Changes

*''Chinese/Japanese'': 台湾 ''(Táiwān / Taiwan)''

*''Chinese/Japanese'': 台湾 ''(Táiwān / Taiwan)''

Taiwan is an island located off the east coast of China. Home to numerous [[Taiwanese aborigines|aboriginal groups]], Taiwan became a base of operations for [[wako|pirates and smugglers]] and the Portuguese in the 16th century, and the [[Dutch East India Company]] and [[Ming loyalist]] rebels in the 17th century, before being conquered by the [[Qing Dynasty]] towards the end of that century. The island was annexed by Japan in [[1895]], and regained its independence in 1945. Since 1949 it has constituted the territory of the Republic of China.

Taiwan is an island located off the east coast of China. Home to numerous [[Taiwanese aborigines|aboriginal groups]], Taiwan became a base of operations for [[wako|pirates and smugglers]] and the Portuguese in the 16th century, and the [[Dutch East India Company]] and [[Ming loyalist]] rebels in the 17th century, before being conquered by the [[Qing Dynasty]] towards the end of that century. The island was annexed by Japan in [[1895]], and regained its independence in 1945. Since 1949 it has constituted its own independent country, known officially as the Republic of China.

==History==

==History==

A rebellion in [[1721]] in which a man named [[Zhu Yigui]] declared himself King of Taiwan was quickly suppressed. Zhu came to Taiwan from Fujian as an official's servant, and soon afterward declared a rebellion; he and his hundreds of followers seized the prefectural capital and held it for two months before being defeated by a son of Admiral Shi Lang.<ref>Spence, 68-69.</ref> Concerned about the potential for further rebellions or uprisings, the [[Yongzheng Emperor]] subdivided several of Taiwan's counties, such that a greater number of officials would now each oversee a smaller portion of the island; he also permitted men emigrating to the island to bring their wives and children with them, making for a fuller society, and set aside some land exclusively for the aborigines, while opening up allowance for Chinese settlers to rent land in other parts of the island from the aborigines.<ref>Spence, 85.</ref>

A rebellion in [[1721]] in which a man named [[Zhu Yigui]] declared himself King of Taiwan was quickly suppressed. Zhu came to Taiwan from Fujian as an official's servant, and soon afterward declared a rebellion; he and his hundreds of followers seized the prefectural capital and held it for two months before being defeated by a son of Admiral Shi Lang.<ref>Spence, 68-69.</ref> Concerned about the potential for further rebellions or uprisings, the [[Yongzheng Emperor]] subdivided several of Taiwan's counties, such that a greater number of officials would now each oversee a smaller portion of the island; he also permitted men emigrating to the island to bring their wives and children with them, making for a fuller society, and set aside some land exclusively for the aborigines, while opening up allowance for Chinese settlers to rent land in other parts of the island from the aborigines.<ref>Spence, 85.</ref>

As Taiwan gradually became more Sinified - that is, as it gradually became more settled, more controlled by Qing authorities, and more incorporated into Qing society - the island, and its people, came to be rhetorically divided into two categories. "Fresh" or "raw" "barbarians" (生蕃, ''shēngfān'') were those peoples and lands relatively untouched by Qing influence or control, and still uncivilized from the Qing point of view; by contrast, those areas and people who had been "civilized" in the Qing view were known as "cooked" or "ripe" "barbarians" (熟蕃, ''shúfān'').<ref>Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Kei, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," ''Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô'' 31 (2006), 254.</ref>

As Taiwan gradually became more Sinified - that is, as it gradually became more settled, more controlled by Qing authorities, and more incorporated into Qing society - the island, and its people, came to be rhetorically divided into two categories. "Fresh" or "raw" "barbarians" (生蕃, ''shēngfān'') were those peoples and lands relatively untouched by Qing influence or control, and still uncivilized from the Qing point of view; by contrast, those areas and people who had been "civilized" in the Qing view were known as "cooked" or "ripe" "barbarians" (熟蕃, ''shúfān'').<ref>Ono Masako, Tomita Chinatsu, Kanna Keiko, Taguchi Megumi, "Shiryô shôkai Kishi Akimasa bunko Satsuyû kikô," ''Shiryôhenshûshitsu kiyô'' 31 (2006), 254.</ref>

===Late 19th century===

===Late 19th century===

===Republic of China===

===Republic of China===

Following the Japanese defeat in World War II, Taiwan was restored to Chinese sovereignty.<ref>Peattie, 22.</ref> It remained connected to the mainland for only four years, however, splitting off in 1949 as the Nationalist (Kuomintang) government of the Republic of China fled into exile on the island, leaving the Communist government to establish the People's Republic of China as ruling the entire Chinese mainland.

Following the Japanese defeat in World War II, Taiwan was restored to Chinese sovereignty, i.e. the control of the Republic of China.<ref>Peattie, 22.</ref> It remained connected to the mainland for only four years, however, before splitting off in 1949 as the Nationalist (Kuomintang) government of the Republic of China fled into exile on the island, leaving the Communist government to establish the People's Republic of China as ruling the entire Chinese mainland.

 

Residents of the island were given the opportunity in 1945 to file applications to regain Chinese citizenship. Though nationality laws put in place by the Qing in [[1909]] (just before the dynasty's fall) had been based on bloodline (and thus on ethnicity), these applications were not. Regardless of one's ancestry, one could apply to (re)gain Chinese citizenship so long as one had formal statements accounting for one's residence in Taiwan throughout the colonial period.<ref name=danshao/>

Residents of the island were given the opportunity in 1945 to file applications to regain Chinese citizenship. Though nationality laws put in place by the Qing in [[1909]] (just before the dynasty's fall) had been based on bloodline (and thus on ethnicity), these applications were not. Regardless of one's ancestry, one could apply to (re)gain Chinese citizenship so long as one had formal statements accounting for one's residence in Taiwan throughout the colonial period.<ref name=danshao/>

The indigenous population of the country includes a number of tribes or peoples, numbering around 520,000 people in total.<ref>Greg Dvorak and Miyume Tanji, "Introduction: Indigenous Asias," ''Amerasia Journal'' 41:1 (2015), xxi.</ref>

The Republic of China government held strongly for decades to the idea that it represented the one, true, legitimate Chinese government. The government rejected a proposal in the late 1960s that would have allowed Taiwan to remain a member state in the United Nations in exchange for allowing the People's Republic to take over the seat of "China"; in 1971, Taiwan resigned from the UN entirely, just before the organization voted to recognize the PRC as the legitimate government representing "China." Taiwan has not had a seat in the United Nations since. Taiwan further rejected in 1981 the opportunity to participate in the Olympics as "Taiwan," instead insisting that its athletes compete under a name involving the word "Chinese." As a result of this decision, and pressure from the PRC, Taiwanese athletes have ever since then competed not under the name "Taiwan," nor under the Republic of China (Taiwan) flag, nor with their own national anthem, but rather under the team name "Chinese Taipei," the Olympics flag, and a generic Olympians' anthem.<ref name=atlantic/>

 

Today, Taiwan is home to some 23 million citizens,<ref name=atlantic/> including roughly 520,000 members of a number of different indigenous Austronesian tribes or peoples.<ref>Greg Dvorak and Miyume Tanji, "Introduction: Indigenous Asias," ''Amerasia Journal'' 41:1 (2015), xxi.</ref> On lists that include it as a country, Taiwan is generally regarded as the 22nd largest economy in the world.<ref name=atlantic/> The vast majority of national governments in the world, however, along with international organizations such as the World Health Assembly, do not formally recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, due to pressure from the PRC; seventeen countries do formally recognize Taiwan, however, and a great many others maintain ''de facto'' ties, including unofficial diplomatic relations, economic agreements, educational exchange arrangements, and so forth, albeit without official recognition. Relations with the United States are conducted via the Taiwan Relations Act, passed by the US Congress in 1979. Taiwan maintains "Cultural and Economic Offices" in a number of US cities which function as if they were consulates, and the US similarly maintains a consulate-like institution in Taipei known as the American Institute in Taiwan; Taiwanese presidents and prime ministers visit Washington DC periodically as a "transit stop," avoiding officially recognizing any actions or events as official state visits or diplomatic meetings.<ref name=atlantic/>

 

==References==

==References==