Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Taiwan" in English language version.
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Experts agree a direct conflict is unlikely, but as the future of self-ruled Taiwan increasingly becomes a powder keg, a mishap or miscalculation could lead to confrontation while Chinese and American ambitions are at odds.
In Taiwan, the only known Paleolithic burial recovered so far comes from the Xiaoma cave complex in the southeast of the island, this being an adult male buried in a crouched posture about 4000 bce. My research with Matsumura suggests that this individual was of Australo‐Papuan affinity, most closely related with Negrito populations in the Philippines.pp. 234–235.
This study reveals that the Sakishima islanders are not related to Taiwan aborigines, but exhibit affinity with the Hokkaido Ainu. These results confirm that the Austronesian expansion did not contribute to modern Sakishima, main-island Okinawa, and Honshu Japanese people.
...Section. 15. For purposes of this Act- 2. the term 'Taiwan' includes, as the context may require, the islands of Taiwan and the Pescadores (Penghu).
South Korea is another emerging economic powerhouse, as is the Republic of China (ROC), a small country that occupies the island of Taiwan in the shadow of its enormous and hostile mainland neighbor, the PRC.
We hereby undertake for the Emperor, the Japanese Government and their successors to carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration in good faith
The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.
台總統府公共事務室陳文宗上周六(7月30日)表示, 外界人士易把中華民國(Republic of China), 誤認為對岸的中國, 造成困擾和不便.公共事務室指出, 為了明確區別, 決定自周六起於中文繁體、简化字的總統府網站中, 在「中華民國」之後, 以括弧加注「臺灣」.[Chen Wen-tsong, Public Affairs Office of Taiwan's Presidential Office, stated last Saturday (30 July) that outsiders tend to mistake the Chung-hua Min-kuo (Republic of China) for China on the other side, causing trouble and inconvenience. The Public Affairs Office pointed out that in order to clarify the distinction, it was decided to add "Taiwan" in brackets after "Republic of China" on the website of the Presidential Palace in traditional and simplified Chinese starting from Saturday.]
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 400,000 troops in its armed forces.
In 1949 Chiang Kai-shek had transferred to Taiwan the government, gold reserve, and some of the army of his Republic of China.
The party first applied Sun's concept of political tutelage by governing through martial law, not tolerating opposition parties, controlling the public media, and using the 1947 constitution drawn up on the China mainland to govern. Thus, much of the world in those years gave the government low scores for democracy and human rights but admitted it had accomplished an economic miracle.
Although this party [the KMT] had initiated a democratic breakthrough and guided the democratic transition, it had also upheld martial law for thirty-six years and severely repressed political dissent and any efforts to establish an opposition party. ... How was it possible that this party, so hated by opposition politicians and long regarded by Western critics as a dictatorial, Leninist-type party, still remained in power?
Also, the "Temporary Provisions" (of the Constitution) did not permit forming new political parties, and those that existed at this time did not seriously compete with the Nationalist Party. Thus, at the national level the KMT did not permit competitive democratic elections.
The Pan-Blue coalition on the whole favours a Chinese nationalist identity and policies supporting reunification and increased economic links with the People's Republic of China.
The Japanese leadership openly split on whether a crisis in Taiwan was included in the geographic expression "area surrounding Japan." In the event, Japan refused to stipulate the contingencies under which it would provide rear area support for U.S. forces or even the geographic scope of the "area surrounding Japan". ... The two sides have not articulated clearly what the alliance stands for, nor who it is defined to protect against.
By excluding the French companies from the bidding lists of many contract, Peking wanted above all to stop a growing trend ... to disregard its objections and interests in the Taiwan issue. ... In spite of the ban of arms sales to Taiwan approved by the French government in January 1994, discreet and small-sized deals have continued to be concluded since then.
'It is very difficult for us to see any unification talks even in our lifetimes,' Ma said. 'Taiwanese people would like to have economic interactions with the mainland, but obviously they don't believe their political system is suitable for Taiwan.'
Rank 5 Taiwan $274,700,000,000 31 December 2007
a second place ranking in the 2000 Economist's world healthcare ranking
This study reveals that the Sakishima islanders are not related to Taiwan aborigines, but exhibit affinity with the Hokkaido Ainu. These results confirm that the Austronesian expansion did not contribute to modern Sakishima, main-island Okinawa, and Honshu Japanese people.
A previous study based on mtDNA, Y chromosomal STRs, and autosomal STRs also showed that there was no evidence of any contribution from the aboriginal Taiwanese populations to the gene pool of the Ryukyu Islanders. Similarly, using a large number of SNP markers, this study verified that there is a clear genetic gap between Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands.
After occupying Taiwan in 1945 as a result of Japan's surrender, the Nationalists were defeated on the mainland in 1949, abandoning it to retreat to Taiwan.
Consequently, our results showed that the ISEA ancestry in the Taiwanese Han was the outcome of population mixtures rather than shared ancestry, and the admixture event likely occurred before the Taiwanese Han ancestors migrated to Taiwan (fig. 2A). If the admixture occurred only after the Han people migrated to Taiwan, then the observed results would only be seen in the Taiwanese Han. However, similar F3 outcomes were found in the Chinese Han (supplementary fig. S2, Supplementary Material online), supporting that admixture occurred prior to migration to Taiwan. Moreover, signatures of population admixture were also detected between the ancestors of Taiwanese Han and the Ami Austronesian-speaking population using the F4 test; significant positive F4 values were observed when most Sino-Tibetan speaking populations were individually included in the analysis, except for the Chinese Singapore and Chinese Cantonese (table 1). These two populations appear to be genetically closest to the Taiwanese Han among all other Sino-Tibetan speaking populations (fig. 1B), which is consistent with the hypothesis of population mixture before the ancestors of Taiwanese Han migrated to Taiwan.
The people shall have freedom of religious belief
Principal languages
臺灣本島及其21個附屬島嶼面積共3萬5886.8623平方公里.[The main island of Taiwan and its 21 associated islands have a total area of 35,886.8623 square kilometers.]
In March 2000 it was reported that the PLA Air Force was deploying new air-defense missiles [possibly batteries of Russian-made S-300 missiles] opposite Taiwan at the coastal cities of Xiamen and Shantou, and at Longtian, near Fuzhou.
As we have already said, Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and, after replacing the government of the Republic of China in 1949, the government of the PRC has become the sole legal government of China, enjoying and exercising sovereignty over the whole of China, including Taiwan.
1949年, 國民政府退守臺灣後, 以臺北為戰時首都
For one thing, I believe there is recognition that the awareness of Taiwanese identity is now irreversible. The KMT government did things like rename the "Taiwan Post" to "Chunghwa Post" as soon as it came in. But it did not take much time to perceive that it would cause a backlash among the Taiwan populace. The cross-strait exchanges have also brought about opposition demonstrations from time to time. This appears to be one of the reasons for the abrupt decline in the approval rating of the Ma administration.
After occupying Taiwan in 1945 as a result of Japan's surrender, the Nationalists were defeated on the mainland in 1949, abandoning it to retreat to Taiwan.
澎湖群島原為64個島嶼組成, 經2005年澎湖縣政府重新進行澎湖群島島嶼數量清查, 係由90座大小島嶼所組成.[The Penghu Archipelago was conventionally considered to comprise 64 islands. In 2005, the Penghu County Government re-scrutinized the total number of islands in the archipelago, which consists of 90 islands of varying sizes.]
Article 2: The following terms as used in this Act are defined below.
1. 'Taiwan Area' refers to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and any other area under the effective control of the Government.
[The intention of the 'Anti-Secession Law' is] to establish a legal basis for the military invasion of Taiwan: Through the 'Anti-Secession Law', China has changed its Taiwan policy from a mere political statement to a legal basis, paving the way for an invasion of Taiwan.
馬祖列島所涵括的36座島嶼分屬四鄉, 各鄉除了包括有聚落發展的較大島嶼外, 還轄有數座無人島礁.[Matsu islands encompass 36 Islands which are divided into four townships. In addition to the larger islands with inhabitants, each township also has numerous uninhabited islands and reefs]
if the case took place in Kinmen, Matsu, Dongsha and Nansha, the term "martial law period" refers to the period of time from December 10, 1948 to November 6, 1992.
金門縣總面積151平方公里, 除大金門本島外, 尚包括小金門、大膽、二膽、東碇、北碇等17個島嶼.西距廈門外港約10海浬, 東距臺灣約150海浬, 為一典型大陸型島嶼.[The total area of Kinmen County is 151 square kilometers. In addition to the main island of Kinmen, the county also includes Xiaokinmen, Dadan, Erdan, Dongding and Beiding for a total of 17 islands. It is about 10 nautical miles away from the Port of Xiamen to the west and 150 nautical miles away from Taiwan to the east. It is a typical continental island.]
It is their purpose that Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the first World War in 1914, and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and The Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China.
The Republic of China autocracy-turned-democracy didn't surrender to the Communist Party uprising during the 1949 civil war. It has no intention of doing so now. Now Taipei's own defence minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng, says his country is prepared to defend itself alone, if necessary. "The country must rely on itself," he told media Thursday. "If any friends or other groups can help us, then we're happy to have it. But we cannot completely depend on it."
This study reveals that the Sakishima islanders are not related to Taiwan aborigines, but exhibit affinity with the Hokkaido Ainu. These results confirm that the Austronesian expansion did not contribute to modern Sakishima, main-island Okinawa, and Honshu Japanese people.
A previous study based on mtDNA, Y chromosomal STRs, and autosomal STRs also showed that there was no evidence of any contribution from the aboriginal Taiwanese populations to the gene pool of the Ryukyu Islanders. Similarly, using a large number of SNP markers, this study verified that there is a clear genetic gap between Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands.
Consequently, our results showed that the ISEA ancestry in the Taiwanese Han was the outcome of population mixtures rather than shared ancestry, and the admixture event likely occurred before the Taiwanese Han ancestors migrated to Taiwan (fig. 2A). If the admixture occurred only after the Han people migrated to Taiwan, then the observed results would only be seen in the Taiwanese Han. However, similar F3 outcomes were found in the Chinese Han (supplementary fig. S2, Supplementary Material online), supporting that admixture occurred prior to migration to Taiwan. Moreover, signatures of population admixture were also detected between the ancestors of Taiwanese Han and the Ami Austronesian-speaking population using the F4 test; significant positive F4 values were observed when most Sino-Tibetan speaking populations were individually included in the analysis, except for the Chinese Singapore and Chinese Cantonese (table 1). These two populations appear to be genetically closest to the Taiwanese Han among all other Sino-Tibetan speaking populations (fig. 1B), which is consistent with the hypothesis of population mixture before the ancestors of Taiwanese Han migrated to Taiwan.
Consequently, our results showed that the ISEA ancestry in the Taiwanese Han was the outcome of population mixtures rather than shared ancestry, and the admixture event likely occurred before the Taiwanese Han ancestors migrated to Taiwan (fig. 2A). If the admixture occurred only after the Han people migrated to Taiwan, then the observed results would only be seen in the Taiwanese Han. However, similar F3 outcomes were found in the Chinese Han (supplementary fig. S2, Supplementary Material online), supporting that admixture occurred prior to migration to Taiwan. Moreover, signatures of population admixture were also detected between the ancestors of Taiwanese Han and the Ami Austronesian-speaking population using the F4 test; significant positive F4 values were observed when most Sino-Tibetan speaking populations were individually included in the analysis, except for the Chinese Singapore and Chinese Cantonese (table 1). These two populations appear to be genetically closest to the Taiwanese Han among all other Sino-Tibetan speaking populations (fig. 1B), which is consistent with the hypothesis of population mixture before the ancestors of Taiwanese Han migrated to Taiwan.
東沙島為東沙群島唯一島嶼[Pratas Island is the only island in the Pratas Islands]
Fort San Domingo, located at the hilltop overlooking Tamsui River estuary, was established by the Spanish in 1628.
Esencialmente, no definiríamos la relación a través del estrecho de Taiwan como una relación de dos países o dos Chinas, porque nuestra Constitución no lo permite. Nosotros definiríamos está relación como una relación muy especial, ya que la Constitución nuestra, igual que la Constitución de China continental, no permite la existencia de otro país dentro del territorio.
Consequently, our results showed that the ISEA ancestry in the Taiwanese Han was the outcome of population mixtures rather than shared ancestry, and the admixture event likely occurred before the Taiwanese Han ancestors migrated to Taiwan (fig. 2A). If the admixture occurred only after the Han people migrated to Taiwan, then the observed results would only be seen in the Taiwanese Han. However, similar F3 outcomes were found in the Chinese Han (supplementary fig. S2, Supplementary Material online), supporting that admixture occurred prior to migration to Taiwan. Moreover, signatures of population admixture were also detected between the ancestors of Taiwanese Han and the Ami Austronesian-speaking population using the F4 test; significant positive F4 values were observed when most Sino-Tibetan speaking populations were individually included in the analysis, except for the Chinese Singapore and Chinese Cantonese (table 1). These two populations appear to be genetically closest to the Taiwanese Han among all other Sino-Tibetan speaking populations (fig. 1B), which is consistent with the hypothesis of population mixture before the ancestors of Taiwanese Han migrated to Taiwan.
The sovereignty was Japanese until 1952. The Japanese Treaty came into force, and at that time Formosa was being administered by the Chinese Nationalists, to whom it was entrusted in 1945, as a military occupation.
Penghu locates on the Taiwan Strait between China and Taiwan in Asia. It is the only island county of Taiwan... The utmost west isle (of Penghu) is also the utmost west boundary of Taiwan.
The true derivation of the name "Taiwan" is actually from the ethnonym of a tribe in the southwest part of the island in the area around Ping'an. As early as 1636, a Dutch missionary referred to this group as Taiouwang. From the name of the tribe, the Portuguese called the area around Ping'an as Tayowan, Taiyowan, Tyovon, Teijoan, Toyouan, and so forth. Indeed, already in his ship's log of 1622, the Dutchman Cornelis Reijersen referred to the area as Teijoan and Taiyowan.
Well, the idea is that we don't have a need to declare ourselves an independent state. We are an independent country already and we call ourselves the Republic of China (Taiwan)
The 2005 Anti-Secession Law provides a legal framework for Beijing to use non-peaceful means to guard against pro-independence forces in Taiwan.
A combination of factors – rules of employment, limited education, poor Chinese-language skills and corruption – have long made such workers targets of abuse, leading foreign governments to express concern about their citizens employed in Taiwan.
a second place ranking in the 2000 Economist's world healthcare ranking
After occupying Taiwan in 1945 as a result of Japan's surrender, the Nationalists were defeated on the mainland in 1949, abandoning it to retreat to Taiwan.
The Pratas Reef lies 230 miles to the southwest of the southern tip of Taiwan. It consists of an island in the mouth of a semicircular shoal open to the west.
After the Ministry of the Interior's recent decision to exclude Mongolia from the official ROC map, on Oct. 3, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Taiwan recognizes Mongolia as an independent country – 81 years after Mongolia declared its independence.
... Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen ... said the ROC was Taiwan and Taiwan was the ROC ...
... the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ... acknowledge that there is 'one China,' with each side having its own interpretation of what 'China' means.
...Most importantly, with the repeal of the temporary provisions, the Chinese Communist Party would no longer be seen as a rebel group. "From now on, we will see the Chinese Communist Party as a political entity that controls the mainland region and we will call them the 'mainland authorities' or the 'Chinese Communist authorities'," President Lee said during the press conference
Few countries can match Taiwan's density of religions and religious buildings.
Taiwan embraces freedom of religion and has one of the highest densities of temples in the world, with close to 70 percent of the population believers in Taoism, Buddhism, and Chinese folk traditions.
台灣綠黨是最早表態支持蔡總統連任的小黨, 護台抗中、反紅禦韓的立場鮮明, 頻頻出戰, 讓綠黨被對手批評是小綠、側翼, 甚至還被柯文哲羞辱是比皇帝還著急的太監.
I am Taiwanese as well as Chinese.
Page 1: In addition 7th Fleet will take station so as to prevent invasion of Formosa and to insure that Formosa not be used as base of operations against Chinese mainland." Page 4: "Seventh Fleet is hereby assigned to operational control CINCFE for employment in following task hereby assigned CINCFE: By naval and air action prevent any attack on Formosa, or any air or sea offensive from Formosa against mainland of China.
After the Ministry of the Interior's recent decision to exclude Mongolia from the official ROC map, on Oct. 3, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Taiwan recognizes Mongolia as an independent country – 81 years after Mongolia declared its independence.
Article 2: The following terms as used in this Act are defined below.
1. 'Taiwan Area' refers to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and any other area under the effective control of the Government.
...Section. 15. For purposes of this Act- 2. the term 'Taiwan' includes, as the context may require, the islands of Taiwan and the Pescadores (Penghu).
Penghu locates on the Taiwan Strait between China and Taiwan in Asia. It is the only island county of Taiwan... The utmost west isle (of Penghu) is also the utmost west boundary of Taiwan.
臺灣本島及其21個附屬島嶼面積共3萬5886.8623平方公里.[The main island of Taiwan and its 21 associated islands have a total area of 35,886.8623 square kilometers.]
澎湖群島原為64個島嶼組成, 經2005年澎湖縣政府重新進行澎湖群島島嶼數量清查, 係由90座大小島嶼所組成.[The Penghu Archipelago was conventionally considered to comprise 64 islands. In 2005, the Penghu County Government re-scrutinized the total number of islands in the archipelago, which consists of 90 islands of varying sizes.]
金門縣總面積151平方公里, 除大金門本島外, 尚包括小金門、大膽、二膽、東碇、北碇等17個島嶼.西距廈門外港約10海浬, 東距臺灣約150海浬, 為一典型大陸型島嶼.[The total area of Kinmen County is 151 square kilometers. In addition to the main island of Kinmen, the county also includes Xiaokinmen, Dadan, Erdan, Dongding and Beiding for a total of 17 islands. It is about 10 nautical miles away from the Port of Xiamen to the west and 150 nautical miles away from Taiwan to the east. It is a typical continental island.]
馬祖列島所涵括的36座島嶼分屬四鄉, 各鄉除了包括有聚落發展的較大島嶼外, 還轄有數座無人島礁.[Matsu islands encompass 36 Islands which are divided into four townships. In addition to the larger islands with inhabitants, each township also has numerous uninhabited islands and reefs]
東沙島為東沙群島唯一島嶼[Pratas Island is the only island in the Pratas Islands]
The Pratas Reef lies 230 miles to the southwest of the southern tip of Taiwan. It consists of an island in the mouth of a semicircular shoal open to the west.
The true derivation of the name "Taiwan" is actually from the ethnonym of a tribe in the southwest part of the island in the area around Ping'an. As early as 1636, a Dutch missionary referred to this group as Taiouwang. From the name of the tribe, the Portuguese called the area around Ping'an as Tayowan, Taiyowan, Tyovon, Teijoan, Toyouan, and so forth. Indeed, already in his ship's log of 1622, the Dutchman Cornelis Reijersen referred to the area as Teijoan and Taiyowan.
台總統府公共事務室陳文宗上周六(7月30日)表示, 外界人士易把中華民國(Republic of China), 誤認為對岸的中國, 造成困擾和不便.公共事務室指出, 為了明確區別, 決定自周六起於中文繁體、简化字的總統府網站中, 在「中華民國」之後, 以括弧加注「臺灣」.[Chen Wen-tsong, Public Affairs Office of Taiwan's Presidential Office, stated last Saturday (30 July) that outsiders tend to mistake the Chung-hua Min-kuo (Republic of China) for China on the other side, causing trouble and inconvenience. The Public Affairs Office pointed out that in order to clarify the distinction, it was decided to add "Taiwan" in brackets after "Republic of China" on the website of the Presidential Palace in traditional and simplified Chinese starting from Saturday.]
As we have already said, Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and, after replacing the government of the Republic of China in 1949, the government of the PRC has become the sole legal government of China, enjoying and exercising sovereignty over the whole of China, including Taiwan.
In Taiwan, the only known Paleolithic burial recovered so far comes from the Xiaoma cave complex in the southeast of the island, this being an adult male buried in a crouched posture about 4000 bce. My research with Matsumura suggests that this individual was of Australo‐Papuan affinity, most closely related with Negrito populations in the Philippines.pp. 234–235.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Fort San Domingo, located at the hilltop overlooking Tamsui River estuary, was established by the Spanish in 1628.
It is their purpose that Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the first World War in 1914, and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and The Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China.
The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.
We hereby undertake for the Emperor, the Japanese Government and their successors to carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration in good faith
The sovereignty was Japanese until 1952. The Japanese Treaty came into force, and at that time Formosa was being administered by the Chinese Nationalists, to whom it was entrusted in 1945, as a military occupation.
1949年, 國民政府退守臺灣後, 以臺北為戰時首都
Page 1: In addition 7th Fleet will take station so as to prevent invasion of Formosa and to insure that Formosa not be used as base of operations against Chinese mainland." Page 4: "Seventh Fleet is hereby assigned to operational control CINCFE for employment in following task hereby assigned CINCFE: By naval and air action prevent any attack on Formosa, or any air or sea offensive from Formosa against mainland of China.
The party first applied Sun's concept of political tutelage by governing through martial law, not tolerating opposition parties, controlling the public media, and using the 1947 constitution drawn up on the China mainland to govern. Thus, much of the world in those years gave the government low scores for democracy and human rights but admitted it had accomplished an economic miracle.
Although this party [the KMT] had initiated a democratic breakthrough and guided the democratic transition, it had also upheld martial law for thirty-six years and severely repressed political dissent and any efforts to establish an opposition party. ... How was it possible that this party, so hated by opposition politicians and long regarded by Western critics as a dictatorial, Leninist-type party, still remained in power?
Also, the "Temporary Provisions" (of the Constitution) did not permit forming new political parties, and those that existed at this time did not seriously compete with the Nationalist Party. Thus, at the national level the KMT did not permit competitive democratic elections.
if the case took place in Kinmen, Matsu, Dongsha and Nansha, the term "martial law period" refers to the period of time from December 10, 1948 to November 6, 1992.
The 2005 Anti-Secession Law provides a legal framework for Beijing to use non-peaceful means to guard against pro-independence forces in Taiwan.
[The intention of the 'Anti-Secession Law' is] to establish a legal basis for the military invasion of Taiwan: Through the 'Anti-Secession Law', China has changed its Taiwan policy from a mere political statement to a legal basis, paving the way for an invasion of Taiwan.
台灣綠黨是最早表態支持蔡總統連任的小黨, 護台抗中、反紅禦韓的立場鮮明, 頻頻出戰, 讓綠黨被對手批評是小綠、側翼, 甚至還被柯文哲羞辱是比皇帝還著急的太監.
Esencialmente, no definiríamos la relación a través del estrecho de Taiwan como una relación de dos países o dos Chinas, porque nuestra Constitución no lo permite. Nosotros definiríamos está relación como una relación muy especial, ya que la Constitución nuestra, igual que la Constitución de China continental, no permite la existencia de otro país dentro del territorio.
'It is very difficult for us to see any unification talks even in our lifetimes,' Ma said. 'Taiwanese people would like to have economic interactions with the mainland, but obviously they don't believe their political system is suitable for Taiwan.'
For one thing, I believe there is recognition that the awareness of Taiwanese identity is now irreversible. The KMT government did things like rename the "Taiwan Post" to "Chunghwa Post" as soon as it came in. But it did not take much time to perceive that it would cause a backlash among the Taiwan populace. The cross-strait exchanges have also brought about opposition demonstrations from time to time. This appears to be one of the reasons for the abrupt decline in the approval rating of the Ma administration.
I am Taiwanese as well as Chinese.
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 400,000 troops in its armed forces.
A combination of factors – rules of employment, limited education, poor Chinese-language skills and corruption – have long made such workers targets of abuse, leading foreign governments to express concern about their citizens employed in Taiwan.
...Most importantly, with the repeal of the temporary provisions, the Chinese Communist Party would no longer be seen as a rebel group. "From now on, we will see the Chinese Communist Party as a political entity that controls the mainland region and we will call them the 'mainland authorities' or the 'Chinese Communist authorities'," President Lee said during the press conference
Experts agree a direct conflict is unlikely, but as the future of self-ruled Taiwan increasingly becomes a powder keg, a mishap or miscalculation could lead to confrontation while Chinese and American ambitions are at odds.
In March 2000 it was reported that the PLA Air Force was deploying new air-defense missiles [possibly batteries of Russian-made S-300 missiles] opposite Taiwan at the coastal cities of Xiamen and Shantou, and at Longtian, near Fuzhou.
Rank 5 Taiwan $274,700,000,000 31 December 2007