Introducing Taiwan ROC
China has an area of 11,418,174 sq km (4,408,557 sq
mi), including the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. The mainland area is adjacent to the west Pacific by the Yellow Sea, Pohai (a gulf of the Yellow Sea) and the
East China Sea; and the South China Sea is China's door leading to the Indian Ocean. The Han, Manchu, Mongolian, Huihui
(Moslem), Tibetan, Miao (Hmong), Yao (Gerbao) peoples, etc. melt into one to form the
Chinese nation.
In the late 1940s the Chinese communists launched a civil war on the mainland and
eventually founded the "People's Republic of China" in 1949. Subsequently, the
government of the Republic of China relocated to Taiwan. The territory under its effective control since then includes Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu as well as the Pratas and
Spratly islands, with a total land area of 36,179 sq km (13,969 sq mi). During the past
forty-odd years the Taiwan area and the mainland area have been two separate political
entities, and China is hence temporarily divided and governed respectively by two
governments.
The Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu area had a population of over 21,833,772 as of June
1998. In fact, the ancestors of the residents in Taiwan came mostly from the southeastern
coastal provinces of the Chinese mainland, particularly Fukien and Kwangtung. Taiwan's indigenous inhabitants are also part of the big Chinese family.
All the people living in the Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu area have long been well
aware of the fact that they belong to an interdependent nationwide community or
Gemeinschaft. As they stand firm on Taiwan, they also remember the ultimate goal of
national unification and cultivate a worldwide vision, thus working in tandem to usher in
a new era for the Chinese people.