a legislative body with elected members. Duties of local governments include social services, education, urban planning, public construction, water management, environmental protection, transport, public safety, and more.
When the ROC retreated to Taiwan in 1949, its claimed territory consisted of 35 provinces, 12 special municipalities, 1 special administrative region and 2 autonomous regions. However, since its retreat, the ROC has controlled only Taiwan Province and some islands of Fujian Province, Republic of China, Fujian Province. The ROC also controls the Pratas Islands and Taiping Island in the Spratly Islands, which are part of the disputed South China Sea Islands. They were placed under Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
administration after the retreat to Taiwan.
Military
The Republic of China Army takes its roots in the National Revolutionary Army, which was established by Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
in 1925 in Guangdong with a goal of reunifying China under the Kuomintang. When the People's Liberation Army won the Chinese Civil War, much of the National Revolutionary Army retreated to Taiwan along with the government. It was later reformed into the Republic of China Army. Units which surrendered and remained in mainland China were either disbanded or incorporated into the People's Liberation Army.
From 1949 to the 1970s, the primary mission of the Taiwanese military was to "retake mainland China" through Project National Glory. As this mission has transitioned away from attack because the relative strength of the PRC has massively increased, the ROC military has begun to shift emphasis from the traditionally dominant Army to the Republic of China Air Force, air force and Republic of China Navy, navy. Control of the armed forces has also passed into the hands of the civilian government.
The ROC began a series of force reduction plans since 1990s, ''Jingshi An'' (translated to streamlining program) was one of the programs to scale down its military from a level of 450,000 in 1997 to 380,000 in 2001. , the total strength of the Armed Forces is capped at 215,000 with 90% manning ratio for volunteer military. Conscription remains universal for qualified males reaching age eighteen, but as a part of the reduction effort many are given the opportunity to fulfill their draft requirement through alternative service and are redirected to government agencies or arms related industries. Taiwan cut compulsory military service to four months in 2013 but a proposal to extend military service is under consideration. The military's reservists is around 2.5 million including first-wave reservists numbered at 300,000 . Taiwan's defense spending as a percentage of its GDP has been trending downwards over the first two decades of the twenty-first century. The ROC government spent approximately two percent of GDP on defense and failed to raise the spending as high as proposed three percent of GDP. In 2022, Taiwan proposed 2.4 percent of projected GDP in defense spending for the following year, continued to remain below three percent.
The ROC and the United States signed the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty in 1954, and established the United States Taiwan Defense Command. About 30,000 US troops were stationed in Taiwan, until the United States established diplomatic relations with the PRC in 1979. A significant amount of military hardware has been bought from the United States, and continues to be legally guaranteed by the Taiwan Relations Act. In the past, France and the Netherlands have also sold military weapons and hardware to the ROC, but they almost entirely stopped in the 1990s under pressure of the PRC.
There is no guarantee in the Taiwan Relations Act or any other treaty that the United States will defend Taiwan, even in the event of invasion. The joint declaration on security between the US and Japan signed in 1996 may imply that Japan would be involved in any response. However, Japan has refused to stipulate whether the "area surrounding Japan" mentioned in the pact includes Taiwan, and the precise purpose of the pact is unclear. The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS Treaty) may mean that other US allies, such as Australia, could theoretically be involved. While this would risk damaging economic ties with China, a conflict over Taiwan could lead to an economic blockade of China by a greater coalition. On several occasions in 2021 and 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden stated that the United States will intervene if the PRC attempts to invade Taiwan. However, when asked about the answer, the White House officials insisted that US policy on Taiwan has not changed.
Economy
Economic history
The quick industrialization and rapid growth of Taiwan during the latter half of the 20th century has been called the "Taiwan Miracle". Taiwan is one of the "Four Asian Tigers" alongside Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore.
Japanese rule prior to and during World War II brought changes in the public and private sectors, 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 it compulsory for all residents of Taiwan. By 1945, hyperinflation was in progress in mainland China and Taiwan as a result of the war with Japan. To isolate Taiwan from it, the Nationalist government created a new currency area for the island, and began a price stabilization program which helped to significantly slow inflation.
When the KMT government fled to Taiwan it brought millions of taels (where 1 tael = 37.5 g or ~1.2 troy ounce, ozt) of gold and the foreign currency reserve of mainland China, which, according to the KMT, stabilized prices and reduced hyperinflation. Perhaps more importantly, as part of its retreat to Taiwan, the KMT brought 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 industrialization, import-substitution, attempting to produce imported goods domestically.
In 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States began an aid programme which resulted in fully stabilized prices by 1952. Economic development was encouraged by American economic aid and programmes such as the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction, which turned the agricultural sector into the basis for later growth. Under the combined stimulus of the land reform and the agricultural development programmes, agricultural production increased at an average annual rate of 4 per cent from 1952 to 1959, which was greater than the population growth, 3.6 per cent.
In 1962, Taiwan had a (nominal) per-capita gross national product (GNP) of $170, placing its economy on a par with those of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, its GDP per capita in the early 1960s was $1,353 (in 1990 prices). By 2011 per-capita GNP, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), had risen to $37,000, contributing to a Human Development Index (HDI) equivalent to that of other developed countries. In 2021, the HDI calculated by Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Taiwan's Statistic Bureau was the List of countries in Asia and Oceania by Human Development Index, fifth-highest in the Asia-Pacific region.
In 1974, Chiang Ching-Kuo implemented the Ten Major Construction Projects, the transportation, energy, and basic industry infrastructure that helped Taiwan transform into its current export driven economy. Since the 1990s, a number of Taiwan-based technology firms have expanded their reach around the world. Well-known international technology companies headquartered in Taiwan include personal computer manufacturers Acer Inc. and Asus, mobile phone maker HTC, as well as electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn, which makes products for Apple Inc., Apple, Amazon (company), Amazon, and Microsoft. Computex Taipei, Computex is a major computer convention, held annually in Taipei since 1981, and is attended by major tech companies like AMD and Nvidia.
In 2001, agriculture constituted only 2 per cent of GDP, down from 35 per cent in 1952. Traditional labour-intensive industries are steadily being moved offshore and with more capital and technology-intensive industries replacing them. Economy_of_Taiwan#Science_and_industrial_parks, High-technology industrial parks have sprung up in every region in Taiwan. The ROC has become a major foreign investor in the PRC, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. It is estimated that some 50,000 Taiwanese businesses and 1,000,000 businesspeople and their dependents are established in the PRC.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the economic ties between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China have been extensive. , more than US$150 billion have been invested in the PRC by Taiwanese companies. Although the economy of Taiwan benefits from this situation, some have expressed the view that the island has become increasingly dependent on the mainland Chinese economy. A 2008 white paper by the Department of Industrial Technology states that "Taiwan should seek to maintain stable relation with China while continuing to protect national security, and avoiding excessive 'Sinicization' of Taiwanese economy." Others argue that close economic ties between Taiwan and mainland China would make any military intervention by the PLA against Taiwan very costly, and therefore less probable.
Today Taiwan has a dynamic, capitalism, 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 Privatization, privatized. Real growth in GDP has averaged about 8 per cent 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. The official currency of Taiwan by the ROC is the New Taiwan dollar. Taiwan's total trade in 2010 reached an all-time high of US$526.04 billion, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Finance. Both exports and imports for the year reached record levels, totaling US$274.64 billion and US$251.4 billion, respectively.
Because of its conservative financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan suffered little compared with many of its neighbours in the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Unlike its neighbours, 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 co-ordination by the new administration and increasing bad debts in the banking system, pushed Taiwan into recession in 2001, the first whole year of negative growth since 1947. Due to the relocation of many manufacturing and labour-intensive industries to the PRC, unemployment also reached a level not seen since the 1970s oil crisis. This became a major issue in the 2004 Republic of China presidential election, 2004 presidential election. Growth averaged more than 4 per cent in the 2002–2006 period and the unemployment rate fell below 4 per cent.
High-tech manufacturing
Taiwan is a key player in the supply chain for advanced chips. Taiwan's rise in the key semiconductor industry was largely attributed to TSMC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation, United Microelectronic Corporation (UMC). TSMC was founded 21 February 1987 and as of December 2021 its market capitalization equated to roughly 90% of Taiwan's GDP. The company is the 9th largest in the world by market capitalization as well as the world's biggest semiconductor manufacturing company, surpassing Intel and Samsung Semiconductor Inc., Samsung. Its major customers include Qualcomm, Nvidia, Broadcom Inc., Broadcom, Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, AMD, Apple Inc., Ampere Computing, Ampere, Microsoft, MediaTek and Sony. In 2018, the company's 7 nm process, N7+ node became the first commercial node to be made with Extreme ultraviolet lithography, EUV lithography, as well its N7 node being the first sub-10 nm node to enter volume production. TSMC was the first Taiwanese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, under the trade nam
NYSE: TSM
in October 1997.
UMC, another major company in Taiwan's high-tech exports and global semiconductors, does not however, compete with TSMC on advance semiconductor processes. Instead it competes with the American GlobalFoundries, and others, for less advanced semiconductor processes and for silicon wafers. Its major customers include, MediaTek, Texas Instruments, and Realtek.
Foxconn, a major smart-device manufacturer, is headquartered in New Taipei City. It is also listed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange under the trade nam
Hon Hai Precision Industry
Most of its factories are located in East Asia, with a majority of 12 factories located in China. Its major customers include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Huawei.
Transport
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (Republic of China), Ministry of Transportation and Communications of the Republic of China is the cabinet-level governing body of the transport network in Taiwan.
Civilian transport in Taiwan is characterised by extensive use of Scooter (motorcycle), scooters. In March 2019, 13.86 million were registered, twice that of cars.
Both highways and railways are concentrated near the coasts, where the majority of the population resides, with of Controlled-access highway, motorway.
Railways in Taiwan are primarily used for passenger services, with Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) operating a circular route and Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) running high speed services on the west coast. Urban transit systems include Taipei Metro, Kaohsiung Metro, Taoyuan Metro, New Taipei Metro, and Taichung Metro.
Major airports include Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan Taoyuan, Kaohsiung International Airport, Kaohsiung, Taipei Songshan Airport, Taipei Songshan and Taichung Airport, Taichung. There are currently seven airlines in Taiwan, with the largest two being China Airlines and EVA Air.
There are seven international seaports: Port of Keelung, Keelung, Port of Taipei, Taipei, Suao, Port of Taichung, Taichung, Port of Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung, Port of Anping, Anping, and Port of Hualien, Hualien. The Port of Kaohsiung handled the largest volume of cargo in Taiwan, with about 440 million shipping tonnes, which accounted for 58.6% of Taiwan's total throughput in 2021. The shipping tonnage followed by Taichung (18.6%), Taipei (12%) and Keelung (8.7%).
Education
Taiwan's higher education system was established by Japan during the colonial period. However, after the Republic of China took over in 1945, the system was promptly replaced by the same system as in mainland China which mixed features of the Chinese and American educational systems.
Taiwan is well known for adhering to the Confucian paradigm of valuing education as a means to improve one's socioeconomic position in society. Heavy investment and a cultural valuing of education has catapulted the resource-poor nation consistently to the top of global education rankings. Taiwan is one of the top-performing countries in reading literacy, mathematics and sciences. In 2015, Taiwanese students achieved one of the world's best results in mathematics, science and literacy, as tested by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), with the average student scoring 519, compared with the OECD average of 493, placing it seventh in the world.
The Taiwanese education system has been praised for various reasons, including its comparatively high test results and its major role in promoting Taiwan's economic development while creating one of the world's most highly educated workforces. Taiwan has also been praised for its high university entrance rate where the university acceptance rate has increased from around 20 per cent before the 1980s to 49 per cent in 1996 and over 95 per cent since 2008, among the highest in Asia. The nation's high university entrance rate has created a highly skilled workforce making Taiwan one of the most highly educated countries in the world with 68.5 per cent of Taiwanese high school students going on to attend university. Taiwan has a high percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree where 45 per cent of Taiwanese aged 25–64 hold a bachelor's degree or higher compared with the average of 33 per cent among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
On the other hand, the system has been criticised for placing excessive pressure on students while eschewing creativity and producing an excess supply of over-educated university graduates and a high graduate unemployment rate. With a large number of university graduates seeking a limited number of prestigious white collar jobs in an economic environment that is increasingly losing its competitive edge, this has led many graduates to be employed in lower-end jobs with salaries far beneath their expectations. Taiwan's universities have also been under criticism for not being able to fully meet the requirements and demands of Taiwan's 21st-century fast-moving labour market, citing a skills mismatch among a large number of self-assessed, overeducated university graduates who do not fit the demands of the modern Taiwanese labour market. The Taiwanese government has also received criticism for undermining the economy as it has been unable to produce enough jobs to meet the demands of numerous underemployed university graduates.
As the Taiwanese economy is largely science and technology based, the labour market demands people who have achieved some form of higher education, particularly related to science and engineering to gain a competitive edge when searching for employment. Although current Taiwanese law mandates only nine years of schooling, 95 per cent of junior high graduates go on to attend a senior vocational high school, university, junior college, trade school, or other higher education institution.
Since Made in China 2025 was announced in 2015, aggressive campaigns to recruit Taiwanese chip industry talent to support its mandates resulted in the loss of more than 3,000 chip engineers to mainland China,[ and raised concerns of a "brain drain" in Taiwan.]
Many Taiwanese students attend cram schools#Taiwan, cram schools, or ''buxiban'', to improve skills and knowledge on problem solving against exams of subjects like mathematics, nature science, history and many others. Courses are available for most popular subjects and include lectures, reviews, private tutorial sessions, and recitations.
, the literacy rate in Taiwan was 99.03 percent.
Demographics
Taiwan has a population of about 23.4 million, most of whom are on the island of Taiwan. The remainder live on the outlying islands of Penghu (101,758), Kinmen (127,723), and Matsu (12,506).
Largest cities and counties
The figures below are the March 2019 estimates for the twenty most populous administrative divisions; a different ranking exists when considering the total List of metropolitan areas in Taiwan#Metropolitan areas in Taiwan, metropolitan area populations (in such rankings the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, Taipei-Keelung metro area is by far the largest agglomeration). The figures reflect the number of household registrations in each city, which may differ from the number of actual residents.
Ethnic groups
The ROC government reports that over 95 per cent of the population is Han Chinese, Han. The overwhelming majority of them (85 per cent) are descendants of Hoklo people, Hoklo and Hakka people, Hakka who arrived in large numbers in the 17th to 18th century. A minority (10 to 15 per cent) are ''waishengren'', descendants of Chinese Nationalists, Chinese nationalists who fled to Taiwan the end of the Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
in 1949. There are also 2 per cent indigenous Austronesian languages, Austronesian peoples and 2 per cent new immigrants primarily from China and Southeast Asia.
The Hoklo people are the largest ethnic group (70 per cent of the total population), whose ancestors migrated from the coastal southern Fujian region across the Taiwan Strait starting in the 17th century. The Hakka comprise about 15 per cent of the total population, and descend from Han migrants from eastern Guangdong. Genetic studies also indicate that the Hoklo and Hakka people that make up majority of the Taiwanese population, are a mixture between Austronesians and Han people.
The indigenous Taiwanese aborigines number about 533,600, and the government recognises 16 groups. The Amis people, Ami, Atayal people, Atayal, Bunun people, Bunun, Kanakanavu people, Kanakanavu, Kavalan people, Kavalan, Paiwan people, Paiwan, Puyuma people, Puyuma, Rukai people, Rukai, Saisiyat people, Saisiyat, Saaroa people, Saaroa, Sakizaya people, Sakizaya, Sediq people, Sediq, Thao people, Thao, Truku people, Truku and Tsou people, Tsou live mostly in the eastern half of the island, while the Yami people, Yami inhabit Orchid Island.
Languages
Taiwanese Mandarin, Mandarin is the primary language used in business and education, and is spoken by the vast majority of the population. Traditional Chinese is used as the writing system. The Republic of China does not have any legally designated official language, but Taiwanese Mandarin, Mandarin plays the role of the defacto, de facto official language.
Around 70% of Taiwan's population belong to the Hoklo ethnic group and are speakers of Taiwanese Hokkien
Taiwanese Hokkien () (; Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-uân-uē''), also known as Taigi/Taigu (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī/Tâi-lô: ''Tâi-gí / Tâi-gú''), Taiwanese, Taiwanese Minnan, Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively by about 70% ...
as native language. The Hakka group, comprising some 14–18 per cent of the population, speak Hakka Chinese, Hakka. Although Mandarin is the language of instruction in schools and dominates television and radio, non-Mandarin varieties of Chinese, Chinese varieties have undergone a revival in public life in Taiwan, particularly since restrictions on their use were lifted in the 1990s.
Formosan languages are spoken primarily by the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. They do not belong to the Chinese or Sino-Tibetan language family, but to the Austronesian languages, Austronesian language family, and are written in Writing systems of Formosan languages, Latin alphabet. Their use among aboriginal minority groups has been in decline as usage of Mandarin has risen. Of the 14 extant languages, five are considered moribund language, moribund.
Classical Chinese
Since the May Fourth Movement, written vernacular Chinese had replaced Classical Chinese and emerged as the mainstream Written vernacular Chinese, written Chinese in the Republic of China. But Classical Chinese continued to be widely used in the Government of the Republic of China. Most government documents in the Republic of China were written in Classical Chinese until reforms in the 1970s, in a reform movement spearheaded by President Yen Chia-kan to shift the written style to a more integrated vernacular Chinese and Classical Chinese style (文白合一行文). After 1 January 2005, the Executive Yuan
The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan.
...
also changed the long-standing official document writing habit from vertical writing style to horizontal writing style.
Today, pure Classical Chinese is occasionally used in formal or ceremonial occasions, religious or cultural rites in Taiwan. The ''National Anthem of the Republic of China'' (), for example, is in Classical Chinese. Taoist texts are still preserved in Classical Chinese from the time they were composed. Buddhism, Buddhist texts, or sutras, are still preserved in Classical Chinese from the time they were composed or translated from Sanskrit sources. In practice there is a socially accepted continuum between vernacular Chinese and Classical Chinese. Most official Government of the Republic of China, government documents, Law of Taiwan, legal, Supreme Court of the Republic of China, courts rulings and Ministry of Justice (Taiwan), judiciary documents use a combined vernacular Chinese and Classical Chinese style (文白合一行文). For example, most official notices and formal letters are written with a number of stock Classical Chinese expressions (e.g. salutation, closing). Personal letters, on the other hand, are mostly written in vernacular, but with some Classical phrases, depending on the subject matter, the writer's level of education, etc.
As many legal documents are still written in Classical Chinese, which is not easily understood by the general public, a group of Taiwanese had launched the ''Legal Vernacular Movement'' hoping to bring more Vernacular Chinese into the legal writings of the Republic of China.
Taiwan is officially multilingual. A national language in Taiwan is legally defined as "a natural language used by an original people group of Taiwan and the Taiwan Sign Language". As of 2019, policies on national languages are in early stages of implementation, with Hakka and indigenous languages designated as such.
Religion
The Constitution of the Republic of China protects people's freedom of religion and the practices of belief. Freedom of religion in Taiwan is strong and ranks high at 9.2 in 2018 according to World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
.
In 2005, the census reported that the five largest religions were: Buddhism, Taoism, Yiguandao, Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism. According to Pew Research Center, Pew Research, the religious composition of Taiwan in 2020 is estimated to be 43.8 per cent Chinese folk religion, Folk religions, 21.2 per cent Buddhism in Taiwan, Buddhist, 15.5 Others (including Taoism), 13.7 per cent Unaffiliated, 5.8 per cent Christian and 1% Muslim. Taiwanese aborigines comprise a notable subgroup among professing Christians: "...over 64 per cent identify as Christian... Church buildings are the most obvious markers of Aboriginal villages, distinguishing them from Taiwanese or Hakka villages". There has been a small Islam in Taiwan, Muslim community of Hui people in Taiwan since the 17th century.
Confucianism is a philosophy that deals with secular moral ethics, and serves as the foundation of both Culture of China, Chinese and Culture of Taiwan, Taiwanese culture. The majority of Taiwanese people usually combine the secular moral teachings of Confucianism with whatever religions they are affiliated with.
, there were 15,175 Place of worship, religious buildings in Taiwan, approximately one place of worship per 1,572 residents. 12,279 temples were dedicated to Taoism and Buddhism in Taiwan, Buddhism. There were 9,684 Taoism, Taoist Temples and 2,317 Buddhism in Taiwan, Buddhist Temples. In Taiwan's 36,000 square kilometers of land, there are more than 33,000 places for religious (believers) to worship and gather. On average, there is one temple or church (church) or religious building for every square kilometer. The high density of place of worship is rare in the world, and it is the area with the highest density of religious buildings in the List of countries and territories where Chinese is an official language, Chinese-speaking world. Taiwan is also the most religious region in the List of countries and territories where Chinese is an official language, Chinese-speaking world. Even for Christianity, there are 2,845 Churches.
A significant percentage of the population of Taiwan is non-religious. Taiwan's strong human rights protections, lack of state-sanctioned discrimination, and generally high regard for freedom of religion or belief earned it a joint #1 ranking in the 2018 Freedom of Thought Report, alongside the Netherlands and Belgium.
LGBT rights
On 24 May 2017, the Judicial Yuan#Constitutional Court, Constitutional Court ruled that then-current marriage laws had been violating the Constitution by denying Taiwanese same-sex couples the right to marry. The Court ruled that if the Legislative Yuan did not pass adequate amendments to Taiwanese marriage laws within two years, same-sex marriages would automatically become lawful in Taiwan. In a 2018 Taiwanese referendum, referendum question in 2018, however, voters expressed overwhelming opposition to same-sex marriage and supported the removal of content about homosexuality from primary school textbooks. According to the New York Times, the aforementioned referendum questions were subject to a "well-funded and highly organized campaign led by conservative Christians and other groups" involving the use of "misinformation, the bulk of which was spread online." Nevertheless, the vote against same-sex marriage does not affect the court ruling, and on 17 May 2019, Taiwan's parliament approved a bill legalising same-sex marriage, making it the first country in Asia to do so.
Taiwan has an annual pride event, Taiwan Pride. It currently holds the record for the largest LGBT gathering in East Asia, East-Asia, rivaling Tel Aviv Pride in Israel. The event draws more than 200,000 people to demonstrate for equal rights for LGBT people. The event is organized by the Taiwan LGBT Pride Community, and is held on the last Sunday of October.
Health
The current healthcare system in Taiwan, known as National Health Insurance (NHI, zh, 全民健康保險), was instituted in 1995. NHI is a Single-payer health care, single-payer compulsory social insurance plan that centralizes the disbursement of healthcare funds. The system promises equal access to healthcare for all citizens, and the population coverage had reached 99 per cent by the end of 2004. NHI is mainly financed through premiums, which are based on the payroll tax, and is supplemented with out-of-pocket co-payments and direct government funding. Low-income families, veterans, centenarians, children under three years old, and catastrophic diseases are exempt from co-payments. Co-pays are reduced for disabled and low income households maintain 100 percent premium coverage by the NHI.
Early in the program, the payment system was predominantly fee-for-service. Most health providers operate in the private sector and form a competitive market on the health delivery side. However, many healthcare providers took advantage of the system by offering unnecessary services to a larger number of patients and then billing the government. In the face of increasing loss and the need for cost containment, NHI changed the payment system from fee-for-service to a global budget, a kind of prospective payment system, in 2002.
The implementation of universal healthcare created fewer health disparities for lower-income citizens in Taiwan. According to a recently published survey, out of 3,360 patients surveyed at a randomly chosen hospital, 75.1 per cent of the patients said they are "very satisfied" with the hospital service; 20.5 per cent said they are "okay" with the service. Only 4.4 per cent of the patients said they are either "not satisfied" or "very not satisfied" with the service or care provided.
The Taiwanese disease control authority is the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and during the Severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS outbreak in March 2003 there were 347 confirmed cases. During the outbreak the CDC and local governments set up monitoring stations throughout public transportation, recreational sites and other public areas. With full containment in July 2003, there has not been a case of SARS since. Owing to the lessons from SARS, a was established in 2004, which includes the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). The CECC has since played a central role in Taiwan's approach to epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan, COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, the infant mortality rate was 4.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, with 20 physicians and 71 hospital beds per 10,000 people. Life expectancy at birth in 2020 is 77.5 years and 83.9 years for males and females, respectively.
Culture
The cultures of Taiwan are a hybrid blend from various sources, incorporating elements of the majority Chinese culture, traditional Chinese culture, aboriginal cultures, Culture of Japan, Japanese cultural influence, traditional Confucianist beliefs, and increasingly, Western culture, Western values.
During the Martial law in Taiwan, martial law period in which the Republic of China was officially Anti-communism, anti-communist, the Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
promoted an official Chinese culture, traditional Chinese culture over Taiwan in order to emphasize that the Republic of China represents the true orthodoxy to Chinese Culture (and therefore the "real and legitimate China") as opposed to People's Republic of China, Communist China. The government launched what's known as the Chinese Cultural Renaissance movement in Taiwan in opposition to the cultural destructions caused by the Communist Party of China, Chinese Communist Party during the Cultural Revolution. The General Assembly of Chinese Culture (中華文化總會) was established as a movement promotion council to help promote Chinese Culture in Taiwan and overseas. It was Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
's first structured plan for cultural development on Taiwan. Chiang Kai Shek, Chiang himself was the head of the General Assembly of Chinese Culture. Subsequent President of the Republic of China also became the head of this General Assembly. The Chinese Cultural Renaissance movement in Taiwan coupled with Chinese Cultural education in Taiwan had helped to elevate the cultural refinement, mannerism and politeness of many Taiwanese, in contrast to the cultural destruction (uncultured behaviour) of many mainland Chinese due to the Cultural Revolution. This has also led to Chinese Culture (especially its soft culture) being better preserved in Taiwan than in mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
. An example of this preservation is the continued use of Traditional Chinese. The influence of Confucianism can be found in the behaviour of Taiwanese people, known for their friendliness and politeness.
The lifting of Martial law in Taiwan, martial law ushered a period of democratization
Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a ful ...
whereby Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech and Expression led to a flourishing Taiwanese literature and Mass media in Taiwan.
Reflecting the continuing controversy surrounding the political status of Taiwan, politics continues to play a role in the conception and development of a Taiwanese cultural identity, especially in its relationship to Chinese culture. In recent years, the concept of Taiwanese multiculturalism has been proposed as a relatively apolitical alternative view, which has allowed for the inclusion of mainlanders and other minority groups into the continuing re-definition of Taiwanese culture as collectively held systems of meaning and customary patterns of thought and behaviour shared by the people of Taiwan. Identity politics, along with the over one hundred years of political separation from mainland China, has led to distinct traditions in many areas, including Taiwanese cuisine, cuisine and Music of Taiwan, music.
Arts
Acclaimed classical musicians include violinist Cho-Liang Lin, pianist Ching-Yun Hu, and the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society artist director Wu Han (pianist), Wu Han. Other musicians include Teresa Teng, Jay Chou and groups such as Mayday (Taiwanese band), Mayday and Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Chthonic (band), Chthonic, led by singer Freddy Lim, which has been referred to as the "Black Sabbath of Asia".
Cinema of Taiwan, Taiwanese films have won various international awards at film festivals around the world. Ang Lee, a Taiwanese director, has directed critically acclaimed films such as: ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''; ''Eat Drink Man Woman''; ''Sense and Sensibility (film), Sense and Sensibility''; ''Brokeback Mountain''; ''Life of Pi (film), Life of Pi''; and ''Lust, Caution''. Other famous Taiwanese directors include Tsai Ming-liang, Edward Yang, and Hou Hsiao-hsien. Taiwan has hosted the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards since 1962.
Taiwan hosts the National Palace Museum, which houses more than 650,000 pieces of Chinese bronze, jade, calligraphy, painting, and porcelain and is considered one of the greatest collections of Chinese art and objects in the world.
Cuisine
Taiwanese culinary history is murky and is intricately tied to patterns of migration and colonization. Local and international Taiwanese cuisine, including its history, is a politically contentious topic. Famous Taiwanese dishes include Taiwanese beef noodle soup, Gua bao, Zongzi, Khong bah png, Taiwanese fried chicken, oyster vermicelli, Sanbeiji, and Aiyu jelly.
The Michelin Guide began reviewing restaurants in Taipei in 2018 and Taichung in 2020. In 2014 ''The Guardian'' called Taiwanese night markets the "best street food markets in the world".
Bubble tea, created in Taiwan in the 1980s, has now become a global phenomenon with its popularity spreading across the globe.
Popular culture
Karaoke, drawn from contemporary Japanese culture, is extremely popular in Taiwan, where it is known as KTV. KTV businesses operate in a hotel-like style, renting out small rooms and ballrooms according to the number of guests in a group. Many KTV establishments partner with restaurants and buffets to form all-encompassing and elaborate evening affairs for families, friends, or businessmen. Tour busses that travel around Taiwan have several TVs, primarily for singing karaoke.
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 also provide a service for mailing packages. Chains such as FamilyMart provide clothing laundry services, and it is possible to purchase or receive tickets for Taiwan Railways Administration, TRA and THSR tickets at convenience stores, specifically 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life (convenience store), Hi-Life and OK (convenience store), OK.
Sports
Baseball is commonly considered as Taiwan's national sport and is a popular spectator sport. Taiwan's dominance in international baseball was demonstrated when the men's team won top three medals across all levels of baseball in 2022, including the 2021 U-12 Baseball World Cup, U-12, 2022 U-15 Baseball World Cup, U-15, 2021 U-18 Baseball World Cup, U-18, 2022 U-23 Baseball World Cup, U-23, and 2022 Baseball5 World Cup, Baseball5 competitions, the only team to do so in baseball history. Taiwan's Chinese Taipei national baseball team, men's baseball team and Chinese Taipei women's national baseball team, women's baseball team are world No.2 in the WBSC Rankings as of December 2021. The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan was established in 1989 and eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2003. As of 2021, the CPBL has five teams, with average attendance around 4,000 per game. Some elite players signed with overseas professional teams in the Major League Baseball (MLB) or the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). There have been sixteen List of Major League Baseball players from Taiwan, Taiwanese MLB players in the United States as of the 2022 MLB Season, including former pitchers Chien-Ming Wang and Wei-Yin Chen.
Besides baseball, basketball is Taiwan's other major sport. The P. League+ and T1 League are two Taiwan's professional basketball leagues. A semi-professional sports, semi-professional Super Basketball League (SBL) has also been in play since 2003. Two other teams from Taiwan compete in the ASEAN Basketball League, a professional men's basketball league in East and Southeast Asia. Other team sports including association football, football and volleyball are practiced and sports leagues are run by Taiwanese sports governing bodies. Taiwan is also a major competitor in korfball.
Taiwan participates in international sporting organizations and events under the name of "Chinese Taipei" due to its political status. In 2009, Taiwan hosted two multi-sport events on the island. The 2009 World Games were held in Kaohsiung and the 2009 Summer Deaflympics, Summer Deaflympics were held in Taipei. Furthermore, Taipei hosted the Summer Universiade in 2017. In terms of annual international competitions held in Taiwan, the William Jones Cup for basketball and the Taipei Open (badminton), Taipei Open for badminton are the events with more than forty years of history.
Taekwondo was introduced to Taiwan in 1966 for military training and has become a mature and successful combat sport in Taiwan. The first two Olympic gold medals won by Taiwanese athletes belong to the sport. In the Taekwondo at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004 Olympics, Chen Shih-hsin and Chu Mu-yen won gold medals in the women's flyweight event and the men's flyweight event, respectively. Subsequent taekwondo competitors have strengthened Taiwan's taekwondo culture.
In individual ball sports, Taiwanese athletes are often seen in international tournaments. Yani Tseng is the youngest golf player ever, male or female, to win five Women's major golf championships, major championships and was ranked number 1 in the Women's World Golf Rankings for 109 consecutive weeks from 2011 to 2013. In tennis, Hsieh Su-wei is the country's most successful player. She reached a career-high singles WTA rankings, ranking of world No. 23 in 2013 and world No. 1 in the doubles rankings in 2014. Taiwan's strength in badminton is demonstrated by Tai Tzu-ying, who spent most weeks as world No. 1 women's singles player in BWF World Ranking, and her compatriots in the BWF World Tour. Taiwan also has a long history of strong international presence in table tennis. Five-time Olympian Chuang Chih-yuan made the most appearances at the Olympic Games among Taiwanese athletes.
Calendar
The standard Gregorian calendar is used for most purposes in Taiwan. The year is often denoted by the Minguo calendar era, era system which starts in 1912, the year the ROC was founded. 2022 is year 111 Minguo (民國111年). The Calendar date#Gregorian, year–month–day (YMD), East Asian date format is used in Chinese.
Prior to standardisation in 1929, the Chinese calendar was officially used. It is a Lunisolar calendar, Lunisolar calendar system which remains in use today for traditional festivals such as the Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, the Lantern Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival.
See also
* Index of Taiwan-related articles
* Outline of Taiwan
Notes
Words in native languages
References
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* Copper, John F. ed. ''Historical dictionary of Taiwan'' (1993
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* Taeuber, Irene B. "Population Growth in a Chinese Microcosm: Taiwan." ''Population Index'' 27#2 (1961), pp. 101–12
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External links
Overviews and data
Taiwan
''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency.
Taiwan
from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
Taiwan country profile
BBC News
Background Note: Taiwan
US Department of State
New Taiwan, Ilha Formosa
Key Development Forecasts for Taiwan
from International Futures
Chinese Taipei
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD
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Government agencies
Office of the Government
Office of the President
Executive Yuan
Control Yuan
Examination Yuan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Taiwan, The Heart of Asia
, Tourism Bureau, Republic of China (Taiwan)
{{Authority control
Taiwan,
Republic of China,
1912 establishments in China
Articles containing video clips
Island countries
Northeast Asian countries
Chinese-speaking countries and territories
States and territories established in 1912
Taiwan placenames originating from Formosan languages
States with limited recognition
Republics
Former Japanese colonies
Former member states of the United Nations