Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, lies between the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. It has an area of 35,808 square kilometres, with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its highly urbanized population is concentrated. The combined territories under ROC control consist of 168 islands in total covering 36,193 square kilometres. The largest metropolitan area is formed by Taipei, New Taipei City, and Keelung. With around 23.9 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the most densely populated countries.
The special administrative regions (SAR) of the People's Republic of China are one of four types of province-level divisions of the People's Republic of China directly under the control of its Central People's Government, being integral areas of the country. As a region, they possess the highest degree of autonomy from China's central government. However, despite the relative autonomy that the Central People's Government offers the special administrative regions, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee remains capable of enforcing laws for the special administrative regions.
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is governed in a framework of a representative democratic republic under a five-power system first envisioned by Sun Yat-sen in 1906, whereby under the constitutional amendments, the President is head of state and the Premier is head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Executive Yuan. Legislative power is vested primarily in the Legislative Yuan. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. In addition, the Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants, and the Control Yuan inspects, reviews, and audits the policies and operations of the government.
The Republic of China Armed Forces are the armed forces of the Republic of China (ROC) that once ruled Mainland China and now currently restricted to its territorial jurisdictions of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu Islands. They consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Military Police Force. The military is under the civilian control of the Ministry of National Defense, a cabinet-level agency overseen by the Legislative Yuan.
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addition to the geographical mainland, the geopolitical sense of the term includes islands such as Hainan, Chongming, and Zhoushan. By convention, territories outside of mainland China include:
Chinese unification, also known as Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China ("Taiwan") under one political entity, possibly the formation of a political union between the two republics. Together with full Taiwan independence, unification is one of the main proposals to address questions on the political status of Taiwan, which is a central focus of Cross-Strait relations.
The president of the Republic of China, also referred to as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (Taiwan) as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The position once had authority of ruling over Mainland China before 1949, but its remaining jurisdictions has been limited to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other smaller islands since the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War.
Lien Chan is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government from 1990 to 1993, Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 2000, and was the Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 2000 to 2005, apart from various ministerial posts he had also held. Lien ran for the President of the Republic of China on behalf of the Kuomintang twice in 2000 and 2004, but both lost to Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party. Upon his retirement as KMT Chairman in August 2005, he was given the title Honorary Chairman of KMT. He is highly credited after holding a groundbreaking visit to Mainland China in his capacity as the Chairman of the Kuomintang to meet with the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Hu Jintao on 29 April 2005, the first meeting between the two party leaders after the end of Chinese Civil War in 1949, which subsequently helped thaw the long-stalled cross-strait relations.
Taiwan is divided into multi-layered statutory subdivisions. Due to the complex political status of Taiwan, there is a significant difference in the de jure system set out in the original constitution and the de facto system in use today.
The Constitution of the Republic of China, also known as the Constitution of Taiwan, is the current constitution of Taiwan and the fifth constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the Constituent National Assembly session on 25 December 1946, in Nanjing, and adopted on 25 December 1947. The constitution, along with its Additional Articles, remains effective in ROC-controlled territories.
Hualien County is a county on the east coast of Taiwan. It is Taiwan's largest county by area, yet due to its mountainous terrain, has one of the lowest populations in the country. The county seat and largest city is Hualien City. Hualien County is located in the eastern part of Taiwan—the Pacific Ocean lies to its east and the Central Mountain Range lies to its west. Narrow and long, Hualien is the largest county in Taiwan in terms of area.
As a result of the surrender and occupation of Japan at the end of World War II, the islands of Taiwan and Penghu were placed under the governance of the Republic of China (ROC), ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT), on 25 October 1945. Following the February 28 massacre in 1947, martial law was declared in 1949 by the Governor of Taiwan, Chen Cheng, and the ROC Ministry of National Defense. Following the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the ROC government retreated from the mainland as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. The KMT retreated to Taiwan and declared Taipei the temporary capital of the ROC. For many years, the ROC and PRC each continued to claim in the diplomatic arena to be the sole legitimate government of "China". In 1971, the United Nations expelled the ROC and replaced it with the PRC.
The elections in Taiwan each held every four years, typically in January and November. Since 2012 the previously eleven types of elections in Taiwan have been unified into general and local elections. There may also be by-elections. Electoral systems include first-past-the-post, proportional representation, single non-transferable voting, and a parallel mixture of the above.
Highways in Taiwan are classified into five types:
The expressway network of China, with the national-level expressway system officially known as the National Trunk Highway System, is an integrated system of national and provincial-level expressways in China.
The Beijing–Taipei Expressway, designated as G3 and commonly known as the Jingtai Expressway, is a partially completed Chinese expressway that, if fully constructed, would connect the People's Republic of China with Taiwan. Currently, the expressway is complete from Beijing to Fuzhou, Fujian, and is fully complete in Mainland China except for a small section in Fujian which is under construction.
The Government of the Republic of China, is the national authority whose actual-controlled territory consists of main island of Taiwan (Formosa), Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other island groups, collectively known as Taiwan Area or Free Area. A unitary state, the ROC government, under the current constitutional amendments, is run by a de facto semi-presidential system, consists of the presidency and five branches (Yuan): the Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Judicial Yuan, Examination Yuan, and Control Yuan. The president is the head of state, with the premier as the head of government, currently ruled by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) since 2016. Since the 2005 amendments of the Additional Articles of the Constitution, the Legislative Yuan has been the de facto unicameral parliamentary body of the country.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Taiwan:
The Taiwan Ring Expressway was a proposed, hypothetical expressway encircling the island of Taiwan as part of the National Trunk Highway System of the People's Republic of China. It never came into fruition, though, due to the political status of Taiwan. The People's Republic of China claims control over Taiwan, but has never administered it. Taiwan is governed by the Republic of China, which has its own highway system and does not recognize the designation by the People's Republic of China.
The Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China are the revisions and constitutional amendments to the original constitution of the Republic of China to "meet the requisites of the nation" after democratic reforms and adjust to the political status of Taiwan. The Additional Articles are usually attached after the original constitution as a separate document. It also has its own preamble and article ordering different from the original constitution.
