What is taiwan

Last September, Washington sent the highest-level state department official in decades to visit the island. Beijing strongly criticised the meeting, warning the US "not to send any wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence' elements to avoid severe damage to China-US relations". During the controversial visit, China conducted a live-fire military exercise in the waterway that separates the island from the mainland.

This year, President Joe Biden's administration has said its commitment to Taiwan is "rock solid". In the first few days of Mr Biden's presidency, Taiwan reported a "large incursion" by Chinese warplanes over two days. Then on 12 April, the Taiwanese government said China flew the largest number of military jets into its air defence zone for a year.

There is disagreement and confusion about what Taiwan is. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which it has vowed to retake, by force if necessary. But Taiwan's leaders say it is clearly much more than a province, arguing that it is a sovereign state.

It has its own constitution, democratically-elected leaders, and about , active troops in its armed forces. Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China ROC government, which fled the mainland to Taiwan in , at first claimed to represent the whole of China, which it intended to re-occupy. Since then the number of countries that recognise the ROC government diplomatically has fallen drastically to about Given the huge divide between these two positions, most other countries seem happy to accept the current ambiguity, whereby Taiwan has virtually all of the characteristics of an independent state, even if its legal status remains unclear.

While political progress has been slow, links between the two peoples and economies have grown sharply. Some Taiwanese people worry their economy is now dependent on China. Others believe that closer business ties make Chinese military action less likely, because of the cost to China's own economy.

A controversial trade agreement sparked the "Sunflower Movement" in , where students and activists occupied Taiwan's parliament protesting against what they called China's growing influence over Taiwan. A March opinion poll commissioned by the Taiwanese government shows that currently the majority of Taiwanese support the DPP government's approach in "safeguarding national sovereignty". The Dutch East India Company establishes a base in southwestern Taiwan, initiating a transformation in aboriginal grain production practices and employing Chinese laborers to work on its rice and sugar plantations.

Spanish adventurers establish bases in northern Taiwan but are ousted by the Dutch in Fleeing the Manchurian conquest of the Ming dynasty , Ming loyalists under Zheng Cheng-gong, or Koxinga, drive out the Dutch from Taiwan and establish authority over the island. Following defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War , the Qing government signs the Treaty of Shimonoseki, by which it cedes sovereignty over Taiwan to Japan, which rules the island until The ROC, U.

In March and the following months, ROC troops dispatched from China suppress a large-scale uprising of Taiwan residents sparked by the February 28 Incident. This begins the period of White Terror that lasts until when the Temporary Provisions are lifted. All treaties, conventions and agreements concluded before Dec. The creation of such zones propels Taiwan toward becoming a developed nation, setting a paradigm for other countries to follow.

The nine-year compulsory education system is launched at a time when fewer than nine countries globally have compulsory education systems of this length or more. In , Kiribati and the Solomon Islands both switched their recognition of Taiwan to China within a week. After losing two more countries, only 14 of the UN countries recognize Taiwan, plus the Holy See. Countries That Recognize Taiwan Is Taiwan a Country? The Pan-Green Coalition regards Taiwan as an independent, sovereign state, opposes reunification with China, and seeks wide diplomatic recognition.

This does not mean that other countries do not recognize Taiwan as a country. Countries that Recognize Taiwan The first country to recognize Taiwan is the Holy See, which declared its recognition in Show Source. With the Japanese retreat from Taiwan in , the incoming Republic of China Taiwan government established Taipei City and Keelung City into provincial administrative municipalities while making the rest of then Taipei region into Taipei County.

Taoyuan is a melting pot of different cultures including Hakka, Minnan, mainlander Chinese immigrants, indigenous people, and new immigrants. The Qing court initially included Taiwan as a part of Fujian province, but decided in the late 19 th century to establish Taiwan as a province in its own right. Originally separate administrative regions, Taichung County was incorporated into Taichung City in , making it the second-largest of Taiwan's five special municipalities with a population of around 2.

Occupying a broad plain framed by high mountains to the east and the sea to the west, Taichung has developed as a critical hub for road, rail, sea and air transport connecting the region to all other parts of Taiwan. The city is made up of 29 administrative districts, each boasting uniquely distinctive cultural and natural landscapes, the legacy of centuries of diverse immigration and organic development, and giving the city a thriving cultural scene marked by a broad array of local and international events.

Today, Tainan covers nearly square kilometers and is home to nearly 1. A walk around Tainan is like stepping back in time, and emphasizes the importance of traditional religion in Taiwanese life. Tainan is also famous for its street food scene, and is one of the few instances of street snacks to earn a mention in the Michelin Green Guide.

Dishes unique to or originating from Tainan include fresh and tasty beef soup, rice cakes with dried fish and braised pork on top or aromatic steamed rice cake. Today, Kaohsiung is a thriving metropolis spread over nearly square kilometers and with a population of nearly 2.