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Places in China: Taiwan (Republic of China)

Taiwan, which goes by the name of the Republic of China (ROC), is a large island surrounded by many smaller islands in the East China Sea. It is a tobacco-leaf shaped main island about one hundred miles southeast of mainland China. The major island is about 240 miles long and 85 miles wide.

Taiwan is not officially a province of the People's Republic of China although it is linked to mainland China by its people. The big island of the ROC is around 35,000 square kilometres in size with a population of around twenty-one million people, many of whom are aborigines whose ancestors lived on the island for around 9,000 years. Those people are of Austronesian ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. Generally, those people have mixed to some degree with the Han Chinese who came to Taiwan in more recent times. These native peoples presently make up around two percent of Taiwan's total population. Recently, those Austronesian people have begun involving themselves in tourism for more economic benefits.

Taiwan is about sixty-five percent mountainous with some very nice beaches on some of its shores. These attract mountain-loving visitors to Taiwan. Combining the natural beauty of the islands with the cultural interests, tourism is a strong element for the Taiwanese culture.

The Portuguese noticed the island, which they called Formosa (Beautiful Island), in 1544. The Dutch arrived on the island in 1623 and decided to use it as a commercial base for trade with Japan. Three years later, the Spanish set up a short-lived settlement on the island. The Dutch East India Company began trying to educate the aborigines and teach them romanized script in the 1660s.

Until the 1680s, Taiwan's value and importance were rather disregarded by most Chinese people. Some called the island the 'island of women' or the 'island of dogs'. That was changed after a map of the island was given to the Chinese emperor. This was considered a sign of giving the island to the Chinese government.

In 1661, the Dutch were driven out and a pro-Ming Dynasty base was established in Taiwan. The Qing Dynasty replaced the Ming Dynasty in 1683 and soon began to rule Taiwan as a prefecture. The islands finally became a Chinese province in 1885 after having been a part of Fujian Province since 1875. The Qing government had tried to limit immigration from China's mainland to Taiwan, but by the early 1800s, nearly two million Chinese were living there. The new province was divided into eleven counties.

The result of the Sino-Japanese War of 1895 was the ceding of Taiwan to Japan. Since most of the people on Taiwan were Chinese, a nationalist movement caused those people to feel a closer relationship to mainland China. This war was the culmination of Japanese problems they had experienced for centuries with the aborigine people of Taiwan. Japan ruled Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands for fifty years, until the end of World War II.

Taiwan actually grew economically and socially under Japan's domination. Still, the nationalism existed among the Chinese residents of the island. Efforts were made by Japan to create a feeling of being 'Japanese' among the Chinese Taiwanese up until the KMT renounced all treaties that had been signed with the Japanese. This was when the USA entered World War II against Japan in 1942. The Japanese ended their rule in Taiwan in 1945.

From 1930, before World War II, there was dissention between the PRC and the Kuomintang in China. Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China and Mao Zedong of the People's Republic of China's Communist Party were in strong contention. In 1949, the civil war in China ended, and two million refugees fled to Taiwan under Chiang Kei-shek.

After the death of Chiang Kai-shek people had less controls put over them. Still, corruption was a strong element in the ROC. The American aid to Taiwan ceased in 1965. In 1971, the ROC was expelled from the United Nations, allowing the PRC to be considered the 'real' China.

The rule of the KMT (Kuomintang Party) came to an end in the 2000 presidential election when Chen Shui-bian became Taiwan's president. The major concern in Taiwan is the choice between independence and unification.