Taiwan - tīˈwänˈ, Portuguese Formosa, officially Republic of China, island nation (1995 est. pop. 21,501,000), 13,885 sq mi (35,961 sq km), in the Pacific Ocean, separated from the mainland of S China by the 100-mi-wide (161-km) Taiwan Strait. Together with many nearby islets, including the Pescadores and the island groups of
Quemoy and
Matsu, it forms the seat of the Republic of China. The provisional capital is
Taipei; Nanjing, on mainland China, is regarded as the official capital of the republic.
Land and People The heavily forested hills and mountains of central and E Taiwan reach their summit at Yu Shan (13,113 ft/3,997 m high); there are about 70 peaks exceeding 10,000 ft (3,048 m). This mountainous area produces some minerals, chiefly gold, silver, copper, and coal, but its main resources are forest products, including valuable hardwoods and natural camphor. Petroleum and natural gas have also been found. The broad coastal plain in the west supports most of the island's population and is the chief agricultural zone. Typhoons are common. Taiwan has a semitropical climate and rainfall ranging from moderate to heavy. In addition to Taipei, other major cities include
Kaohsiung,
Tainan,
Taichung, and
Chilung. The overwhelming majority of the people are Chinese; they generally speak the Mandarin, Amoy, or Hakka dialects. There are also Malayan aborigines living in the mountainous interior. Numerous religions are practiced on Taiwan, including Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, shamanism, and Christianity. Elementary education is compulsory, and educational facilities were greatly improved in the 1950s and 1960s. Economy The island produces abundant food crops, although in recent years agricultural production has decreased due to rising costs and increased competition. Rice is the chief crop, followed by wheat, sugarcane, sweet potatoes, vegetables, fruits, and tea. The island has a sizable fishing fleet. Industry, once concerned mainly with rice and sugar milling, has diversified to include a variety of light and heavy manufactures, increased high-technology businesses, and a growing service sector. Manufacturing accounts for almost 40% of Taiwan's gross domestic product, while service industries contribute 60%. Textile and food processing industries have been supplemented by the production of chemicals, steel, electrical appliances, petrochemicals, machinery, ships, cement, computers and electronics, pharmaceuticals, and communication systems. Most industries are privately run, but the government operates those considered essential to national defense, such as steel and electricity. Railroad and bus lines are also government operated. Taiwan trades chiefly with the United States, Japan, Europe, and China (through Hong Kong). Major exports are computers, electronics, and electrical products, machinery, clothing, textiles, and communications equipment; imports include nonelectrical and electrical machinery, petroleum, iron and steel, precision instruments, and transportation equipment. Government Taiwan's national government is based on the constitution of 1947 (amended in 1992, 1994, and 1997), which was drawn up to govern the whole of China; when the Nationalist government moved to Taiwan in 1949, most countries still recognized it as the government of all China, and it has continued to assert that claim, regarding Taiwan itself as only a province. The national government is made up of five yuan, or branches. The Executive yuan, where most political power rests, is similar to a cabinet and is headed by a popularly elected president; the Legislative yuan, which is elected, handles all legislation; the Judicial yuan is appointed by the president and serves as the highest judicial authority; the Control yuan is in charge of censorship and such political matters as censure and impeachment; and the Examination yuan supervises examinations for government positions. An elected national assembly is empowered to amend the constitution. The dominant political party is the
Kuomintang (KMT; Nationalist party); the Democratic Progressive party, formed in Oct., 1986, is the KMT's main opposition. Theoretically separate from the national government is the government of Taiwan province, which includes all of Taiwan except for the cities of Taipei and Kaohsing. The province is administered by a governor, which in 1994 became an elective post, and a 79-member provincial assembly. History Early History through World War II The earliest Chinese settlements on Taiwan began in the 7th cent., chiefly from the mainland provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. The island was reached in 1590 by the Portuguese, who named it Formosa [=beautiful]. In 1624 the Dutch founded forts in the south at present Tainan, while the Spanish established bases in the north. The Dutch, however, succeeded in expelling the Spaniards in 1641 and assumed control of the entire island. They in turn were forced to abandon Taiwan in 1662, when
Koxinga, a general of the Ming dynasty of China who had to flee from the Manchus, seized the island and established an independent kingdom. However, the island fell to the Manchus in 1683. Chinese immigration increased, and the aboriginal population was gradually pushed into the interior. Japan, attracted by the island's strategic and economic importance, acquired Taiwan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) after the First
Sino-Japanese War. Japan exploited the island for the benefit of the Japanese home economy and tried to establish Japanese as the language of the island. The island was scarcely used, however, for Japanese colonization. Under Japan, Taiwan's economy was modernized and industrialized, railroads were built, and the large cities expanded. During World War II, Taiwan was heavily bombed by U.S. planes. In accordance with the Cairo declaration of 1943 and the Potsdam Conference of 1945, Taiwan was returned to China as a province after the war. Nationalist Rule In 1949, as the Chinese Communists gained complete control of the mainland, the Nationalist government of
Chiang Kai-shek and the remnants of his army took refuge on the island. The Chinese Communists planned an invasion of Taiwan in 1950, but it was thwarted when President Truman ordered the U.S. 7th Fleet to patrol Taiwan Strait. Japan renounced all claims to Taiwan and the Pescadores in the peace treaty of 1951, but Taiwan's territorial status remained a major issue among the great powers. In 1953, President Eisenhower announced the lifting of the blockade of Taiwan by the U.S. navy. In 1955, following repeated attacks by the People's Republic of China against the Nationalist-held islands of Quemoy and Matsu, the United States entered into a mutual security treaty with the Nationalists in which the U.S. promised to defend Taiwan from outside attack. In 1958 there was continuous, intensive shelling of Quemoy and Matsu, and an invasion was again threatened. China reiterated its demands to the island, but the United States reasserted its determination to defend Taiwan, although it stressed that there was no commitment to help the Nationalist government return to the mainland. By the spring of 1959 bombardment of the islands had diminished, but no agreement had been reached. At that time, the Nationalist army was trained and equipped by the United States and there was also a sizable navy and modern air force. In support of Chiang's repeated declaration to free China from the Communists, Taiwan long served as a base for espionage and guerrilla forays into the Chinese mainland and for reconnaissance flights over China. Internally, the Nationalist government implemented land reforms, which improved the lot of the peasants by allowing tenants to purchase their own land; much of it was bought by the government from big landlords and sold to tenant farmers under lenient terms. With U.S. economic aid, Taiwan enjoyed spectacular economic growth after 1950. The aid program was so successful that it became superfluous and was terminated after 1965. Chiang Kai-shek, elected to his fifth six-year term as president in 1972, was criticized for dictatorial methods. Between a native Taiwanese movement for independence and the continuing threat from China, the position of the Nationalist government was far from secure in the 1960s and 70s. Chiang died in 1975 and was replaced as president in 1978 by his son,
Chiang Ching-kuo. China's seat in the United Nations was taken away from the Republic of China and given to the People's Republic in 1971. Taiwan's international position continued to weaken in the early 1970s as the United States sought to improve relations with the People's Republic of China and as more large countries, such as Canada and Japan, moved to recognize the mainland government. The United States established formal diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China on Jan. 1, 1979, which necessitated the cutting of its defense ties with Taiwan. To compensate, the United States passed (1979) the Taiwan Relations Act, which allows for the sale of defensive arms to Taiwan. Taiwan was also expelled (1980) from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in favor of the People's Republic of China. (the country does, however, belong to the World Trade Organization and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). Official social and economic contact is maintained with the United States through the American Institute on Taiwan and the Coordination Council for North American Affairs. Contemporary Taiwan The process of liberalization and democratization increased in Taiwan throughout the 1980s. The government's new openness included the recognition of some of its past actions, such as the Nationalist government's massacre of thousands of native Taiwanese in 1947. Although friction has lessened between the island Chinese, who make up about 85% of the population, and those who came from the mainland, it has remained a |
