Taiwan
Also called: Republic of China · Topic: Paths to Modernisation: Japan, China, Korea · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Paths to Modernisation"
Meaning
Taiwan is an island off China's coast. China gave it to Japan after losing the war of 1894–95. The Cairo Declaration of 1943 promised to return it to China, and it was handed back after Japan's defeat in 1945. In 1949 Chiang Kai-shek fled there after losing the civil war to the Communists. He set up the Republic of China on the island. His party, the Guomindang, ruled harshly, but land reform and exports made Taiwan rich. It became a democracy after martial law ended in 1987. Martial law means rule by the army.
Example
After the February 1947 demonstrations, the Guomindang killed a whole generation of Taiwan's leading figures. Yet by 1973 Taiwan's GNP, the total value of what a country produces, was second only to Japan's in Asia. The gap between rich and poor was also shrinking.
Don't confuse with
- Korea: the Cairo Declaration promised Taiwan's return to China. Korea got no such return. After 1945 it was divided at the 38th parallel.
Related concepts
- Cross-Strait relations
- Joseon dynasty
- Japanese annexation of Korea
- 38th parallel
- Korean War
- Park Chung-hee
- Export-oriented industrialisation
- Import substitution industrialisation
- Saemaul Movement
- Gwangju Democratisation Movement