Is Taiwan a Country?
An interesting reality I came across today is that the United States recognizes 195 countries. I would argue that there are 196 because Taiwan (Republic of China) is left out of the list. The United States apparently cannot recognize Taiwan due to some political issues form back in 1979 (http://www.state.gov/s/inr/rls/4250.htm#note6).
The definition of a country from Google (perhaps not the authority) says: a nation with its own government, occupying a particular territory. Websters College Dictionary 2003 says: a political state or nation or its territory.
From the ROC constitution: “The Republic of China is a multiparty democracy founded on the ROC Constitu- tion. The Constitution was adopted by the National Assembly 國民大會 in Nanjing on December 25, 1946; was promulgated on January 1, 1947; and took effect on De- cember 25 of that same year. It comprises 175 articles in 14 chapters, plus 12 Ad- ditional Articles added in seven rounds of revision between 1991 and 2005.” http://www.gio.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=18690&CtNode=2579&mp=807
October 21, 2011 at 12:06 am
The US has more at stake with the PRC than it does with the ROC. But, when we transferred recognition over to the communist government in the 1970′s, we signed a defense pact with Taiwan, which I’m sure you’re aware of. I consider Taiwan a separate country but most, if not all, PRC Chinese people consider it a part of the mainland.
But when they find out Taiwan has unrestricted internet then they start to question what they’ve been fed by the CCP. Why should Taiwanese get things that they aren’t allowed to have? “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because they’re a separate country!” I always tell them.