The Republic of China (Taiwan)

Republic of China 1912 First republic in Asia First president: Sun Yat-sen (1866 - 1925)

ROC Constitution (1946) First constitutional president (1948 - 1975): Chiang Kai-shek (1887 - 1975) Defeated by CCP in 1949 Retreated to Taiwan Authoritarian rule for a quarter century

ROC Government President (4-year term after 1996) The Five ``Yuan”: Executive Yuan Legislative Yuan Judicial Yuan Examination Yuan Control Yuan 2 Provinces and 18 counties

Taiwan before 1949 Immigration from mainland China for centuries (Fujian and Hakka) 1885, Qing government promoted Taiwan from prefecture to province 1895, ceded to Japan 1945, returned to Republic of China ``Taiwanese” versus ``mainlanders” Fujian 70%, Hakka 15%, ``mainlanders” 13%

Taiwan & Islands Area: 13,900 square miles Population: 23 million

Chiang Kai-shek’s Rule Popular elections at the basic level Land reform 9-year compulsory education Economic take-off from 1960s Export processing zones attract foreign direct investment Industrialization strengthens manufacturing sector

Chiang’s One-China Policy ``Mainland was temporarily usurped by communist bandits” ``Gloriously retake the mainland” Refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognized PRC ROC was a permanent member of UN Security Council until 1971

Lee Teng-hui (1923 - ) Succeeded Chiang Kai-shek’s son as president of ROC and chairman of GMD in 1988 Became the first popularly elected president of ROC in 1996 Helped Democratic Progressive Party gain power in 2000

Chen Shui-bian (1950 - ) Leader of the pro-independent Democratic Progressive Party President of ROC 2000-2008 Prisoner #2630 since 2008-11-12

Diplomatic Tug of War 162 countries recognize PRC (Beijing) as the legitimate government of China 8 (’49) 32 (’59) 49 (’69) 113 (’79) 129 (’89) 29 countries recognize ROC (Taipei) as the legitimate government of China

US Official Policy US government shifted diplomatic recognition from ROC to PRC in 1979 US congress passed Taiwan Relations Act in 1979 American Institute in Taiwan Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices in US

Economic Ties Trade and investment expanded rapidly despite restrictions by ROC government Workaround: Hong Kong and Macau ``Three links”: mail, transportation, and trade Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) was signed in 2010

In 2012, Taiwan’s exports to Mainland China was $132 billion, and imports from Mainland China was $37 billion.