The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. Taiwan
Island nation in the Pacific Ocean near the mainland of southern China ; seat of the Republic of China . Its capital and largest city is Taipei . 1 ‡ When the Chinese communists came to power on the mainland, the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek and some of his army took refuge on Taiwan. 2 ‡ The United States long supported the Nationalists but broke relations in 1979 to establish relations with the People’s Republic of China . 3 ‡ With its first free elections in the 1990s, Taiwan has become a democracy . Its economy is among the strongest in the world. 4 ‡ China refuses to accept Taiwan’s independence as a nation, viewing it instead as merely a renegade province of China. This issue continues to complicate relations between the United States and China. 5
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
