Is Taiwan a state

Answer 1

Taiwan is the common name of a State called the Republic of China (ROC). It's current territory includes not only the island of Taiwan, but also smaller island groups such as Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, of which the latter two lie just offshore of the mainland. These territories form the remaining areas of governance of the ROC government, which retreated from the mainland in 1949, after Communist forces took control.

However, there are various uses of the name "Taiwan"

It might mean:

1. the State/Country which governs it (Republic of China)

2. the name of the individual island

3. the name of the province which the Republic of China government administers, or which is claimed by the communist mainland "People's Republic of China"

Whether Taiwan might be referred as a country or not is disputed between two main political blocs: The ruling Pan-Blue coalition lead by the Kuomintang feels that Taiwan is a territory part of the Republic of China, and claims to be the sole-legitimate government of the whole of China. However, they have increasingly used "Taiwan" to refer to the ROC, especially when dealing with foreigners.

However, the opposition Pan-Green coalition, which is lead largely by the Democratic Progressive Party, thinks that Taiwan is its own country, separate and independent of China (as least de-facto). The DPP has called for increased usage of "Taiwan", rather than "China", or "Republic of China".

The United States does not recognize that Taiwan is its own independent state and "acknowledges" that it is part of China. Before switching diplomatic ties to mainland China in 1979 under the Taiwan Relations Act (see related link), the US government recognized Taiwan as the "Republic of China"

For media outside Taiwan and mainland China, most of them remain neutral and usually refer the two sides as just "Taiwan" and "China". Referring them as the "Republic of China" and "People's Republic of China" might cause confusion among people who do not really understand the current situation.

In summary, it is really up to the opinion of people whether they consider Taiwan as an independent state or a part of China. However by it's own constitution (basic law), the Republic of China is the country, rather than "Taiwan", the island itself.

Answer 2

Taiwan is an island off the SE coast of China, between the East and South China Seas. It is difficult to say whether or not Taiwan is a state, because of disagreements between Beijing (People's Republic of China, mainland) and Taipei (Republic of China, Taiwan). Since 1949 mainland China has considered Taiwan to be a rebel province. They each saw themselves as the legitimate government of both. Economic cooperation increased in the 1990's, but things soured when Taiwan redefined its relationship to mainland China as "state to state", implying that Taiwan sees the "two" Chinas as two separate, independent nations. Under the name "Republic of China", Taipei has applied for and has been denied membership in the UN.

In August, 2007, the BBC reported that Taiwan may at some point re-apply to the UN under the name "Taiwan" and not "Republic of China". A spokesman said that this would be a technical decision for purposes of the application, and the constitutional name of "Republic of China" would remain.

The United States of America is made up of 50 states and various possessions and protectorates, but this use of the word state is not the only one. World-wide, the word state implies that a region is an independent nation, able to conduct any affairs of 'state' with any other nation. The origin of the word in the US is not totally unrelated; in the US the 'states', originally independent of one another, have come together as a federation, with a central or federal government taking authority as given to it by the Constitution.

Answer 3

China and Taiwan are both de facto sovereign states.

Following Japan's victory over the Qing Dynasty in the first Sino-Japanese war, Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.

The Qing Dynasty was overthrown and Republic of China(ROC) was established in mainland China in 1912.

At the end of World War II in 1945, Japan surrendered and gave up Taiwan.

Meanwhile, because the Chinese Civil War between the ROC and the Communist Party of China is in progress, there was no appropriate representative government of China. As a result, to whom Taiwan should belong to after WWII was never legally decided.

However, the ROC lost the civil war and its government fled to Taiwan in 1949.

The Communist forces took control of China and founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the same year.

Since then, China and Taiwan remained seperated.The PRC is now commonly knowned as China and the ROC is now commonly knowned as Taiwan.

Answer 4

um WOW...there are no states in Taiwan. Taiwan is a country divided into counties and cities and districts within them. There are many of those. I don't feel like counting, sorry.