Asian Time Zone

Taiwan is a de facto autonomous state that includes the island of Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean and some smaller islands. The official name of the state is the Republic of China, but is commonly called Taiwan.

The state was founded in 1912, the year after the bourgeois Chinese revolution in 1911, when the millennial dynastic Chinese empire was abolished. In 1949, when Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party proclaimed the new state of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing, the country’s then leadership (Republic of China), including most of its army, fled to the island of Taiwan. They set up a new administration there, which, in rivalry with the leaders of the People’s Republic of Beijing, claimed to represent the whole of China.

Taiwan still formally, though not actively, makes territorial claims to the entire original mainland China in accordance with the 1912 demarcations. This also includes lands that the People’s Republic of China later renounced, mainly Mongolia as well as some other smaller lands, including northern Burma, eastern Tajikistan and Nepal.

The People’s Republic of China, which controls the mainland, believes that the island of Taiwan is a still “non-liberated” part of the People’s Republic of China. Taiwan is currently recognized by only the following 23 states: Belize, Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Gambia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Solomon Islands, Swaziland,

The term Taiwan has long been used by those countries that have severed diplomatic relations with the country after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, including Sweden or because of the 1971 UN resolution when the People’s Republic took over China’s official representation at the UN and the Security Council.

The People’s Republic of China today opposes the island changing its official name from “Republic of China” to, for example, “Republic of Taiwan”, as this in Beijing is perceived as a step towards official independence for the island from mainland China. The People’s Republic of China’s parliament has passed a law authorizing the country’s president to declare war on the island in the event the Taipei government changes the island’s official name. The conflict over Taiwan’s territorial affiliation and international political status is widely regarded as one of the greatest risks of a large-scale international military conflict in East Asia. In connection with George Bush’s inauguration as President of the United States in 2000, he stated that the island’s independence must be guaranteed “at all costs”.

Taiwan is a capitalist market economy. It has a well-developed manufacturing industry and a significant export, which has led to a large trade surplus with the rest of the world. Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserve is the third largest in the world (2005), partly due to the fact that the Guomindang party, during the flight away from the communist troops in mainland China, brought the entire Chinese gold and foreign exchange reserve to the island.

ELECTRICAL OUTLET

Electricity and electrical outlets in Taiwan

Voltage: 110 V

Frequency: 60 Hz

Type of plug: A, B

Need an adapter: Yes, Swedes need an adapter.

Type A (NEMA 1-15)

NEMA 1-15, also called type A, is an unearthed two-plug socket that is used in e.g. North America and Japan. Note that new polarized contacts do not fit in older sockets. In Japan, there is also a new type of connector, JIS C 8303, which is different from the North American one. The Japanese work in all type A sockets, while the North American ones may need an adapter to work with JIS C 8303.

Type B (NEMA 5-15)

NEMA 5-15, also called type B, is a grounded three-pin socket that is used in e.g. North America and Japan.

CLIMATE AND WEATHER

Weather in Taipei

Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s second largest city, with 1.5 million residents (2007). The entire metropolitan area has about 3 million residents. The city is known for its harbor, and Kaohsiung is sometimes referred to as “Harbor Capital”.

Taichung

Taichung is Taiwan’s third largest city, with just over 1 million residents (2008). The city has previously had problems with the slum of the city center, which it now hopes can be solved by partially constructing a new city center. These costly infrastructure projects are very extensive and are created to bring about a resurgence of the local economy. The majority of the investments, however, are focused on housing and transport. Investments in the local production industry and service industry shine with their absence.

Taipei

According to Countryaah, Taipei is the capital of Taiwan, and has 2.6 million residents (2008). The metropolitan area has just over 10 million residents. Taipei 101 is one of the world’s tallest buildings, and was inaugurated in 2004. The building is 508 meters high and consists of a shopping center and office space of 198,000 square meters. The skyscraper also has the world’s fastest passenger lifts, manufactured by the Finnish company Kone, at a speed of 1,014 meters per minute, 17m / s or 61 km / h.