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Taiwan Overview

explanatory Essay
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1498 words
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Taiwan Overview

Taiwan is a small island country located east of China. It is also commonly known as the Republic of China, Taiwan is best known for overthrowing communist Chinese rule and becoming an independent, democratic country. While many Americans do not possess much knowledge about his island, its history and other facts can be truly interesting.

The modern history of Taiwan begins in the last decade of the 16th century when a Portuguese ship passed the island and the crew dubbed the island "Ilha Formosa" which translates into "beautiful island". The Dutch ended up with control over the island until 1662 when a Chinese pirate defeated them. Unfortunately, the Chinese did not wish to rule the island. For the next two hundred years, rule over Taiwan fluctuated between the Manchu empire of China and the indigenous people of Taiwan. Finally, in 1887, the Manchu authorities declared Taiwan a "province" of China. This was done to attempt to out maneuver Japan who was collecting territory in south Asia. Unfortunately, this did not work as Japan defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War and Taiwan was ceded to Japanese rule. The Chinese regained control of Taiwan during World War II in 1943 when the Allied Powers decided to allow Taiwan to be returned to Chinese rule. In the early 1950s, the United Nations' Charter backed up a provision in the San Francisco Peace Treaty that ended World War II that Taiwanese citizens would determine the status of their island and who ran it. To this day, China and Taiwan have argued about which country to be in control of the island (Milestones in Taiwan's History, 2006).

Taiwan is a relatively small island situated in East Asia. It is the largest body of land between the Philippines and Japa...

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...untry have persevered through changes in power and transforming to a developed country and have come out stronger than ever. Taiwan will continue to be a strong country that can handle almost anything is coming its way.

Reference Page

CIA (2007, April 17). The World Factbook-Taiwan. Retrieved May 11, 2007, from https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tw.html#Econ

U.S. Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2007, April). Taiwan. Retrieved May 11, 2007, from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35855.htm

Government Information Office, Republic of China (2007, April 12). Taiwan. Retrieved May 11, 2007, from http://www.gio.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=32730&ctNode=2589

New Taiwan, Ilha Formosa (2007,March 22). Taiwan's 200 Years of History: Important Milestones from the Early 1600s to the Present. Retrieved May 12, 2007 from http://www.taiwandc.org/hst-1624.htm

In this essay, the author

  • Explains taiwan is a small island country located east of china. it is best known for overthrowing communist chinese rule and becoming an independent, democratic country.
  • Explains that taiwan's modern history began in the 16th century when a portuguese ship passed the island and the crew dubbed it "ilha formosa".
  • Explains taiwan is run by a multiparty democracy that is housed in the capital, taipei. it is divided into counties and also includes several smaller islands located nearby.
  • States that taiwan is a relatively small island situated in east asia. it is the largest body of land between the philippines and japan.
  • Explains that taiwan has four major political parties, including the kuomintang, people first party, and taiwan solidarity union.
  • Cites the u.s. bureau of east asian and pacific affairs and the government information office, republic of china.
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