Taiwan Historical and Political Background
Pre-1895
1895-1945 1946 1949 5.19.1949 1971 1979 1980s 1986 1987 Post 1987 |
Taiwan is part of China’s Qing Dynasty after being controlled by the Dutch in the 17th century, before of which Taiwan was inhabited by Aboriginal Tribes, later joined by Han Chinese who came over from mainland China.
Japanese Colonization A civil war resumed between forces loyal to the Nationalist government of the Kuomingtang (KMT) party, led by Chiang Kai-shek, and forces of the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong. The Communist forces won and founded the People’s Republic of China. Chiang and the defeated KMT party fled to Taiwan and continued to use the name “Republic of China”, which was the official name of China after the 1911 overthrow of the Qing Dynasty. As many as 2 million nationalist Chinese, including military veterans nad their families from all over China, retreated to Taiwan. The two opposigin states both claimed to be the legitimate government of China. Most of the world recognized Chiang’s regime, and the United States was Taiwan’s staunch ally. To suppress Communist and Taiwanese independence activities, the KMT decreed martial law in Taiwan on May.19.1949. The KMT government convinced the wave of immigrants that it was going to stage a counterattack against mainland China, allowing the residents to return there soon. However, this plan was never carried out. The blackout between the two sides was complete, forbidding travel and transport of goods and mail. Any attempt at communication was a serious offense and violators were often branded as spies. The United Nations and its Security Council switched recognition of the name “China” from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic and gave Taiwan’s UN seat to the Communist regime. The United States severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan, because the U.S. held hat there was only one China, and that China was represented by the People’s Republic of China. Since then, Taiwan gradually lost almost all of its diplomatic associations with other countries. In 1978, Chiang Ching-kuo succeeded his father, Chinag Kai-shek, as ruler of Taiwan. In the late 1970s, scholars and activists began to question the government’s propaganda about regaining the mainland and recognizing only Chinese identity. With economic development in the 1970s and 1980s, Taiwan became wealthy, its economy blooming as one of the four “dragons” in East Asia, along with Japan, South Korea and Singapore. The attendant, social change, especially the impact of invreasingly frequent communications between Taiwan and the West, confused residents of Taiwan about where they actually belonged. Taiwanese intellectuals began to fight the political repression brought by martial law and to embrace traditional Taiwanese cultural symbols. On Sep 28th, 1986, a new political party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was founded. Rooted in opposition to the KMT’s authoritarian rule, it denied the KMT’s “One China” stance and claimed that Taiwan belonged only to the Taiwanese people. Taiwan, the DPP asserted, was a separate nation, not China, nor even part of China and the KMT government was yet another foreign power that had colonized Taiwan. As Taiwanese consciousness awakened, some leftists in the DPP even wanted to eradicate all of their Chinese ties, while the KMT treasured their Chinese roots. These two camps, with their different ways of viewing Taiwanese identity, caused political tensions on the island that last to this day. Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law, bringing to close restrictions against travel to mainland China and the decades-long blackout in communication between the two countries. Taiwan is now a democratic society with direct election of its President. Though formally recognized diplomatically by only a few countries (still due to the “One China” policy), Taiwan has economic and cultural ties with most countries, and a citizen with a Taiwan passport can now travel to over 100 countries in the world without a visa. Ties with China have been greatly enhanced, to the joy and dismay of different parties. |