Taiwan is a country located in Southeast Asia. It is a small island off the
coast of China. The capital city of Taiwan is Taipei. Tawian is
NOT recognized as a separate entity or country by the United Nations (U.N.) and other countries such as the United States of America (USA). The People's Republic of China (Mainland China or PRC) considers Taiwan to be a Renegade Province. People's Republic of China sees Taiwan as part of their territory. Only a few countries see Taiwan as a separate country from Mainland China.
In the mid-16 century, the Portuguese came to Taiwan and called it Ilha Formosa aka "Beautiful Island".
Back on February 28, 1947 was a terrible event that happened in Taiwanese history. It was the Holocaust of Taiwan.
The date "February 28" is etched into the hearts and minds of the Taiwanese people like the word "Holocaust" in the history of the Jewish people. On that day, 60 years ago in 1947, an incident took place in Taipei, which led to the massive slaughter of thousands of Taiwanese at the hands of Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese troops.
The event was the beginning of 40 years of repressive martial law on the island, during which Chiang's Kuomintang mainlanders ruled the Taiwanese with an iron fist. This ended only in 1987, when martial law was lifted, and Taiwan started to move towards democratization.
Click here about the "Wùshè Incident" which was the biggest and the last rebellion against Japanese colonial forces in Taiwan, resulting in a massacre of Atayal tribespeople in 1930.
The cause of the rebellion is attributed to Japanese policy toward Taiwanese natives. In Japanese policy, Taiwanese tribal natives were classified as "aboriginal", and a separate lower class in comparison to the Komin (imperial citizens). Forced resettlement, oppression of tribal practices as well as forced labour and exploitation by Japanese police forces caused a large amount of hostility towards the Japanese, particularly their police forces, from the native tribes.
Seediq Bale trailer - English subtitles
Formosa Betrayed movie trailer
Please check out Ignite Birmingham 3 presentation about Formosa Betrayed
This treaty signed by Japan in San Francisco in 1951 proves that Taiwan is a separate country and nation from the People's Republic of China (PRC).
Click here from the San Francisco Peach Treaty which ended World War 2 with Japan.
Click here to read so more information about Taiwan's Legal Status.
Technically, from the treaty, when Japan surrender Taiwan and the Pescadores islands, the island should have become a US territory but politics got in the way. I blame President Harry Truman (1945-1953) who for his stupid decision, also it was his fault why the USA and the United Nations has a stalemate over what happened in South Korea as well. The US should have defeated the communists and Korea would have been one country instead of 2 countries as it is today.
Click here to learn more about the cultural, art and technical achievements in Taiwan
It is one of Asia's big traders, yet has been diplomatically isolated since the
1970s. China insists that no country can have formal ties with both mainland
China and Taiwan. It has formal diplomatic relations with only 28 countries and
has no seat at the United Nations.
The Chinese nationalist government of President Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan
ahead of the advance of Communists under Mao Zedong in 1949. The
government-in-exile established Taipei as its capital and for decades hoped to
reclaim control over the mainland.
The leadership of mainland China has reserved the right to use force to bring
Taiwan under its control, and has missiles aimed at the island. The military
threat is partly offset by the United States' cooperation with Taipei, and by
the military capacity of Taiwan itself - one of the world's big arms
purchasers.
Taiwan is considered to have achieved an economic miracle, becoming one of the
world's top producers of computer technology. In the early 1990s it made the
transition from an authoritarian one-party state to a democracy.
Source: BBC News
Some Freqently Ask Questions (FAQ) and Facts about Taiwan.
1. Who are these Taiwanese people?
The Taiwanese people are divided into 4 ethnic groups. They are the aborigines,
or earliest inhabitants, Chinese immigrants to Taiwan which splits from Hakka,
came from south China near Hong Kong. The second, the Fukienese, came from
China's Fukien Province directly across the Taiwan Strait. The fourth group is
the Chinese from various parts of mainland China.
2. What are the religious beliefs of Taiwanese people?
The Abrogines practice nature worship and various sacrifices. 65 percent of the
Taiwanese people practice Taiwanese folk religion. But some other religions
practice such Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Also, other religions such as
Protestant Christianity (Dutch), Catholicism (Spanish), and Shinto (Japan) are
also practice here.
3. Who was the last person President of Taiwan before former President Chen Shui-bian
became the new leader in 2000?
The last President of Taiwan was Lee Teng-hui. President Lee was born on
January 15, 1923, at Sanchih, a rural community on the outskirts of
Taipei. He recieved a scholarship to study agricultural econonimcs at Iowa
State University, Iowa, USA in 1952. He received a doctoral degree in 1965 at
Cornell University, Pennsylvania, USA. In 1996, he became the first Republic of
China's (Taiwan) directly elected president. He will be retiring this year
while they have Presidential elections in Taiwan this year (2000 A.D.).
4. On January 1, 2002, Taiwan became the 144th member of the World Trade
Organzation (WTO).
5. Who was the last President of Taiwan (2000-2008)?
Chen Shui-bian won the presidential elections in March 2000, ending more than
50 years of uninterrupted Nationalist (Kuomintang) rule.
He originally supported independence for Taiwan but has been conciliatory
towards mainland China and has spoken in favour of reunification talks.
Chen is leader of the Democratic Progressive Party and a former mayor of
Taipei.
Former Prime minister: Yu Shyi-kun
Former Finance minister: Lee Yung-san
Former Economics minister: Lin Yi-fu
Source: BBC News
Editorial Opinion on the topic of Taiwan - My personal opinions
Disclaimer: Please understand that these are my opinions on the issue of Taiwan.
First off, I will start off with a history lesson about Taiwan.
Back on August 1, 1894, there was a war between Mainland China (Ch'ing Dynasty) versus the Empire of Japan. I will not bore with you with all the details.
I would recommend you all to do your own research and make your own opinions. The war ended on April 17, 1895. China had lost the war.
As a concession, Japan occupied the island of Taiwan.
Now, I'm not going to say it was great or awesome to be ruled by Japan.
The Japanese people still held back the Taiwanese from getting into politics since the Japanese were in control of Taiwan.
However, the Japanese, overall, treated the Taiwanese people the best they could during those times.
Also, you cannot compare our standards over 150 years ago. The Japanese developed their infrastucture,
such as road, their educational system, their military though under Japanese rule, medicine and built buildings where the Presidental Office is today.
After the Japanese lost the world war to the USA and its allies, Japan gave up Taiwan and retun back to the USA.
Back on Mainland China, the Kuomintang military under Chiang Kai-shek who just finished World War II had to deal with a civil War
with Communist China under the leadership of Mao Zedong. Chiang Kai-shek and his followers retreated to the island of Taiwan.
Chiang Kai-shek and his followers were only using Taiwan as a temporary solution and wanted to take back control of Mainland China eventually.
The Taiwanese people were open to Chiang Kai-Shek and his group yet over time mistreated the Taiwanese people.
Chiang Kai-Shek arrived in Taipei, Taiwan on December 10, 1949.
A good example of how Chiang Kai-shek's group mistreated the Taiwanese people happened on February 28, 1947 where many Taiwanese people were tortured and killed by the Chiang Kai-Shek and the Kuomintang group.
Information on this date is listed earlier on this page, somewhat near the top.
Currently, Taiwan is divided up into 2 major political groups though there are some minor political groups.
It is divided as the PAN-GREEN (DPP) and PAN-BLUE (KMT) political parties.
Politically, the northern part of Taiwan is the under PAN-BLUE (KMT) section while the PAN-GREEN (DPP) controls the southern part of Taiwan.
Mainland China has considered Taiwan a renegade province ever since Mao
Tse-tung's Communists forced Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists off the mainland in
1949. China was also angered by Taiwan's drive to raise its political profile
through a visit to the United States by President Lee Teng-hui in 1995. China
staged a series of military exercises near the island and launched missiles,
raising tensions to their worst level since the height of the Cold War. Since
then the relationship has warmed somewhat. The return of Hong Kong to Chinese
rule in 1997 was seen by some as a test case for one day bringing Taiwan under
the authority of Beijing. However, Taipei has displayed no willingness to
pursue such a course. China has repeatedly threatened to use force against the
island if it declares independence.
Source: CNN.com
Information about the Political Parties in Taiwan
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
It is a major political party in Taiwan which has traditionally been associated with the pan-green coalition and Taiwan independence although it has moderated its stance as it has gained control of the presidency. The DPP is a member of Liberal International and a founding member of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats. It represents Taiwan in the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation. While the DPP is often classified as liberal and its opposition as conservative, these classifications do not necessarily correlate to views regarding such issues as economic policy or the role of government in society.
Kuomintang Party (KMT) aka The Chinese Nationalist Party
It is a centre-right political party in the Republic of China on Taiwan, and is currently the largest political party in terms of sitting Legislative Yuan and public membership. Together with the People First Party, it forms what is known as the pan-blue coalition, which leans towards Chinese reunification whereas the pan-green coalition leans towards Taiwan independence. However, both the KMT and the DPP have been forced to moderate their positions and no major party advocates changing the status quo of de facto independence. Kuomintang means "national people's party."
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU)
It is a political party in Taiwan (Republic of China) which advocates Taiwan independence. Unlike the Democratic Progressive Party, its larger companion party in the pan-green coalition, the TSU actively campaigns for the creation of a de jure Republic of Taiwan. It was officially founded on July 24, 2001 and is considered part of the Pan-Green Coalition. The party prided itself on being the first to include "Taiwan" in its name.
People First Party (Taiwan)
It is a conservative political party in the Republic of China on Taiwan. It was founded by James Soong and his supporters after his failed independent bid for the presidency in 2000. Soong is currently the chairman and dominates much of its politics. The name of the party, qinmin, has Confucian connotations.
