APTN News
In November APTN’s Tom Fennario travelled to Taiwan for a series of stories about the country of 23 million that is smaller than Nova Scotia.
Starting with the Dutch in the 17th century, the 16 recognized Indigenous groups of Taiwan have long faced an unceasing wave of colonialism. Ethnic Chinese, known as “Han”, flooded the island after the Dutch, but were forced to relinquish Taiwan to Japan in the late 19th century.
After World War II, the Chinese once again took control of the island that sits just 180 km west off China’s mainland.
Following a civil war in 1949, the Chinese communist party led by Mao Zedong exiled the ruling nationalist party from mainland China to Taiwan.
In just one year over two million Chinese inundated Taiwan, which to this day officially calls itself the Republic of China, although they are not recognized by the United Nations (UN).
Instead, the UN views Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C or mainland China).
Still, Taiwan is in many ways independent from the PRC, they have their own defacto government, currency, and laws.
