Political parties and leaders: Kuomintang (Nationalist Party),
LI Teng-hui, chairman; Democratic Socialist Party and Young China
Party controlled by Kuomintang; Democratic Progressive Party (DPP);
Labor Party; 27 other minor parties
Suffrage: universal at age 20
Elections: President—last held 21 March 1990 (next to be held March 1996); results—President Li Teng-hui was elected by the National Assembly;
Vice President—last held 21 March 1990 (next to be held March 1996); results—Li Yuan-tzu was elected by the National Assembly;
Legislative Yuan—last held 2 December 1989 (next to be held December 1992); results—KMT 65%, DPP 33%, independents 2%; seats—(304 total, 102 elected) KMT 78, DPP 21, independents 3
Member of: expelled from UN General Assembly and Security Council on 25
October 1971 and withdrew on same date from other charter-designated subsidiary
organs; expelled from IMF/World Bank group April/May 1980; member of ADB and
PECC, seeking to join GATT and/or MFA; attempting to retain membership in ICAC,
ISO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IWC—International Wheat Council; suspended from
IAEA in 1972, but still allows IAEA controls over extensive atomic development
Diplomatic representation: none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of the US are maintained through a private instrumentality, the Coordination Council for North American Affairs (CCNAA) with headquarters in Taipei and field offices in Washington and 10 other US cities with all addresses and telephone numbers NA; US—unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of Taiwan are maintained through a private institution, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which has offices in Taipei at 7 Lane 134, Hsin Yi Road, Section 3 with telephone 002 886o (2) 709-2000 and in Kao-hsiung at 88 Wu Fu 3rd Road with telephone NA
Flag: red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays
- Economy Overview: Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with considerable government guidance of investment and foreign trade and partial government ownership of some large banks and industrial firms. Real growth in GNP has averaged about 9% a year during the past three decades. Export growth has been even faster and has provided the impetus for industrialization. Agriculture contributes about 6% to GNP, down from 35% in 1952. Taiwan currently ranks as number 13 among major trading countries. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being replaced with more capital- and technology-intensive industries.
GNP: $121.4 billion, per capita $6,000; real growth rate 7.2% (1989)