User:DownUnder555/sandbox/Taiwan Island

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• Rewrite intro
• History should focus less on the government/politics

The tobacco leaf shaped Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east but gradually changes to gently sloping plains in the west. Penghu Islands (the Pescadores) are to the west of Taiwan. (Satellite photo by NASA)

The location of Taiwan

DownUnder555/sandbox/Taiwan Island Portal

Taiwan Island (Traditional Chinese: 臺灣 or 台灣; Simplified Chinese: 台湾; Hanyu Pinyin: Táiwān; Wade-Giles: T'ai-wan; Taiwanese: Tâi-oân) is an island in East Asia, but the term Taiwan is also commonly used to collectively refer to the territories governed by the Republic of China (ROC), which include the island of Taiwan, Lanyu (Orchid Island) and Green Island in the Pacific coast off the Taiwan island, the Pescadores in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and Matsu off the coast of mainland Fujian. The main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa (from the Portuguese Ilha Formosa, meaning "beautiful island"), is located at 22°57′N 120°12′E, in East Asia off the coast of mainland China, south of Japan and north of the Philippines. It is bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean, to the south by the South China Sea and the Luzon Strait, to the west by the Taiwan Strait and to the north by the East China Sea. The island is 394 kilometers (245 miles) long and 144 kilometers (89 miles) wide and consists of steep mountains covered by tropical and subtropical vegetation.

The legal status of the ROC and the right of the Taiwanese to declare formal Taiwan independence is contested by the People's Republic of China (PRC), which considers Taiwan to be part of its own territory and to be eventually reunified with mainland China.

[edit] Geography

Taroko National Park

Main article: Geography of Taiwan

The island of Taiwan lies some 200 kilometers off the southeastern coast of China, across the Taiwan Strait, and has an area of 35,801 square kilometers (13,823 square miles), with the East China Sea to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Luzon Strait directly to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest. The island is characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of rugged mountains running in five ranges from the northern to the southern tip of the island, and the flat to gently rolling plains in the west that are also home to most of Taiwan's population. Taiwan's highest point is the Yu Shan at 3,952 meters, while there are 5 other peaks over 3,500 meters. This makes it the world's 7th highest island.

Taiwan's climate is marine tropical.^[1] The Northern part of the island has a rainy season that lasts from January to late March during the southwest monsoon, and also experiences "Plum Rains" in May.^[2] The entire island succumbs to hot humid weather from June until September, while October to December are arguably the most pleasant times of year. The Middle to South of the island do not have an extended Monsoon during the winter months, however can experience several weeks of rain, especially during and after Lunar New Year. Natural hazards such as typhoons and earthquakes^[3] are common in the region.

Taiwan is a center of bird endemism. See Endemic Birds of Taiwan for further information.

[edit] Environment and Pollution

With its high population density and many factories, some areas in Taiwan suffer from heavy pollution. Most notably are the southern suburbs of Taipei and the eastern stretch from Tainan to Lin Yuan, South of Kaohsiung. In the past, Taipei suffered from extensive vehicle and factory air pollution; however, with mandatory use of unleaded gasoline and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, the air quality of Taiwan has improved dramatically.^[4] The motor scooters which are ubiquitous in Taiwan, especially older or cheaper 2-stroke versions, also contribute disproportionately to air pollution in Taiwan.

Land and soil pollution has decreased as Taiwanese industry moves out of heavy industry; however, several toxic sites leftover mainly by foreign companies operating factories in Taiwan continue to pose challenges. Solid waste disposal has become less of a problem as a nation-wide recycling movement has taken hold, especially with support from Buddhist charity organizations.

Water pollution remains a largely unameliorated problematic issue. Nearly 90% of sewage waste in Taiwan is dumped into waterways untreated. Several rivers are so heavily polluted that it would take a politically infeasible amount of money (billions of dollars) to clean them.

[edit] Natural resources

Taiwan has few natural resources. Fishing is a big industry, but its international quotas have been cut.

[edit] Energy resources

Taiwan has significant coal deposits and some insignificant oil and gas deposits. Electrical power generation consists of nearly 50% oil-based power, less than 10% natural gas, less than 10% nuclear power, and about 35% hydroelectric power, with the difference made up with renewable energy sources. Nearly all oil and gas for transporation and power needs must be imported, making Taiwan particularly sensitive to fluctations in energy prices. Because of this, Taiwan's Executive Yuan is pushing for 10% of energy generation to come from renewable energy by 2010, double from a current figure of approximately 5%. In fact, several wind-farms built by American and German companies have come online or will in the near future. Taiwan is rich in wind-energy resources, both on-shore and off-shore, though limited land area makes development of offshore wind resources more feasible. Solar energy, to an extent, is also a potential resource. By promoting renewable energy, Taiwan's government hopes to also aid the nascent renewable energy manufacturing industry, which hopes to develop into an export market.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Taiwan

The Puyuma's moon-shaped monolith, ca. 1896

[edit] Prehistory and early settlement

Evidence of human settlement in Taiwan dates back 30,000 years, although the first inhabitants of Taiwan may have been genetically distinct from any groups currently on the island. About 4,000 years ago, ancestors of current Taiwanese aborigines settled Taiwan. These aborigines are genetically related to Malay and Polynesians, and linguists classify their language as Austronesian. ^[5] Records indicate that Han Chinese settled in Penghu since the 1100s, but it was not until later that people other than aborigines permanently settled in the main island of Taiwan. ^{[citation needed]}

Records from ancient China indicate that Han Chinese might have known of the existence of the main island of Taiwan since the Three Kingdoms period (third century), having assigned offshore islands in the vicinity names like Greater and Minor Liuqiu (Ryukyu in Japanese), though none of these names have been definitively matched to the main island of Taiwan. It has been claimed but not verified that the Ming Dynasty admiral Zheng He visited Taiwan between 1403 and 1424.

In 1544, a Portuguese ship sighted the main island of Taiwan and dubbed it "Ilha Formosa", which means "Beautiful Island." The Portuguese made no attempt to colonize Taiwan. In 1624, the Dutch established a commercial base on Taiwan and began to import workers from Fujian and Penghu as laborers, many of whom settled.The Dutch made Taiwan a colony with its colonial capital at Tayoan City (present day Anping, Tainan). The Dutch military presence was concentrated at a stronghold called Castle Zeelandia. ^[6] The Dutch colonists also started to hunt the native Formosan Sika deer (Cervus nippon taioanus) that inhabited Taiwan, contributing to the eventual extinction of the subspecies on the island. ^[7] The name Taiwan derives from Tayoan, meaning "I" in one of the Formosan languages.

[edit] Koxinga and imperial Chinese rule

Ming naval and troop forces defeated the Dutch in 1662, subsequently expelling the Dutch government and military from the island. They were led by Lord Zheng Chenggong (also known as Lord Koxinga or 鄭成功), a pirate turned Ming navy commander. Following the fall of the Ming dynasty, Zheng retreated to Taiwan as a self-styled Ming loyalist, and established the Kingdom of Tungning (1662–1683). Cheng establishing his capital at Tainan and he and his heirs, Zheng Jing (鄭經) who ruled from 1662-82 and his son Zheng Ke-Shuang (鄭克塽), who served less than a year, continued to launch raids on the east coast of mainland China well into the Qing dynasty in an attempt to recover the mainland.

In 1683, the Qing dynasty defeated the Zheng holdout, and formally annexed Taiwan, placing it under the jurisdiction of Fujian province. Following the defeat of Zheng's grandson to an armada led by Admiral Shi Lang, Zheng's followers were expatriated to the farthest reaches of the Qing Empire, leaving approximately 7,000 Han on Taiwan. The Qing government wrestled with its Taiwan policy to reduce piracy and vagrancy in the area, which led to a series of edicts to manage immigration and respect aboriginal land rights. Illegal immigrants from Fujian continued to enter Taiwan as renters of the large plots of aboriginal lands under contracts that usually involved marriage, while the border between taxpaying lands and "savage" lands migrated east, with some aborigines 'Sinicizing' while others retreated into the mountains. The bulk of Taiwan's population today claim descent from these immigrants. During this time, there were a number of conflicts involving Han Chinese from different regions of China, and between Han Chinese and aborigines.

In 1887, the Qing government upgraded Taiwan's status from that of being a prefecture of Fujian to one of province itself, the 20th in the country, with capital at Taipei. The move was accompanied by a modernization drive that included the building of the first railroad and the beginning of a postal service in Taiwan. ^[8]

[edit] Japanese rule

The building currently known as the ROC Presidential Office was originally built as the Office of the Governor-General by the Japanese colonial government.

Following its defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), Qing China ceded Taiwan and Penghu (the Pescadores) to Japan in perpetuity, on terms dictated by the latter. Inhabitants wishing to remain Chinese subjects were given a 2-year grace period to sell their property and move to the mainland.^{[citation needed]}

On May 25, 1895, the Republic of Formosa was formed with a dynastic name of "Forever Qing" ("Qing" or "Ch'ing" referring to the dynastic name of China at the time: Great Qing Empire) and with capital at Tainan, to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital and quelled this resistance on October 21, 1895. As opposed to elsewhere in Asia, most notably Korea, Japan never tried to fully assimilate Taiwan culturally. Instead, they attempted to use Taiwan as a model colony and were instrumental in the industrialization of the island; they extended the railroads and other transportation networks that had just sprung up during late Q'ing rule, built an extensive sanitation system and revised the public school system, among other things. Still, the ethnic Chinese and Taiwanese aborigines were classified as second- and third-class citizens. Large-scale violence continued in the first decade of rule. Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the Japanese Empire. By 1945, just before Japan lost World War II, desperate plans were put in place to incorporate popular representation of Taiwan into the Japanese Diet to make Taiwan an integral part of Japan proper. ^{[citation needed]}

Japan's rule of Taiwan came to an end with its defeat in World War II. Its signing of the Instrument of Surrender on August 15, 1945, signaled that Taiwan was to be returned to China, one of the Allied objectives from the wartime declarations. On October 25, 1945, ROC troops, representing the Allied Command, accepted the formal surrender of Japanese military forces in Taihoku (today: Taipei). However, due to the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communists, the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty between Japan and the Allies stipulated the United States as the main occupying power of Taiwan while not naming the recipient of Taiwan's sovereignty, which Chiang Kai-Shek, President of ROC, refused to accept. PRC was not invited to the treaty because of the Korean War. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Dictatorship under the Kuomintang

ROC National Assembly delegates with Chiang Kai-shek in 1946, 3 years before moving the central government to Taiwan. There is little evidence that the people of Taiwan actually participated in electing these delegates.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei

The ROC administration, led by Chiang Kai-shek, announced October 25, 1945, as "Taiwan Retrocession Day" (臺灣光復節). At first, they were reportedly greeted as liberators by the people of Taiwan. However, the ROC military administration on Taiwan under Chen Yi was generally unstable and corrupt; it seized property and set up government monopolies of many industries. These problems, compounded with hyperinflation, unrest due to the Chinese Civil War, and distrust due to political, cultural and linguistic differences between the Taiwanese and the Mainland Chinese, quickly led to the loss of popular support for the new administration. ^[9] This culminated in a series of severe clashes between the ROC administration and Taiwanese, in turn leading to the bloody 228 incident and the reign of White Terror. ^[10]

At the same time, the Chinese Civil War was in progress. In 1949, Chiang's Kuomintang (Nationalist Party or KMT), which at the time controlled the government of the ROC, retreated to Taiwan after its defeat on mainland China at the hands of the Communist Party of China. Some 1.3 million refugees from mainland China, consisting primarily of soldiers, KMT party members, and other wealthy mainlanders, arrived in Taiwan around that time. From this period on, Taiwan was governed by a party-state dictatorship, with the KMT as the ruling party. Military rule continued and little to no distinction was made between the government and the party, with "public property", government property, and party property being interchangeable. Government workers and party workers were also indistinguishable, with government workers, such as teachers, required to become KMT members, and party workers paid salaries and promised retirement benefits along the lines of government employees. In addition all other parties were outlawed, and political opponents were persecuted to the point of executions and incarceration.

Initially, the United States abandoned the KMT and expected that Taiwan would fall to the Communists. However, in 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, and in the context of the Cold War, US President Harry S. Truman intervened again and dispatched the 7th Fleet into the Taiwan Straits to "neutralize" the Straits. ^[11] In the San Francisco Peace Treaty, which came into force on April 28, 1952, and the Treaty of Taipei, concluded hours before that date, Japan formally renounced all right, claim and title to Formosa (Taiwan) and the Pescadores (Peng-hu), and renounced all treaties signed with China before 1942. Both treaties remained silent about who would take control of the island, in part to avoid taking sides in the Chinese Civil War. Advocates of Taiwan independence have used this omission to call into question any legal claims on Taiwan, and arguing that the future of Taiwan should be decided by self-determination.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Taiwan began to develop into a prosperous and dynamic economy, becoming one of the East Asian Tigers while maintaining the authoritarian, single-party government. Because of the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the Republic of China government on Taiwan as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s, when most nations began switching recognition to the Communists' People's Republic of China on the mainland.^[12]

[edit] Democratic transition

After Chiang Kai-shek's death in 1975, Vice President Yen Chia-kan briefly took over from 1975 to 1978 according to the Constitution, but actual power was in hands of the Premier of the Executive Yuan, Chiang Ching-kuo, who was KMT chairman and a son of Chiang Kai-shek. During the presidency of Chiang Ching-kuo from 1978 to 1988, Taiwan's political system began to undergo gradual liberalization. Martial law, which had been in effect since 1948, was lifted in 1987, and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party was formed and allowed to participate overtly in politics. After Chiang Ching-kuo died in 1988, Vice President Lee Teng-hui succeeded him as the first Taiwan-born president of the ROC and chairman of the KMT. One-party rule lost its effective dominance with the continuation of peaceful social and political reforms. Lee became the first ROC president elected by popular vote in 1996.

In 2000, Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party won the Presidential election, marking the first ever peaceful democratic transition of power to an opposition party in Chinese history and a decisive end to the KMT's monopoly in administration of the central government. ^[13] After surviving a politically controversial assassination attempt the night before the 2004 election, Chen was re-elected to his second four-year term by an extremely slim margin. ^[14] Today, both parties have moderated their positions, with both the KMT and the DPP appearing to support maintenance of the status quo in the short term. However, Chen's recent executive order that the National Unification Council "cease to function" is criticized by some of his opponents as dangerous in terms of cross-strait policy and neglectful of the economic needs of Taiwan. See also

• Timeline of Taiwanese history
• History of the Republic of China
• History of China

[edit] References

[edit] See also

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

List of Taiwan-related topics (by category) Cinema of Taiwan Communications in the Republic of China Demographics of Taiwan Economy of Taiwan Literature of Taiwan Music of Taiwan Taiwanese cuisine Taiwanese language Taiwanese photography Timeline of Taiwanese history

Taiwanese aborigine Transportation in the Republic of China Chinese cultural world Political divisions of the Republic of China List of cities in Taiwan Taipei - capital city Kaohsiung Taichung Tainan

DownUnder555/sandbox/Taiwan Island Portal

[edit] External links