Taiwan

The island that is now known as Taiwan was initially inhabited by Austronesian people, the same people that belong to ethnic groups in countries in Oceania and Southeast Asia, such as New Zealand, Hawaii, Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, Brunei, Polynesia, Micronesia, the Philippines and Madagascar. During this time, before the 16th century, the island was still called by the aborigines as Pakan.

The Portuguese explorers who first saw the island around 1590 gave it the name Ilha Formosa or Beautiful Island. The name was later shortened to Formosa and became the name of the island for over four hundred years. When the Dutch traders came in 1624, only the aborigines were living on the island and when they made a map, present day Taiwan was not part of China since there were no sign of Chinese occupation or evidence of administrative jurisdiction over the island. The Dutch established a trading post on the southwestern peninsula of the island. They named the peninsula Tayouan, meaning terrace bay and their trading post was named Zeelandia after a Dutch province. Then they proceeded to bring in Chinese workers from the Pescadores and Fujian to tend to the rice fields and sugar plantations that they have established.

From its humble beginnings, and suffering some internal strife through its history, Taiwan rose to become an industrialized and developed nation after the Second World War and now one of the Four Asian Tigers together with Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.

While it still craves official recognition from the international community as an independent nation, Taiwan has created a miracle by turning the country into an economic giant in East Asia. It became highly industrialized and developed advanced technology and offered its services to the world. Manufacturing became one of its most major income generators, manufacturing many of the world’s products in its factories and creating their own for export. At the end of 2007, Taiwan is fifth in the world in terms of foreign reserves. It has become a foreign investor in several countries in the region, including in mainland China. Taiwan’s conservative approach when it comes to financial dealings shielded the country from the suffering badly during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Some bad debts in the country’s banking system and the global downturn of the economy caused Taiwan to suffer a recession in 2001. But Taiwan has bounced back and in 2010, its economy is once again rosy.

Taiwan marked its economic success with the construction of one of the tallest buildings in the world, Taipei 101, which was the world’s tallest from 2004 up to 2010. It has 101 floors above ground and five floors under the ground. It is an iconic symbol of Taiwan and a symbol of advanced technology, traditional design and modern architecture and engineering. It is designed to withstand strong winds, typhoons and earthquakes that plague the country annually.

Biotechnology, nanotechnology, bicycles, network and communication, computers, smartphones, semiconductors and shipping are just some of the industries that keep the economy of Taiwan moving upward.

:: Background of Taiwan ::

Taiwan can be still be considered a young country as its history only spans about 400 years. The Dutch and Spanish traders and explorers established separate trading posts in the island of Taiwan. The Dutch came earlier in 1624 and the Spanish occupied the northern part two years later and conducted business until 1642. Their occupation of some parts of the island was shorter than that of the Dutch, since the Dutch colonizers were ousted by the Chinese from Southern Fujian only in 1662. The Chinese military force was led by Zheng Chenggong or Koxinga. However in the mainland the Ming Dynasty had already fallen and Koxinga established a kingdom he called Tungning in Taiwan, patterning it after the Mings. His dynasty lasted from 1662 up to 1683 and during his reign he and his successors continued to launch raids on the mainland in an attempt to capture it.

The might of the Qing Dynasty proved too powerful for the descendants of Koxinga and their dynasty fell in 1683, and Taiwan became a Fujian prefecture under the Qing’s rule. In 1885, the island’s status was elevated by the Qing to a province, with Taipei as its capital.

The Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan under Toyotomi Hideyoshi wanted to extend their influence overseas and had been interested in Taiwan as early as 1592. Their first attempt to take it in 1616 failed. Aborigines in Taiwan beheaded crewmembers of a shipwrecked vessel from Okinawa in 1871. This led to tensions between Japan and China. Japan twice requested China for compensation claiming that four of the victims were Japanese citizens and both requests were rejected by China. On the first occasion China stated that the incident was an internal affair. For the second request China claimed that they do not have jurisdiction over the aborigines. The enraged Japanese government sent troops to invade Taiwan in 1874 that left many casualties on both sides.

The First Sino-Japanese War occurred in 1894 and lasted for about a year where the Qing Dynasty saw defeat and ceded Penghu and Taiwan to Japan for full sovereignty. Japan gave the residents who wanted to return to the mainland two years to do so but not many did. Pro-Qing officials even attempted to resist being under Japanese rule in May 25, 1895 but their resistance proved futile and they were subdued by October of the same year.

While Taiwan became a very important post during the Second World War, it actually began to have industrial prosperity under the Japanese rule. Transportation networks and railroad systems were built; public school system was instituted and extensive sanitation system was put in place. Agriculture (rice and sugar cane) production increased and Taiwan became the seventh in the world in sugar production by 1939. The people were taught in Japanese and were required to assimilate the Japanese culture. The locals, both the Taiwanese and the aborigines though were still treated as second- and third-class citizens and many rebelled. In the 51 years of ruling over Taiwan, the Japanese launched 160 battles to quell violence and eventually destroyed the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan.

Taiwan was given back to China when Japan lost in the Second World War. The island then came under the military rule of General Chen Yi. It was a reign that was marred by political and social instabilities and led to many clashes, including conflicts between the Taiwanese and those that came from the mainland. This period was labeled as White Terror where close to 30,000 locals were executed by the military, particularly those suspected of opposing the ruling Kuomintang Party from the mainland. Meanwhile the Communist Party was gaining a foothold in the mainland and eventually drove the Kuomintang Party, led by President Chiang Kai Shek to retreat to Taiwan, establishing their seat of government in Taipei. Taiwan was under martial law for 38 years.

Under the Kuomintang Party, mainland China was called Republic of China. When the Communist Party became victorious in the mainland, they established a new government and named it the People’s Republic of China (PRC) while the Kuomintangs retained the name Republic of China (ROC) and gave it to Taiwan. While the People’s Republic of China claimed that Taiwan and the rest of its territories belong to the mainland, it had never exercised direct jurisdiction or control over Taiwan and its territories since the PRC’s establishment.

Taiwan’s ascendancy as a highly industrialized and prosperous country started during the 1960s and the 1970s. The country’s progress continued leading to the progressive economy the country is enjoying today. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party approved a resolution on September 30, 2007 to use Taiwan as the country’s name, enact a new constitution and assert the country’s identity as separate from China.

:: Geography of Taiwan ::

Taiwan is strategically located, as it lies adjacent to the Luzon and Taiwan Straits. Taiwan Strait is a shorter shipping route to reach the important ports in East Asia, such as the ports on North and South Korea, Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Mongolia, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China. Luzon Strait on the other hand is a body of water that connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea and a very important shipping and communication waterway. It is an important route for the ships from the Americas to reach the East Asian ports. Major submarine communication cables pass through this strait to provide telephony and data services to Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, People’s Republic of China and Japan.

Location
The island nation of Taiwan is located in East Asia and bordered by groups of islands along the East China Sea, which surrounds the northern part of the island nation. The South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait border the western part of Taiwan, while the Luzon Strait surrounds its southern part. The Philippine Sea covers the eastern side of the island. It lies north of the Philippines, separated from the Philippine Batanes group of islands by the Bashi Channel.

Geographic Coordinates
Taiwan is situated right in the middle of the Tropic of Cancer. As such its geographical coordinates are 23° 46’ 00” North latitude and 121° 0’ 00” East longitude.

Area
The island nation covers a total size of 35,980 square kilometers, including the group of islands belonging to Penghu or the Pescadores, Kinmen or Quemoy and Matsu. The total land area of Taiwan is 32,260 square kilometers and a surface water area of 3,720 square kilometers. Comparatively, Taiwan is about the same size as Holland or just a bit smaller than the combined areas of Delaware and Maryland. The main island is 144 kilometers wide and 394 kilometers long.

Land Boundaries
As an archipelago, Taiwan does not have any land boundaries. Several smaller islands on the South China Sea comprise the whole territory of Taiwan while some other islands are under its administration. The Philippine Sea, the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea as well as the Luzon Strait and East China Sea surround Taiwan.

Coastline
Being an island, Taiwan is surrounded by water, giving it a long coastline that measures 1,566.3 kilometers.

Maritime Claims
Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone extends outward for 200 nautical miles. It also has a territorial sea claim of 12 nautical miles.

Climate
The prevailing weather is Taiwan is classified as tropical and marine, being surrounded by several bodies of water and straddling the Tropic of Cancer. While the nation experiences four seasons, the weather pattern is wet and dry. Two monsoon cycles occur in Taiwan. The northern part experiences very strong typhoons from October to March while the southern part of the country gets monsoon rains during the months of June to October. Clouds, particularly in the mountains are present most of the year. The rest of the year is dry. Winter sets in December and lasts until March, and ushers in spring that lasts from April to May. The last days of May begins the summer season in Taiwan. This lasts until September. Fall arrives in October and continues until November. Winters in Taiwan are considered mild, with the temperature never reaching below the freezing point. However, the dampness in the air coming from the sea generally makes the winter very chilly. Summer is hot and humid and characterized by occasional torrential rains. Spring and fall are the best times to be in Taiwan, when the weather turns balmy, the sky is clear and the daytime and evening temperatures are pleasantly cool.

Terrain
The island of Taiwan was formed by the movements of two tectonic plates. First is the sliding of the Philippine Plate under the Eurasian Plate in the north. The reverse happened in the south, wherein the Eurasian Plate slid under the Philippine Plate. The pressure the two plates exerted on each other bent and pushed the land upwards and created the rugged terrain of the island. While the Central Mountain Range bisects the island from north to south, there are four other mountain ranges in Taiwan. The mountain ranges are concentrated mostly on the eastern half of the island, occupying two-thirds of the total land area. From the foothills of the mountain ranges, the land forms gently rolling and terraced plains toward the west out to the sea.

Elevation Extremes
The South China Sea is the lowest point in the island of Taiwan. There are over 200 mountains in Taiwan belonging to five mountain ranges, as well as a number of volcanoes. There are 165 mountains that are more than 3,000 meters high in the country. Out of these mountains, the Yu Shan or the Jade Mountain is the highest, rising up to 3,952 meters above sea level.

Natural Resources
The country is not geologically rich in natural resources although there are small deposits of gold, coal, copper and natural gas. Asbestos, limestone and marble deposits are also found in the island of Taiwan.

Land Use
Because two-thirds of the land area of Taiwan is covered by several mountains, 55% of the land is made up of woodlands and forests. Only 24% of the total land area is arable and 5% is covered by permanent pasture. One percent is planted with permanent crops, leaving only 15% of the available land for other uses.

Natural Hazards
Taiwan lies in the path of the typhoon belt and is frequently visited by severe and devastating storms during the monsoon season that occurs twice in the country. The storms bring torrential rains that cause flooding and mudslides in major parts of the country. Parts of Taiwan also straddle the junction of two tectonic plates, the Eurasian and the Philippine plates. Thus, Taiwan is prone to earthquakes. The last major earthquake to hit the country was in 1999 and the disaster killed over 2,000 residents. While there are a few volcanoes in the island, most of them are considered dormant. However, the Kueishantao Island is still considered active, although the volcano has not erupted for over two centuries. Recent studies done by Taiwan’s Academia Sinica late in 2009 determined that the Datun Mountain near the nation’s capital of Taipei last erupted just 5,000 years ago. This is contrary to the previous records stating that the volcano’s last eruption occurred 200,00 years ago. According to the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institute, a volcano that has erupted within the past 10,000 years is still considered an active volcano.

Current Environmental Issues
Due to the sheer number of all types of vehicles in Taiwan the country suffers from air pollution. Its underground waters are also getting polluted from raw sewage and industrial waste emissions and causing contamination of its potable water sources. The country also faces the problem of illegal trading of endangered species and low-level radioactive waste disposal from its nuclear plants.

International Environmental Agreements
Taiwan may be known globally and it has continuously insisted that the country is separate from mainland China. However, its international status remains in limbo. It has yet to gain entry into and receive recognition from the United Nations as a separate and independent country. The People’s Republic of China maintains that Taiwan is a part of the mainland. The dispute renders Taiwan unable to participate in any international environmental agreements at the moment.

:: People of Taiwan ::

While residents of Taiwan used to be designated as “someone who is from Taiwan,” it is more common now to hear them being introduced as Taiwanese or described as Taiwanese, which the residents and people from Taiwan actually prefer.

Ethnic Groups
Taiwan is basically inhabited by different Chinese ethnic groups. The Han Chinese, the world’s largest single ethnic group comprises 98% of the total population of the country. This ethnic group is further subdivided into 70% Hoklo or the Hokkiens who came from Southern Fujian. The Hakka that represents 14% of the total come from Jiangxi, Sichuan, Fujian and Guangdong provinces of the mainland and another 14% are of Waishengren descent. These are people from the mainland that came to Taiwan after the Second World War. Two percent of the total population is composed of Taiwanese aborigines. They are Austronesian people who had been living in the island some 8,000 years prior to the coming of the Han Chinese beginning in the 17th century.

Language
Mandarin Chinese is the official language spoken in Taiwan. It is the language of instruction and used in television and media. However, with the presence of other ethnic Chinese, Hakka and Hokkien are also spoken. A variant of Hokkien or Min An and Mandarin has evolved into Taiwanese, which is also spoken by a large section of the population. The majority of the inhabitants are fluent in both Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese. Some of the older generation who went to school during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan still speaks Japanese.

Religion
Majority or 93% of the population follows either the Taoist or the Buddhist faith. With several foreign workers coming to Taiwan for work, there are a number of people who follow different Christian religions, representing about 4.5% of the population while people of other faiths account for another 2.5 percent.

Population
According to the July 2011 estimates, the population of Taiwan has reached 23,071,779. There are 11,612,831 males in Taiwan, a figure that is just slightly higher than the number of females in the country, estimated to be about 11,458,948. The population growth rate in Taiwan is quite low, with the 2011 estimate placing it at only 0.193%. Taiwanese women’s fertility rate is estimated to account for 1.15 children born for every woman past puberty.

Age Structure
The population of Taiwan is rapidly aging, with those people belonging to the 15 – 64 age group accounting for 73.4%, with the figures slightly skewed to the males who number 8,538,881, while the females make up the balance of 8,406,716. The 0 – 14 years old age group has a total of 15.6%, broken into 1,875,359 males and 1,732,007 females. There are 1,198,591 males and 1,320,225 females belonging to the group of people aged 65 years and older, representing 10.9% of the entire population.

Median Age
July 2011 estimates place the median age for females in Taiwan at 38.3 years, while for the makes it is 36.9 years. For the whole country, the median age is estimated to be 37.6 years.

Birth and Death Rates
For every one thousand residents, there are 8.9 births, as of July 2011. There are an estimated seven deaths for every one thousand members of the population, as of July 2011.

Net Migration Rate
Net migration in the country, according to the 2011 estimates is just around 0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 residents.

Sex Ratio
The males just slightly edge the females in terms of sex ratio, with an overall mark of 1.02 males for each female in Taiwan according to the estimates done in 2011. At birth the ratio was placed at 1.084 male over female and it was kept at that rate for those under the age of 15. The trend goes down slightly in the 15 to 64 years age group, estimated to be 1.02 male for each female. The ratio goes further down to 0.92 male for each female in the 65 and over age bracket.

Infant Mortality Rate
Infant mortality is quite low in Taiwan. According to the 2011 estimates, there are just about 5.18 deaths for every 1,000 live births around the nation. When segregated into genders, there are more male infant deaths at birth, estimated to be higher than the national average, with 5.46. For the females the data is lower, with only 4.88 infants dying versus 1,000 live births.

Life Expectancy at Birth
The females in Taiwan on the average outlive the men by a few years. The national life expectancy at birth average is 78.32 years. For the females it is estimated to be 81.36 years, whereas the males’ life expectancy average is just 75.5 years.

HIV / AIDS
According to Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control, there have been a total of 21,701 reported cases of HIV infection in country, while reported cases of people living with AIDS has reached 8,250 as of October 2011. Of the total reported cases of people who are HIV-positive, 20,072 are males and 1,629 are females. Those living with AIDS are slightly lower, with about 552 females and 7,698 males. HIV/AIDS account for the death of 3,021 males and 270 women. Prevalence of the disease is very high among people in the early 20s to the late 40s. Thirty percent of the reported cases are drug-using people. Homosexuals account for another thirty-eight percent of the reported cases, while 22 percent are heterosexuals.

Literacy
Early in the 1950s, less than 60% of the population aged 15 and over can read and write. Massive efforts were done by the government to rectify the problem. The government created a law that mandates children age 6 to 15 to receive compulsory education from elementary to junior high school. After finishing the compulsory education, they will be assigned to different types of educational institutions based on their intellect and career interests. As of the end of 2010, the literacy rate in Taiwan is 98.14%. There are no illiterate Taiwanese in the 15 to 24-year age bracket. Those who cannot read and write in their 60s represent about 13.11% of the current population.

:: References ::
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tw.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan
http://en.worldstat.info/Asia/Taiwan
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/30911
http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=152196&ctNode=413
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_in_Taiwan
http://www.taiwandc.org/hst-1624.htm

Geography of Taiwan: Important Geographical Information about Taiwan

Taiwan is an island that is shaped like a broad leaf of tobacco. It measures 144 kilometers wide at its broadest point and a length that extends for 394 kilometers. From north to south, Taiwan is bisected by the Central Mountain Range, or the Chungyang Shanmo in the local language. There are four other mountain ranges found of the eastern side of the island, including the Haian, Yushan, Alishan and Hsuehshan ranges, covering a major portion of the island with several mountains covered with forests. The rest of the land area is composed of flatlands that lay like terraces, with low foothills and coastal plains.

With the land sloping more gently on the western side, only about one-third of the land area of Taiwan is arable. Coal deposits are available at the northern end of the island. There are also copper, gold, natural gas, marble, asbestos and limestone deposits in Taiwan. Mountains are plentiful and prominent along the eastern coast of Taiwan and the terrain slopes abruptly into the Pacific Ocean while sediments level off at the western side of the island just below the sea and effectively extending the land area some 15 to 30 kilometers towards the western side from the foot of the hills.

Several mountains in the central range are quite high, with some 200 mountains rising to about 3,000 meters in height and covering about 32% of the total land area. The hills and flatland terraces that rise above sea level between 100 and 1,000 meters cover another 31 % of the land area of Taiwan. Taiwan’s topography is tilted. The coastal plains on the western section of the island are lower than the areas in the eastern side. The western side slopes from the foothills to even out as the land extends to its western coast toward the Strait of Taiwan.

The highest mountain in the island is Yu Shan or the Jade Mountain, which is about 3,952 meters high. It got its name from the mountain’s winter glory, when it gets covered with thick snow and shines like brilliant white jade, almost stainless-like, which blindingly reflects the sun. Interestingly, the mountain rose from the ocean floor as a result of the sliding of the Eurasian Plate under the Philippine Plate. That means it rose from the sea for a total of 8,000 meters when the island was formed about five million years ago.

The Penghu or Pescadores Archipelago that is made up of 64 larger and 21 smaller islands, Orchid Island, Hsiao Liuchiu together with the main island of Taiwan comprise the whole of Taiwan, which is located in the South China Sea. Taiwan also administers the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuchiu, Taiping and Pratas. It is separated from mainland China by the Taiwan Strait. With a total area of over 36,000 square kilometers, Taiwan is slightly smaller than the Netherlands but just about the size of Holland.

The island of Taiwan, including the Pescadores Islands has a total shoreline that extends for 1,566 kilometers. Small groups of coral reefs that can be traced back to the Pleistocene Period can be seen on the southern coast of Taiwan.

As of July 2011, Taiwan’s population is estimated to reach over 23.2 million. Of this, about 98% are of Han Chinese ancestry. The highest concentration of inhabitants is in the capital city, Taipei, which is up north. Kaohsiung in the south comes second. Taichung City in the central district of Taiwan is also one of the most densely populated areas in the island. Tainan is another metropolitan area that has a large concentration of inhabitants.

Taiwan experiences wet weather in the southern part during the summer months of May until September due to the southwest monsoon. Its climate is described as tropical oceanic. It can be hot and humid when the summer season hits Taiwan. Temperatures can range from 27 °C to 35 °C, which is somewhere between 80 °F to 95 °F range. The weather pattern though, leaves the northern part of Taiwan dry, with the area having a semi-tropical climate, with snow in the cooler months due to the mountain altitudes. Severe storms (taifeng) and thunderstorms are natural occurrences during summer. Torrential rains and flooding are part of Taiwan’s weather as it lies in the track of tropical cyclones of high severity. While these typhoons, averaging four to five a year bring in too much rain and strong winds to Taiwan and can cause great damage to crops, it is also beneficial to the island as they are one of the greatest sources of water for the island.

Due to Taiwan’s tropical and subtropical climate, rainfall is abundant, with an annual average of 160 inches or 4,000 millimeters. The rainy season occurs at different times during the year in the northern and southern parts of the archipelago. Monsoon season in Taiwan’s southwest heralding the coming of the storms occurs from June to October. On the northern side, monsoonal storms batter this section of the country from October until March.

Winter in Taiwan is relatively long, lasting from December until before March ends, tapering off to herald the arrival of spring. It can be considered mild as low temperatures barely drop below 5 °C, which is only about 41 °F. But the dampness that prevails makes winter temperatures bone-chilling.

Spring is short, starting in April and lasting only until May. The same is true during the fall season from October until November. These are the best times to travel to Taiwan as the daytime weather is very mild and the sky is clear while the evenings are cool.

The nation suffers from air and water pollution due to the sheer number of vehicles that are out on the country’s thoroughfares daily.

The island is classified as seismologically unstable because it is located on two tectonic plates, the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It also has numerous fault lines that make the island very susceptible to earthquakes. Hualien on the eastern coast of Taiwan receives the most tremors because it is located directly in between the two plates. The Eurasian Plate slid under the Philippine Plate eons ago on the southern part of the island while the Philippine Plate slid under the Eurasian Plate on the northern part. The phenomenon led to the formation of the island of Taiwan and its numerous mountain ranges.

:: References ::
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/taiwan-geo.htm
http://www.marimari.com/content/taiwan/general_info/geography/geography.html
http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/sse/wq/Taiwan/geography.htm
http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/taiwan/pro-geography.htm

Professional Translation Organizations & Associations in Taiwan

Below is a list of the major translation organizations and associations of Taiwan.

:: List of Organizations ::

National Taiwan Normal University, Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation

Fu Jen University, Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation Studies

National Taiwan University

Taiwan Association of Translation and Interpretation

Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages

Information about the Taiwanese Flag: Colors and Meaning of the Flag of Taiwan

:: Meaning of the Taiwanese Flag ::

Taiwan, or officially, the Republic of China, is still unrecognized as a member of the United Nations, as mainland China or the People’s Republic of China still claims that Taiwan is a part of the mainland and should not be independently represented. The political dispute over sovereignty has been going on for years. This political riff causes tension between the China and Taiwan, and its citizens now have an identity crisis, as they themselves do not know if they should call themselves Taiwanese or Chinese. Taiwan attends international events as an independent representative, usually under the name of Taiwan, as the island is known internationally.

Taiwan has its own national flag, known as the “white sun in blue sky.” Its full name is “blue Sky, white sun, and a wholly red earth,” which is Mandarin Chinese is called Qing Tian, Bái Rì, Man Dì Hóng. The name describes the full attributes of the Taiwanese national flag. It was officially adopted on the 17th of December 1928.

There are sanctions however in using the national flag of Taiwan. In international sports competitions like the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, FIFA World Cup, Asian Games and Asian Paralympic Games, it is only allowed to participate as a separate representative nation if it competes under the name Chinese Taipei, with Taipei being the capital city of Taiwan. It also had to use another anthem and flag design for the Olympic Games when the International Olympics Committee ruled out its participation as a separate Chinese delegation. Therefore, since 1980, the flag for international games uses the blue sky and white sun emblem, plus the logo of the international game. These are enclosed in the outline of Taiwan’s national flower, Prunus Mei or the plum blossom, with five petals to represent the five branches of its government. The inner outline of the plum blossom is in red while the outer outline is in blue. The outlines and the emblems are positioned on a field of white.

Description
The national flag of Taiwan has a canton on the top left corner of the hoist side of the flag. The canton is in deep blue with a white sun with twelve rays. The rest of the flag is in red.

Color and Meaning
The official colors of Taiwan’s flag are blue, red and white. Democracy and equality are represented by the color white. Red is symbolic of the people’s fraternity and livelihood. Blue is a representation of liberty and nationalism. These colors and meanings follow The Three Principles of the People, developed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, recognized by both Mainland China and Taiwan as the “Father of the Nation.” The white sun represents progress. It has 12 rays that are meant to symbolize the twelve months of the year and the twelve hours of traditional Chinese hours, called “shíchén,” which is actually two hours or “xiaoshí” for each ray, for a total of 24 hours in a day. The flag’s size is 2 by 3.

History
The blue field with the white sun with twelve rays was designed on February 21, 1895 by Lu Hao-tung. Lu Hao-tung was the first revolutionary martyr and close friend and classmate of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. The blue canton with the white sun was the flag of the Kuomintang Party, also called the Chinese Nationalist Party and was flown for the first time in 1917 in Mainland China. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, also known as Sun Zhongshan, the leader of the Kuomintang Party decided to add the red field in 1906 to symbolize the blood of all the people who willingly sacrificed their lives to bring down the Qing Dynasty which led to the creation of the Republic of China. The red color is also the color that represents the Han Chinese. The flag was initially flown all over China (mainland) before the civil war.

When dictatorial president Yuan Shikai outlawed the Kuomintang Party in 1913, Dr Sun Yat-sen continued to use the modern-day flag while holding a government-in-exile in Tokyo, Japan. He still used the flag when he was able to come back to Mainland China and re-established the Kuomintang Party in 1917 in Guangzhou until the Beijing government was toppled. The Chinese Civil War in 1929 up to the early part of 1950, fought between the Kuomintang Party and the Communist Party of China divided China into two – the ROC or the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China (Mainland). Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s successor, Chiang Kai-shek transferred to Taiwan and Mao Zedong established his communist government in the mainland. Chiang Kai-shek’s government continued to use the original flag while the Mao Zedong had a new flag designed.

Modern Times
The national flag of Taiwan is freely used in the island, but due to the ambiguous status of Taiwan in the international scene, its use is always controversial outside of the country. Supporters of Chinese reunification believe that it is a symbol of its historical links with the Chinese mainland. Taiwanese independence supporters on the other hand are rejecting that idea, for the same reason – its link to the mainland. While the People’s Republic of China had been rejecting its use and rebuking Taiwan for insisting on being independent, the tension has somewhat cooled down since the early part of year 2000, looking at the flag as a connection between the two.

:: References ::
http://www.mapsofworld.com/flags/taiwan-flag.html
http://www.taiwanese-secrets.com/taiwan-flag.html

Flag of Taiwan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China
http://www.mofa.gov.tw/webapp/ct.asp?xItem=26328&CtNode=1870&mp=6

Extensive List of Languages of Taiwan: Spoken and Extinct Languages

:: List of Languages ::

Amis
[ami] 138,000 (2002 Council of Indigenous Peoples, Executive Yuan, ROC). Ethnic population: 137,651. Between Hualien and Taitung, valley plains and east coast by the sea. Alternate names: Ami, Amia, Bakurut, Lam-Si-Hoan, Maran, Pagcah, Pangcah, Pangtsah, Sabari, Tanah. Dialects: Central Amis (Haian Ami, Hsiukulan Ami), Tavalong-Vataan (Kwangfu, Kuangfu), Southern Amis (Peinan, Hengch’un Amis, Taitung), Chengkung-Kwangshan, Northern Amis (Nanshi Amis). The Chengkung-Kwangshan dialect is most similar to Central Amis dialect. Classification: Austronesian, East Formosan, Central

Amis, Nataoran
[ais] 5 (2000 S. Wurm). Hualien area and north of Fenglin. Alternate names: Nataoran, Natawran, Tauran. Dialects: Nataoran, Sakizaya (Sakiray, Sakiraya), Kaliyawan (Kaliyuawan), Natawran, Cikosowan, Pokpok, Ridaw. Not generally understood by other Amis. The Sakizaya dialect is even more divergent from Central Amis [ami]. In recent years dialects converged. Lexical similarity: 50% with Central Amis. Classification: Austronesian, East Formosan, Central Nearly extinct.

Atayal
[tay] 84,300 (2002 Council of Indigenous Peoples, Executive Yuan, ROC). Ethnic population: 78,957 (1989 govt. figure), including 50 Mayrinax speakers left (2000 L. Huang). Northeast mountains, south of Ketagalan [kae]. Alternate names: Ataiyal, Attayal, Bonotsek, Shabogala, Taijyal, Taiyal, Takonan, Tangao, Tayal, Tyal, Yukan. Dialects: Sqoleq (Squliq), Ts’ole’ (Ci’uli’). Mayrinax is a Ci’uli’ subdialect. Classification: Austronesian, Atayalic

Babuza
[bzg] 4 (2000 S. Wurm). Ethnic population: 35. West central coast and inland, Tatu and Choshui rivers and beyond. Alternate names: Babusa, Favorlang, Favorlangsch, Jaborlang, Poavosa. Dialects: Poavosa, Taokas. Taokas dialect has no remaining speakers. Classification: Austronesian, Western Plains, Central Western Plains Nearly extinct.

Basay
[byq] Extinct. North, Tam Shui to Kungliao area, Fengtzulin, Taipei, Sangchung, and northeast Suao and east of Ilan area. Alternate names: Basai, Kawanuwan. Dialects: Trobiawan, Linaw-Qauqaul. Classification: Austronesian, East Formosan, Northern

Bunun
[bnn] 38,000 (2002 Council of Indigenous Peoples, Executive Yuan, ROC). Ethnic population: 37,989. East central plain, south of the Sediq (Taroko) [trv]. Alternate names: Bubukun, Bunan, Bunti, Bunum, Vonun, Vunum, Vunun, Vunung. Dialects: Randai, Tondai, Shibukun (Sibukun, Sibukaun, Sibucoon, Sivukun), North Bunun (Takitudu, Taketodo, Takebakha, Takibakha), Central Bunun (Takbanuao, Takivatan, Takevatan), South Bunun (Ishbukun), Takopulan. Classification: Austronesian, Bunun

Chinese, Hakka
[hak] 2,370,000 in Taiwan (1993). Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Pingtung counties. Shi Xien in north and south; Hi-Lu in central, north central. Dialects: Hailu (Hoiluk, Hoilluk, Hi-Lu), Sanhsien (Shigen, Shixien, Shi Xien). Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese

Chinese, Mandarin
[cmn] 4,320,000 in Taiwan (1993). Mainly Taipei and 5 provincial cities. Alternate names: Guoyu, Kuoyu, Mandarin, Putonghua. Dialects: Taibei Mandarin. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese

Chinese, Min Nan
[nan] 15,000,000 in Taiwan (1997 A. Chang). Tainan, Penghu Archipelago, cities on east coast, western plain. Alternate names: Min Nan, Minnan. Dialects: Amoy (Taiwanese). Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese

Japanese
[jpn] Classification: Japonic

Kanakanabu
[xnb] 8 (2005 SIL). Ethnic population: 250 (UNESCO). Central, Sanmin Township, Kaohsiung County, Minchuan village area. Alternate names: Kanabu, Kanakanavu. Classification: Austronesian, Tsouic Nearly extinct.

Kavalan
[ckv] 24 (2000 P. Li). Ethnic population: 200. Northeast coast, above Toucheng to Ilan, nearly to Suao, and inland to Tayal language area. No longer spoken in the original area; a few migrants to the east coast, Hsishe village, Fengpin Township, Hualien County (1990). Alternate names: Cabaran, Kabalan, Kabaran, Kamalan, Kavanan, Kavarauan, Kbalan, Kibalan, Kiwaraw, Kiwarawa, Kuvalan, Kuvarawan, Kuwarawan, Kvalan, Shekwan. Dialects: Kareovan (Kareowan). Classification: Austronesian, East Formosan, Northern Nearly extinct.

Ketangalan
[kae] Extinct. North central, Panchiao area and northwest, west, and southeast. Alternate names: Ketagalan, Tangalan. Classification: Austronesian, Unclassified

Kulon-Pazeh
[uun] 1 (2000 P. Li). West coast area, east of Tayal, Cholan area, Houli, Fengyuan, Tantzu, Taichung, Tungshih. Alternate names: Kulun. Classification: Austronesian, Northwest Formosan Nearly extinct.

Paiwan
[pwn] 66,100 (Council of Indigenous Peoples 2002). Ethnic population: 66,084. South, mountains southeast. Alternate names: Butanglu, Kadas, Kale-Whan, Kapiangan, Katausan, Li-Li-Sha, Paiuan, Payowan, Samobi, Samohai, Saprek, Stimul, Tamari. Classification: Austronesian, Paiwan

Papora-Hoanya
[ppu] Extinct. North central coast around Lishui, Chingshui, Shalu, and inland to Taichung. Alternate names: Bupuran, Hinapavosa, Papola, Vupuran. Dialects: Papora, Hoanya. Classification: Austronesian, Western Plains, Central Western Plains

Puyuma
[pyu] 8,490 (Council of Indigenous Peoples 2002). Ethnic population: 8,487. Along the east coast south of Taitung and inland. Alternate names: Kadas, Panapanayan, Pelam, Pilam, Piyuma, Pyuma, Tipun. Dialects: Nanwang, Pinan. Classification: Austronesian, Puyuma

Rukai
[dru] 10,500 (Council of Indigenous Peoples 2002). Ethnic population: 10,543. South central mountains, Ping Tung area, 11 villages; Taitung area, 2 or 3 villages; west of the Puyuma [pyu]. Alternate names: Banga, Bantalang, Bantaurang, Drukai, Drukay, Dukai, Dyokay, Kadas, Rutkai, Sarisen, Taloma, Tsalisen, Tsarisen. Dialects: Budai, Labuan, Tanan, Maga, Tona, Mantauran. Mantauran, Tona, and Maga dialects are divergent. Classification: Austronesian, Rukai

Saaroa
[sxr] 6 (2000 S. Wurm). Ethnic population: 300 (2000 UNESCO Red Book). West central mountains, south and southeast of Minchuan, along Laonung River. Alternate names: La’alua, La’arua, Pachien, Paichien, Rarua, Saarua, Saroa, Shishaban, Sisyaban. Dialects: Similar to Kanakanabu [xnb]. Classification: Austronesian, Tsouic Nearly extinct.

Saisiyat
[xsy] 4,750 (Council of Indigenous Peoples 2002). Ethnic population: 7,900. Western mountains, west of the Atayal [tay], Nanchuang Township, Miaoli County and Wufong Township, Hsinchu County. Alternate names: Amutoura, Bouiok, Saiset, Saisett, Saisiat, Saisiett, Saisirat, Saisyet, Saisyett, Seisirat. Dialects: Taai (North Saiset), Tungho (South Saiset). Dialect differences are mainly phonological and lexical (1978 P. Li). Classification: Austronesian, Northwest Formosan

Siraya
[fos] Extinct. Southwest, Tainan area, Peimen to Hengchun to Tapu. Alternate names: Baksa, Formosan, “Pepo-Hwan” , “Pepohoan” , Sideia, Sideis, Sideisch, Siraia, Siraiya. Dialects: Siraya, Makatao (Makattao, Takaraya, Tta’o), Pangsoia-Dolatok, Taivoan (Tevorang), Lamai. Classification: Austronesian, East Formosan, Southwest

Taiwan Sign Language
[tss] Alternate names: Taiwan Ziran Shouyu. Dialects: Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung. 2 major dialects. Sources from which the sign language developed were indigenous sign systems before 1895, Japanese occupation and education 1895–1946, Mainland Chinese Sign Language brought by refugees in 1949 and some from Hong Kong since. Lexical similarity: 50% with Japanese Sign Language [jsl]. Classification: Deaf sign language

Taroko
[trv] 20,000 (2008 R. Covell). Central, east, and coast; mountains north, Puli area; coast south of Hualien, south of the Atayal [tay]. Alternate names: Bu-Hwan, Che-Hwan, Daiya-Ataiyal, Hogo, Iboho, Paran, Saediq, Sazek, Sedek, Sedeq, Sediakk, Sedik, Seedek, Seedeq, Seedik, Sejiq, Shedekka, Taruku, Toda, Toroko, Truku. Dialects: Teruku (Truku), Te’uda (Tuuda), Tekedaya (Tkdaya, Paran). Dialects differ mainly in phonology and lexicon, some in grammar. Classification: Austronesian, Atayalic

Thao
[ssf] 6 (2000 S. Wurm). Ethnic population: 248 (1989). Central, Sun Moon Lake southeast shore, Te-hua village, and Ta-p’ing-lin 14 kms. away. Alternate names: Chui-Huan, Chuihwan, Sao, Sau, Shao, Suihwan, Vulung. Dialects: Brawbaw, Shtafari. Classification: Austronesian, Western Plains, Thao Nearly extinct.

Tsou
[tsu] 2,130 (Council of Indigenous Peoples 2002). Ethnic population: 2,127. West central mountains southeast of Chiayi, Alishan (Mt. Ali) area. Alternate names: Namakaban, Niitaka, Tibola, Tibolah, Tibolak, Tibolal, Tso, Tsoo, Tsu-U, Tsu-Wo, Tsuou, Tzo. Dialects: Duhtu, Luhtu, Tapangu, Tfuea, Iimutsu. Classification: Austronesian, Tsouic

Yami
[tao] 3,380 (Council of Indigenous Peoples 2002). Ethnic population: 3,384. Orchid Island, Botel Tobago (Lanyu) Island, southeast coast. Alternate names: Botel Tabago, Botel Tobago, Lanyu, Tao, Tawu. Dialects: Similar to northern Philippines Ivatan [ivv]. Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Philippine, Bashiic, Yami

:: Reference ::
Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/

Famous Taiwanese People: Taiwanese Artists, Scientists, Leaders, Musicians, Politicians and Athletes

Taiwan may not be represented in the United Nations but that is a political issue that is subject to debate and may take years of discussion before being resolved. It does not detract from the fact that Taiwan has its own roster of famous people that have made an impact in the lives of people in Asia and the rest of the world, be it entertainers, musicians and people in the acting field, science and medicine as well as education and sports. Being a community of hard-working people, Taiwan has a crop of business people that created waves in the area of information and computer technology.

:: List of Famous People from Taiwan ::

Ang Lee
Sense and Sensibility, Brokeback Mountain, Hulk (2003) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are just some of the memorable Hollywood films that Taiwanese movie director Ang Lee gave the world’s movie audiences. He is from Chaochou, Pingtung where he was born on the 23rd of October 1954. His parents highly valued education and he learned the Chinese classics at an early age. Ang Lee’s father was the principal at the National Tainan First Senior High School, where he graduated. While his father wanted him to be a professor, he failed the college/university examinations twice and decided to enroll at the National Arts School where he got interested in art and drama. After his mandatory military service, Lee enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1979 where he took his bachelor’s degree in theater. He received his MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of Arts. While still a student, Lee had already displayed his flair for directing. His 16mm short film, Shades of the Lake won the Best Drama Award in Short Film in his home country. It was a short film he did in 1982 while in graduate school. He was part of the crew of Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, the thesis film of Spike Lee, his classmate at NYU. Ang Lee made Fine Line in 1984 for his own thesis. It won the Wasserman Award for Outstanding Direction given by New York University.

While Lee made waves, attracted attention and got represented by William Morris Agency, it was not easy for him to find work initially and his molecular biologist wife became the breadwinner. While Lee became a full-time husband he wrote two screenplays, Wedding Banquet and Pushing Hands, which he submitted in 1990 to a Taiwan Government Information Service-sponsored competition. His screenplays won second and first places, respectively. Newly-promoted senior manager of a major film studio and first-time producer Li-Kong Hsu got Lee to direct Pushing Hands as a full-length feature film in 1991. Lee’s career took off after that and he directed films in Taiwan and later in Hollywood. He had won Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Golden Lions and other major awards for screenplays and directing.

Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Another film director that helped put Taiwan in the movie world map is Hou Hsiao-Hsien. He was born on April 8, 1947 in Mei County in Guangdong, China but his family moved to Taiwan when he was barely one year old. He studied at the National Taiwan Academy of Arts. He is a leading figure of the New Wave Cinema movement in Taiwan and has won many prestigious international awards from Cannes, Venice, Hawaii and Nantes. He is fond of the minimalist approach and his films often depict China’s history, conflicts between China and Taiwan and their impacts on the common people, as well as conflicts between Taiwanese and migrants from the mainland. Some of his award-winning films include The Boys from Fengkuei, A Summer at Grandpa’s, A Time to Live, A Time to Die, A City of Sadness (Gold Lion winner), The Puppetmaster, Good Men, Good Women and Millennium Mambo. Hou Hsiao-Hsien is not only a director; he also had produced eleven films and even acted in a few movies.

Chao Fong-pang
Cold Face Killer is the nickname given to Chao Fong-pang, a professional pool player who has been a legend in the sport. He had won quite a number of pool and billiards tournaments in his home country and abroad. He was born in Kaohsiung in Taiwan on the 15th of September 1967. Fong-pang was the first Asian to win a major title in pocket billiards when he defeated Germany’s Thomas Hasch in 1993 at the WPA World Nine-Ball Championship. He defeated Japan’s 1994 title holder Takeshi Okumura in the ICC in 1995. He won it again in 2000 by defeating Ismael Paez of Mexico with a score of 17-6, a world record in itself as it was the largest deficit in a world championship final. He is notable for using jump shots to win difficult matches, just like what he did to defeat Francisco Bustamante of the Philippines during their tie-breaker at the International Challenge of Champions (ICC) tour in 2001. In 2005 Fong-pang emerged the winner against 2004 ICC title holder Thomas Engert, another German.

At the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, he brought home the gold medal for the 8-ball individual and the bronze for the 9-ball individual.

Wu Chia-ching
He is dubbed as the Little Genius or Taishan Shentong in Taiwanese. Born on the 9th of February 1989, Chia-ching is the youngest player ever to win a World Pool Association World Nine-Ball Championship. He won it in 2005 at five months past the age of sixteen. He was the runner up in the Juniors Nine-Ball World Championship 2004 and was also the winner in 2005 in the WPA World Eight-Ball Championship.

Chia-ching grew up with his grandmother who owned a billiard hall where he learned to play the game. His grandmother was the one who brought him to competition venues on her scooter when he turned serious about pool. He applied for and obtained citizenship in mainland China, a move he said he decided to make to enable him to compete in more international pool tournaments. It was revealed in April 2011 that he has not given up his Taiwanese citizenship. He has not submitted an application to renounce his citizenship from his birth country, as stated by the Ministry of the Interior, Deputy Minister Lin Tzu-ling.

Hu Chin-Lung
Hu Chin-lung is one of the five baseball players from Taiwan who are playing for Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States. Hu was born in Tainan City on the 2nd of February 1984. He is part of the national team representing Chinese Taipei that had brought accolades to their country. They had won the gold during the 2006 Asian Games in Doha and the silver in the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou. They also won the bronze in the Asian Baseball Championship in Taichung in 2007 and won the silver medal in 2009 when the championship was held in Sapporo.

In his professional baseball career, Hu was first signed as an infielder by the Los Angeles Dodgers on the last day of January in 2003. His rookie career was spent with the Ogden Raptors in his first year. The following year, 2004 was spent between Vero Beach Dodgers (Hi-A Ball) and Columbus Catfish (A Ball). The year 2005 was his first full season with Vero Beach. His stats with the team included 23 stolen bases while he had hit .313. In 2006 he was assigned to play for the Double-A Jacksonville Suns and was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game during the break in 2006 as well as in 2007, the year when Hu earned an MVP. A few months after playing for Triple-A Las Vegas, he began his senior career on September 1, 2007. On September 11, 2007, Hu was at bat against the San Diego Padres and hit a solo home run, a first for a Taiwan-born player in the MLB to do so. On September 25 of the same year he managed to do a two-run homer. He played 2009 as a triple-A player with the Albuquerque Isotopes and only five games with the Los Angeles Dodgers after he was called up by the team way back in 2007. Year 2010 was the same and he only played fourteen games with the Dodgers. He was traded to the New York Mets on the 27th of December 2010.

Lu Yen-Hsun
Lu Yen-hsun is a professional tennis player who hails from Taoyuan County where he was born on the 14th of August 1983. He is ranked number 82 in the world based on the ATP men’s singles player ranking as of December 12, 2011. As of November 28, 2011, he is number three in Asia, after Kei Nishikori of Japan and Denis Istomin of Uzbeksitan, the current number one and two players in Asia, respectively. Hardcourt is Lu’s favorite surface. Lu was an accomplished junior tennis player while playing in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit and had beaten other junior players like Mario Ancic and Robin Söderling. He broke into the ATP in 2004 after playing solidly in the Challenger circuit. In his short but illustrious career so far, Lu has managed to defeat some of the current top ATP players in the world, including Guillermo Coria (2004), Peter Luczak (2006), Andy Murray (Beijing Olympics, 2008), Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian (2009), Andy Roddick (2010), and Robby Ginepri and Marcos Baghdatis in 2011. He currently has 15 Challenger singles titles to his name and has a collection of a few gold and bronze medals in the Asian and Olympic Games.

Ando Momofuku
If you are one of the millions of people around the world who love to snack on instant noodles, especially those that come in a very handy cup, then you should know Momofuku Ando. He invented instant noodles and cup noodles, popularized by Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd., which Ando founded on September 4, 1948.

Ando was born in Kagi County in Taiwan on March 5, 1910 when the island was still under Japanese rule. His birth name was Wu Pai-fu and he was born to a wealthy Taiwanese family and owners of several textile shops. He was raised by his grandparents in Tainan as he was orphaned quite early in life. He initially started as a textile manufacturer when he was just 22 years old. A year later he traveled to Japan on business and decided to enroll at the University of Ritsumeikan when he became a Japanese citizen after the Second World War. He also managed to establish a merchandising company in Japan with the inheritance he received from his family. In his biography Ando was quoted as saying that his tax evasion case that led to his imprisonment in 1948 and the loss of his company was due to the education scholarships he provided, an act that was considered as tax evasion during that time. After his release he formed a family-owned business named Nissin, which started out as a salt producer.

After the war, people in Japan had to subsist on bread using wheat flour coming from the United States. Ando asked the Ministry of Health why that is so and was told that supply to make fresh noodles was not enough to meet the needs of the populace. Ando decided to try manufacturing the noodles himself and experimented with flash-frying them. He was 48 in 1958 when he achieved success in creating pre-cooked and instant noodles and marketed his product under the brand Chikin Ramen. His next successful product, the cup noodles in waterproof polystyrene cups was launched on the 18th of September 1971. Ando left this world on the 5th of January 2007 at the age of 96, leaving two sons, one daughter and his wife, Masako.

David Chu
Did you know that the famous men’s fashion brand, Nautica, was founded by a Taiwanese? It was David Chu who founded what will become a world-famous fashion brand. David Chu was born in 1955 and his original name was Chu Hsin-chi. His name was changed when his family migrated to the United States in 1960. His parents wanted to open a Chinese restaurant in the US and they settled in New York before moving to Connecticut. David wanted to be an architect but his drawings, while taking summer drawing classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology so impressed a professor and he encouraged David to try designing clothes. He worked for a large company in the US, designing jackets inspired by the coats the sailors’ wear. In 1983 he ventured on his own and founded Nautica. The company was sold in 2003 and David earned US$100 million from its sale. In 2006 he started a new company, Bespoke, creating an exclusive line of hand-made suits created in Italy. He was also behind the designer sportswear label LINCS by David Chu.

Huang Jen-hsun
Jen-hsun Huang was born in Taipei on the 17th of February 1963. His family migrated to Oregon in the United States and this is where he grew up. His American name is Jensen. He received his electrical engineering degree from Oregon State University and earned his master’s degree from Stanford University. After graduation he was employed as a Director of Coreware (LSI Logic). He also worked at AMD or Advanced Micro Devices as a microprocessor designer. He ventured on his own in 1993 and co-founded Nvidia, a globally known graphics processor, and competitor of AMD, Qualcomm and Intel. Nvidia manufactures GeForce and other processors for super computers, tablets and smartphones. He currently serves as President and CEO of Nvidia, where he earns nearly US$25 million annually.

Minhuán Kao
Min H. Kao was born in the village of Jhushan in Nantou, Taiwan in 1949. He graduated from the National Taiwan University with a bachelor’s degree and earned his MS and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee. He was employed for research work by the US Army and the NASA. He also worked as a systems analyst at Teledyne Systems, a technology company that manufactures systems and instrumentation for defense, aerospace, digital imaging, marine and environmental monitoring instruments and satellite communications. His experience in the company inspired him to start his own company. Together with his friend Gary Burrell, they founder Garmin Limited, now an international company that develops the technologies used for the global positioning system or GPS, used for marine, aviation and consumer products applications. It is headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland with manufacturing facilities in Sijhih City in Taiwan. Mr. Kao’s personal wealth as of January 2010 is estimated to be around US$1.6 billion.

Steven Shih Chen
One of the most popular, if not the most popular video sharing site in the world is You Tube. And it was founded in 2005 by Steven Chen together with Jawed Karim and Chad Hurley, whom he met while all three of them were working at PayPal. Chen was also an employee of Facebook before the founding of You Tube.

Chen was born in Taipei, Taiwan on August 1978 and studied at the Ching Shin Elementary School before his family migrated to the United States when he was eight years old. They settled in Illinois where he went to the Washington Middle School, West Aurora High School, Illinois Math and Science Academy and later at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).

It did not take long for You Tube to be a sensation on its own and attracting the attention of other larger companies. The founders sold it to Google, Inc. for US$1.65 billion on the 16th of October 2006. Chen received Google shares worth US$350 million as of October 30, 2007. The Google shares that were part of the sale total 68,721 shares in trust and 625,366 regular shares. Asian Scientist Magazine listed him as one of the 15 Asian scientists to watch in the magazines May 15, 2011 issue. Steven Chen and Chad Hurley have formed AVOS Systems and they have acquired Yahoo!’s Delicious, a web-based social bookmarking service site.

Stan Shih
Taiwanese business tycoon Stan Shih was born in Lukang Township in Changhua County, Taiwan on December 8, 1944. He received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in electronics engineering from the National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan’s oldest university and very well known for science and research especially in the fields of computer science engineering, electrical engineering, social sciences and management. After graduation Stan Shih founded Multitech in 1976 with his wife and five investors. The billion-dollar computer brand changed its name to Acer in 1987. It is now one of the top 5 branded computer vendors in the world and available in the Asia Pacific region, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Stan Shih retired as chairman of Acer in 2004.

Aimee Sun
Born on the 14th of May 1978, Aimee Sun is Taiwanese celebrity endorser, a commercial model, media personality, socialite, heiress and jewelry designer. Aside from her multitude of social titles, she’s a level-headed business woman who co-founded Breeze Center. It is a shopping center located in the Songshan District in Taipei. She learned her business acumen from her parent. Her mother is the vice-chairman of Yuanta Securities while her father was the former chairman of Pacific Electric Wire and Cable.

Jerry Yang
His name may sound too common but in reality it is not. Jerry Yang is the co-founder of Yahoo!. He hails from Taipei where he was born on the 6th of November 1968. His family, which was composed of his mother and a younger brother, went to the United States and settled in San Jose, California when Yang was ten years old. His mother was an English teacher but he claimed that he only knew the word “shoe” when he came to the US. He took his bachelor’s degree and Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

In 1994 while still in school, the website Jerry and Dave’s Guide to the World Wide Web was created by Jerry Yang and David Filo. It was a website that contained directories of other sites found across the World Wide Web as well as various products and services that may be useful for people who go online. It became extremely popular and later renamed as Yahoo!. In 1995 the two decided to form a corporation and named it Yahoo! Inc. While he had stepped down as CEO of Yahoo! he still sits as one of the board of directors of Yahoo! as well as in Alibaba, Yahoo! Japan, Cisco and Asian Pacific Fund. Jerry Yang also sits in the Board of Trustees of Stanford University.

Benjamin Chiu
He was born in Taichung, Taiwan on the 27th of December 1970 but moved to the United States when he was barely eight months old. He was an only child and was raised in North Carolina, where his family lived for six year. They then moved to Toronto, Canada where he received his schooling, graduating from the University of Toronto in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Science, Industrial Engineering. He became interested in computer programming while he was only 11 years old and was assigned by his father to write a database system using Dbase for their business. He perfected his database system and founded Linguasoft Corporation and sold the program to libraries and bookstores in Canada. One of his clients was the Royal Ontario Museum, which is still using his database program until now.

Ben Chiu founded KillerApp Corp. in 1995, a website where you can do comparison shopping when you are in the market for consumer electronics as well as computers. The site was acquired in 1999 by CNET Networks Inc. He actually began it in 1994 when he was helping his father manage their publishing business (Pan Asia Publications). The Internet was still very new at the time and Ben found it very hard to compare prices from magazine listings to look for the best deals among thousands of lists. He then thought of creating a database of prices and specifications of computers and parts. When e-commerce started to make an appearance, he developed a web crawler that will be able to gather and update prices (1.5 million daily) on his website 24/7, a great service for comparison shopping for buyers. The popularity of his site prompted several companies to bid for it. He later decided to sell his company to CNET is a stock swap agreement. The value was US$55 million and he became Director of Commerce Services of CNET.

Aside from his computer programming skills, Yang was also an accomplished table tennis player and has played for Ontario when he was young. He is also a gifted artist and likes to paint wildlife. His painting style is reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth and Robert Bateman.

Yuan Tseh Lee, Ph.D.
Dr. Lee was born in Hsinchu City (Shinchiku), a prefecture in Taiwan on the 19th of November 1936 when Japan ruled Taiwan. His mother, Ts’ai P’ei was an elementary school teacher and his father, Lee Tze-fan was an artist. Lee was a very bright student, that even without taking the university’s prerequisite entrance examination he was able to enter the National Taiwan University. He received his bachelor’s degree in science in 1959 and his Master of Science degree from the National Tsing Hua University in 1961. In 1965 he earned his Ph.D. from the University of California in Berkeley.

His work on physical chemistry and its use on the advanced chemical kinetics techniques for materials transformation earned him a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986. Dr. Lee was the first Taiwanese to win this precious recognition. From January 15, 1994 up to October 19, 2006 he was the president of Taiwan’s Academia Sinica. Currently Dr Lee is the president of the International Council for Science.

Henry Chang-Yu Lee
For fans of the TV franchise CSI, Dr. Henry Chang-yu Lee is the real deal. He is the foremost forensic scientist in the world. He was born in Rugao City, in the province of Jiangsu in mainland China on the 22nd of November 1938. His family fled to Taiwan in 1949. His father perished in the trip. Because he grew up fatherless, and as one of eleven children, he did not dream of attending university. He instead enrolled in the tuition-free Central Police College where students also receive living stipends. After graduating with a Police Science degree he joined the Taipei police force. At age 25 he was already a captain and the youngest to be appointed to that rank. In 1965 he and his wife migrated to the United States because he wanted to continue his studies. He received his Bachelor of Science in Forensic Science from New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He took his masters in biochemistry and science from the University of New York, graduating in 1974 and went on to study for his Ph.D. in Biochemistry, which he finished in 1975 at the same school.

Dr Lee has worked in many high-level forensic cases including the O.J. Simpson case; the reinvestigation of the shooting of President John F. Kennedy; the murder of JonBenét Ramsey and the suicide of Vincent Foster, Deputy White House Counsel. He was the blood spatter analyst during the trial of Michael Peterson who was accused of murdering his wife. Dr. Lee was also the lead forensic investigator of the Helle Crafts murder. Helle Crafts was an airline stewardess whose frozen body was run through a woodchipper by her husband. It was Connecticut’s first murder conviction without a body as evidence.

David Da-i Ho
Dr. David Da-I Ho is an AIDS researcher who became famous for initiating the use of protease inhibitors to treat patients who have been infected with HIV. He was born on the 3rd of November 1952 in Taichung, Taiwan. His mother brought him and his brother to the United States to join their father who had been in the US since 1957. He graduated with the highest honors when he earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1974. In 1978 he earned his Masters Degree from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology before doing his internal medicine clinical training at the UCLA School of Medicine from 1978 until 1982. His did his training on infectious diseases at the Massachusetts General Hospital from 1982 to 1985. Dr. Ho was one of the first doctors to know of the first reported cases of infection from the disease now called AIDS while he was a resident at the Los Angeles Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in 1981.

Dr. Ho is a leader in AIDS research and has published over 400 papers on the subject that helped the scientific community to understand the disease better. He focused on finding treatment for the early stages of infection rather on the late stages and he and his team are currently developing vaccines for AIDS. Dr. Ho has received so many awards and honorary titles due to his pioneering work from China, Taiwan and the United States. Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver have inducted Dr. David Da-I Ho into the California Hall of Fame on December 12, 2006.

Taiwan’s TV industry is very much alive and the industry has continued to come up with television shows that have become popular not only in Asia but in other parts of the world. Outside of Taiwan, television viewers got to know Jerry Yan, Vic Chou, Vanness Wu, Ken Chu and Barbie Hsu of Meteor Garden fame; Rainie Yang, Ariel Lin, Joe Chen Qiao-en, Joe Cheng, Show Luo, Fahrenheit and Wilber Pan to name a few.

:: References ::
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Taiwanese_people
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspx?d=12.12.2011&r=1&c=TPE#
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Top_ten_male_singles_tennis_players_of_countries_in_the_Asian_Tennis_Federation