Yearbook 1996
Taiwan. Chinese military maneuvers shortly before Taiwan’s first free presidential election March 23 was close to triggering an international crisis. The exercises, begun in 1995, were escalated during the island’s election campaign to a massive demonstration of strength with robots, ships and 150,000 soldiers north, west and southwest of Taiwan. The United States sent parts of its seventh fleet, including aircraft carrier Nimitz and Independence, to Taiwan’s protection.
China’s aim was to emphasize that Taiwan in Beijing’s eyes is a Chinese province that must never become independent. The rally was also a mark against the island’s president Li Denghui, the electoral favorite, who had previously teased China, among other things. by visiting the US the summer before. However, voters turned up around Li, who was re-elected with 54% of the vote in four years. In the National Assembly, which does not enact laws but solely adheres to Taiwan’s constitution, Li’s nationalist party Guomindang (GMD) remained the largest with close to 55% of the vote and 183 out of 334 seats.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER.ORG: What does TW stand for? In the field of geography, this two letter acronym means Taiwan. Check this to see its other meanings in English and other 35 languages.
After the election, the Beijing and Taibei regimes made more conciliatory noises. Li Denghui offered to make a “peace trip” to the mainland, and China responded that he was welcome – but only as a GMD leader, not as president. In the old Sino-Japanese schism about the Diaoyu archipelago, in Japanese Senkaku, Taiwan and China stood united. The dispute caught fire in July after Japanese youth nationalists highlighted Japan’s claim by placing a lighthouse on one of the islands. After major protests at home, hundreds of protesters from Taiwan and Hong Kong sailed to the archipelago in the fall, setting up Chinese and Taiwanese flags – promptly demolished by Japanese coastguards.
In March 2004, President Chen survived an assassination attempt and was re-elected for a new term. During his election campaign, he repeated his parole of “a land with its own corner”. A new version of the passport contained the word “Taiwan” on the cover. China, on the other hand, stated that it was willing to “pay any price” to prevent Taiwan from becoming independent.
Independence groups led by President Lee Teng-hui launched a campaign to adopt a new constitution. In May 2004, Chen vowed to implement constitutional reforms that would not touch on sensitive issues such as the country’s sovereignty or independence. In the December parliamentary elections, the PDP got 35.7% of the vote and 89 of the 225 seats in parliament, the Nationalist Party got 32.8% and 79 seats, the People’s First Party got 13.9% and 34 seats and Taiwan’s Solidarity Union got 7.8 % and 12 seats. The result limited Chen’s ability to more profoundly change relations with Beijing. Chen had threatened to rewrite the constitution, remove the word “China” from the names of the country’s overseas diplomatic representations and apply for inclusion in a number of international organizations. Beijing responded to these signals in March 2005, when the Chinese People’s Congress passed a law against detachment. The law directly affected Taiwan by explicitly prohibiting China’s secession and wrote the threats of attacks on outbreak areas into the law. A month later, nationalist and Chinese leaders met for the first time when Chen traveled to Beijing. During his stay, the Taiwanese president declared that: “we must seek to find the common touches among our differences and develop a benevolent attitude.” He further stated that both people want “dialogue and reconciliation, not confrontation”. During his stay, the Taiwanese president declared that: “we must seek to find the common touches among our differences and develop a benevolent attitude.” He further stated that both people want “dialogue and reconciliation, not confrontation”. During his stay, the Taiwanese president declared that: “we must seek to find the common touches among our differences and develop a benevolent attitude.” He further stated that both people want “dialogue and reconciliation, not confrontation”.
In January 2005, a 508-meter high-rise building in Taipei’s financial district was declared the world’s tallest – higher than Petronas Towers in Malaysia.
The mayor of the capital Taipei, Ma Ying Jeou, was elected in July 2005 as the new leader of Kuomintang. He declared that his only goal was to prepare the party to win the election in 2008. In December, it won the municipal elections, which was considered the electoral penalty by the Chen government.
In February 2006, Taiwan decided to withdraw from the National Association Council – a forum that sought ways to reunite the two states. Beijing characterized the announcement as a disaster, and characterized Chen as “problematic for Taiwan and for the entire Asia-Pacific region”.
Population 1996
According to Countryaah.com, the population of Taiwan in 1996 was 21,355,922, ranking number 44 in the world. The population growth rate was 0.840% yearly, and the population density was 603.1074 people per km2.