Timeline Taiwan
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Emulate: http://www.emulateme.com/taiwan.htm
Timeline: http://taiwanresources.com/info/history/chrono.htm
Timeline: http://park.org/Taiwan/Government/Historical_Taiwan/histt02.htm
A 14,000 sq. mile
island in the China Sea, 100 miles from the Chinese coast, was once
called Ilha Formosa (Beautiful Island).
(SFC, 6/10/97, p.A8)(SFC, 9/5/00, p.A10)
The original inhabitants of Taiwan were Malayo-Polynesian speaking
peoples akin to those of Indonesia and the Philippines.
(Econ, 1/15/05, Survey p.4)
The 18 islands of Matsu belonged to Taiwan but were closer to
mainland China. In 2000 there were 3,000 inhabitants.
(SFEC, 5/7/00, p.B3)
The population in 2000 was around 22 million. Taiwan is about
the size of the Netherlands, or Massachusetts and Connecticut
combined.
(SFC, 9/5/00, p.A10)(SFEC, 11/12/00, p.T4)
The population in 2005 was around 23 million. Taiwan is about the
size of the Netherlands, or Massachusetts and Connecticut combined.
(SFEC, 11/12/00, p.T4)(Econ, 8/27/05, p.54)
10000BC Austronesians began to
settle the island of Taiwan. Their descendents became known as the
aboriginal Seediq people.
(Econ, 9/17/11, p.41)
8000BC Asian peoples settled the island of Taiwan
about this time.
(SSFC, 2/18/07, p.G6)
1300BC The Lapita people took once again to the
open seas about this time, pushing east past the Solomon Islands to
the Bismarck archipelago and beyond to Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa.
Theses Southeast Asian peoples had headed south from Taiwan to Papua
New Guinea and as far as the main Solomon islands, where they
stopped some 40,000 years ago.
(AFP, 11/9/10)
1517 Portuguese sailors named
Ilha Formosa (beautiful island), later known as Taiwan.
(SFC, 12/11/99, p.B6)
1661 Apr 29, Chinese Ming
dynasty occupied Taiwan.
(HN, 4/29/98)
1673 Apr 5, Francois Caron
(~72), admiral, governor (Formosa), drowned.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1683 Taiwan was claimed by
China's Manchu dynasty after large-scale immigration from the
Chinese mainland to the island.
(AP, 8/12/06)
1854 Robert Swinhoe
(1836-1877), English naturalist, became the British council in Amoy
(later Xiamen, China). Over the next 2 decades he collected and
counted some 650 Chinese species of birds. In 1860 He became the
first British representative on Formosa (later Taiwan).
(Econ, 12/20/08,
p.67)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Swinhoe)
1895 Apr 17, China and Japan
signed the peace treaty of Shimonoseki. This followed a war over
control of the Korean peninsula.
(HN, 4/17/98)(Econ, 1/15/05, Survey p.4)
1895 May 8, China ceded Taiwan
to Japan under the Apr 17 Treaty of Shimonoseki. This followed a war
over control of the Korean peninsula. Japan began administering the
Senkaku Islands between Okinawa and Taiwan following the Treaty of
Shimonoseki. Japanese occupation ended in 1945. The US took over
after WW II but returned them to Japan in 1972. China later disputed
Japanese control of the islands.
(SFEC, 10/8/96, A8)(Econ, 1/15/05, Survey
p.4)(SSFC, 2/18/07, p.G5)(Econ, 9/25/10, p.54)
1930 In Taiwan hundreds of
indigenous Seediq people, led by Mauna Rudao, revolted against
Japanese overlords. Over a hundred Japanese were killed in what came
to be known as the Wushe incident. This triggered a brutal Japanese
response. The story was brought to life in the 2011 Taiwanese film
“Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale,” directed by Wei Te-sheng.
(Econ, 9/17/11, p.40)
1933 The art treasures of the
Forbidden City of China arrived for safe-keeping.
(WSJ, 12/29/95, p.A-11)
1933-1973 Feng Shan Ho (d. 1997 at 96) served as a
representative of the Nationalist government. He retired in SF and
wrote “Forty Years of Diplomatic Life.”
(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B13)
1935 A 7.4 earthquake hit
Taiwan and killed 3,276 people.
(SFC, 9/21/99, p.A13)
1942-1945 The Kinkaseki copper mine was worked by
prisoners of war under Japanese dictate. Of the 523 men who went
into the mine in Dec 1942, only about 100 were alive at the end of
the war.
(SFEC, 1/11/98, p.A25)
1945 Sep 9, The Japanese in S.
Korea, Taiwan, China and Indochina surrendered to Allies.
(MC, 9/9/01)
1945 Oct 25, Japanese
surrendered Taiwan to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.
(MC, 10/25/01)
1945 The island was returned to
Chinese control following the Japanese occupation during WW II.
(SFC, 6/9/97, p.A8)
1947 Feb 28, There was an
anti-Kuomintang demonstration on Taiwan. As many as 20,000 civilians
were massacred by the Kuomintang (KMT). A riot was sparked by the
arrest of a woman selling contraband cigarettes in Taipei. Crowds
attacked the Nationalist Party institutions as Nationalist troops
and secret police struck back over the ensuing months. In 1996 a 69
cent postage stamp was planned in commemoration of the “228
Incident.” In 2006 a team from UC Berkeley won a design competition
for a 15-acre “228 National Memorial Park.”
(SFC, 4/6/06, p.B3)(SFC, 12/26/96, p.B1)(SFC,
6/10/97, p.A8)(SFC, 4/6/06, p.B3)
1949 Sep 21, The Communist
People’s Republic of China was proclaimed under Mao Tse Tung with
Chou En-Lai as Premier. “Today, the Chinese people have stood
up.” Mao-Tse-Tung led his people to power after half a century (50
yrs.) of civil strife. The Chinese Communists drove Chiang Kai-shek
to Formosa. The capitalist stronghold of Shanghai fell to Mao
Tse-tung Communist guerrillas. The Communist People’s Liberation
Army brought with them to Beijing a northeastern folk dance called
yang ge.
(TOH, 1982, p.1949)(WSJ,12/10/93)(TMC, 1994,
p.1945)(WSJ, 10/26/95, p.A-12)(WSJ, 8/5/96, p.A1)(AP, 9/21/97)
1949 Oct 1, Republic of China
(Taiwan) was formed on island of Formosa. The Nationalists under
Chiang Kai-shek had been defeated and fled to Taiwan and took
control. Chiang Kai-shek established the “temporary” government of
the Republic of China in Taipei and established martial law.
(SFC, 6/9/97, p.A8)(SFC, 6/10/97, p.A9)
1949 Oct 25, Communist troops
landed at the small village of Kuningt’ou (Kuningtou), hoping to
capture Kinmen Island and prepare an assault on Taiwan. Nationalist
Col. Lee Kuang-chi’en died in a 3-day battle, which turned back the
communist assault. A plaque in honor of Col Lee was later changed,
dropping references to anti-communism.
(WSJ, 4/21/08,
p.A14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kuningtou)
1949 Dec 7, The Nationalist
Chinese government escaped to Formosa.
(WUD, 1994, p.1684)
1949 Dec 8, The Chinese
Nationalist government moved from the Chinese mainland to Formosa as
the Communists pressed their attacks.
(AP, 12/8/97)
1949-1987 The Kuomintang (KMT) ruled Taiwan under
martial law during this period.
(Econ, 11/22/08, p.54)
1950 Mar 1, Chiang Kai-shek
resumed the presidency of Nationalist China in Taipei.
(www.taiwan.com.au/Polieco/Symbols/report07.html)
1951 Oct 22, An earthquake hit
Formosa and 100 people were killed.
(MC, 10/22/01)
1953 Jan 30, President Dwight
Eisenhower announced that he would pull the Seventh Fleet out of
Formosa to permit the Nationalists to attack Communist China.
(HN, 1/30/99)
1954 Aug 11, After Chinese
Nationalists placed 58,000 troops on Quemoy and 15,000 troops on
Matsu the ROC began building defensive structures and the PRC began
shelling ROC installations on Quemoy. Zhou Enlai, Premier of the
People's Republic of China responded with a declaration that Taiwan
must be "liberated." He dispatched the People's Liberation Army
(PLA) and began shelling both Quemoy and Matsu.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Taiwan_Strait_Crisis)
1954 Sep 3, China began
artillery bombing on Quemoy. Despite warnings from the US against
any attacks on the Republic of China, the People's Liberation Army
unleashed a heavy artillery bombardment of Quemoy, and intensified
its actions in November by bombing the Tachen Islands.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Taiwan_Strait_Crisis)
1957 May 24, Anti-American
rioting broke out in Taipei, Taiwan.
(AP, 5/24/07)
1957 Paraguay began receiving
economic support from Taiwan in exchange for supporting Taiwan at
the UN.
(AP, 9/1/08)
1958 Sep 11, Responding to
Communist China's artillery attacks on the Taiwan-held islands of
Quemoy and Matsu, President Eisenhower said in a broadcast address
the US had to be prepared to fight to prevent a communist takeover
of the islands.
(AP, 9/11/08)
1960 Jun 4, The Taiwan island
of Quemoy was hit by 500 artillery shells fired from the coast of
Communist China.
(HN, 6/4/98)
1961-1962 The art of China was put on an
international exhibit.
(SFEC, 10/6/96, DB p.37)
1964 Sep 12, Typhoon Gloria
struck Taiwan killing 330, with $17.5 million damage.
(MC, 9/12/01)
1965 A museum in the style of
the Ming and Qing palaces was built on a hillside outside Taipei to
house the treasures of the Forbidden City. The National Palace
Museum, Taipei, possessed 80,000 art objects.
(WSJ, 12/29/95, p.A-11)
1966 Master Cheng Yen, a
Buddhist nun in Taiwan, founded the Tzu Chi Foundation. Its trained
volunteers were taught that charitable givers must thank those they
help in person. It began overseas relief work in 1991. By 2008 it
had some 10 million supporters with annual donations of $300
million.
(Econ, 5/31/08, p.47)
1969 Mar 20, Senator Edward
Kennedy called on the U.S. to close all bases in Taiwan.
(HN, 3/20/98)
1970 RCA Corp. opened its
Taiwan 1st semiconductor factory. GE bought RCA in 1986 and sold it
to Thomson in 1987. Its northern facilities were shut down in 1991
and the area was declared a toxic site. In 2002 it was reported that
a 1000 former plant employees suffered from cancer and that 200 had
died.
(SFC, 5/24/02, p.B5)
1971 Oct 25, The UN General
Assembly voted to admit the People’s Republic of China and expel
Nationalist China (Taiwan).
(AP,
10/25/97)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_and_the_United_Nations)
1971 Nov 23, The People's
Republic of China was seated in the U.N. Security Council. [The UN
vote to admit was Oct 25]
(WUD, 1994, p. 1688)(AP, 11/23/97)
1972 In Taiwan Giant
Manufacturing began producing bicycles for foreign and domestic
buyers. By 2008 it was the world’s largest bicycle maker.
(Econ, 9/20/08, p.79)
1973 Taiwan’s Industrial
Technology Research Institute (ITRI) was founded.
(Econ, 5/29/10, p.66)
1975 Apr 5, Chiang Kai-shek
(b.1887), Chinese statesman and president of the Republic
(1943-1950) and President of the Republic of China, Taiwan
(1950-1975), died at age 87. Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Soong Mayling)
moved to New York following her husband's death. In 1982 Sterling
Seagrave authored "The Soong Dynasty." In 2009 Jay Taylor authored
“The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern
China.”
(WUD, 1994, p.254)(AP, 5/5/97)(SFC, 1/27/00,
p.E1,5)(Econ, 5/9/09, p.86)
1978 Dec 15, President Carter
announced he would grant diplomatic recognition to the People’s
Republic of China, i.e. Communist China, on New Year's Day and sever
official relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)(AP, 12/15/98)
1978 Dec 31, Taiwanese
diplomats struck their colors for the final time from the embassy
flagpole in Washington, marking the end of diplomatic relations with
the United States.
(AP, 12/31/97)
1979 Apr 10, The US Government
established the Taiwan Relations Act which said: "to make clear that
the US decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People's
Republic of China rests upon the expectation that the future of
Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means."
(WSJ, 1/31/96,
p.A-18)(www.taiwandocuments.org/tra01.htm)
1979 In Kao-hsiung human rights
activists clashed with riot police in what became known as the
Formosa Incident. The Formosa Group helped unify opposition groups.
(SFEC, 3/19/00, p.A23)
1982 Jan 11, The Reagan
Administration announced that it will continue to help Taiwan
produce F-5E fighter planes, but will not sell more advanced models.
(www.cedmagic.com/home/ced-digest/ced-digest-vol-07/ced-digest0701.html)
1982 Jan 12, Peking protested
the sale of U.S. planes to Taiwan. The sale set an annual process
that continued to 2001.
(HN, 1/12/99)(SFC, 4/25/01, p.A9)
1982 Jul 14, The US made
assurances to Taiwan regarding arms sales.
(www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/hl808.cfm)
1983 May 10, Dominica PM Dame
Eugenia Charles chose to support Taiwan out of political conviction
(www.thedominican.net/articles/newsdesk6.htm).
(Econ, 4/10/04, p.29)
1986 Taiwan’s Pres. Chiang
Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek, decided to open up the
political life with Democratic reforms.
(SFEC, 3/19/00, p.A22)(Econ, 12/9/06, p.47)
1986 The Democratic Progressive
Party was established in opposition to the Nationalist Party and
advocated formal independence from China.
(SFC, 12/1/97, p.A12)
1987 Jul 15, Taiwan ended 37
years of martial law.
(www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/rights/politics_01.htm)
1987 Martial law was lifted by
Pres. Chiang Ching-Kuo, son of Chiang Kai-Shek.
(SFC, 6/9/97, p.A8)(SFC, 6/10/97, p.A8)
1988 Jan 13, Lee Teng-hui
(b.1923) became president of Taiwan, the first Taiwan-born
head-of-state, following the death of President Chiang Ching-kuo.
Lee Teng-hui authorized the establishment of the separatist
Democratic Progressive party (DPP).
(WSJ, 2/26/96,
p.A-1)(http://experts.about.com/e/l/le/Lee_Teng-hui.htm)
1988 Hon Hai, a small Taiwanese
plastics manufacturer, opened a factory in Shenzhen, China. By 2009
it had grown to the size of a city with over a quarter of a million
employees.
(Econ, 2/21/09, p.70)
1991 Dec 29, A Boeing 747-200F
of China Airlines crashed into a mountain at Taipei and 5 people
were killed.
(www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/aircraft_detail.cgi?aircraft=Boeing+747)
1991 French frigates were sold
to Taiwan. In 2004 a fake list of French public figures (including
later president Nicolas Sarkozy), who allegedly held accounts at a
Luxembourg-based clearing house (Clearstream Banking S.A.), was
leaked to a French judge. This came to be known as the 2nd
Clearstream affair.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearstream)(Econ,
12/6/08, p.70)
1992 Sep 2, On the campaign
trail, President Bush announced nearly $2 billion in new aid for US
farmers and a $6 billion jet fighter sale that would largely benefit
Texas. Democrat Bill Clinton, meanwhile, charged that Bush would
short change middle-class students to finance tax cuts for the rich.
Bush announced the agreement to sell Taiwan 150 F-16 jet fighters at
the General Dynamics factory in Fort Worth, Texas.
(AP,
9/2/97)(www.fas.org/news/taiwan/1992/920903-taiwan-usia2.htm)
1993 Feb, Lien Chan was named
premier of Taiwan.
(SFC, 8/29/97, p.A18)
1993 Aug 18, Tseng "Jim" Peng,
electronics tycoon, returned to California from a trip to Taiwan and
found his mistress, Ranbing "Jennifer" Ji, stabbed to death and his
5-month-old son suffocated. His wife Lisa Peng was found guilty in
1996 after an initial trial ended in deadlock. Lisa Peng's
conviction was reversed in 1999 due to questionable police tactics.
(SFEC, 10/10/99, p.C5)
1993 Nov, Wang Zhihua boarded a
scheduled flight from Hangzhou to Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian
province opposite Taiwan. He showed fake explosives to the crew,
saying he had a bomb, and forced the plane to fly to Taiwan. In 2008
Wang was returned to China and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
(AP, 12/5/08)
1993 The Taiwanese film "The
Wedding Banquet" was directed by Ang Lee.
(USAT, 2/5/04, p.10A)
1993 Taiwan began to allow
tourists to visit the Kinmen, a small island nestled against
the Chinese coast. Chinese tourists were excluded. The island was
ringed with minefields and occupied by 10,000 Taiwanese troops.
(Econ, 1/15/05, Survey p.8)
1993 Chinese hijackers
commandeered jets to Taiwan at least twice. In 1999 two children and
9 hijackers were returned to China.
(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A12)
1994 Aug, The New Party was
established by former KMT legislators who refused to accept
Taiwanese separatism.
(SFC, 6/10/97, p.A9)
1994 Dennis V. Hickey wrote:
“United States-Taiwan Security Ties: From Cold War to Beyond
Containment,” (Praeger). The late President Chiang Ching-kuo was
credited with making the greatest contributions to the island's
democracy. His successor, Lee Teng-hui, was recognized for his role
in Taiwan's political transformation.
(WSJ, 11/30/95, p.A-22)
1995 Feb 15, A fire roared
through a three-story nightclub in Taichung, Taiwan, killing at
least 64 people.
(AP, 2/15/00)
1995 Jul 21-1995 China
conducted a series of ballistic missile test firings 85 miles from
Taiwan. The missiles were all MTCR class four short range and two
intermediate range. All were modern, mobile, nuclear-capable. No
country has ever held this level of field tests for nuclear capable
missiles before.
(www.fas.org/news/taiwan/1995/index.html)
1995 Taipei, Oct. trade surplus
at $1.42 bil.
(WSJ, 11/8/95, p.A-14)
1996 Mar 10, Secretary of State
Warren Christopher, accusing China of “reckless” provocations
against Taiwan, said on NBC that US warships would move closer to
Taiwan.
(AP, 3/10/01)
1996 Mar 23, The first free
presidential elections were planned. Lee Teng-hui had a landslide
victory.
(WSJ, 2/26/96, p.A-1)(WSJ, 3/25/96, p.A-1)
1996 Mar 25, China halted its
18-day intimidating naval exercises around Taiwan led by the new
guided-missile destroyer Harbin.
(SFC, 3/22/97, p.A3)
1996 Jun 11, Formosa Plastic
Group of Taiwan led by Y.C. Wang was planning to build 6 thermal
power plants in the coastal province of Fujian in China for an
investment of $3.8 bil.
(WSJ, 6/11/96, p.A10)
1996 Sep 12, In Taiwan a
five-year-old girl's remains were found in a drain outside a toilet
at the Air Force Command headquarters in Taipei. In 1997 Taiwanese
soldier Chiang Kuo-ching was found guilty of rape and murder and
executed by firing squad. A task force found that Chiang had
masturbated in the toilet and some drops of his semen fell onto the
tissue. He had been tortured into confessing, but was not the
murderer. Chiang Kuo-ching was posthumously acquitted by a military
court in September, 2011, followed by a ruling that his family be
paid Tw$131.85 million ($4.4 million) in compensation. A court in
November launched legal action to bar former minister Chen Chao-min
and seven other ex-military officers involved in the case from
transferring their assets.
(AFP, 11/29/11)
1996 Sep 24, Taiwan police shut
down 188 sex parlors in the last 7 days and pledged to close the
remaining 103 by the end of the day.
(SFC, 9/25/96, p.A9)
1997 Apr, The Taiwanese drama
film “The River” was shown at the SF Film Festival.
(SFC, 4/23/97, p.D3)
1997 Apr, Pai Hsiao-yen, the
daughter of TV star Pai Ping-ping, was kidnapped and killed. A wave
of crime in Taiwan led to mass demonstrations in July. Chen
Chin-hsing was sought in this case and for the killing a plastic
surgeon and 2 nurses. His wife and brother-in-law were arrested in
the case.
(SFEC, 7/27/97, Par p.9)(SFC,11/19/97, p.C3)
1997 Jun 5, The Taiwan film
“Mahjong” by Edward Yang was an Int’l. film festival award winner.
(SFC, 6/5/97, p.E3)
1997 Jul 5, From Taiwan it was
reported that the ruling party and the opposition pro-independence
party had joined behind a plan to change the constitution and scrap
the provincial government, a vestige of an old arrangement that
considered Taiwan a part of China.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.C2)
1997 Jul, Taiwan’s prime
minister launched a 5-year plan to crack down on betel-nut chewing.
(WSJ, 8/22/97, p.A1)
1997 Aug 10, In Taiwan a
19-seat Formosa Airlines Dornier 228 crashed on the island of Matsu
and killed all 16 onboard.
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A8)(WSJ, 8/11/97, p.A1)
1997 Aug 18, Typhoon Winnie
swept over Taiwan and left 24 people dead.
(SFC, 8/19/97, p.A9)
1997 Aug 28, Taiwan’s Pres. Lee
Teng-hui selected Vincent Siew (58) to replace Lien Chen as premier.
(SFC, 8/29/97, p.A18)
1997 Nov 18, In Taiwan Chen
Chin-hsing held a South African embassy official and his family
hostage and demanded the release of his wife and brother-in-law.
(SFC,11/19/97, p.C3)
1997 Nov 19, In Taiwan Chen
Chin-hsing surrendered to police after releasing his hostages in
Taipei.
(SFC,11/20/97, p.B7)
1997 Nov 29, Taiwan’s
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won 12 of 23 mayoral and county
seats and for the first time received more votes than the
Nationalist Party.
(SFC, 12/1/97, p.A12)
1997 Dec 30, South Africa
established diplomatic ties with China and ended formal ties with
Taiwan.
(SFC,12/31/97, p.A9)
1997 In Taiwan the High Tech
Computer company was founded as a designer and manufacturer of
products sold under other brand names. The company was later renamed
HPC and created its own brand name. In 2007 it launched the HTC
Touch, a touch screen device whose sales were boosted by the
appearance of Apple’s first iPhone.
(Econ, 4/7/12, p.73)
1998 Jan 12, Former US Senator
Robert Dole signed a $30,000 per month contract as a foreign agent
for Taiwan.
(WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A1)
1998 Feb 16, In Taiwan a China
Airlines Airbus A300-600R crashed at Chiang Kai-shek airport while
trying to land in fog. 196 people on board were killed plus 6 on the
ground. The passengers included the governor of Taiwan’s Central
Bank and other financial officials.
(SFC, 2/17/98, p.A6)(AP, 2/16/08)
1998 Jun 4, It was reported
that an airborne virus had killed 26 children in the last 6 weeks.
Another 132 were hospitalized and as many as 9,000 were infected.
Efforts to fight the disease were being centralized. Enterovirus 71
soon claimed 7 more children.
(WSJ, 6/5/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/19/98, p.B4)
1998 Jun 26, Summer camps were
ordered to be closed and children under 14 barred from swimming
pools to fight an intestinal virus that has killed 52.
(SFC, 6/27/98, p.A14)
1998 Jul 17, A 6.2 earthquake
in Taiwan triggered falling rock that killed 4 people and injured
19.
(SFC, 7/18/98, p.A14)
1998 Oct 14, China and Taiwan
held their first talks since 1993 and said they were working toward
reunification.
(SFC, 10/15/98, p.A12)
1998 Oct 14, In the Philippines
Typhoon Zeb killed 21 people and forced some 31,000 from their
homes. The death toll went up to 70. It moved on to Taiwan where 20
people were killed and Japan where 12 died.
(SFC, 10/15/98, p.C4)(WSJ, 10/19/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 6, The ruling
Nationalists enlarged their legislative majority and captured the
mayoralty in Taipei.
(WSJ, 12/7/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 20, In Cambodia there
were riots in Sihanoukville to protests suspected toxic waste
imports from Taiwan. Hundreds of Cambodians fled the city after
reports of deaths from 3,000 tons of toxic waste dumped 2 weeks ago.
The waste was loaded with mercury and a plan was made to move it
away from Sihanoukville. Taiwan ordered Formosa Plastics to take
back the 3,000 tons of waste but the firm said the government used
tests by an environmental group.
(WSJ, 12/21/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 12/22/98, p.A1)(WSJ,
12/28/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 12/29/98, p.A1)
1998 The film “Han Chee” (Sweet
Potato) by Jean Cheng was a video essay on Taiwanese history.
(SFEC, 11/1/98, DB p.48)
1999 Feb 9, China severed
relations with Macedonia after the government in Skopje recognized
Taiwan.
(WSJ, 2/10/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 29, The US decided to
sell an early-warning radar system to Taiwan.
(SFC, 4/30/99, p.D4)
1999 Jul 12, In Taiwan Pres.
Lee Teng-hui abandoned the operating "one China" principle in favor
of "state-to-state" relations.
(SFC, 7/13/99, p.A1,12)
1999 Jul 31, Chinese
authorities seized a Taiwanese freighter near the Taiwanese military
post of Matsu Island with accusations of smuggling.
(SFC, 8/2/99, p.A10)
1999 Aug 6, Taiwan pop music
star Ah-mei, Zhang Huimei (26), mesmerized a crowd of 45,000 fans at
a rock concert in Beijing.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.A15)
1999 Sep 20, In Taiwan a 7.6
earthquake killed an estimated 2,161 people and injured over 3,500.
2,600 people were believed to be buried alive. Aftershocks the next
day registered at 6.8 and 100,000 people were homeless.
(SFC, 9/21/99, p.A1)(SFC, 9/22/99, p.A1)(WSJ,
9/22/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 9/22/99, p.A1)
(http://nisee.berkeley.edu/taiwan/)
1999 Sep 21, In Taiwan the
12-story Sungshan hotel collapsed and at least 73 people were killed
as numerous after shocks followed the previous day’s 7.6 earthquake.
Prosecutors later charged 5 people with negligence in the design and
construction of the building. [see Sep 20]
(SFC, 11/9/99, p.A14)(AP, 9/21/00)
1999 Sep 23, In Taiwan the
death toll passed 2100 but the number believed to be trapped was
reduced to 300. Chip production was expected to resume in 10 days.
(WSJ, 9/24/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 25, In Taiwan powerful
aftershocks continued after the government imposed an emergency
decree to speed up relief operations.
(SFEC, 9/26/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 26, 2 brothers, Sun
Chi-kwang (20) and Sun Chi-feng (26), were pulled from wreckage
after being trapped for 5 1/2 days.
(SFC, 9/27/99, p.A12)
1999 Oct 21, In Taiwan a 6.4
earthquake was centered near Chiayi.
(SFC, 10/22/99, p.B4)(SFC, 10/23/99, p.A11)
1999 Nov 18, James Soong
registered for the presidential race one day after being booted from
the ruling Nationalists.
(SFC, 11/19/99, p.D2)
2000 Feb 1, US House members
voted to strengthen military ties with Taiwan with a 341-70 vote in
favor of the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act.
(SFC, 2/2/00, p.A14)
2000 Feb 21, China warned
Taiwan that a prolonged lack of negotiations could provoke a
military attack.
(SFC, 2/22/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 13, The Taipei market
dropped 617 points in fear of an election win by Democratic
Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-bian.
(SFC, 3/14/00, p.A8)
2000 Mar 18, Chen Shui-bian was
elected as president ending 51 years of Nationalist Party rule. He
won with 39% of the vote over James Soong with 37%. Annette Lu (55)
was elected as vice-president.
(SFEC, 3/19/00, p.A1,23)
2000 Mar 21, The Parliament
ended a 51-year-old ban on direct trade, transport and postal links
between several of its offshore islands and mainland China.
(SFC, 3/22/00, p.A11)
2000 Mar 19, A mob stormed
Nationalist Party's headquarters in Taiwan, forcing Taiwanese
President Lee Teng-hui to quit as party leader.
(AP, 3/19/03)
2000 Mar 23, Lee Teng-hui
resigned as leader of the ruling Nationalist Party.
(SFC, 3/24/00, p.D3)
2000 Mar 29, Pres. elect Chen
Shui-bian appointed defense minister Tang Fei (68) of the
nationalist party as his Prime Minister.
(SFC, 3/30/00, p.A20)
2000 Apr 17, The Clinton
administration approved the sale of upgraded missiles and a
long-range radar system for Taiwan but not 4 hi-tech destroyers.
(SFC, 4/18/00, p.A8)
2000 May 17, A wave of
earthquakes left 3 people dead in Taichung County of the central
mountain region.
(SFC, 5/18/00, p.A14)
2000 May 20, In Taiwan Lee
Teng-hui (b.1923) ended his 12-year presidency.
(Econ, 7/9/11, p.42)
2000 Jun 28, Pres. Chen
Shui-bian told visiting Americans that he accepts that there is “one
China.”
(SFC, 6/29/00, p.A10)
2000 Jul 21, The Liberty Times
published an excerpt from former Pres. Lee Teng-hui’s new book
“Asia’s Strategy,” in which he called for Taiwan to declare itself a
sovereign nation.
(SFC, 7/22/00, p.C1)
2000 Jul, In Kaohsiung the
water supply from the Kaoping River was shut down after tanker
workers were caught pouring tons of the cancer-causing solvent
dimethyl benzene into a tributary of the river.
(SFC, 8/16/00, p.A18)
2000 Aug 14, Pres. Chen
Shui-bian arrived in Los Angeles to begin a 2-week trip to
strengthen ties with some of the 29 small nations that still support
diplomatic relations.
(SFC, 8/14/00, p.A12)
2000 Aug 22, Typhoon Bilis
struck with winds over 100 mph and 3 people were killed.
(SFC, 8/23/00, p.A11)
2000 Sep 4, It was reported
that river pollution was a major problem and that Taiwan was capable
of processing only 40% of its industrial waste.
(SFC, 9/5/00, p.A12)
2000 Sep 29, A US AM-RAAM
missile sale to Taiwan was designed so that delivery would not occur
unless China threatened an attack.
(SFC, 9/30/00, p.A14)
2000 Oct 3, Premier Tang Fei
resigned after 4 ½ months in office.
(WSJ, 10/4/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 4, Pres. Chen named
Chang Chun-hsuing as premier.
(WSJ, 10/5/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 27, Pres. Chen Shui
Bian halted construction of a 4th nuclear power plant near Kungliao.
The $5.5 bil project was one-third complete.
(SFC, 10/28/00, p.A14)
2000 Oct 31, A Singapore
Airlines Boeing 747-400 jet crashed on takeoff from Taiwan as
Typhoon Xangsane approached. Flight SQ006 was bound for Los Angeles.
The plane apparently hit construction equipment on a closed runway.
The airlines announced a $400,000 payment to victim’s families after
admitting to pilot error. 83 people were killed when the pilots took
off on the wrong runway. The pilots were not prosecuted.
(WSJ, 11/1/00, p.A1)(SFC, 11/3/00, p.A16)(SFEC,
11/5/00, p.A1)(AP, 6/14/02)
2000 Nov 7, The legislature
adopted bills to clear the way for a recall vote against Pres. Chen
Shui-bian.
(SFC, 11/8/00, p.B2)
2001 Jan 1, Taiwan planned to
let Chinese merchants and tourists sail to Kinmen Island, a move to
decriminalize reality and a possible preparation for wider links.
(SFC, 12/28/00, p.C2)
2001 Feb 1, In Taiwan the
legislature voted to reverse Pres. Shui-bian’s decision to scrap a
partly built nuclear power plant.
(SFC, 2/2/01, p.D4)
2001 Feb 5, The government
backed off from opposing the restart of construction on the
cancelled nuclear power plant.
(SFC, 2/6/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 31, The Dalai Lama
arrived for a spiritual visit.
(SFC, 4/2/01, p.A9)
2001 Apr 23, Pres. Bush decided
to sell Taiwan older ships and planes, but not the advanced Aegis
radar system.
(SFC, 4/24/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 24, Pres. Bush said
that the annual process of selling arms to Taiwan, a US policy since
1982, would end. China condemned the recent $5 billion arms sale.
(SFC, 4/25/01, p.A9)
2001 Apr 25, In unusually blunt
terms, President Bush warned China that an attack on Taiwan could
provoke a U.S. military response.
(AP, 4/25/02)
2001 Jul 24, The Taiwan
Solidarity Union (TSU) was founded by former Pres. Lee Teng-hui. It
actively campaigned for the creation of a de jure Republic of
Taiwan. The party prided itself on being the first to include
"Taiwan" in its name.
(Econ, 7/9/11,
p.42)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_Solidarity_Union)
2001 Jul 30, In Taiwan Typhoon
Toraji left some 200 people dead.
(SFC, 7/31/01, p.A7)(AP, 7/30/06)
2001 Aug 26, Pres. Chen
Shui-bian endorsed an economic council’s proposals to expand
commercial ties with China.
(SFC, 8/27/01, p.A6)
2001 Sep 17, Tropical storm
Nari flooded Taipei and other cities. At least 66 people were
killed.
(WSJ, 9/19/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 26, Typhoon Llekima
hit Taiwan causing mudslides and power losses. 2 fishermen drowned
and 1 was missing.
(SFC, 9/27/01, p.A11)
2001 Nov 7, Taiwan ended a
50-year-old ban on direct trade and investment in China.
(SFC, 11/8/01, p.A19)
2001 Nov 11, Taiwan officially
joined the WTO after ministers in Qatar approved its membership.
(SSFC, 11/11/01, p.A14)
2001 Nov 23, Taiwan announced
that it would allow Chinese living abroad to visit as tourists. This
relaxed a 50-year ban intended to keep out spies from the Chinese
mainland.
(SFC, 11/24/01, p.A11)
2001 Dec 1, Taiwan held
parliamentary elections. The Nationalist Party lost 42 seats and
their majority in the 225-seat legislature. The Democratic
Progressive Party of Pres. Chen Shui-bian gained 21 seats. The
results forced a new coalition government.
(SFC, 12/1/01, p.A2)
2001 Acer, a Taiwan computer
maker, spun off BenQ, a maker of LCD monitors.
(Econ, 8/27/05, p.54)
2002 Mar 22, It was reported
that the government had seized copies of Next magazine that included
details of a secret $100 million fund used by former pres. Lee
Teng-hui and current officials for diplomatic missions and policy
initiatives. Some 220,000 copies did get distributed.
(SFC, 3/22/02, p.A10)(SFC, 3/30/02, p.A5)
2002 Mar 31, In Taiwan a
6.8-7.1 earthquake hit and 5 construction workers were killed in
Taipei when 2 construction cranes fell from the 60th floor of a new
building projected to be the tallest in the city. Taipei 101 reached
1,679 feet on completion and claimed to be have the highest
structural top, tallest roof and highest occupied floor.
(SFC, 4/1/02, p.A7)(WSJ, 4/1/02, p.A1)(SSFC,
8/8/04, p.A22)
2002 May 15, Authorities
imposed water rationing in Taipei for the 1st time in 22 years as
drought reduced the main water reservoir to its lowest level since
1987.
(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.C15)
2002 May 25, A Taiwanese China
Airlines Boeing 747 airliner bound for Hong Kong crashed into the
sea and 225 people were killed.
(SSFC, 5/26/02, p.A12)(SFC, 5/27/02, p.A7)(AP,
5/25/03)
2002 Aug 3, Taiwanese President
Chen Shui-bian declared in a speech that Taiwan was "not someone
else's province" but rather an independent country separate from
China. Chen's comments sparked an uproar both in China and at home,
prompting him to back away from his pointed rhetoric.
(AP, 8/3/03)
2002 Aug 8, Taiwan said it may
forge ahead with legislation for a referendum on formal independence
from China, but sought to soften the blow with an assurance it would
not hold a vote unless forced into a corner.
(AP, 8/8/02)
2002 Sep 28, About 50,000
Taiwan teachers marched through the capital to demand the right to
form labor unions in the island's biggest protest in years.
(AP, 9/28/02)
2002 Nov 4, China signed a
landmark agreement, “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the
South China Sea,” with ASEAN (Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines,
Vietnam) on avoiding open conflict in the disputed South China Sea
Spratly Islands. Indonesia objected and Taiwan was barred from
signing.
(Reuters, 11/4/02)(Econ, 5/22/04,
p.40)(www.aseansec.org/13163.htm)
2002 Nov 23, Tens of thousands
of Taiwan farmers took to the streets to protest against the planned
reform of shaky agricultural co-ops, a day after the premier and
finance minister offered to resign over the controversy.
(Reuters, 11/23/02)
2002 Dec, Therese Shaheen was
appointed as managing director and chairwoman of the American
Institute in Taiwan. She resigned Apr 7, 2004.
(WSJ, 4/20/04, p.A18)
2002 China surpassed the US as
Taiwan's top trading partner.
(WSJ, 4/20/04, p.A18)
2003 Mar 1, In central
Taiwan a train filled with tourists on a weekend outing overturned
while descending a mountain, killing 17 people and injuring 102.
(AP, 3/1/03)
2003 May 2, In Taiwan 11 more
cases of SARS were confirmed with 5 new deaths. Confirmed cases
totaled 100 with the death toll at 8. Mutations of the virus were
also reported.
(SFC, 5/3/03, p.A7)
2003 May 18, Taiwan reported a
record 36 new cases of SARS and 3 deaths.
(SFC, 5/19/03, p.A3)
2003 May 21, Taiwan reported 35
new cases of SARS for a total of 418 with 52 deaths.
(SFC, 5/22/03, p.A3)
2003 Jul 2, The WHO said
Toronto was no longer SARS infected, leaving Taiwan as the only
place in the world where the disease was not yet fully under
control.
(AP, 7/2/03)
2003 Jul 5, The WHO removed
Taiwan from its list of SARS-infected areas and declared a
provisional victory over the epidemic, which had killed 812 people
over 5 continents. The economic losses from SARS was later estimated
at about $200 billion. SARS was later classified as one of a number
of zoonoses, i.e. diseases that come from animals.
(SSFC, 7/6/03, p.A3)(Econ, 11/19/05, p.84)
2003 Aug 31, In Taiwan a fire
engulfed an apartment building on the outskirts of Taipei before
dawn, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens.
(AP, 8/31/03)
2003 Sep 6, In Taiwan thousands
of pro-independence activists marched in the capital, demanding that
the island's official name be changed from the Republic of China to
Taiwan.
(AP, 9/6/03)
2003 Oct 12, Taiwan's dwindling
number of diplomatic allies shrank by one as Liberia switched ties
to the island's rival, China. This reduced Taiwan's recognition to
26 nations, most of them small, developing countries in Africa and
Latin America.
(AP, 10/12/03)
2003 Oct 17, Taiwanese
officials celebrated the completion of the world's tallest
skyscraper after crews installed the pinnacle on the 1,676-foot-tall
building.
(AP, 10/17/03)
2003 Oct 31, Taiwan's Pres.
Chen Shui-bian took his campaign for a new constitution to New York,
as Taiwanese media widely reported protests by Beijing supporters
against his visit. He described his campaign for a new constitution
as an effort to increase government efficiency.
(AP, 11/1/03)
2003 Nov 1, Taipei, Taiwan,
held the Chinese world's 1st gay pride parade.
(USAT, 2/5/04, p.10A)
2003 Nov 26, Taiwan arrested
Maj. Pai Chin-yang (42), an intelligence officer, on charges of
spying for rival China to raise money to pay off stock market debts.
It was the 3rd espionage case announced by the military in less than
a month.
(AP, 12/3/03)
2003 Nov 27, Taiwanese
lawmakers passed a historic proposal that gives the president the
power to hold an independence vote if China tries to use force to
make the island unify with the mainland.
(AP, 11/27/03)
2003 Nov 29, China said it
broke diplomatic relations with Kiribati after the tiny Pacific
island nation opened ties with rival Taiwan.
(AP, 11/29/03)
2003 Dec 16, Taiwan's lawmakers
banned the selling of dog meat and introduced heavy fines for
killing pets for food or fur.
(AP, 12/18/03)
2003 Dec 31, China offered to
allow Taiwan to fly unlimited numbers of direct charter flights to
the mainland in 2004, if the island's government agrees to allow
Chinese airlines to do the same the following year.
(AP, 12/31/03)
2004 Jan 1, In Taiwan tens of
thousands of protesters marched peacefully to push for full
democracy in this former British colony.
(AP, 1/1/04)
2004 Feb 28, In Taiwan an
estimated 1.2 million people linked hands in a human chain the
length of the island as President Chen Shui-bian urged protesters to
oppose China's military threats and create the "Great Wall of
Taiwan's democracy."
(AP, 2/28/04)
2004 Mar 19, Taiwan President
Chen Shui-bian and his vice president were shot and slightly wounded
in an assassination attempt as they rode in an open vehicle while
campaigning a day before an election.
(AP, 3/19/04)
2004 Mar 20, Taiwan Pres. Chen
Shui-bian narrowly won re-election, a day after being shot in an
assassination attempt, but a referendum he had championed on beefing
up defenses against China failed because not enough voters took
part.
(AP, 3/20/04)(SSFC, 3/21/04, p.A1)
2004 Mar 27, A half million
people swarmed into Taiwan's capital to protest the disputed
presidential election.
(AP, 3/27/04)
2004 Apr 5, China promised $122
million to Pres. Skerritt in return for revoking Dominica’s
recognition of Taiwan.
(Econ, 4/10/04, p.29)
2004 Apr 10, Some 100,000
people in Taiwan protested the disputed presidential election.
(WSJ, 4/12/04, p.A1)
2004 Jul 3, Tropical storm
Mindulle, the Korean word for dandelion, pushed toward South Korea
after killing at least 31 people in the Philippines and 18 in
Taiwan.
(Reuters, 7/3/04)(AP, 7/4/04)
2004 Aug 24, China evacuated
hundreds of thousands of people as Typhoon Aere lashed neighboring
Taiwan, triggering landslides and disruption and leaving at least
seven people feared dead and one missing.
(AFP, 8/24/04)
2004 Sep 16, Taiwan celebrated
the opening of what officials called the world's fifth-longest road
tunnel. The 12.9-kilometre Hsueh Mountain tunnel was part of the
newly built 55-kilometer Taipei-Ilan Expressway, which runs through
mountains and river valleys in northeastern Taiwan.
(AP, 9/16/04)
2004 Sep, Taiwan’s PM Yu
Shyi-kun suggested that Taiwan should consider building a missile
force with the aim of establishing a “balance of terror” to fend off
China’s threats.
(Econ, 10/2/04, p.44)
2004 Oct 25, Typhoon Nock-ten
hit Taiwan and at least 3 people were killed.
(WSJ, 10/26/04, p.A1)
2004 Nov 10, Taiwan's leader,
making a new appeal to China to hold talks, urged the communist
giant to ban the development and use of weapons of mass destruction.
(AP, 11/10/04)
2004 Dec 11, Taiwan's
pro-independence parties were defeated in legislative elections.
(AP, 12/11/04)
2004 Dec 21, Janes’ Defense
Weekly said the US will assign serving military officers to its de
facto embassy in Taiwan for the first time since 1979 in a reversal
of a longstanding policy.
(AFP, 12/21/04)
2004 Dec 22, The US signed a
99-year lease on a site for its new de facto embassy in Taiwan, an
event described as a milestone in relations.
(AP, 12/22/04)
2004 Dec 30, Taiwan increased
interest rates by .125% pushing the discount rate to 1.75%.
(WSJ, 12/31/04, p.A6)
2005 Jan 1, Taiwan was forecast
for 4.8% annual GDP growth with a population at 22.9 million and GDP
per head at $14,560.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.92)
2005 Jan 1, Taiwan’s Statement
of Financial Standards No. 35 took effect.
(WSJ, 4/6/05, p.C18)
2005 Jan 15, China and Taiwan
agreed to allow the first direct flights since 1949.
(AP, 1/15/05)
2005 Jan 27, Taiwan formally
severed ties with Grenada after accusing the tiny Caribbean island
of trying to exploit the rivalry between China and Taiwan to get
more financial aid.
(AP, 1/27/05)
2005 Jan 29, Chinese jetliners
touched down in Taiwan, completing the first nonstop flights between
the rivals since a bloody civil war split the two sides 56 years
ago.
(AP, 1/29/05)
2005 Feb 26, In Taiwan a fire
raged through the top floors of a highrise building in the central
city of Taichung, killing at least two people.
(AP, 2/26/05)
2005 Mar 6, More than 15,000
protesters marched in Taiwan, denouncing China's planned
anti-secession law and pledging to fight what they claim is
Beijing's attempt to force this self-ruled, democratic island to
unify with the mainland.
(AP, 3/6/05)
2005 Mar 8, China unveiled the
Taiwan Anti-Secession Law, authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves
toward formal independence, increasing pressure on the self-ruled
island while warning other countries not to interfere.
(AP, 3/8/05)(Econ, 4/7/12, p.30)
2005 Mar 14, China's parliament
enacted a law authorizing force to stop rival Taiwan from pursuing
formal independence.
(AP, 3/14/05)
2005 Mar 26, in Taiwan about a
million people marched through the capital to protest a new Chinese
law that authorizes an attack on the island if it moves toward
formal independence.
(AP, 3/26/05)
2005 Apr 26, Lien Chan, the
leader of Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party, arrived in China on
an 8-day trip for the first meeting between the party of Chaing
Kai-shek and the communists since both sides split amid civil war
nearly six decades ago.
(AP, 4/26/05)
2005 May 10, Taiwan arrested 17
military officers and civilians on suspicion of passing secrets
about the island's intelligence capability to rival China.
(AP, 5/11/05)
2005 May 14, A surprise
election victory for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP), marred by a record-low voter turnout, gave a limited
endorsement of President Chen Shui-bian's policy of standing up to
China.
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 20, Chinese state
media reported China is to lift a decades-old ban on mainland
tourists visiting political rival Taiwan. Ultimately, however, it
was up to the Taiwan government to decide whether the floodgates
should be opened.
(Reuters, 5/20/05)
2005 May 29, In Taipei
thousands of men in black gangster garb took part in the funeral
procession of a reputed Taiwan mob godfather, nicknamed "Mosquito"
and "The Great Arbitrator." Hsu Hai-ching died this month at 93
after a long illness.
(AP, 5/29/05)
2005 Jun 5, Taiwan reported
that it had successfully test-fired a locally developed cruise
missile capable of striking southeastern areas of mainland China.
(AP, 6/5/05)
2005 Jun 7, A convention
adopted sweeping changes to Taiwan's constitution that will boost
its top two political parties and require future amendments to go
directly before voters, a measure opposed by China.
(AP, 6/7/05)
2005 Jun 21, Taiwan sent two
warships to protect fishermen who have repeatedly been chased by
Japanese patrol boats away from rich fishing grounds near disputed
islands in the East China Sea, a decision likely to raise diplomatic
tensions.
(AP, 6/21/05)
2005 Jun 25, Taiwan reimposed a
ban on imports of American beef after the US confirmed its second
case of mad cow disease.
(AP, 6/25/05)
2005 Jul 18, China evacuated
over 600,000 people from coastal areas after typhoon Haitang slammed
into Taiwan, killing up to four people.
(Reuters, 7/18/05)
2005 Jul 20, Haitang was
downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it moved into
southeast China, leaving a trail of destruction. The death toll in
Taiwan and in China rose to 15.
(AFP, 7/20/05)
2005 Jul 22, Taiwan will allow
computer maker Lenovo Ltd. to become the first mainland Chinese
company to establish a subsidiary on the island in a significant
step forward in commercial ties between the two rivals.
(AP, 7/22/05)
2005 Aug 5, China’s government
said Ching Cheong, a Hong-Kong based reporter, has been charged with
spying for Taiwan. China accusing him of obtaining huge amounts of
classified information under an alias.
(AP, 8/5/05)
2005 Sep 1, Typhoon Talim left
Taiwan leaving 3 people killed and 59 injured. Strong winds and
heavy rains, forced offices, schools and financial markets to close.
(AP, 9/1/05)
2005 Sep 14, Taiwan failed for
the 13th straight year to get a seat at the United Nations, a move
that has been blocked annually since 1993 by archrival China and its
allies.
(AP, 9/14/05)
2005 Oct 20, In Taiwan, the
Agricultural Council confirmed the island's first case of bird flu.
Birds taken from a Panama-registered freighter that was stopped by
the Taiwanese coast guard on Oct. 14 tested positive for the H5N1
virus.
(AP, 10/20/05)
2005 Oct 23, Taiwan said it is
ready to produce its own Tamiflu, the antiviral avian flu drug, and
will not let patent talks with Swiss drug maker Roche AG stand in
the way.
(http://tinyurl.com/9r8g5)
2005 Dec 3, Taiwan's opposition
Nationalist Party won an overwhelming victory in island-wide
municipal elections, putting it in position to push its agenda of
reunification with China during the 2008 presidential campaign.
(AP, 12/03/05)
2005 Dec 12, Donald Keyser, a
US State Department official, pleaded guilty to removing top secret
government documents while conducting a "personal relationship" with
a Taiwanese spy, Isabelle Cheng, from 1992-2004.
(Reuters, 12/12/05)
2005 Dec 15, Taiwan said it was
building a landing strip on one of the Spratly Islands, whose
ownership was contested by Vietnam.
(Econ, 1/28/06, p.42)
2005 M.J. Nee, Taiwanese actor,
committed suicide by hanging.
(Econ, 6/23/07, p.67)
2005 Taiwan’s population was
around 23 million.
(Econ, 8/27/05, p.54)
2006 Jan 15, Taiwan's ruling
party elected a former close aide to President Chen Shui-bian as its
new leader, a move seen as an endorsement of Chen and his
pro-independence stance.
(AFP, 1/15/06)
2006 Jan 17, Taiwan's PM Frank
Hsieh announced his resignation, paving the way for a Cabinet
reshuffle.
(AP, 1/17/06)
2006 Jan 19, Taiwan's president
appointed Su Tseng-chang, a popular politician and former party
chief, as the island's next premier in a move aimed at regaining
support for the ruling party ahead of the 2008 presidential
election.
(AP, 1/19/06)
2006 Jan 20, Taiwan allowed
students and tour groups to fly direct to China for the first time
in the third annual installment of symbolic Chinese New Year flights
aimed at warming tense relations with the mainland.
(AP, 1/20/06)
2006 Feb 11, The Taiwan-India
Cooperation Council was launched in Taipei. It was intended to raise
India’s profile among Taiwan businesses.
(Econ, 2/18/06, p.42)
2006 Feb 27, Taiwanese
President Chen Shui-bian terminated the governmental committee
responsible for unifying with rival China, significantly deepening
tensions with Beijing and defying opinion in Washington. The
National Unification Council had been inactive for 6 years.
(AP, 2/27/06)(Econ, 3/4/06, p.38)
2006 Feb 28, Chinese President
Hu Jintao denounced the Taiwanese president's decision to scrap an
agency dedicated to uniting Taiwan with the communist mainland, and
warned that Beijing will not permit the self-ruled island to pursue
formal independence.
(AP, 2/28/06)
2006 Mar 12, Tens of thousands
of opposition supporters marched in Taipei to protest the Taiwanese
president's decision to abolish a committee responsible for
unification with rival China.
(AP, 3/12/06)
2006 Mar 18, Tens of thousands
of slogan-chanting Taiwanese took to the streets to protest rival
China's military threats against the island.
(AFP, 3/18/06)
2006 Mar 25, Taiwan’s annual
8-day Matsu festival began. Tradition says she originated in the
11th century in China's southern Fujian province, directly across
from Taiwan. Once revered as a protector of mariners and a guarantor
of bountiful harvests, she is now seen as an all-purpose purveyor of
health, wealth and happiness.
(AP, 3/31/06)
2006 Mar 25, The Vatican's
foreign minister said that the "time is ripe" for the Holy See and
Beijing to establish diplomatic relations, and confirmed it is ready
to move its embassy from Taiwan.
(AP, 3/26/06)
2006 Apr 15, China announced
tariff cuts on imports of fruit and fish from Taiwan, offering the
self-ruled island new trade concessions in an effort to boost
sentiment for uniting with the communist mainland.
(AP, 4/15/06)
2006 Apr 21, In China Tong
Daning, an official from the social security fund, was executed on
charges of spying for rival Taiwan. Government employees were then
required to watch a video about the case. Tong had passed
information to the island's leaders about China's currency regime,
allowing them to avoid massive losses due to exchange rate changes.
(AP, 8/8/06)(AP,
8/29/11)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tong_Daning)
2006 May 10, Taiwan's President
Chen Shui-bian made a surprise visit to Libya, after he turned down
an offer to make a refueling stop in Alaska in an apparent sign of
diplomatic pique.
(AP, 5/10/06)
2006 May 25, The son in law of
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian was detained after hours of
questioning about his involvement in an alleged insider trading
scandal which rocked the island.
(AFP, 5/25/06)
2006 May 31, Taiwan's president
handed over day-to-day control of the island's government to the
premier in the wake of a series of scandals. Pres. Chen Shui-bian
pledged in a written statement night to give authority to Premier Su
Tseng-chang to control Taiwan's Cabinet. Police on May 24 arrested
Chen's son-in-law Chao Chien-min on suspicion he used insider
information to profit on the purchases of shares in partly
state-owned property company Taiwan Development Corp.
(AP, 5/31/06)
2006 Jun 10, Some 20,000
Taiwanese demonstrated in the capital, demanding the president
resign over allegations some of his relatives engaged in insider
trading.
(AP, 6/10/06)
2006 Jun 14, China and Taiwan
they've agreed to launch direct charter passenger flights between
them during major holidays, a key trust-building step toward
restoring regular direct flights cut five decades ago amid civil
war.
(AP, 6/14/06)
2006 Jul 10, In Taiwan the
son-in-law of President Chen Shui-bian was indicted on insider
trading charges, one of several high-profile corruption cases
involving Chen's family and inner circle.
(AP, 7/10/06)
2006 Jul 19, Taiwan’s largest
air carrier launched the 1st direct cargo flight between the island
and China since 1949.
(WSJ, 7/20/06, p.A6)
2006 Jul 28, Taiwanese
prosecutors indicted a man for murder, alleging he helped his
brother stage a train derailment that ultimately led to the death of
his brother's wife, and said they will seek the death penalty. The
wife of Lee Suan-chuan, a train-ticket seller, was injured when the
train she was traveling on derailed and tumbled into a deep valley
on March 27 in southern Taiwan's Pingtung region.
(AP, 7/28/06)
2006 Aug 6, Taiwan condemned
China after oil producer Chad switched diplomatic ties to Beijing
from Taipei, forcing Premier Su Tseng-chang to scrap his plans to
visit the African nation at the last minute.
(Reuters, 8/6/06)
2006 Aug 23, Taiwan's cabinet
decided to increase military spending by nearly 30% next year as
President Chen Shui-bian warned of rival China's continuing
hostility towards the island.
(AP, 8/23/06)
2006 Sep 9, Tens of thousands
of red-clad protesters thronged Taiwan's capital, demanding that
President Chen Shui-bian resign over a series of alleged corruption
scandals involving his family and inner circle. Shih Ming-teh, a
former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), began
camping with fellow protesters in the center of Taipei.
(AP, 9/9/06)(Econ, 9/23/06, p.48)
2006 Sep 15, More than 100,000
chanting protesters marched through downtown Taipei, trying to
pressure Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to resign over a series
of corruption scandals.
(AP, 9/15/06)
2006 Oct 10, Tens of thousands
of protesters, many dressed in red to show their anger, demanded
that Taiwan's president step down over a series of corruption
allegations.
(AP, 10/10/06)
2006 Oct 18, El Salvador’s
Pres. Antonio Saca pledged to support Taiwan's bid to join world
bodies and called for a free trade agreement between the two
countries. El Salvador is one of only 24 countries that affords
Taiwan diplomatic recognition over the island's rival China.
(AFP, 10/18/06)
2006 Nov 3, In Taiwan
prosecutors said they have enough evidence to indict President Chen
Shui-bian on corruption charges in connection with his handling of a
secret diplomatic fund, increasing the pressure on him to resign.
Prosecutors charged Wu Shu-chen, the president’s wife, with
embezzling $450,000 from a fund used for secret diplomacy.
(AP, 11/3/06)(Econ, 11/11/06, p.48)
2006 Nov 4, Thousands of people
took to the streets across Taiwan to demand President Chen
Shui-bian's resignation over a corruption scandal that could land
his wife in prison.
(AP, 11/4/06)
2006 Nov 5, Taiwanese President
Chen Shui-bian apologized for causing political turmoil that hurt
"the nation's image," but he denied prosecutors' allegations that he
was involved in embezzling money from a special fund for diplomacy.
Chen Shui-bian said he would resign from office if his wife was
found guilty of corruption and forgery charges.
(AFP, 11/5/06)
2006 Nov 24, Taiwan's president
won a reprieve when opposition lawmakers failed for the third time
to muster enough support for a referendum on removing him from
office.
(AP, 11/24/06)
2006 Dec 3, In southern Taiwan
a double-decker tour bus crashed into a steep ravine in a scenic
mountain area, killing 22 and seriously injuring two dozen others.
(AP, 12/4/06)
2006 Dec 9, Taiwan's ruling
party narrowly won a crucial mayoral election in one southern city,
while the opposition candidate won comfortably in the capital of
Taipei in a pair of votes seen by many as a referendum for President
Chen Shui-bian.
(AP, 12/9/06)
2006 Dec 27, A Taiwanese court
convicted Chao Chien-min, the son-in-law of President Chen
Shui-bian, of insider trading and sentenced him to six years in
prison.
(AP, 12/27/06)
2006 Dec 27, Telephone lines
and Internet service went dead across much of Asia after two
powerful earthquakes off Taiwan damaged undersea cables used by
several countries to route calls and online traffic.
(AP, 12/27/06)
2007 Jan 5, Taiwan's high-speed
rail system welcomed its 1st paying passengers amid lingering safety
concerns and embarrassing ticketing glitches. Construction of the
system began in 2000 with an original launch date of October 2005,
but a delay in the completion of the project's core electrical
systems forced a postponement to October 2006.
(AP, 1/4/07)(AFP, 1/5/07)
2007 Jan 7, Eight Taiwanese
banks took charge of a failing subsidiary of the country's Rebar
conglomerate, just a day after the financial regulator rescued a
private bank owned by the same group.
(AFP, 1/7/07)
2007 Jan 13, China said Wang
You-theng, founder of the Rebar Asia Pacific Group, left China for
the US. You-theng had vanished earlier this month amid accusations
he stole millions of dollars from his Taiwan company.
(Reuters, 1/19/07)
2007 Feb 8, President Chen
Shui-bian said the name 'Taiwan' would soon replace 'China' on the
island's stamps, a move likely to anger Beijing.
(AP, 2/8/07)
2007 Feb 12, Ma Ying-jeou,
chairman of Taiwan’s main opposition party (KMT), was indicted for
embezzlement. He defiantly announced he was running for president.
(AFP, 2/13/07)(Econ, 2/17/07, p.44)
2007 Mar 1, The US Department
of Defense notified Congress that it plans to sell Taiwan missiles
worth $421 million dollars.
(AFP, 3/1/07)
2007 Mar 2, China demanded the
United States scrap a planned sale of hundreds of missiles to
Taiwan, warning the deal would harm regional stability and bilateral
ties.
(AFP, 3/2/07)
2007 Apr 3, Taiwan Presidential
front-runner Ma Ying-jeou pleaded not guilty at his corruption trial
in Taipei, saying that his use of a special municipal fund was in
keeping with government standards. A helicopter crashed into a radio
tower near Kaohsiung and killed 8 crew members.
(AP, 4/3/07)(AP, 4/4/07)
2007 Apr 28, China's president
called for closer business ties with Taiwan to help squelch the
self-ruled island's pro-independence movement as he met with a
former Taiwanese opposition leader.
(AP, 4/28/07)
2007 May 2, Taiwan's opposition
leader Ma Ying-jeou was nominated by his Kuomintang party to run for
the 2008 presidential election and pledged to improve economic ties
with China.
(AP, 5/2/07)
2007 May 6, Frank Hsieh, former
prime minister of Taiwan, won the ballot of the ruling Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), as candidate for next year’s presidential
elections. Hsieh favored better relations with China.
(Econ, 5/12/07, p.44)
2007 May 8, In Taiwan rival
lawmakers exchanged punches, climbed on each other's shoulders and
jostled violently for position around the speaker's dais as the
Legislature dissolved into chaos over an electoral reform bill.
(AP, 5/8/07)
2007 May 12, Taiwanese Premier
Su Tseng-chang resigned, days after he was defeated in the ruling
party's presidential primary.
(AP, 5/12/07)
2007 May 14, Taiwanese
President Chen Shui-bian named his sixth premier in seven years amid
paralysis in the island's relations with rival China and gridlock in
its deeply divided legislature. The World Health Organization
rejected Taiwan's bid for membership after Chinese officials accused
the island of trying to strengthen its claim to sovereignty.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 Jun 15, In northeastern
Taiwan 2 trains collided, killing 5 people and injuring 16 others.
(AP, 6/15/07)
2007 Jun 26, Taiwan's High
Court rejected an appeal by President Chen Shui-bian's son-in-law
against his insider trading conviction and increased his sentence to
seven years' imprisonment.
(AP, 6/26/07)
2007 Jun 29, Edward Yang
(b.1947), who won best director in 2000 at the Cannes Film Festival
and was known for his realistic portrayals of modern Taiwan, died at
his home in California of complications from colon cancer.
(AP, 7/1/07)
2007 Jul 4, Taiwan's vice
president kicked off a Latin American tour in the Dominican
Republic, an ally rapidly increasing its economic and political ties
with the island's diplomatic rival, China.
(AP, 7/4/07)
2007 Jul 12, Burkina Faso and
Taiwan renewed a commitment to boost their diplomatic ties during a
visit to the west African nation by Taiwan's Foreign Minister James
Huang.
(AP, 7/13/07)
2007 Jul 23, The United Nations
rejected Taiwan's application to become a member of the world body,
citing UN adherence to the "one China" policy and its recognition of
the Chinese government in Beijing.
(AP, 7/24/07)
2007 Aug 14, A Taiwanese court
acquitted opposition presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou of
corruption charges, giving a big boost to the campaign of a
politician who backs better relations with rival China.
(AP, 8/14/07)
2007 Aug 18, A powerful typhoon
slammed into Taiwan, killing at least one person, forcing thousands
to evacuate and disrupting power supplies across the
already-saturated landscape.
(AP, 8/18/07)
2007 Aug 27, Taiwan's leading
computer vendor Acer Inc moved to substantially boost its market
share by acquiring US rival Gateway amid a major consolidation among
the world's top computer companies. Acer said it would pay $710
million for Gateway.
(AP, 8/27/07)(Econ, 9/1/07, p.60)
2007 Sep 6, The US and Chinese
presidents set aside their differences on Taiwan and put pressure on
the island to drop plans for a referendum on UN membership.
(AP, 9/6/07)
2007 Sep 8, Taiwan-born Ang
Lee's erotic spy thriller "Lust, Caution" won the Venice Film
Festival's top award, two years after he captured the same prize
here with "Brokeback Mountain."
(AP, 9/9/07)
2007 Sep 9, Thousands of
protesters blocked a central Taipei street and displayed candles in
the shape of the Chinese character for "fart" to demand that Taiwan
President Chen Shui-bian step down over suspected corruption.
(AP, 9/9/07)
2007 Sep 15, Hundreds of
thousands of Taiwanese took to the streets in support of the
island's latest bid for UN membership, which has been criticized by
China and the US.
(AP, 9/15/07)
2007 Sep 18, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Taiwan's application to join
the UN wasn't accepted for legal reasons linked to the 1971 UN
resolution that gave China's seat to the Beijing-based People's
Republic of China.
(AP, 9/18/07)
2007 Sep 22, Yu Shyi-kun, the
chairman of Taiwan's ruling party, resigned after prosecutors
indicted him on graft charges. Annette Lu, the island's vice
president facing similar charges, said she would fight the
allegations.
(AP, 9/22/07)
2007 Sep 30, Taiwan's ruling
party passed a resolution asserting the island's separate identity
from rival China and calling for a referendum on Taiwan's
sovereignty, the latest in a series of moves aimed at strengthening
the island's de-facto independence.
(AP, 9/30/07)
2007 Oct 6, Typhoon Krosa
lashed Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rains, cutting power to
nearly half a million homes and disrupting air and sea traffic.
Krosa killed five people in Taiwan as it knocked out power to 2
million homes and drenched the island.
(AP, 10/6/07)(AP, 10/7/07)
2007 Oct 10, Taiwan held a
National Day military parade for the first time since it halted such
displays of war-fighting prowess in 1991 to ease tensions with rival
China.
(AP, 10/10/07)
2007 Dec 8, Taiwanese director
Ang Lee's erotic spy thriller "Lust, Caution" swept the top honors
at the Golden Horse Film Awards, seen as the Chinese-language
"Oscars."
(AFP, 12/8/07)
2007 Dec 24, Authorities closed
the mausoleum of Taiwan's late dictator Chiang Kai-shek as part of
the ruling party's vigorous campaign to diminish the legacy of the
late leader.
(AP, 12/24/07)
2007 Dec 28, Taiwan's High
Court cleared opposition presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou of
graft charges, securing a place for the former Taipei mayor in the
March presidential race.
(AP, 12/28/07)
2008 Jan 4, Taiwan's ties with
its ally Malawi were shaky after the African country snubbed the
island's top diplomat in an aborted visit to the African nation
aimed at persuading it to resist diplomatic wooing by China.
(AP, 1/4/08)
2008 Jan 8, A government
spokeswoman said Taiwan cannot match China's reported $6 billion aid
offer to Malawi, but hopes a legacy of goodwill can convince the
African nation not to switch allegiance to its giant neighbor.
(AP, 1/8/08)
2008 Jan 12, Taiwan's
opposition Nationalist Party (KMT) won a landslide victory over the
ruling DPP in legislative elections, dealing a humiliating blow to
the government's hardline China policies two months before a
presidential poll. Of 113 seats, 73 were directly elected, with 34
at-large and 6 reserved for aboriginal candidates.
(Reuters, 1/12/08)(Econ, 1/5/08, p.35)
2008 Jan 14, Taiwan reported
that Malawi has cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of
relations with China, which has been using its rising political and
economic clout to reduce the number of countries who recognize the
island. Chinese state media said Beijing and Malawi had established
diplomatic relations late last month.
(AP, 1/14/08)
2008 Jan 15, Singing
schoolchildren welcomed Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to St.
Lucia for his first visit since the small Caribbean island shifted
diplomatic ties to Taipei instead of rival China.
(AP, 1/16/08)
2008 Jan 24, Taiwan's Premier
Chang Chun-hsiung and his cabinet resigned en masse, less than two
weeks after the governing Democratic Progressive Party's crushing
defeat in parliamentary elections.
(AP, 1/24/08)
2008 Feb 2, Taiwan's president
inaugurated a runway on disputed Taiping island in the Spratlys
chain in the South China Sea, sparking a protest from the
Philippines which also claims sovereignty over the isle.
(AP, 2/3/08)
2008 Feb 5, Ching Cheong (58),
a Hong Kong journalist charged with spying for Taiwan, was released
from prison in mainland China after being detained for nearly three
years.
(AP, 2/5/08)
2008 Mar 22, Ma Ying-jeou (57),
Taiwan's opposition candidate of the KMT, cruised to victory in the
presidential election, promising to expand economic ties with China
while protecting the island from being swallowed up politically by
its giant communist neighbor. Ma, a Harvard-educated lawyer and a
former mayor of Taipei, won 58% of the votes compared to 41.5% for
DPP challenger Frank Hsieh. The official Central Election Commission
said Taiwan's two referendums on joining the UN have failed.
(AP, 3/22/08)(Econ, 3/29/08, p.54)
2008 Apr 11, In Taiwan Liu
Chao-shiuan (65), who heads Taipei's prestigious Soochow University,
said President-elect Ma Ying-jeou asked him to head the Cabinet.
(AP, 4/11/08)
2008 Apr 12, Taiwan's vice
president-elect said he and Chinese President Hu Jintao held "candid
and harmonious" talks in the highest-level contact ever between the
sides, and they had brought results.
(AP, 4/12/08)
2008 Apr 24, Taiwan's Supreme
Court cleared the island's president-elect Ma Ying-jeou of
corruption charges, delivering a final ruling in the high-profile
case less than a month before he takes office.
(AFP, 4/24/08)
2008 Apr 29, In Taiwan the de
facto US envoy assured incoming president Ma Ying-jeou that
Washington will continue to back Taiwan militarily while it pushes
for peace talks with China.
(AP, 4/29/08)
2008 May 6, Two senior
Taiwanese officials resigned over the loss of millions of dollars in
a failed attempt to persuade Papua New Guinea to officially
recognize Taiwan.
(AP, 5/6/08)
2008 May 20, Taiwanese
prosecutors launched a corruption probe against outgoing President
Chen Shui-bian, hours after he completed eight combative years in
office. Ma Ying-jeou (57) took office and exhorted Beijing to build
a better future for people on both sides of the 100-mile-wide Taiwan
Strait.
(AP, 5/20/08)
2008 Jun 12, Taiwan and China
agreed for the first time ever to set up permanent offices in each
others' territories as the two sides met for their first formal
talks in more than a decade.
(AP, 6/12/08)
2008 Jul 4, China and Taiwan
launched regular direct flights for the first time in nearly six
decades, ushering in what Beijing called a "new start" in their
tense and testy relations.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 11, A fishing boat,
carrying eight Taiwanese, one Chinese and six crew members from
Madagascar, sank after reporting engine problems.
(AP, 7/14/08)
2008 Jul 15, Taiwan indicted 5
former ministers, who had served under former Pres. Chen Shui-bian,
on corruption charges relating to misuse of special expense
accounts.
(SFC, 7/16/08, p.A15)
2008 Jul 18, Tropical Storm
Kalmaegi wreaked havoc across Taiwan, leaving at least 19 people
dead and seven missing.
(AFP, 7/20/08)
2008 Aug 6, Taiwan's President
Ma Ying-jeou declassified documents allegedly implicating his
predecessor Chen Shui-bian in a high-profile embezzlement case.
(AP, 8/6/08)
2008 Aug 14, Taiwan's former
president Chen Shui-bian's admitted that he broke the law by not
truthfully declaring campaign donations he received, and said that
his wife sent an unspecified amount of money abroad.
(AP, 8/14/08)
2008 Aug 31, Paraguay’s Pres.
Fernando Lugo said Paraguay will reverse its historic support for
Taiwan (since 1957) at the upcoming UN General Assembly, and also is
reconsidering its relations with communist regimes. In return for
Paraguay's 51 years of support, Taiwan has sent millions of dollars
to the impoverished country for low-income housing, agricultural
development and scholarships.
(AP, 9/1/08)
2008 Sep 5, Taiwan newspapers
said authorities in central Taiwan have turned off the red light at
the county's last legal brothel after the death of its pimp aged 87.
Prostitution has been illegal in Taiwan since 1997. Licensing of new
brothels stopped in 1974, but isolated illegal brothels can be found
all over the island. Brothels licensed prior to 1974 were allowed to
keep operating.
(Reuters, 9/8/08)
2008 Sep 13, Typhoon Sinlaku
lashed Taiwan with powerful winds and heavy rains, disrupting
flights and train services as well as celebrations for a major
holiday.
(AFP, 9/13/08)
2008 Sep 14, Typhoon Sinlaku
pounded Taiwan with fierce winds and torrential rains, leaving at
least 11 people dead.
(AP, 9/14/08)(AFP, 9/16/08)
2008 Sep 29, Typhoon Jangmi
roared toward eastern China after lashing Taiwan with torrential
rains and powerful winds that killed two people and injured more
than 30.
(AP, 9/29/08)
2008 Oct 4, Taiwan's president
welcomed a US decision to sell the island up to $6.5 billion in
advanced weaponry, while China warned the move would damage
relations between Beijing and Washington.
(AP, 10/4/08)
2008 Oct 9, The central banks
of Taiwan and South Korea cut interest rates as Japan and others
pumped more cash into the financial markets.
(WSJ, 10/10/08, p.A4)
2008 Oct 15, Wang Yung-Ching
(b.1917), founder of Formosa Plastics Group, died leaving a fortune
estimated at $7 billion. He had set up a small PVC plant in 1954 in
Taiwan with money from a US aid program.
(WSJ, 10/18/08, p.A10)
2008 Oct 25, Tens of thousands
of opposition supporters marched through Taiwan's capital to protest
an upcoming visit by a senior Chinese envoy, saying the trip was
part of Chinese efforts to assert control over the self-ruled
island.
(AP, 10/25/08)
2008 Nov 3, Chen Yunlin, the
most senior Chinese official to visit Taiwan since the end of a
civil war 60 years ago, arrived in Taipei on a charter flight from
Beijing for talks on strengthening economic ties, as supporters of
independence for the island staged demonstrations and planned mass
protest rallies against his visit.
(AFP, 11/3/08)
2008 Nov 4, Taiwan and China
set aside decades of hostilities and agreed to drastically expand
flights and allow shipping links across the Taiwan Strait, a
potential hotspot that has long threatened to become a war zone.
(AP, 11/4/08)
2008 Nov 6, Taiwan's President
Ma Ying-jeou made history when he met with a senior Chinese official
as tens of thousands of anti-Beijing protesters brought the island's
capital to a standstill.
(AFP, 11/6/08)
2008 Nov 9, Taiwan’s central
bank cut its key interest rate for the 4th time in less than 8
weeks. The cut was .25%.
(WSJ, 11/10/08, p.A13)
2008 Nov 9, Kuo Te-tsai (42), a
Taiwanese drug trafficker, was arrested at a Thai beach resort with
229 pounds of heroin worth millions of dollars in a joint operation
by American, Taiwanese and Thai drug enforcement authorities.
(AP, 11/10/08)
2008 Nov 10, Taiwan's coast
guard rescued 9 crewmen and searched for 19 missing seamen after
their fishing boat foundered in rough seas.
(AP, 11/10/08)
2008 Nov 11, In Taiwan former
Pres. Chen Sui-bian was detained by police after prosecutors sought
his formal arrest on corruption and money laundering charges. He was
later taken to hospital complaining that police had roughed him up.
(SFC, 11/12/08, p.A4)
2008 Nov 12, LCD makers LG
Display of South Korea, Sharp of Japan, and Chunghwa Picture tubes
of Taiwan pleaded guilty to US charges of price fixing and will pay
fines totaling $585 million.
(WSJ, 11/13/08, p.B3)
2008 Dec 12, Taiwanese
prosecutors indicted former President Chen Shui-bian on graft
charges, a stunning blow for a man who rode to power 8 1/2 years ago
on promises to reform the island's corrupt political culture.
(AP, 12/12/08)
2008 Dec 15, Taiwanese
jetliners and cargo ships left for China to open a new era of direct
air and shipping services with the mainland, formally ending a
nearly six-decade ban on regular links between the rivals.
(AP, 12/15/08)
2008 Dec 26, China National
Offshore Oil Corp., the country's largest offshore oil and gas
producer, signed four oil cooperation agreements with Taiwan's CPC
Corp.
(AP, 12/26/08)
2009 Jan 7, Taiwan’s central
bank unexpectedly cut its key interest rates by half a percentage
point and urged banks to increase corporate lending. The finance
ministry had just reported that ex[ports in December had fallen
41.9% from a year earlier.
(WSJ, 1/8/09, p.A8)
2009 Jan 12, Taiwan's
parliament voted through a controversial bill lifting a decades-old
ban on casinos, despite protests that gambling could lead to a
damaging decline in public morality.
(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 21, Three relatives of
Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian pleaded guilty to charges
of money laundering, as part of a massive corruption case in which
the ex-leader has been implicated.
(AFP, 1/21/09)
2009 Feb 10, Taiwan's former
first lady admitted to laundering $2.2 million and forging
documents, the latest in a judicial process that has seen her
husband stage a jailhouse hunger strike, her daughter lash out at
media, and her son plead guilty to similar charges.
(AP, 2/10/09)
2009 Feb 18, Taiwan’s central
bank cut interest rates to a record low as a government statistician
predicted that its economy will shrink for five consecutive
quarters.
(WSJ, 2/19/09, p.A1)
2009 Mar 6, A senior employee
of Taiwan's presidential office was indicted on charges of providing
classified information to rival China. Wang Jen-bing was charged
with violating the national security law by leaking documents
gathered during the last three years of former President Chen
Shui-bian's eight-year tenure. Chen Pin-jen, a legislative aid, was
indicted on similar charges.
(AP, 3/6/09)
2009 Mar 13, Taiwan’s economic
stimulus package was reported to include a $104 shopping voucher for
every one of the island’s 23 million people to be used between the
Chinese New year and the end of April. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin
added $150 food vouchers for the poor along with job training
programs, financial incentives for new hires and loan guarantees for
small businesses.
(SFC, 3/13/09, p.C1)
2009 Apr 28, Taiwan was
formally invited by the World Health Organization (WHO) to take part
as an observer in the May 18 meeting of its governing body under the
name “Chinese Taipei.” This was the first time the nation has
officially participated in a United Nations meeting or event since
the ROC walked out of the world body in 1971.
(Econ, 9/26/09,
p.52)(www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=59969&ctNode=427)
2009 Apr 29, Taiwan said it had
persuaded China to allow it to participate in a key UN body,
offering a victory for President Ma Ying-jeou's campaign to win
greater international recognition for the democratic island. China
confirmed that Taiwan will attend next month's meeting of the World
Health Assembly in Geneva as an observer.
(AP, 4/29/09)
2009 Apr 29, China Mobile said
it would buy 12% of Far EasTone Telecommunications, a big Taiwanese
mobile operator.
(Econ, 5/9/09, p.65)
2009 May 5, Former Taiwanese
President Chen Shui-bian was indicted on new graft charges as his
high-profile corruption trial continued into its second month.
(AP, 5/5/09)
2009 May 17, In Taiwan tens of
thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched through downtown
Taipei to protest against President Ma Ying-jeou's policy of greater
engagement with rival China, saying it could undermine the island's
self-rule.
(AP, 5/17/09)
2009 May 30, Taiwan officials
said they had confiscated nearly 18,000 cases of Red Bull imported
from Austria after finding traces of cocaine. On June 1 Hong Kong
officials reported founding traces of cocaine in Red Bull cans. Red
Bull moved quickly to deny the findings and said independent tests
on the same batch of drinks had found no traces of cocaine.
(AP, 6/2/09)
2009 Jun 22, The United States
dedicated the site of a new $170 million representative office in
Taiwan.
(AP, 6/22/09)
2009 Jul 16, In Taiwan’s
southern city of Kaohsiung, more than 3,000 athletes and staff from
105 countries and territories marched into the World Games Stadium,
a new, eye-catching structure designed by renowned Japanese
architect Toyo Ito. China’s 100-strong delegation boycotted the
opening ceremony of the World Games in Taiwan, underscoring the
limits of the historic breakthrough in relations between Taipei and
Beijing.
(AP, 7/16/09)
2009 Aug 8, Typhoon Morakot
lashed Taiwan with powerful winds and downpours leaving at least 3
people killed and 31 missing.
(AFP, 8/8/09)(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 9, In southern Taiwan
Typhoon Morakot spawned a mudslide engulfing the mountain village of
Shiao Lin, burying up to 600 people. The official death toll from
Morakot stood at 14. Another 51, not including the people in Shiao
Lin.
(AP, 8/10/09)
2009 Aug 11, Taiwanese
authorities put the confirmed death toll from Morakot at 62 and
listed 57 people as missing, but that did not include residents in
the village of Shiao Lin.
(AP, 8/11/09)
2009 Aug 13, Taiwan deployed
thousands of extra troops as it faced growing public anger and
pressure to rescue people trapped by landslides. The confirmed death
toll from the destruction wreaked by the typhoon rose to at least
116.
(AFP, 8/13/09)
2009 Aug 14, Taiwan's president
said floods and mudslides unleashed by Typhoon Morakot last weekend
have killed about 500 people on the island, as he called on rescue
crews to step up their efforts. Ma said the death toll includes 120
confirmed deaths, and about 380 people believed to be buried in the
debris of a landslide in Shiao Lin, the hardest-hit village. Taiwan
asked major world donors for heavy equipment to alleviate damages
from Typhoon Morakot. Aid offers were initially refused on Aug 11.
On Aug 23 the death toll from Typhoon Morakot was raised to at least
650.
(AP, 8/14/09)(Reuters, 8/15/09)(AP, 8/23/09)
2009 Aug 14, A Taiwanese
telephone company said Seabed movements believed caused by Typhoon
Morakat damaged seven undersea cables linking Asian nations,
disrupting Internet and telephone services.
(AP, 8/14/09)
2009 Aug 15, Taiwan's President
Ma Ying-jeou bowed to public anger, apologizing for his government's
slow response to Typhoon Morakot, which devastated central and
southern parts of the island.
(AFP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 16, An American cargo
plane arrived in Taiwan with supplies for victims of the recent
Typhoon Morakot disaster. It was the first American military
aircraft to land in Taiwan in the 30 years since the US severed its
diplomatic ties in favor of China.
(Econ, 8/22/09, p.36)
2009 Aug 20, Taiwan's Cabinet
approved a NT$100 billion ($3 billion) reconstruction budget after
the island's worst typhoon in more than 50 years killed hundreds of
people and wiped out roads and bridges in the mountainous south.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 24, Taiwan's
government confirmed that 292 people were killed and 385 missing
after Typhoon Morakot struck the island and caused its worst
flooding in half a century earlier this month.
(AP, 8/24/09)
2009 Aug 27, Taiwan's president
angered China with his surprise announcement that he has agreed to
let the Dalai Lama visit the island to comfort survivors of a
devastating typhoon.
(AP, 8/27/09)
2009 Sep 1, In Taiwan the wife
and adult children of Taiwan's former Pres. Chen Shui-bian were
convicted of perjury and sentenced to prison for lying to
investigators in a high-profile corruption case against the
ex-leader. Chen (58) was accused of embezzling $3.15 million during
his 2000-2008 presidency from a special presidential fund, receiving
bribes worth at least $9 million in connection with a government
land deal, and laundering some of the money through Swiss bank
accounts.
(AP, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 4, The Dalai Lama’s
visit to Taiwan ended following prayers for the souls of almost 700
dead from the recent ravages of Typhoon Morakot.
(Econ, 9/5/09, p.46)
2009 Sep 7, Taiwan's Premier
Liu Chao-shiuan resigned amid strong criticism of the government's
slow response to the most devastating storm to hit the island in 50
years. Pres. Ma Ying-jeou named Nationalist Party Secretary General
Wu Den-yih (61) to replace Liu.
(AP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 11, A Taiwan court
sentenced ex-president Chen Shui-bian (58) to life in jail after a
corruption trial he claims was political revenge for his lifelong
push to declare independence from China. The court also handed a
life term to his wheelchair-bound wife Wu Shu-chen.
(AFP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 21, Taiwan’s former
President Chen Shui-bian filed a petition to the US Court of Appeals
for the Armed Forces in Washington, DC, claiming that the US still
controls Taiwan because former colonial power Japan never officially
transferred the island to another nation after being defeated in
World War II.
(AP, 9/23/09)
2009 Sep 22, In Taiwan former
President Chen Shui-bian was indicted on new embezzlement charges
just weeks after being sentenced to life in prison.
(AP, 9/23/09)
2009 Oct 13, American
International Group said it would sell its Taiwan unit for 2.15
billion US dollars as the insurance giant raised money to pay off a
huge US government bail-out loan.
(AP, 10/13/09)
2009 Dec 5, Taiwan's ruling
party lost ground in closely watched local elections described by
analysts as a test of China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou's
performance during 19 months in office.
(AFP, 12/5/09)
2009 Dec 19, A 6.4-magnitude
quake was centered off the eastern coast of Taiwan. 14 people were
injured and with minor damage in Taipei as well as near the
epicenter.
(AP, 12/19/09)
2009 Dec 20, In Taiwan tens of
thousands of opposition demonstrators marched through the streets of
the central Taichung, ahead of the arrival of a senior Chinese envoy
for trade talks that some on the island fear could eventually lead
to unification. They condemned a pact the government wanted to sign
with China, formally known as the Economic Co-operation Framework
Agreement (ECFA).
(AP, 12/20/09)(Econ, 1/2/10, p.32)
2009 Dec 24, Taiwanese
prosecutors indicted former President Chen Shui-bian on new bribery
and money-laundering charges. The new indictment said Chen received
bribes worth 610 million New Taiwan Dollars ($19 million) from
bankers in connection with two merger deals. It said he shared part
of the money with his wife, Wu Shu-chen.
(AP, 12/24/09)
2010 Jan 5, Taiwan’s parliament
voted to reinstate a ban on imports of US ground beef and offal amid
mad cow concerns, challenging a decision by Pres. Ma Ying-jeou to
allow some shipments.
(SFC, 1/6/10, p.A2)
2010 Jan 8, Steven Lin of
Hsinchu-based Heli-Ocean Technology, a Taiwanese company, said his
company had agreed to a request from a firm in China to procure
sensitive components with nuclear uses, then shipped them to Iran.
Such transactions violate UN sanctions imposed on the Middle Eastern
nation. Lin said he received an Internet order from a Chinese firm
in January or February 2008 to obtain an unspecified number of
pressure transducers, which convert pressure into analog electrical
signals.
(AP, 1/8/10)
2010 Jan 30, China suspended
military exchanges with the United States and threatened sanctions
against American defense companies, just hours after Washington
announced $6.4 billion in planned arms sales to Taiwan.
(AP, 1/30/10)
2010 Mar 4, In Taiwan a
powerful 6.4 earthquake and more than a dozen aftershocks jolted
southern Taiwan, injuring 96 people, toppling farm houses and
derailing a carriage on a high-speed train.
(AP, 3/4/10)
2010 Mar 31, Taiwan officials
lost contact with the 79-ton Jih-chun Tsai 68 fishing trawler and
the government feared the boat may have been hijacked by pirates off
the Somali coast.
(AP, 4/1/10)
2010 Apr 30, Taiwan carried out
a death sentence for the first time since 2005, executing 4 inmates
as a heated debate rages on the island over whether capital
punishment should be abolished.
(AP, 5/1/10)
2010 May 4, Taiwan opened a
tourism office in Beijing that represents the island's first
official presence in China's capital since the two sides split amid
civil war in 1949.
(AP, 5/4/10)
2010 May 6, A Taiwanese fishing
boat, the Tai Yuan 227, was hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast
who demanded a ransom for the crew.
(AP, 5/8/10)
2010 Jun 8, A Taiwan court
acquitted the island's imprisoned former Pres. Chen Shui-bian of
embezzling from a special diplomatic fund. Prosecutors failed to
provide evidence that Chen Shui-bian gave $330,000 to son Chen
Chih-chung while he was studying in the US.
(AP, 6/8/10)
2010 Jun 11, Taiwan's High
Court upheld former President Chen Shui-bian's conviction on graft
charges but cut his life sentence to 20 years, in a small victory
for the man who once excited great passions on the island but is now
largely ignored.
(AP, 6/11/10)
2010 Jun 26, In Taiwan tens of
thousands of opposition supporters chanted anti-communist slogans as
they marched in Taipei to protest a planned trade agreement with
rival China that they say will undermine the island's self-rule and
harm its economy.
(AP, 6/26/10)
2010 Jun 29, Taiwan’s
government signed an Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement
(EFCA) with China.
(Econ, 7/3/10, p.39)
2010 Jul 3, In the Gulf of
Mexico a Taiwanese converted tanker, dubbed "A Whale" and billed as
the world's largest oil skimmer, arrived in the Gulf of Mexico for
testing. Officials hoped it would scrub 21 million gallons of
oil-tainted seawater per day.
(AP, 7/03/10)(SSFC, 7/4/10, p.A8)
2010 Jul 20, Taiwan’s Pres. Ma
Ying-jeou announced the formation of a new commission to battle
corruption and vote buying. A week earlier 3 high court judges and a
prosecutor were detained amid allegations that they took bribes to
fix the outcome of a high profile case.
(Econ, 7/24/10, p.42)
2010 Aug 17, Taiwan's
parliament approved a historic but controversial trade deal with
China which is expected to bring the two former rivals closer than
ever before. Taiwan's Defense Ministry urged the US to sell the
island advanced weapons systems, after a Pentagon report concluded
that China's arms buildup is giving it a wider military advantage
over Taiwan.
(AFP, 8/17/10)
2010 Sep 19, Typhoon Fanapi
made a direct hit on Taiwan, dumping more than 40 inches (one meter)
of rain in some places. Two people were left dead along with tens of
millions of dollars of damage. After crossing Taiwan, it slammed
into southern China.
(AP, 9/21/10)
2010 Oct 14, Taiwan's
government reported plans to allow sex workers to set up small
businesses in the latest change to laws that had once forced the
huge industry underground. Prostitution was legal only in
Taiwan's capital, Taipei, until 1997 when the city authorities
made it a criminal offence to be a prostitute though not to
patronize one. In 2009 it stopped punishing sex workers. Estimates
from activists put the number of people involved in sex-related jobs
in Taiwan at 600,000.
(Reuters, 10/14/10)
2010 Oct 22, In Taiwan at least
7 people died when a temple collapsed in Suao, a coastal town in the
northeast Ilan county. Torrential rains unleashed by Typhoon Megi
triggered landslides that also left dozens missing and hundreds
stranded. 19 Chinese bus passengers were among 23 people still
missing on the island. As many as 31 people were left dead.
(AFP, 10/22/10)(AP, 10/23/10)(SFC, 10/25/10,
p.A2)
2010 Oct 28, US microchip giant
Intel said it plans to team up with Taiwan to set up a multi-million
dollar Internet computing research laboratory.
(AFP, 10/28/10)
2010 Nov 11, Taiwan's Supreme
Court cut ex-leader Chen Shui-bian's prison sentence for corruption
in a land deal to 11 years, in its first ruling on the island's most
high-profile graft scandal.
(AFP, 11/11/10)
2010 Nov 26, In Taiwan a gunman
opened fire on a campaign rally on the eve of key local elections,
killing one man and critically wounding the son of former
Vice-President Lien Chan. A suspect was in custody and may belong to
a gang.
(AP, 11/26/10)
2010 Nov 27, Taiwan's ruling
Nationalist Party won three out of five mayoral races, providing a
boost for President Ma Ying-jeou's policy of improving relations
with China ahead of the island's 2012 presidential poll.
(AP, 11/27/10)
2010 Dec 2, Former Taiwanese
President Chen Shui-bian was moved from a jail to a nearby
penitentiary to formally begin serving a 19-year sentence, after the
Supreme Court upheld his conviction on wide-ranging graft charges.
(AP, 12/2/10)
2010 Dec 8, The EU competition
watchdog fined 5 Taiwanese and South Korean electronics companies
euro649 million ($857 million) for fixing prices on LCD panels
between 2001 and 2006. Samsung Electronics Co., also participated in
the price fixing but escaped a fine because it blew the whistle on
the cartel.
(AP, 12/8/10)
2010 Dec 9, In China the
inaugural Confucius Peace Prize was awarded to former Taiwan
vice-president Lien Chan at a chaotic press conference held by a
handful of Chinese university professors. Lien's office in Taiwan
declined comment, saying they had no knowledge of the award. Chinese
poet Qiao Damo, one of the "candidates", told reporters the lack of
any word from Lien represented "silent acceptance" of the prize,
prompting laughter from assembled journalists.
(AFP, 12/9/10)
2010 Up to 3,000 female babies
were presumed "missing" from Taiwan's population this year due to
illegal sex-selective abortion.
(AP, 5/15/11)
2011 Jan 18, Taiwan publicly
test-fired 19 missiles. Six of the 19 surface-to-air and air-to-air
missiles failed in drills. The tests were the first held in full
view of the press for almost a decade.
(AP, 1/18/11)
2011 Jan 27, A Taiwanese
general was arrested over claims he spied for China. Army Major
General Lo Hsien-che (51) was recruited by China while stationed in
Thailand between 2002 and 2005 The defense ministry scrambled to
limit the damage from what it called the worst espionage case in 50
years.
(www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12401472)(AFP, 2/9/11)
2011 Mar 1, Taiwan and China
have cooperated as Taiwan’s coast guard personnel rescued a
businessman, surnamed Hsia (40), on an uninhabited Taiwanese islet
after his kidnappers deposited him there. He was kidnapped in the
southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in early January and held for a
$3.3 million ransom.
(AP, 3/2/11)
2011 Mar 6, In Taiwan 9 people
died and 12 others were injured in a fire at a pub in the central
city of Taichung. Local media reported that the packed pub first
caught fire from sparks from an LED torch used by a performer.
(AP, 3/6/11)
2011 Mar 20, In Taiwan some
2,000 anti-nuclear protesters demonstrated, demanding an immediate
halt to the construction of an atomic power plant.
(AFP, 3/20/11)
2010 Mar 31, Taiwan officials
lost contact with the 79-ton Jih-chun Tsai 68 fishing trawler and
the government feared the boat may have been hijacked by pirates off
the Somali coast. On May 10, 2011, Wu Lai-yu, captain of the
Jih-Chun Tsai 68, was killed by ammunition fired from a US ship. He
was buried at sea from his vessel, which was "unseaworthy after the
exchange of fire and was sunk.
(AP, 4/1/10)(AFP, 7/25/11)
2011 Apr 27, In Taiwan a
popular tourist train overturned in the southern mountains, killing
at least six Chinese visitors.
(AP, 4/27/11)
2011 Apr 30, In Taiwan some
2,000 protesters demanded that the government scrap plans to operate
a newly built nuclear power plant and turn the facility into a
museum to highlight the dangers of nuclear power.
(AP, 4/30/11)
2011 May 17, Taiwanese health
authorities investigating illegal gender-selective abortions warned
that doctors found guilty of the practice may have their licenses
revoked.
(AFP, 5/17/11)
2011 May, Taiwan’s biggest-ever
food scare began when government inspectors testing sports drinks
and soft drinks discovered dangerous levels of industrial
plasticizers. Two food additive suppliers had substituted the
plasticizers for palm oil as clouding agents. Traces of plasticizers
were soon found in pharmaceuticals.
(Econ, 6/18/11, p.48)
2011 Jun 1, Taiwan-based Acer
Inc, the world No. 2 PC maker, said it will take a $150 million
charge to write off inventory and doubtful payments in Europe and
will cut 300 jobs there in the latest upheaval following the sudden
departure of its CEO in March. Acer charged its former chief
executive officer, Gianfranco Lanci, with performance issues, after
he had criticized the company's resistance to globalization in
interviews with the media.
(Reuters, 6/1/11)
2011 Jun 30, In Taiwan former
Pres. Lee Teng-hui (88) was indicted for embezzlement and
money-laundering during his time in office (1988-2000).
(SFC, 7/1/11, p.A6)(Econ, 7/9/11, p.40)
2011 Jul 25, Taiwanese Major
General Lo Hsien-che (51), lured by a honey trap into spying for
China, was sentenced to life in prison by a military high court, in
one of the island's worst espionage cases for half a century. He was
indicted in May for spying and taking bribes from China beginning in
2004.
(AFP, 7/25/11)
2011 Aug 24, One of Taiwan's
best regarded hospitals mistakenly transplanted HIV-infected organs
into five patients after a hospital staffer misheard the donor's
test results by telephone.
(AP, 8/29/11)
2011 Aug 29, Typhoon Nanmadol
made landfall near the city of Taitung on the east coast of Taiwan
and pummeled some of the island's most densely populated areas.
(AFP, 8/29/11)
2011 Aug 30, Chiou I-jen,
Taiwan's ex-spy chief and right-hand man of jailed former president
Chen Shui-bian, was cleared of embezzling diplomatic funds during
Chen's term in office due to a lack of evidence. Former vice foreign
minister Kao Ying-mao was also cleared of being an accomplice in the
2005 case.
(AP, 8/30/11)
2011 Sep 4, In Taiwan some
1,000 chanting pro-independence activists took to the streets of
Taipei, President Ma Ying-jeou of surrendering the island's
sovereignty to China.
(AFP, 9/4/11)
2011 Sep 13, Taiwan's Defense
Ministry searched for three pilots aboard two reconnaissance F-5
aircraft which crashed on a training flight. The remains of the
three pilots were recovered from a mountain crash site.
(AP,
9/13/11)(www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14913785)
2011 Sep 28, Taiwan said that
it plans to upgrade a fleet of 56 home-grown fighters and buy more
than 50 trainers as part of a major air force modernization package.
(AFP, 9/28/11)
2011 Oct 9, China's President
Hu Jintao called for Taiwan and the Chinese mainland to reunite, as
he marked the 100th anniversary of the revolution that ended the
nation's long imperial history.
(AFP, 10/9/11)
2011 Oct 12, Taiwan said that
it was seeking nearly $100 million in compensation from France, in
the latest twist to a long-running kickback scandal over the 1991
sale of warships to the island.
(AFP, 10/12/11)
2011 Oct 29, In Taiwan
thousands of gay rights supporters marched through Taipei, its ninth
annual gay rights parade, calling for increased tolerance and the
enactment of anti-discrimination legislation.
(AP, 10/29/11)
2011 Nov 6, Fishermen on a
Taiwanese boat fought back against Somali pirates and freed
themselves after a hijacking in the Indian Ocean. 5 Vietnamese war
vets on the Chin Yi Wen overcame the hijackers and then the boat met
up with British anti-piracy vessels nearby. The war fighters had
been recruited by Taiwan to be part of a 28-man crew on the 290-ton
vessel, along with 9 Chinese, 8 Filipinos and 6 Indonesians. The
crew forced the six armed Somali pirates to jump overboard, and
successfully took back control of the ship.
(AP, 11/6/11)(AFP, 11/7/11)
2011 Nov 10, A Taiwanese man
demanded Chinese authorities return his left hand, which he said was
amputated after a savage robbery and then kept by mainland police as
evidence. Hu Chi-yang (59) said he was attacked by three men in the
southeastern Chinese province of Fujian last week. He said they
robbed him of about $600 in cash and nearly cut his left hand off to
get at his ring and Rolex watch. On Nov 28 police in Fujian said
they believed Hu's injuries were self-inflicted, saying the cuts
were precise and that blood collected at the alleged crime scene
contained traces of anesthetic.
(AFP, 11/10/11)(AFP, 11/28/11)
2011 Nov 17, Taiwan media
reported that the government is planning to send naval vessels to
waters off Somalia for the first time to protect the island's
fishing boats against pirates.
(AFP, 11/17/11)
2011 Dec 6, Taiwan's
state-owned CPC Corporation signed a 20-year contract with Qatar's
RasGas to buy 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas a year.
(AP, 12/6/11)
2011 Dec 11, In Taiwan almost a
thousand protesters took to the streets of Taipei demanding that the
government make a weekly day off a legal right for Taiwan's 200,000
foreign live-in caregivers.
(AP, 12/11/11)
2012 Jan 14, Taiwan's president
won re-election, paving the way for a continuation of the
China-friendly policies that have delighted Beijing and Washington,
and caused consternation among some in Taiwan worried about the
durability of their de facto independence. Ma Ying-jeou garnered
51.6 percent of the total against 45.6 percent for Tsai Ing-wen of
the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party.
(AP, 1/14/12)
2012 Feb 4, Taiwan authorities
arrested three people and seized nearly half a ton of narcotics in
their biggest drugs bust in 10 years. Alleged smuggling ring leader
Chiang Pai-li (53) and a married couple operating a customs
brokerage firm were arrested.
(AFP, 2/5/12)
2012 Mar 2, US authorities
charged 29 people who were conspiring to illegally import
counterfeit luxury fashion goods and deadly drugs worth hundreds of
millions of dollars from China and Taiwan. Some 20 arrests took
place in New Jersey, Florida, Texas, New York, and in the
Philippines, as part of an international investigation.
(AFP, 3/2/12)
2012 Mar 3, Taiwan confirmed
that nearly 58,000 chickens had been culled at two farms on the
island following the latest outbreak of bird flu, most of them at a
farm in central Changhua county. The next day Hsu Tien-lai, the
chief of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and
Quarantine tendered his resignation. He had been accused in a
documentary of covering up outbreaks of H5N2 bird flu, a less
virulent strain of the virus.
(AFP, 3/4/12)
2012 Mar 8, Taiwanese pork
farmers pelted police with rotten eggs and animal feces as anger
over policies on US meat imports sparked a mass protest. Thousands
of protesters gathered in downtown Taipei to voice fears that
President Ma Ying-jeou's government will lift a ban on US pork
treated with ractopamine, a controversial additive used to promote
lean meat. Early this week the government announced a plan to lift a
ban on ractopamine-treated US beef. But a government guarantee to
keep a ban on US pork containing the additive failed to convince the
pig farmers.
(AFP, 3/8/12)
2012 Mar 11, In Taiwan
thousands of protesters took to the streets calling on the
government to shut down the island's nuclear power plants, citing
the painful lesson of Japan's 9.0-magnitude earthquake one year ago.
(AFP, 3/11/12)
2012 Mar 17, In Taiwan Lin
Mei-heng (31) posted messages on Facebook saying she wanted to take
her life after growing suspicious that her boyfriend was having an
affair. 9 of her friends attempted to dissuade her from taking her
life, but none alerted the police. She was found dead the following
day by her boyfriend at her flat in a suburb of Taipei.
(AFP, 3/27/12)
2012 Apr 1, Taiwan said it will
double its quota of independent Chinese tourists to allow up to
1,000 visitors a day, effective April 28, less than a year after
lifting a ban on solo travel from the mainland.
(AFP, 4/1/12)
2012 Apr 3, US Internet giant
Google started building one of its three planned data centers in
Asia to meet fast growing online demand from the region. A ceremony
was held to begin work on the $300 million, 15 hectare (37 acre)
site in Changhua county, western Taiwan.
(AFP, 4/3/12)
2012 Apr 8, Taiwan's President
Ma Ying-jeou made a surprise stopover in Mumbai on his way to Africa
in what officials said was a sign of improving ties with India
despite a lack of diplomatic recognition. His three-leg trip will
take Ma to Burkina Faso, Gambia and Swaziland.
(AFP, 4/8/12)
2012 Apr 16, Taiwan kicked off
its biggest annual war game, testing its ability to defend of the
capital Taipei against a Chinese attack and ward off a blockade of
its main naval base.
(AFP, 4/16/12)
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