Illicit drugs:
a transit point for opiates and hashish bound for regional and
Western markets; weak anti-money-laundering controls and bank
privatization may leave it vulnerable to money-laundering
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@Taiwan
Introduction Taiwan
Background:
In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan.
Taiwan reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the
Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists
fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1946
constitution drawn up for all of China. Over the next five decades,
the ruling authorities gradually democratized and incorporated the
local population within the governing structure. In 2000, Taiwan
underwent its first peaceful transfer of power from the Nationalist
to the Democratic Progressive Party. Throughout this period, the
island prospered and became one of East Asia's economic "Tigers."
The dominant political issues continue to be the relationship
between Taiwan and China - specifically the question of eventual
unification - as well as domestic political and economic reform.
Geography Taiwan
Location:
Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea, Philippine Sea,
South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the Philippines, off
the southeastern coast of China
Geographic coordinates:
23 30 N, 121 00 E
Map references:
Southeast Asia