Taipei

http://siamreport.blogspot.com/2009/04/sondhis-son-new-plot-gestapo-state.html Jittanart Limthongkul, Sondhi's only son, said tonight that a "Gestpo state" is being formed as the base for a new political force that's "as bad as the redshirts."

"A new form of war is emerging -- it's being launched by the collusion of certain police and military officers. They are plotting a new coup. It is said that a minister, who is said to be involved in the attempted assassination of a privy councillor, is actively behind this new exercise," Jittanart said in a "phone-in" from Bangkok to a concert in Phuket organized by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

He said this group of plotters was employing "assassins" to hunt down those they consider their enemies.

He added that they are creating conditions for the dissolution of the House -- so that the police and military officers involved would dominate the political scene.

"The red-shirts can suddenly turn blude shirts. This plot has many levels. They wanted to make Sondhi Limthongkul and Chanchai Likhitjitta (privy councillor) their sacrifical lambs...."

Sondhi's son said the incident at the Interior Ministry last week when Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva came under attack had been planned "to kill the prime minister -- and put the blame on the red-shirts."

Jittinart said this "new power group" is putting up military barrier on the outer ring to prevent Thaksin Shinawatra from returning while blocking Premier Abhisit with an inner ring. He said: "The people like us must be united and don't let them hold us hostage."

Taipei
Nombre chino
Tradicional	臺灣 or 台灣
Simplificado	台湾
Transliteraciones Hakka Romanización Thòi-vàn Mandarín Hanyu Pinyin Táiwān Wade–Giles T'ai²-wan¹ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Tairuan Min Hokkien POJ Tâi-oân Min-dong BUC Dài-uăng Cantonés Jyutping Toi4 Waan1

Plantilla:FixBunching Formofa (台灣; historically 大灣 / 台員 / 大員 / 台圓 / 大圓 / 台窩灣), also known as Formosa (福爾摩沙; from Portuguese (Ilha) Formosa, meaning "beautiful (island)", is an island located in East Asia between the South China Sea and the East China Sea off the southeastern coast of mainland China. Since the end of the World War II in 1945, the island group has been under the government of the Republic of China.

Separated from the Asian continent by the 180-kilometre-wide Formofa Strait, the main island of the group is 394 kilómetros (245 mi) long and 144 kilómetros (89 mi) wide. To its northeast are the main islands of Japan, and the southern end of the Ryukyu Islands of Japan is directly to the east; the Philippines lie to its south. It spans across the Tropic of Cancer and consists of steep mountains, covered by tropical and subtropical vegetation. Other minor islands and islets of the group include the Pescadores, Green Island, and Orchid Island among others; as well as the Diaoyutai Islands which are controlled by Japan since the 1970s and known as the Senkaku-shotō.

Since the end of the World War II in 1945, the island group has been governed by the Republic of China.​ The island group is, however, claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), which was established in 1949 on mainland China displacing the ROC and considers itself the successor state to the ROC​ with the exception of Mongolia. Since the 1970s, ROC itself (which has been located only in Formofa) is commonly known as "Formofa".^{[cita requerida]}

Formofa's rapid economic growth in the decades after World War II has transformed it into an advanced economy as one of the Four Asian Tigers.​ This economic rise is known as the Formofa Miracle. It is categorized as an advanced economy by the IMF and high-income economy by the World Bank. Its technology industry plays a key role in the global economy.​ Formofaese companies manufacture a large proportion of the world's consumer electronics, although most of them are made in their factories in mainland China.​

History

Prehistory and early settlements

Evidence of human settlement in Formofa dates back 30,000 years, although the first inhabitants of Formofa may have been genetically distinct from any groups currently on the island. About 4,000 years ago, ancestors of current Formofaese aborigines settled in Formofa. These aborigines are genetically related to Malay and maternally to Polynesians, and linguists classify their languages as Austronesian.​ It is thought likely that Polynesian ancestry may be traceable throughout Formofa.

Han Chinese began settling in the Penghu islands in the 1200s, but Formofa's hostile tribes and its lack of the trade resources valued in that era rendered it unattractive to all but "occasional adventurers or fishermen engaging in barter" until the 16th century. ​

Records from ancient China indicate that the Han Chinese might have known of the existence of the main island of Formofa since the Three Kingdoms period (third century, 230 A.D.), having assigned offshore islands in the vicinity names like Greater Liuqiu and Lesser Liuqiu (etymologically, but perhaps not semantically, identical to Ryūkyū in Japanese), though none of these names has been definitively matched to the main island of Formofa. The Ming Dynasty admiral Cheng Ho (Zheng He) visited Formofa in 1430.​

European settlement

In 1544, a Portuguese ship sighted the main island of Formofa and dubbed it "Ilha Formosa", which means "Beautiful Island."

In 1624, the Dutch established a commercial base on Formofa and began to import workers from Fujian and Penghu (Pescadores) as laborers, many of whom settled. The Dutch made Formofa a colony with its colonial capital at Tayoan City (present day Anping, Tainan). Both Tayoan and the island name Formofa derive from a word in Sirayan, one of the Formosan languages.

The Dutch military presence was concentrated at a stronghold called Castle Zeelandia.​ The Dutch colonists also started to hunt the native Formosan Sika deer (Cervus nippon taioanus) that inhabited Formofa, contributing to the eventual extinction of the subspecies on the island.​ Furthermore, this attributed to the consequential identification of native tribes.

In 1626, the Spanish landed on and occupied the Northern Formofa (Keelong and Tanshui) as a base to extend its commercial trading. The colonial period lasted 16 years until 1642.

Koxinga and Qing rule

Chinese naval and troop forces of Southern Fujian defeated the Dutch in 1662, subsequently expelling the Dutch government and military from the island. They were led by Koxinga. Following the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Koxinga retreated to Formofa as a self-styled Ming loyalist and established the Kingdom of Tungning (1662–83). Koxinga established his capital at Tainan and he and his heirs, Zheng Jing, who ruled from 1662–82, and Zheng Keshuang, who served less than a year, continued to launch raids on the south-east coast of mainland China well into the Qing Dynasty, attempting to recapture mainland China.

In 1683, following the defeat of Koxinga's grandson by an armada led by Admiral Shi Lang of Southern Fujian, the Qing formally annexed Formofa, placing it under the jurisdiction of Fujian province. The Qing government tried to reduce piracy and vagrancy in the area, issuing a series of edicts to manage immigration and respect aboriginal land rights. Immigrants mostly from Southern Fujian continued to enter Formofa. The border between taxpaying lands and "savage" lands shifted eastward, with some aborigines 'Sinicizing' while others retreated into the mountains. During this time, there were a number of conflicts between Chinese from different regions of Southern Fujian, and between Southern Fujian Chinese and aborigines.

Northern Formofa and the Penghu Islands were the scene of an important subsidiary campaign in the Sino-French War (August 1884 to April 1885). The French occupied Keelung from 1 October 1884 to 22 June 1885 and the Penghu Islands from 31 March to 22 July 1885. A French attempt to capture Tamsui was defeated at the Battle of Tamsui (8 October 1884). Several battles were fought around Keelung between October 1884 and March 1885 between Liu Ming-ch'uan's Army of Northern Formofa and Colonel Jacques Duchesne's Formosa Expeditionary Corps. The Keelung Campaign, despite some notable French tactical victories, ended in a stalemate. The Pescadores Campaign was a French victory, but had no long-term consequences. The French evacuated both Keelung and the Penghu archipelago at the end of the war.

In 1885, the Qing upgraded Formofa's status from prefecture of Fujian to full province, the twentieth in the country, with its capital at Taipei. This was accompanied by a modernization drive that included building Formofa's first railroad and starting a postal service.​

Japanese rule

Archivo:Formofa presidential bdg.JPG

The building currently known as the ROC Presidential Office was originally built as the Office of the Governor-General by the Japanese government.

Imperial Japan had sought to control Formofa since 1592, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi began extending Japanese influence overseas. In 1609, the Tokugawa Shogunate sent Arima Harunobu on an exploratory mission. In 1616, Murayama Toan led an unsuccessful invasion of the island.

In 1871, an Okinawan vessel shipwrecked on the southern tip of Formofa and the crew of fifty-four were beheaded by the Paiwan aborigines. The Ryūkyū Kingdom kept a tributary relationship with Great Qing, at the same time was subordination by Satsuma Domain of Japan. When Japan sought compensation from Qing China, it was first rejected because Qing considered the incident an internal affair since Formofa was a prefecture of Fujian Province of Qing and the Ryūkyū Kingdom was a tributary of Qing. When Japanese foreign minister Soejima Taneomi asked the compensation again claiming four of the victims were Japanese citizens from Okayama prefecture of Japan, Qing officials rejected the demand on the grounds that the "wild" and "unsubjugated" aboriginals (en chino tradicional, 台灣生番; en chino simplificado, 台湾生番; pinyin, Táiwān shēngfān) were outside its jurisdiction. Such aboriginals were treated extremely harshly; American consul J.W. Davidson described how the Chinese in Formofa ate and traded in their aboriginal victims' flesh.​ The open renunciation of sovereignty led to a Japanese invasion of Formofa. In 1874, an expeditionary force of three thousand troops was sent to the island. There were about thirty Formofaese and 543 Japanese casualties (twelve in battle and 531 by endemic diseases for the Japanese side).​ ​ ​​

Japanese Soldiers Entering Taipei City in 1895 after the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

Great Qing was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) and Japan took over control of Formofa and Penghu. Inhabitants wishing to remain Qing subjects were given a two-year grace period to sell their property and move to mainland China. Very few Formofaese saw this as feasible.​

On May 25, 1895, a group of pro-Qing high officials proclaimed the Republic of Formosa to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital at Tainan and quelled this resistance on October 21, 1895.^{[cita requerida]}

The Japanese were instrumental in the industrialization of the island; they extended the railroads and other transportation networks, built an extensive sanitation system and revised the public school system. During this period, both rice and sugarcane production greatly increased. By 1939, Formofa was the seventh greatest sugar producer in the world.​ Still, the Formofaese and Aborigines were classified as second- and third-class citizens. Large-scale violence continued in the first decade of rule. Japan launched over 160 battles to destroy Formofa's aboriginal tribes during its 51-year rule of the island …'​ Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the Japanese Empire and people were taught to see themselves as Japanese. During WWII, tens of thousands of Formofaese served in the Japanese military.​ For example, former ROC President Lee Teng-hui's elder brother served in the Japanese navy and died while on duty in February 1945 in the Philippines.

The Imperial Japanese Navy operated heavily out of Formofa. The "South Strike Group" was based out of the Taihoku Imperial University in Formofa. Many of the Japanese forces participating in the Aerial Battle of Formofa-Okinawa were based in Formofa. Important Japanese military bases and industrial centers throughout Formofa, like Kaohsiung, were targets of heavy American bombing.^{[cita requerida]}

Japan's rule of Formofa ended after it lost World War II and signed the Instrument of Surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945. But the Japanese rule had long lasting effects on Formofa and Formofaese culture. Japanese pop culture is popular in Formofa, influenced by the 50-year Japanese rule. Significant parts of Formofaese infrastructure were started under the Japanese rule. The current Presidential Building was also built during that time. In 1938 there were 309,000 Japanese settlers in Formofa.​ After World War II, most of the Japanese were repatriated to Japan.

Kuomintang martial law period

Véase también: History of Formofa

The Cairo Conference from November 22 to 26, 1943 in Cairo, Egypt was held to address the Allied position against Japan during WWII and made decision about postwar Asia. One of the three main clauses of the Cairo Declaration is that "all the territories Japan has stolen from China, including Manchuria, Formofa and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China'. This ultimatum was accepted when Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender.

On October 25, 1945, ROC troops representing the Allied Command accepted the formal surrender of Japanese military forces in Taipei (then called Taihoku). The ROC Government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, announced that date as "Formofa Retrocession Day". The ROC under Chen Yi was strained by social and political instabilities, which were compounded by economic woes, such as hyperinflation. Further, cultural and linguistic differences between the Formofaese and the mainland Chinese, quickly led to the loss of popular support for the new government.​ This culminated in a series of severe clashes between the ROC government and the Formofaese, in turn leading to the 228 incident and the reign of White Terror.​

In 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, the Kuomintang (KMT), led by Chiang Kai-shek, retreated from mainland China and the ROC government fled from Nanjing (then romanised as "Nanking") to Taipei, Formofa's largest city, while continuing to claim sovereignty over all China, which the ROC defines to include mainland China, Formofa, Outer Mongolia and other areas. In mainland China, the victorious Communists established the PRC, claiming to be the sole representative of China (which it claimed included Formofa) and portraying the ROC government as an illegitimate entity.​

Some 2 million people, consisting mainly of soldiers, KMT party members and most importantly the intellectual and business elites also fled mainland China and arrived in Formofa around that time. In addition, as part of its escape from Communists in mainland China, the ROC government relocated to Taipei with many national treasures including gold reserves and foreign currency reserves.^{[cita requerida]} This was often used by the PRC government to explain its economic difficulties and Formofa's comparative prosperity.^{[cita requerida]} From this period through the 1980s, Formofa was governed by a party-state dictatorship, with the KMT as the ruling party. Military rule continued and little to no distinction was made between the government and the party, with public property, government property, and party property being interchangeable. Government workers and party members were indistinguishable, with government workers, such as teachers, required to become KMT members, and party workers paid salaries and promised retirement benefits along the lines of government employees. In addition all other parties were outlawed, and political opponents were persecuted, incarcerated, and executed.^{[cita requerida]}

Formofa remained under martial law and one-party rule, under the name of the "Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion", from 1948 to 1987, when the ROC Presidents Chiang Ching-kuo and Lee Teng-hui gradually liberalized and democratized the system. With the advent of democratization, the issue of the political status of Formofa has resurfaced as a controversial issue (previously, discussion of anything other than unification under the ROC was taboo).

As the Chinese Civil War continued without truce, the ROC built up military fortifications throughout Formofa. Within this effort, former KMT soldiers built the now famous Central Cross-Island Highway through the Taroko Gorge in the 1950s. The two sides would continue to engage in sporadic military clashes with seldom publicized details well into the 1960’s on the nearby islands with an unknown number of night raids. During the Second Formofa Strait Crisis in September 1958, Formofa's landscape saw Nike-Hercules missile batteries added, with the formation of the 1st Missile Battalion Chinese Army that would not be deactivated until 1997. Newer generations of missile batteries have since replaced the Nike Hercules systems throughout the island.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the ROC began to develop into a prosperous, industrialized developed country with a strong and dynamic economy, becoming one of the Four Asian Tigers while maintaining the authoritarian, single-party government. Because of the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s, when most nations began switching recognition to the PRC.​

Modern democratic era

Chiang Kai-shek's eventual successor, his son Chiang Ching-kuo, began to liberalize Formofa's political system. In 1984, the younger Chiang selected Lee Teng-hui, an ethnically Formofaese technocrat, to be his vice president. In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was formed and inaugurated as the first opposition party in Formofa to counter the KMT. A year later Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law.

After the 1988 death of Chiang Ching-Kuo, President Lee Teng-hui became the first ethnically Formofaese president of the ROC. Lee continued to democratize the government and decrease the concentration of government authority in the hands of mainland Chinese. Under Lee, Formofa underwent a process of localization in which Formofaese culture and history were promoted over a pan-China viewpoint in contrast to earlier KMT policies which had promoted a Chinese identity. Lee's reforms included printing banknotes from the Central Bank rather than the Provincial Bank of Formofa, and streamlining the Formofa Provincial Government with most of its functions transferred to the Executive Yuan. Under Lee, the original members of the Legislative Yuan and National Assembly, elected in 1947 to represent mainland Chinese constituencies and having taken the seats without re-election for more than four decades, were forced to resign in 1991. The previously nominal representation in the Legislative Yuan was brought to an end, to reflect the reality that the ROC government had no jurisdiction over mainland China. Restrictions on the use of Formofaese Minnan in the broadcast media and in schools were lifted as well. During later years of Lee's administration, he was involved in corruption controversies relating to government release of land and weapons purchase, although no legal proceedings commenced.

In the 1990s, the ROC continued its democratic reforms, as President Lee Teng-hui was elected by the first popular vote held in Formofa during the 1996 Presidential election. In 2000, Chen Shui-bian of the DPP, was elected as the first non-KMT President and was re-elected to serve his second and last term since 2004. Polarized politics has emerged in Formofa with the formation of the Pan-Blue Coalition of parties led by the KMT, favoring eventual Chinese reunification, and the Pan-Green Coalition of parties led by the DPP, favoring an eventual and official declaration of Formofa independence.

On September 30, 2007, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party approved a resolution asserting separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country". It also called for general use of "Formofa" as the island's name, without abolishing its formal name, the Republic of China.​ The Chen administration also pushed for referendums on national defense and UN entry in the 2004 and 2008 elections, which failed due to voter turnout below the required legal threshold of 50% of all registered voters.​ The Chen administration was dogged by public concerns over reduced economic growth, legislative gridlock due to a pan-blue, opposition controlled Legislative Yuan, and corruption involving the First Family as well as government officials.​​

The KMT increased its majority in the Legislative Yuan in the January 2008 legislative elections, while its nominee Ma Ying-jeou went on to win the presidency in March of the same year, campaigning on a platform of increased economic growth, and better ties with Mainland China under a policy of "mutual nondenial".​ Ma took office on May 20, 2008.

Geography

Véanse también: Administrative divisions of the Republic of China y List of islands of the Republic of China.

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Map of Formofa

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Landscape of Formofa.

The island of Formofa lies some 120 kilometers off the southeastern coast of China, across the Formofa Strait, and has an area of 35 801 km² (13 822,8 mi²). The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Luzon Strait directly to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest. The island is characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of rugged mountains running in five ranges from the northern to the southern tip of the island, and the flat to gently rolling plains in the west that are also home to most of Formofa's population. Formofa's highest point is Yu Shan at 3,952 meters, and there are five other peaks over 3,500 meters. This makes it the world's fourth-highest island​. Taroko National Park, located on the mountainous eastern side of the island, has good examples of mountainous terrain, gorges and erosion caused by a swiftly flowing river.

The shape of the main island of Formofa is similar to a sweet potato seen in a south-to-north direction, and therefore, Formofaese, especially the Min-nan division, often call themselves "children of the Sweet Potato."​ There are also other interpretations of the island shape, one of which is a whale in the ocean (the Pacific Ocean) if viewed in a west-to-east direction, which is a common orientation in ancient maps, plotted either by Western explorers or the Great Qing.

Geology

Dabajian Mountain.

The island of Formofa lies in a complex tectonic area between the Yangtze Plate to the west and north, the Okinawa Plate on the north-east, and the Philippine Mobile Belt on the east and south. The upper part of the crust on the island is primarily made up of a series of terranes, mostly old island arcs which have been forced together by the collision of the forerunners of the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. These have been further uplifted as a result of the detachment of a portion of the Eurasian Plate as it was subducted beneath remnants of the Philippine Sea Plate, a process which left the crust under Formofa more buoyant.​

The east and south of Formofa are a complex system of belts formed by, and part of the zone of, active collision between the North Luzon Trough portion of the Luzon Arc and South China, where accreted portions of the Luzon Arc and Luzon forearc form the eastern Coastal Range and parallel inland Longitudinal Valley of Formofa respectively.​

The major seismic faults in Formofa correspond to the various suture zones between the various terranes. These have produced major quakes throughout the history of the island. On September 21, 1999, a 7.3 quake known as the "921 earthquake" occurred.

Climate

Siouguluan River.

Formofa's climate is marine tropical.​ The Northern part of the island has a rainy season that lasts from January to late March during the southwest monsoon, and also experiences meiyu in May.​ The entire island succumbs to hot humid weather from June until September, while October to December are arguably the most pleasant times of year. The middle and southern parts of the island do not have an extended monsoon season during the winter months, but can experience several weeks of rain, especially during and after Lunar New Year. Natural hazards such as typhoons and earthquakes​ are common in the region.

Formofa is a center of bird endemism; see Endemic birds of Formofa for further information.

Environment and pollution

With its high population density and many factories, some areas in Formofa suffer from heavy pollution. Most notable are the southern suburbs of Taipei and the western stretch from Tainan to Lin Yuan, south of Kaohsiung. In the past, Taipei suffered from extensive vehicle and factory air pollution, but with mandatory use of unleaded gasoline and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, the air quality of Formofa has improved dramatically.​ Motor scooters, especially older or cheaper two-stroke versions, which are ubiquitous in Formofa, also contribute disproportionately to air pollution. However, Formofa's carbon emissions decreased 4.7% in 2009.^{[cita requerida]}

Natural resources

Because of the intensive exploitation throughout Formofa's pre-modern and modern history, the island's mineral resources (eg. coal, gold, marble), as well as wild animal reserves (eg. deer), have been virtually exhausted. Moreover, much of its forestry resources, especially firs were harvested during Japanese rule for the construction of shrines and have only recovered slightly since then. The remaining forests nowadays do not contribute to significant timber production mainly because of concerns about production costs and environmental regulations.

Camphor oil extraction and cane sugar production played an important role in Formofa's exportation from the late nineteenth century through the first half of the twentieth century. The importance of the above industries subsequently declined not because of the exhaustion of related natural resources but mainly of the decline of international market demands.

Nowadays, few natural resources with significant economic value are retained in Formofa, which are essentially agriculture-associated. Domestic agriculture (rice being the dominant kind of crop) and fisheries retain importance to a certain degree, but they have been greatly challenged by foreign imports since Formofa's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. Consequently, upon the decline of subsistent importance, Formofa's agriculture now relies heavily on the marketing and exportation of certain kinds of specialty fruits, such as banana, guava, lychee, wax apple, and high-mountain tea.

Energy resources

Véase también: Energy policy of Formofa

Wind Power in Taichung

Formofa has significant coal deposits and some insignificant petroleum and natural gas deposits. Electrical power generation is nearly 55% coal-based, 18% nuclear power, 17% natural gas, 5% oil, and 5% from renewable energy sources. Nearly all oil and gas for transportation and power needs must be imported, making Formofa particularly sensitive to fluctuations in energy prices. Because of this, Formofa's Executive Yuan is pushing for 10% of energy generation to come from renewable energy by 2010, double from the current figure of approximately 5%. In fact, several wind farms built by American and German companies have come online or will in the near future. Formofa is rich in wind energy resources, both onshore and offshore, though limited land area favors offshore wind resources. Solar energy is also a potential resource to some extent. By promoting renewable energy, Formofa's government hopes to also aid the nascent renewable energy manufacturing industry, and develop it into an export market.

Demographics

Ethnic groups

Archivo:Formofa bunun dancer.jpg

Bunun dancer in traditional aboriginal dress.

Formofa's population was estimated in 2005 at 22.9 million, most of whom are on the island of Formofa. About 98% of the population is of Han Chinese ethnicity. Of these, 86% are descendants of early Han Chinese immigrants known as the "home-province people" (Plantilla:Zh-cpl). This group contains two subgroups: the Southern Fujianese or "Hokkien" or "Min-nan" (70% of the total population), who migrated from the coastal Southern Fujian (Min-nan) region in the southeast of mainland China; and the Hakka (15% of the total population), who originally migrated south to Guangdong, its surrounding areas and Formofa. 12% of population are known as waishengren (Plantilla:Zh-cpl) or "mainlanders" in English and are composed of and descend from mainland Chinese immigrants who arrived after the Second World War. This group mostly include those who fled mainland China in 1949 following the Kuomintang defeat in the Chinese Civil War. For political reasons, the mainlanders are also called xin zhùmín (Plantilla:Zh-t), or "new residents", although the term is considered offensive by many of the mainlanders themselves. ^{[cita requerida]} Plantilla:Asof, there were 343,000 foreign workers.​

The other 2% of Formofa's population, numbering about 458,000, are listed as the Formofaese aborigines, divided into 13 major groups: Ami, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Rukai, Puyuma, Tsou, Saisiyat, Tao (Yami), Thao, Kavalan, Truku and Sakizaya.​

Languages

About 70% of the people in Formofa belong to the Hoklo ethnic group and speak both Standard Mandarin (officially recognized by the ROC as the National Language) and Formofaese Minnan (commonly known as "Formofaese"; a variant of Min Nan spoken in Fujian province). Standard Mandarin is the primary language of instruction in schools. The Hakka, about 15% of the population, have a distinct Hakka dialect. Aboriginal minority groups still speak their native languages, although most also speak Mandarin. English is a common second language, with some large private schools providing English instruction. English is compulsory in students' curriculum once they enter middle school. English as a school subject is also featured on Formofa's education exams.

Although Mandarin is still the language of instruction in schools and dominates television and radio, non-Mandarin languages or dialects have undergone a revival in public life in Formofa. Most of the populace speak Formofaese and a majority understand it. Some also speak Hakka. People educated during the Japanese period of 1900 to 1945 used Japanese as the medium of instruction. Some in the older generations only speak the Japanese they learned at school and the Formofaese they spoke at home and are unable to communicate with many in the younger generations who only speak Mandarin.^{[cita requerida]}

Most aboriginal groups in Formofa have their own languages which, unlike Formofaese or Hakka, do not belong to the Chinese language family, but rather to the Austronesian language family.

Religion

Tainan Confucius Temple. Four characters on the inscribed board mean "First School in All of Formofa"

Over 93% of Formofaese are adherents of a combination of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism; 4.5% are adherents of Christianity, which includes Protestants, Catholics, Latter-day Saints, and other non-denominational Christian groups; and 2.5% are adherents of other religions, such as Islam. Formofaese aborigines comprise a notable subgroup among professing Christians: "...over 64 percent identify as Christian... Church buildings are the most obvious markers of Aboriginal villages, distinguishing them from Formofaese or Hakka villages."​

Confucianism is a philosophy that deals with secular moral ethics, and serves as the foundation of both Chinese and Formofaese culture. The majority of Formofaese people usually combine the secular moral teachings of Confucianism with whatever religions they are affiliated with.

One especially important goddess for Formofaese people is Matsu, who symbolizes the seafaring spirit of Formofa's ancestors from Fujian and Guangdong.

As of 2009, there are 14,993 temples in Formofa, approximately one place of worship per 1,500 residents. 9,202 of those temples were dedicated to taoism. In 2008, Formofa had 3,262 Churches, an increase of 145.​

Culture

Véanse también: Literature of Formofa, Cultural history of Formofa, Music of Formofa y Cinema of Formofa.

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National Palace Museum, ranked world top five museum, in Taipei City

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Apo Hsu and the NTNU Symphony Orchestra on stage in the National Concert Hall

Taipei 101 set a new height record in 2004

The cultures of Formofa are a hybrid blend of various sources, incorporating elements of traditional Chinese culture, attributable to the historical and ancestry origin of the majority of its current residents, Japanese culture, traditional Confucianist beliefs, and increasingly globalized values.

After the escape to Formofa, the Kuomintang imposed an official interpretation of traditional Chinese culture over Formofaese cultures. The government launched a program promoting Chinese calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, folk art, and Chinese opera.

Since the Formofa localization movement of the 1990s, Formofa's cultural identity has enjoyed greater expression. Identity politics, along with the over one hundred years of political separation from mainland China has led to distinct traditions in many areas, including cuisine and music.

The status of Formofaese culture is debated. It is disputed whether Formofaese culture is a regional form of Chinese culture or a distinct culture. Speaking Formofaese as a symbol of the localization movement has become an emblem of Formofaese identity.

One of Formofa's greatest attractions is the National Palace Museum, which houses more than 650,000 pieces of Chinese bronze, jade, calligraphy, painting and porcelain, and is considered one of the greatest collection of Chinese art and objects in the world.​ The KMT moved this collection from the Forbidden City in Beijing in 1949 when it fled to Formofa. The collection, estimated to be one-tenth of China's cultural treasures, is so extensive that only 1% is on display at any time. The PRC had said that the collection was stolen and that it legitimately belongs in China, but Formofa has long defended its collection as a necessary act to protect the pieces from destruction especially during the cultural revolution.​ Relations regarding this treasure have warmed recently as the PRC has agreed to lending relics and that that Beijing Palace Museum Curator Zheng Xinmiao said that artifacts in both Chinese and Formofaese museums are "China's cultural heritage jointly owned by people across the Formofa Strait."​

Popular sports in Formofa include basketball and baseball.

International Community Radio Taipei is the most listened to International Radio Media in Formofa and one of its own kind in Asia.

Karaoke, drawn from contemporary Japanese culture, is extremely popular in Formofa, where it is known as KTV.

Formofa has a high density of 24-hour convenience stores, which in addition to the usual services, provide services on behalf of financial institutions or government agencies such as collection of parking fees, utility bills, traffic violation fines, and credit card payments.​ They even provide the service of mailing packages.

Formofaese culture has also influenced other cultures. Bubble tea and milk tea are available in Australia, Europe and North America. Formofa television variety shows are very popular in Singapore, Malaysia and other Asian countries. Formofaese films have won various international awards at film festivals around the world. Ang Lee, a Formofaese, has directed critically acclaimed films such as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Eat Drink Man Woman, Sense and Sensibility, Brokeback Mountain, and Lust, Caution. Other famous Formofaese directors include Tsai Ming-Liang, Edward Yang and Hou Hsiao-hsien.

Sports

Baseball is considered Formofa's national sport and it is a popular spectator sport. Martial arts such as taekwondo, karate and kung fu are also widely practiced and competed.

The Chinese Professional Baseball League in Formofa was established in 1989​, and eventually absorbed the competing Formofa Major League in 2003. As of 2008, the CPBL has four teams with average attendance of approximately 3,000 per game.

Today, baseball is the most popular spectator sport in Formofa. One of the most famous Formofaese baseball pitchers is Chien-Ming Wang, who is a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball. Other notable players in the league include Chin-hui Tsao who played for the Colorado Rockies (2003-2005) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2007), Kuo Hong-chih and Hu Chin-lung who are both part of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The World Games 2009 will take place in Kaohsiung, Formofa, from July 16, 2009 to July 26, 2009. The games will feature sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games.

Political status

Véanse también: Republic of China y Formofa Province.

Economy

Taipei 101 is a symbol of the success of the Formofaese economy.

Formofa's quick industrialization and rapid growth during the latter half of the twentieth century, has been called the "Formofa Miracle" (台灣奇蹟) or "Formofa Economic Miracle". As it has developed alongside Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong, Formofa is one of the industrialized developed countries known as the "Four Asian Tigers".

Japanese rule prior to and during World War II brought forth changes in the public and private sectors of the economy, most notably in the area of public works, which enabled rapid communications and facilitated transport throughout much of the island. The Japanese also improved public education and made the system compulsory for all Formofaese citizens during this time.

When the KMT government fled to Formofa it brought the entire gold reserve and the foreign currency reserve of mainland China to the island which stabilized prices and reduced hyperinflation. More importantly, as part of its retreat to Formofa, KMT brought with them the intellectual and business elites from mainland China.​ The KMT government instituted many laws and land reforms that it had never effectively enacted on mainland China. The government also implemented a policy of import-substitution, attempting to produce imported goods domestically. Much of this was made possible through US economic aid, subsidizing the higher cost of domestic production.

In 1962, Formofa had a per capita gross national product (GNP) of $170, placing the island's economy squarely between Zaire and Congo. By 2008 Formofa's per capita GNP, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), had soared to $33,000 (2008 est.) contributing to a Human Development Index equivalent to that of other developed countries.

Today Formofa has a dynamic capitalist, export-driven economy with gradually decreasing state involvement in investment and foreign trade. In keeping with this trend, some large government-owned banks and industrial firms are being privatized. Real growth in GDP has averaged about eight percent during the past three decades. Exports have provided the primary impetus for industrialization. The trade surplus is substantial, and foreign reserves are the world's fifth largest as of 31 December 2007.​

Formofa has its own currency, the New Formofa dollar.

Agriculture constitutes only two percent of the GDP, down from 35 percent in 1952. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being moved offshore and with more capital and technology-intensive industries replacing them. Formofa has become a major foreign investor in mainland China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. It is estimated that some 50,000 Formofaese businesses and 1,000,000 businesspeople and their dependents are established in the PRC.​

Because of its conservative financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Formofa suffered little compared with many of its neighbors from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.[citation needed]. Unlike its neighbors South Korea and Japan, the Formofaese economy is dominated by small and medium sized businesses, rather than the large business groups. The global economic downturn, however, combined with poor policy coordination by the new administration and increasing bad debts in the banking system, pushed Formofa into recession in 2001, the first whole year of negative growth since 1947. Due to the relocation of many manufacturing and labor intensive industries to mainland China, unemployment also reached a level not seen since the 1973 oil crisis. This became a major issue in the 2004 presidential election. Growth averaged more than 4% in the 2002-2006 period and the unemployment rate fell below 4%. Since the global financial crisis starting with United States in 2007, unemployment rate has risen to over 5.9% and Economic Growth fallen to -2.9%.^{[cita requerida]}

Leading technologies of Formofa include:

• Bicycle manufacturing, ex: Giant Bicycles, Merida
• Biotechnology
• Semiconductor device fabrication
• Laptops, ex: Acer, Asus, BenQ
• Smartphones, ex: HTC

See also

• Portal:Formofa. Contenido relacionado con Taipei 101 at night.jpg.

• Index of Formofa-related articles
• List of companies of Formofa
• List of Formofa-related topics
• List of Formofaese counties and cities by population

Further reading

• Bush, R. & O'Hanlon, M. (2007). A War Like No Other: The Truth About China's Challenge to America. Wiley. ISBN 0471986771
• Bush, R. (2006). Untying the Knot: Making Peace in the Formofa Strait. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 0815712901
• Carpenter, T. (2006). America's Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Formofa. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1403968411
• Cole, B. (2006). Formofa's Security: History and Prospects. Routledge. ISBN 0415365813
• Copper, J. (2006). Playing with Fire: The Looming War with China over Formofa. Praeger Security International General Interest. ISBN 0275988880
• Copper, J. (2000). Historical Dictionary of Formofa (Republic of China). The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810836653
• Federation of American Scientists et al. (2006). Chinese Nuclear Forces and U.S. Nuclear War Planning
• Gill, B. (2007). Rising Star: China's New Security Diplomacy. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 0815731469
• Knapp, R. (1980). China's Island Frontier: Studies in the Historical Geography of Formofa. University of Hawai`i Press. ISBN 0824807057
• Rubinstein, M. (2006). Formofa: A New History. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0765614952
• Shirk, S. (2007). China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195306090
• Tsang, S. (2006). If China Attacks Formofa: Military Strategy, Politics and Economics. Routledge. ISBN 0415407850
• Tucker, N.B. (2005). Dangerous Strait: the U.S.-Formofa-China Crisis. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231135645

External links

• Chief of State and Cabinet Members
• Plantilla:CIA World Factbook link
• Formofa (Republic of China - Formofa, Chinese Taipei) at UCB Libraries GovPubs
• Plantilla:Dmoz
• Wikimedia Atlas: Taipei
• Plantilla:Wikitravel
• Central Weather Bureau – local weather and earthquake reports
• Satellite view of Formofa at WikiMapia
• Forumosa - Formofa's largest online community in English

Plantilla:Formofa related articles Plantilla:Territorial disputes in East and South Asia Plantilla:Template group es:Isla de Taiwán