Taiwan which is also referred to as Formosa is one of the biggest islands in China i.e. in the Republic of China. It is located on the east of Taiwan Strait which is in Mainland China off on the southeastern coast. Taiwan had been governed by the Republic of China since the end of the Second World War. On the northeast of Taiwan is the Japan Island, Ryukyu Island on the southern end of Japan, and to its south Philippines.
The geographical area of Taiwan is approximately 36,188 square kilometers with a population of about twenty three million according to 2009 statistics. The capital city of Taiwan is Taipei. The terrain of the Island can be described as two thirds being largely mountainous averaging 3000 meters and 100 peaks that are approximately 9,843 ft. with a climate of maritime subtropical.
According to Thomas,(2004), major Taiwan’s Historical themes include; issues of decolonization and emergent nationalism in Taiwan, the former category of Taiwan stories, myths, and legends of indigenous peoples, changes to regional developments and ethnic group relations, traditional arts, sport development, female studies, tribal figures, life stories and tribal development investigations while themes in the latter category include discovering the Hakka, Hakka culture and regional industries, ethnic group relations, Hakka families and the development of Taiwan, investigation of Hakka tribal religions, investigation on Hakka culture and society, Hakka tribes and national policy, and others, (Thomas, 2004).
In addition, the Taiwan historical themes in this study that helps understand this institution concerning Taiwan indigenous peoples include some of their imperative historical events and the associations between these different various tribes, traditional rites, modern religions, families and populations, female and male indigenous peoples and many more concerning this institution. Historical themes on the studies of Hakka include the association of different ethnic groups and the Hakka females.
TAIWAN’S INSTITUTIONS AND HISTORY
According to Alexander, (1990)Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, who originated in Austronesia and southern Asia, have lived on Taiwan for twelve thousand to fifteen thousand years where considerable migration to Taiwan from the Chinese mainland began as early as AD 500, Dutch traders first claimed the island in 1624 as a base for Dutch commerce with Japan and the China coast and two years later, the Spanish established a settlement on the northwest coast of Taiwan, which they occupied until 1642 when they were driven out by the Dutch (Alexander 1990)
Since 1945, Taiwan had been under the rule of the (ROC) Republic of China; this was after China attained Taiwan from Japan after the Second World War. According to kunai and Dowel(2009), The People’s Republic of China replaced Taiwan at the United Nations in 1971, and Taiwan’s diplomatic position has continued to erode, as many countries changed their official recognition from Taipei to Beijing, As of September 2008, Taiwan had formal diplomatic ties with 23 countries and at the same time, Taiwan has cultivated informal ties with most countries to offset its diplomatic isolation and to expand its economic relations (kunai and Dowel, 2009).
POLITICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
The political system of Taiwan was a one-party system, that is, it had been controlled by one party only called the (KMT) i.e. the Kuomintang. The chairman of KMT was also the top leader of Taiwan’s people. The political party in control, that is, KMT as the ruling party’s role was to fill appointed positions within the members of the state as well as maintain political control in Taiwan’s island.
The type of political establishment in Taiwan is a multi-party democracy with a constitution that was last amended in the year 2005. Some of the political branches of the Yuan include Legislative, Executive, Judicial, Examination, and Control. Apart from the national party, (KMT) Kuomintang, there are other major political parties including, (DPP) i.e. Democratic Progressive Party and other several small parties.
According to, Perris and Tarry (2002) in addition to the (KMT) Kuomintang, the other major political party is the DPP, whose membership is made up largely of native Taiwanese, and whose platform includes outspoken positions on some of the most sensitive issues in Taiwan politics, for example, the DPP maintains that Taiwan is an entity separate from mainland China, in contrast to the KMT position that Taiwan and the mainland, though currently divided, are both part of “one China (Perris and Tarry 2002).
There are also a number of different small political parties that include the (NP) New Party (PFP), the People First Party, and (TSU) Taiwan Solidarity Union. As Britney and Missy (2001) note, after the 2000 presidential election, former KMT President Lee Teng-hui broke with the KMT and in 2001 formed the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), which allied itself with the DPP, an alliance that largely fell apart over time, the People First Party (PFP) was formed in the wake of the March 2000 presidential election by disgruntled KMT members who supported the presidential bid of former KMT Taiwan Provincial Governor James Soong, who did not receive the KMT nomination, (Britney and Missy 2001)
Consequently, Perris and Orel (2002) note that the PFP and KMT subsequently formed the “Pan-Blue” Alliance to oppose the DPP government where the PFP, however, gradually shrank and it largely merged with the KMT in the run-up to the January 2008 LY elections, although one PFP candidate did win election to the LY under the name PFP with the New Party, which also split from the KMT, holding several seats on the Taipei City Council, but has no legislators at this point.( Perris and Orel 2002).
In addition to the above political parties, there are different more registered small political parties, for instance, the Constitution Party, the Green Party, and Hakka Party, and many more.
The languages spoken in Taiwan include a large majority speaking Mandarin Chinese. This form of language has been the medium of teaching in different schools in Taiwan for more than five decades. However, there are some native Taiwanese and different others people in Taiwan who speak Southern Fujianese vernacular, others speak Min-nan which is also called Taiwanese. In addition, the Hakka in Taiwan have their own distinct language and some can even speak Japanese due to Japanese rule over the half-century
The state department of Taiwan and the political significance of its institutions as described above help understand the institution of Taiwan better. On the other hand, the institutional outcome of these Taiwan institutions such as the presidential systems and the existing parties as well as the small parties explain the political background of the Taiwanese.
These institutions work in given the political/social/cultural factors in Taiwan in a certain special form. For instance, concerning the cultural factors, a detailed cultural background gives a clear understanding on the Taiwanese culture.
Taiwan’s culture can be described as a blend of various of its distinctive, Japanese, Chinese, as well as Western influences. In other words, Taiwan’s culture is a hybrid blend of a variety of sources that incorporates elements of different of traditional Chinese culture that is attributable to original ancestry and the historical themes of the Chinese current residents as well as Japanese culture their traditional Confucianism believes and the more progressively western values. Taiwan’s culture comprises of various elements including, fine arts, popular culture, and folk traditions that is personified by some modern and major traditional Western and Asian motifs.
This institution is important or is a good choice in the society due to their cultural values, their growth in their economic situation which was so rapid. It is through several decades of hard work that has transformed the economy of Taiwan. Taiwan has sound economic management leading to transformation from an underdeveloped country to a major agricultural island as well as to past 1960s in Taiwan; their foreign investment assisted them in introducing some modern and labor-intensive technology which led to Taiwan becoming a major exporter of their quality labor-intensive products.
Currently, Taiwan has shifted towards increasingly sophisticated, technology-intensive and capital-intensive products which they exports and that has geared towards developing their service sector.
Also on education concern, about 156,214 students enter colleges and universities. There have been increased opportunities for graduate education in Taiwan. However, different students from Taiwan travel abroad for their advanced education. The above reasons, among others make Taiwan a good choice in society.
According to Richard (2002) Comparing China and Taiwan Capitalism vs. Socialism even though Taiwan is considered a market capitalistic country and China is considered a socialistic country, both have exhibited that they do not follow a purely capitalistic system or socialistic system respectively, they actually follow a mixture of both types systems to different degrees, even though Taiwan follows a capitalistic system, the state still has control over the banking and finance system and decides which industries to protect and support, on the other hand, started out almost under strict socialism but has begun to change to develop both foreign and domestic markets. (Richard 2002)
There are some similarities between political situation in China and in Taiwan. For instance, they are both presidential systems and both countries have an authoritarian polity which has stern controls on the free existed a formal opposition movement, that is, the DPP.
The politics of China takes usually takes place ina structure referred to as a semi presidential representative democratic republic, and the president becomes the head of the state. This is similar to Taiwan.
CONCLUSION
Taiwan has grown over the period, their culture has been disputable whether their culture is a distinct culture or regional form of the Chinese culture, and however, Taiwanese has been a symbol of the current and past localization movement which has developed into an emblem of their identity (Taiwanese). They have become a growing Island with their firms being the world’s largest suppliers and most especially of computer monitors as well as leading in the manufacturing of PCs despite them being done elsewhere and occurring in overseas and typically in China. Taiwan history is therefore of utmost history to Taiwanese political and institutions characteristic as well as its growth.