The Republic of China at a Glance 2011

History

The Republic of China was founded in 1912 on the Chinese mainland. At that time, Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule as a result of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, by which the Qing court ceded Taiwan to Japan. The Nanjing-based ROC government began exercising jurisdiction over Taiwan in 1945 after Japan surrendered at the end of World War II.
Four years later, when the Kuomintang (KMT) was defeated in the Chinese Civil War, the ROC government relocated to Taiwan. Since then, the ROC has continued to exercise effective jurisdiction over the main island of Taiwan and a number of smaller ones, leaving Taiwan and the Chinese mainland each under the rule of a different government.
The authorities in Beijing have never exercised sovereignty over Taiwan or other islands administered by the ROC government in Taipei. There are differences of opinion among ROC citizens over whether it is best to maintain this status quo indefinitely or work out a different relationship with the Chinese mainland. Regardless, they share the conviction that their future must be based on freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and that only they have the right to decide their own future.
As the ROC exercises effective jurisdiction primarily over Taiwan, the following timeline focuses mainly on the island’s recorded history dating from about 400 years ago.

The Tainan Confucian Temple, first completed in 1666, is famous for housing Taiwan’s first public school. (Chang Su-ching)

Front, left to right: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Madame Chiang Kai-shek pose for a group picture at the Cairo Conference on November 25, 1943. (Courtesy of Kuomintang Party Archives)

Timeline of Recorded History

1624 The Dutch East India Company establishes a base in southwestern Taiwan and employs Chinese laborers to work on its rice and sugarcane plantations. Home to Austronesian peoples for many millennia, Taiwan experienced brief visits in earlier centuries by small numbers of Chinese and Japanese merchants, fishermen and pirates.

1626 Spanish adventurers establish bases in northern Taiwan, but are ousted by the Dutch in 1642.

1662 Fleeing the Manchurian invasion of Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) China, a band of Ming loyalists under Zheng Cheng-gong (Koxinga) take refuge in Taiwan, driving out the Dutch and establishing a mini-kingdom on the island.

1683 The Qing forces invade Taiwan’s western and northern coastal areas.

1885 Taiwan is declared a province of the Qing Empire.

1895 Following defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government signs the Treaty of Shimonoseki, by which it cedes sovereignty over Taiwan to Japan, which rules the island until the end of World War II in 1945.

1911-1912 Chinese revolutionaries overthrow the Qing Empire and establish the Republic of China on the mainland.

1943 During World War II, ROC leader Chiang Kai-shek meets with U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Cairo. After the conclusion of the conference, a joint communiqué known as the Cairo Declaration is released, stating: “… all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa [Taiwan] and the Pescadores [Penghu Islands], shall be restored to the Republic of China.”

1945 After World War II, the ROC government receives the surrender of the Japanese military in Taiwan.

1947 The ROC Constitution is promulgated in Nanjing on the mainland on January 1 and is scheduled to take effect December 25. In March and following months, ROC troops dispatched from the mainland suppress a large-scale uprising of Taiwan residents sparked by the February 28 Incident.

1948 As civil war rages in China between the KMT-led ROC government and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rebels, the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion are enacted, overriding the Constitution and greatly expanding presidential powers.

1949 The ROC government and 1.3 million mainland Chinese relocate to Taiwan, and the CCP establishes the People’s Republic of China on the mainland. Thereafter, Taiwan and the Chinese mainland are each ruled by a separate government. Martial law is declared in Taiwan and continues to be in force until 1987.

1971 The ROC withdraws from the United Nations in anticipation of a General Assembly vote to give the China seat to the authorities in Beijing.

1979 Democracy activists demonstrating in the southern city of Kaohsiung are detained by the KMT government, convicted of sedition by a military court and imprisoned for many years. Some of them and their defense attorneys later play key roles in the formation and development of today’s largest opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

1987 Martial law, in effect since 1949, is lifted and democratization goes into high gear.

1991 The Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion are abolished. Beginning this year until 2005, the ROC Constitution undergoes seven rounds of revision to make it more relevant to the contemporary situation.

1995 National Health Insurance begins.

1996 The ROC holds its first-ever direct presidential election, with Lee Teng-hui and running mate Lien Chan of the KMT garnering 54 percent of the vote.

2000 Chen Shui-bian and Lu Hsiu-lien of the DPP are elected president and vice president with 39 percent of the vote in a five-way race, ending the KMT’s more than 50-year rule and marking the first transfer of governmental executive authority in Taiwan between political parties.

2002 The ROC becomes a member of the World Trade Organization.

2004 A first national referendum is held in conjunction with the third direct presidential election, in which Chen and Lu are re-elected with a slight majority.

2008 Ma Ying-jeou and Vincent C. Siew of the KMT are elected president and vice president of the ROC, garnering 58 percent of the vote and marking the second transfer of governmental executive authority in Taiwan between political parties.

2009 The ROC attends a World Health Assembly meeting as an observer, marking its first participation in an activity of the U.N. since withdrawing in 1971.

2010 The ROC inks the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with mainland China to normalize economic and trade relations across the Taiwan Strait.

2011 The ROC celebrates its centennial in Taiwan.

A delegation from the ROC attends a World Health Assembly meeting as an observer in May 2009, marking the ROC’s first participation in a U.N. activity since 1971. (Courtesy of the Department of Health)

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Cover Photo: Chang Kun-huei, courtesy of the Tourism Bureau

1624	The Dutch East India Company establishes a base in southwestern Taiwan and employs Chinese laborers to work on its rice and sugarcane plantations. Home to Austronesian peoples for many millennia, Taiwan experienced brief visits in earlier centuries by small numbers of Chinese and Japanese merchants, fishermen and pirates.
1626	Spanish adventurers establish bases in northern Taiwan, but are ousted by the Dutch in 1642.
1662	Fleeing the Manchurian invasion of Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) China, a band of Ming loyalists under Zheng Cheng-gong (Koxinga) take refuge in Taiwan, driving out the Dutch and establishing a mini-kingdom on the island.
1683	The Qing forces invade Taiwan’s western and northern coastal areas.
1885	Taiwan is declared a province of the Qing Empire.
1895	Following defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government signs the Treaty of Shimonoseki, by which it cedes sovereignty over Taiwan to Japan, which rules the island until the end of World War II in 1945.
1911-1912	Chinese revolutionaries overthrow the Qing Empire and establish the Republic of China on the mainland.
1943	During World War II, ROC leader Chiang Kai-shek meets with U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Cairo. After the conclusion of the conference, a joint communiqué known as the Cairo Declaration is released, stating: “… all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa [Taiwan] and the Pescadores [Penghu Islands], shall be restored to the Republic of China.”
1945	After World War II, the ROC government receives the surrender of the Japanese military in Taiwan.
1947	The ROC Constitution is promulgated in Nanjing on the mainland on January 1 and is scheduled to take effect December 25. In March and following months, ROC troops dispatched from the mainland suppress a large-scale uprising of Taiwan residents sparked by the February 28 Incident.
1948	As civil war rages in China between the KMT-led ROC government and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rebels, the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion are enacted, overriding the Constitution and greatly expanding presidential powers.
1949	The ROC government and 1.3 million mainland Chinese relocate to Taiwan, and the CCP establishes the People’s Republic of China on the mainland. Thereafter, Taiwan and the Chinese mainland are each ruled by a separate government. Martial law is declared in Taiwan and continues to be in force until 1987.
1971	The ROC withdraws from the United Nations in anticipation of a General Assembly vote to give the China seat to the authorities in Beijing.
1979	Democracy activists demonstrating in the southern city of Kaohsiung are detained by the KMT government, convicted of sedition by a military court and imprisoned for many years. Some of them and their defense attorneys later play key roles in the formation and development of today’s largest opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
1987	Martial law, in effect since 1949, is lifted and democratization goes into high gear.
1991	The Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion are abolished. Beginning this year until 2005, the ROC Constitution undergoes seven rounds of revision to make it more relevant to the contemporary situation.
1995	National Health Insurance begins.
1996	The ROC holds its first-ever direct presidential election, with Lee Teng-hui and running mate Lien Chan of the KMT garnering 54 percent of the vote.
2000	Chen Shui-bian and Lu Hsiu-lien of the DPP are elected president and vice president with 39 percent of the vote in a five-way race, ending the KMT’s more than 50-year rule and marking the first transfer of governmental executive authority in Taiwan between political parties.
2002	The ROC becomes a member of the World Trade Organization.
2004	A first national referendum is held in conjunction with the third direct presidential election, in which Chen and Lu are re-elected with a slight majority.
2008	Ma Ying-jeou and Vincent C. Siew of the KMT are elected president and vice president of the ROC, garnering 58 percent of the vote and marking the second transfer of governmental executive authority in Taiwan between political parties.
2009	The ROC attends a World Health Assembly meeting as an observer, marking its first participation in an activity of the U.N. since withdrawing in 1971.
2010	The ROC inks the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with mainland China to normalize economic and trade relations across the Taiwan Strait.
2011	The ROC celebrates its centennial in Taiwan.