Taiwan is an island country in East Asia, not recognized by the UN. His government officially calls the country “Republic of China”. Its territory is formed by the Formosa Island, the Fishermen Archipelago and dozens of other small islands. There are 23.5 million residents (2016). The capital is Taipei. The Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, established a trading post and named Ilha Formosa. At that time, the Iberian Union was in force, so Spaniards also settled on the island and dominated the northern part until 1646, when they were expelled by the Dutch. From 1662, the Chinese took control of the Island. From 1895, after the Sino-Japanese war, until the end of World War II, Formosa was under the control of Japan. In 1949, mainland China was dominated by the communists, led by Mao Zedong. About 2 million Chinese, led by Chiang Kai-shek, took refuge in Taiwan. Taiwan, as the Republic of China, was one of the founders of the UN and one of five members with veto power. The UN considered the government of Taiwan to be the legitimate government of the whole of China. In 1971, with support from the USA, Taiwan was replaced by the Beijing Communist government, leaving it without representation at the UN. Tensions between China and Taiwan continue, each of the two governments claiming to be the legitimate representative of the whole of China.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER: Offers three letter and two letter abbreviations for the country of Taiwan. Also covers country profile such as geography, society and economy.
Yearbook 2000
Taiwan. In March, Chen Shuibian was elected Taiwan’s new president. Chen, who was the Democratic Progress Party candidate, received 39.3% of the vote. Closely in second place was independent candidate James Soong with 36.8%, while the ruling party of Guomindang, Vice President Lien Chan, came in third with 23.1%.
Chen’s party had pushed the line that Taiwan should declare itself independent of China. Shortly before the election, Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji issued a warning to Taiwanese residents not to make a mistake in “the local elections”. By voting for a more independent people, they could “trigger a war,” Zhu said. But Chen himself said both before and after the election that he did not intend to declare Taiwan independently unless China militarily attacks the island. After the presidential election, Taiwan’s popular assembly, the yuan, decided for the first time in half a century to allow direct transport between Taiwan’s outlying islands and the Chinese mainland.
China’s reaction to the choice of Chen was initially restrained. But when Chen proposed a summit on peace, where all issues would be discussed unconditionally, China’s President Jiang Zemin responded that talks were welcome only when Chen recognized the principle of “a China.” At the end of the year, China’s Deputy Prime Minister instead met with the Vice President of Guomindang. It was the first meeting of its kind in over half a century, and it was interpreted by observers as an attempt by China to isolate Chen.
Prime Minister Tang Fei resigned in October after conflict with President Chen, among others. about Taiwan’s fourth nuclear reactor. The president wanted to cancel the ongoing construction of the reactor, while Tang and his party, Guomindang, demanded the completion of the reactor. Tang was replaced by Chang Chunhsiung, and a few weeks later the government decided that the reactor building should be stopped for safety and environmental reasons. The opposition, which had a majority in Parliament, responded by voting on a law that would make it easier for Parliament to conduct a vote of no confidence in the president.
At the beginning of November, 81 people were killed when a passenger plane crashed in connection with it taking off from Taibei’s airport. The pilot chose a runway that was turned off for repair and the plane ran into construction equipment. Very bad weather prevailed at the accident. A hurricane with accompanying rain and flooding swept across Taiwan, killing at least 32 people in the storm.
Population 2000
According to COUNTRYAAH, the population of Taiwan in 2000 was 21,966,416, ranking number 47 in the world. The population growth rate was 0.560% yearly, and the population density was 620.3481 people per km2.
