Historic Overview Of Taiwan

When the Chinese first arrived in the 1400s, the island of Taiwan was already occupied by immigrants from the Pacific Islands The next century saw the Europeans make landfall. The Portuguese came in 1517 and named it Ilha Formosa (`Beautiful Island’), then came the Dutch, followed by the Spanish. By the 1660s, the Chinese put in a re-appearance- they ousted the Dutch who controlled the island at the time and took control of Formosa.

In 1895, the Japanese invaded Formosa but could only hold on to it till the end of the World War II, when it was ceded to China. The communist revolution in China caused major political upheavals- General Chaing Kai-Shek and his `Kuomintang’ supporters fled to Formosa, along with a sizeable chunk of the Chinese population.

Since then, even though half a century has elapsed, Taiwan’s status remains rather uncertain- separate from China, yet not quite independent of it. China still claims Taiwan as part of its territories and does not recognize it as a sovereign nation nor will it allow any country to do so without demur, meantime Taiwan stubbornly proclaims that it’s an independent country. To confuse matters even more, voices on both sides urge re-unification between the two countries.