TAIWAN

1. TAIWAN Island-Bastion of Nationalist China

2. History • 10,000 years ago Taiwan was inhabited by humans. • 12th Century Bands of Japanese are said to have conquered portions of the island. • 15th Century onward Japan regarded the eastern half of Taiwan as its possession.

3. History • 1590 • The Portuguese became the first known Europeans to visit the island, which they called Formosa(Portuguese: beautiful). • 1622 • The Dutch succeeded in taking possession of P’enghu Islands. • 1625 • The Dutch established ports on the southeastern coast of Taiwan.

4. Chinese Settlement • 1644 Manchus of the northeastern China defeated the Ming dynasty and established the Qing dynasty. • 1661 Taiwan was liberated from the Dutch by the Chinese admiral named Koxinga (Cheng-Cheng Kung) • 1683 The Manchus of China seized the island and held it until 1895. .

5. Japanese Rule • 1885 Taiwan became a regular province of China. • 1895 Taiwan passed to Japan after the first Sino-Japanese war. • 1945 After World War II, Taiwan was restored to China.

6. Bastion of Nationalist China • 1949 The Nationalists under President Chiang Kai-shek, having lost the war against the communist on the mainland, fled to Taiwan. • 1953 The United States helped Chiang to prevent mainland invasion by stationing a fleet in the strait of Formosa. • 1954 Chiang Kai-shek was reelected president of Republic of China.

7. Economic Miracle • 1953 President Chiang began a land reform program which turned the island into one of the best agricultural economies in the world. • Mid-1960’s More than U.S.$4 billion had flowed into Taiwan’s economy. It’s foreign trade boomed. Import doubled and export tripled.

8. Shifting Relations • Early 1970’s • Taiwan’s international situation changed radically. • 1971 • Taiwan lost it’s membership to UN. • 1973 • US President Nixon visited Peking and established partial democratic relations with Communist Chinese government. • 1979 • US broke off diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

9. Shifting Relations • 1980 • US-Taiwan defense treaty of 1954 lapsed. • 1981 • Few nations maintained formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but the island’s international trade suffered little damage.

10. End of the Chiang Dynasty • 1972 Chiang Kai-shek was elected to his 5th term as president. • 1973 President Chiang died at the age of 87. He was succeeded by his VP, Yen Chia-kan. • 1978 His eldest son, Premier Chiang Ching-kuo assumed presidency. He was reelected on 1984.

11. End of the Chiang Dynasty • 1987 On July, Martial Law was finally lifted. • 1988 Chiang Ching-kuo died. He was succeeded by his VP, Lee Teng-hui, who became the 1st native Taiwanese to assume the presidency. • 1990 Lee was elected to a full six- year term and reelected to a four- year term on 1996.

12. End of the Chiang Dynasty • 1991 Taiwan formulated a plan to restructure the government, and a long-term, three-phase plan for reunification with mainland China was introduced. • 1993 Representatives from Taiwan and China met in Singapore to discuss the bilateral relationship and establish a schedule for subsequent meetings between the two governments. • 1995-96 Relations deteriorated as China performed military exercises near Taiwan.

13. 21st Century Taiwan • 2000 Voters in Taiwan elected Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shui-bian president, ending more than 50 years of rule by the KMT and reelected on 2004. • 2001-2004 DPP won the largest number of seats to the legislature.

14. 21st Century Taiwan • 2005 The legislature of the People’s Republic of China passed a law authorizing the use of military force against Taiwan if its government moved toward a formal declaration of independence. • 2008 KMT made a strong political comeback. The KMT delivered a crushing defeat to the DPP, winning 81 of the 113 seats in the legislature. Then in March the KMT’s presidential candidate, Ma Ying-jeou, won 58 percent of the vote.

15. Quick Facts about Taiwan • Official name Chung-hua Min-kuo (Republic of China) • Official Language Mandarin Chinese • Population (2013 est.) 23,361,000 • Total Area sq. mi.=13,973 sq. km.=36,191

16. Quick Facts about Taiwan • Urban-Rural Population Urban: (2012) 59.7% Rural: (2012) 40.3% • Life Expectancy at Birth Male: (2012) 76.2 yrs. Female: (2012) 82.7 yrs. • Capital: Taipei • Ethnic Make-up: Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, indigenous 2%

17. Quick Facts about Taiwan • Religions mixture of Buddhist and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5% • Festivities and Holidays Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese New Year, Feast of Lanterns, National Teachers Day (Confucius birthday)

18. Quick Facts about Taiwan • National Flag The Taiwan flag was officially adopted on October 28, 1928. The white sun on the blue field was the Kuomintang party flag, and the rays represent two hours of each day. The red field represents the Han Chinese race. 

19. Quick Facts about Taiwan • Chinese Taipei Olympic Flag Due to the admission of the PRC in the International Olympic Committee, the ROC was barred to use the ROC National Flag in the Olympics, so the ROC government used a different flag for the Olympics.

20. Quick Facts about Taiwan • National Emblem The National Emblem was adopted in 1947. The design is derived from the Blue Sky with a White Sun Flag, which is the flag of the Kuomintang

21. Quick Facts about Taiwan • National Anthem The National Anthem was adopted in 1937 (de facto), and in 1943 (de jure). The anthem is also known as the San Min-chui (the Three Principles of the People).

22. Quick Facts about Taiwan • National Flower The National Flower was officially designated as the plum blossom on July 21, 1964). It is a symbol for resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity, because plum blossoms often bloom most vibrantly even amidst the harsh winter snow. 

23. Quick Facts about Taiwan • Father of the Nation Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) became the first president of the ROC in 1912, and proposed the Three Principles of the People. 

24. Culture in Taiwan • Cell phones are very popular in Taiwan. Mobile penetration rate stands at just over 100%. Because of their high use, phones in Taiwan have many functions and are becoming cheaper. • Internet cafes are very popular with teenagers. They often sell food. Many gamers eat while using the internet. Many parents and teachers are concerned with the amount of time youth spend in the internet cafes.

25. Culture in Taiwan • English teaching is a big business in Taiwan, with Taiwan, as part of its project to reinvigorate the Taiwan Miracle, aiming to become a trilingual country—fluent in Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English. • Taiwan, like its neighbors in East Asia, is well known for its buxiban, often translated as cram school, and literally meaning "make-up class" or "catch-up class" or to learn more advanced classes. • .

26. Culture in Taiwan • Harmony / Group RelationsThey treat people with respect and dignity regardless of their personal feelings. In order to maintain a sense of harmony, they will act with decorum at all times and not do anything to cause someone else public embarrassment. • The Concept of Face / Mien-tzuThe concept of face is extremely important to the Taiwanese. Face is difficult to translate into words but essential reflects a person's reputation, dignity, and prestige. Face can be lost, saved or given to another person.

27. Culture in Taiwan • Giving FaceFace can be given to people by complimenting them, showing them respect, or doing anything that increases their self-esteem. • Losing FaceYou can cause someone to loose face by causing someone embarrassment, and/or tarnishing their image and reputation. • Saving FaceIn the event that you cause someone to lose face, or someone is embarrassed by circumstances that arise, the best recourse is to appropriate blame for problems that arise.

28. Culture in Taiwan • "Guanxi" – Connections/RelationshipsMost Taiwanese business is conducted among friends, friends of friends, and family. Such connections, or "guanxi" (pronounced gwan-she) are developed with people at your own level or of a higher status in both business and social situations. • Dining EtiquetteThe Taiwanese prefer to entertain in public places rather than in their home, especially when entertaining foreigners. If you are invited to a Taiwanese home, it will happen once you have developed a relationship and should be considered a great honour.

29. Culture in Taiwan • Meeting and Greeting 1. Greetings are formal and the oldest person in a group is always greeted first. 2. Handshakes are the most common form of greeting with foreigners. 3. Many Taiwanese look towards the ground as a sign of respect when greeting someone. 4. You need not follow their example as they understand that westerners tend to smile warmly when introduced. 5. Most greetings include the rhetorical question, "Have you eaten?"

30. Culture in Taiwan 6. The Chinese traditionally have 3 names. The surname, or family name is first and is followed by one or two personal names. 7. Chinese women do not change their names when they marry other Chinese, and the children’s last name will generally follow that of the father. 8. Often their personal names have some poetic or otherwise significant meaning, so asking about the meaning is a good way to break the ice.

31. Culture in Taiwan 9. When you are first meeting a person, address the person by their academic, professional, or honorific title and their surname. 10. If those you are meeting want to move to a first name basis, they will advise you which name to use. 11. Some Chinese adopt more western names in business and may ask you to call them by that name.