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MOFA thanks ASDC for resolution supporting Taiwan

A resolution in support of Taiwan passed by the Executive Committee of the Association of State...

Since the government relocated to Taiwan in 1949, it has exercised jurisdiction over Taiwan proper, Penghu Islands, Kinmen Islands, Matsu Islands and a number of smaller islands, while China has been under the control of the authorities in Beijing. Beginning with the acceleration of Taiwan’s democratization in the late 1980s, many restrictions concerning civil exchanges with China have been lifted. Today, Taiwan is one of the biggest investors in China. In 2017, the value of cross-strait bilateral trade was US$139 billion. In that year, travelers from China made nearly 2.7 million visits to Taiwan, up from 329,204 in 2008.

The ROC Constitution, promulgated Jan. 1, 1947, did not begin to serve its intended purpose as the foundation for democratic governance and rule of law until after 1987, when martial law was lifted in Taiwan. Since then, it has undergone seven rounds of revision in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2005 to make it more relevant to the country’s current condition. One of the important consequences of these amendments is that since 1991, the government has acknowledged that its jurisdiction extends only to the areas it controls. The president and legislators, therefore, are elected by and accountable to the people of those areas only.

Traditional Chinese characters are a treasured cultural legacy and product of thousands of years of linguistic evolution. In modern Taiwan, traditional Chinese characters are utilized as the written form of Mandarin, one of the nation’s official languages.