Sat May 13, 2006 9:49 pm
A brief history of Taiwan:
The first settlers of Taiwan are believed to have originated from the southern Pacific islands some thousands of years ago. It was not until the 1600s, during the Dutch colonial era, that a significant number of male Hans were recruited from the mainland, one that will become the PRC hundreds years later, to the islands of Formosa (Ilha Formosa, named by Portuguese in 1544). The majority of the population now inhabits Taiwan, is the posterity of the Hans and the aboriginals from the aforementioned migrations.
In 1683, after the Qing Empire had driven out the Dutch, the Manchurian Qing Empire began their rule over the islands of Taiwan. However, they were never able to govern the islands due to poor health and social security issues, and little was done to improve the situation. Taiwan's status further complicates when the Qing Empire loss the Sino-Japanese war in 1895, and the sovereignty of Taiwan was resultantly given to the Japanese hands. Initially, the Taiwanese reacted intensely against the Japanese and its regiment, and the independent government of the Democrat Republic of Taiwan was formed to represent the islands. By 1902, approximately 14,000 Taiwanese were killed by the Japanese, and the resistance eventually died down. However, with Japan's totalitarian rule, the Japanese managed to develop Taiwan's economy, lift agricultural output, stabilise the legal system, and mend social security and health issues.
Further upheavals were brought upon the islands when Japan was defeated in the Second World War. The US and the UK had decided that Taiwan should then be under the management of their ally, the Chinese National Party (KMT)'s Republic of China (ROC), which was then in control of most of China. The ROC was accepted into the United Nation (UN) in 1945. However, three years later in a civil war against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the KMT was defeated and fled with its two million remnants to the islands of Taiwan. Consequently, the PRC was established over the mainland in the same year.
Although KMT's minority population (referred to as Mainland Chinese) accounts for only 14% of the islands', the party's authoritarianism allowed the nationalists to stabilise power in Taiwan. Thousands of Taiwanese were killed during the process (White Terror, 228 Massacre, etc.), and many were imprisoned, including the current president and vice president of Taiwan (Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu, respectively). With KMT's governance, Taiwan's freedom of press, civil rights, economy, health, and education went under serious crisis. With the death of the former KMT chairman in 1975, his son Chiang Chin-kuo inherited an effective dictatorship to become the president. In 1988, Chiang Chin-kuo died of diabetes and the vice president at the time, succeeded to become the first Taiwanese president after centuries of colonisation in Taiwan. Under Lee Teng-hui's rule, Taiwan was introduced the electoral system, and most importantly, shifted toward democracy. In the 2000 presidential election, the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP)'s Chen Shui-bian became the second Taiwanese president, and peacefully ending KMT's 50-year monopoly of power. President Chen was re-elected in the 2004 election.
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My point of view is that KMT's occupation of Taiwan is unwelcomed and unlawful, likewise with the government (ROC) they set up on the islands. The sovereignty of Taiwan should be determined by the Taiwanese people. That said, most of the people that do support the KMT (thus ROC) are Mainland Chinese who have immigrated to Taiwan soon after the arrival of the KMT, and they only account for 14% of the Taiwan population.
I am aware that this topic has died years ago, but I nonetheless feel the need to inform others about the complications of Taiwan. Taiwan was never part of the PRC, and the PRC's claim over Taiwan on the basis of 'shared history' is ridiculous (imagine North Korea claiming South Korea).
I am happy with the choice of 'Taiwan' and not 'Taiwan, ROC' because to many Taiwanese, 'ROC' is the reminder of the terrors in the KMT's dictatorial era.
Eric
More pointless posts by Eric.