Is Taiwan a country?

Well you could just google anything. So why should this site exist at all?

I'm guessing the OP asked the question to start a discussion about it, rather than expecting a simple yes/no answer. Because in the case of Taiwan there isn't a simple yes/no answer. People have different opinions about it.

Google Search itself doesn't contain information, it's the sites Google search for that do. Therefore an informative site must be created in order to obtain such information from Google. This particular question has been said to death and a very quick Google search would have easily solved this query. Taiwan is part of the Republic of China but based on the criteria is de facto a country, this isn't really open to debate.

Not necessarily. Questions could be very personal with personalised in-depth content, questions may require up-to-date debates, the information on Google may not be sufficient enough...things like that.

And in this thread we've had personal opinions from people who actually have some link to Taiwan. I think it is partly down to opinion, because people do have different opinions on what constitutes a country.

I would dispute this and say that the current US administration with the support of the US Congress and Senators would support Taiwan if it were threatened by the PRC.

1. The current US and former (George Bush) administration have supplied Taiwan with $18bn worth of arms.
2. Future arms sales are in the making.
3. A majority of US senators/congressman support the defense of Taiwan and the Taiwan Relations Act.

I would also think that the US would send a carrier force like in the 1995/6 Taiwan Strait crisis, where the US sent 2 carrier groups in support of Taiwan. I believe if China tried to invade or threatened Taiwanese sovereignty, there would be outrage in Congress and the Senate if president did not respond in support of Taiwan. They probably would not threaten China with a nuclear attack - like in 1950, when President Truman threatened to nuke China if they did not back down over Taiwan. However, those were dire times. You had the spread of communism, the start of the Cold War, and communism on a large scale threatening democracy. So, the US was required to choose a hard line at that time, but times change and a nuclear threat towards China would not be necessary. Thus, they would not be required to respond, as much, as they had done so in the past. But that whole point is, really, irrelevant.

Well based on official criteria, Taiwan is in fact an independent country. I don't know why it wouldn't be

How about the fact that Taiwan has never said it is a country? What official criteria is there?

Taiwan calls itself the Republic of China, which was the state that ruled the whole of China until the Civil War. The official name of the Current ruling party on Taiwan is the 'Kuomintang of China'. While the mainland calls itself the People's Republic of China. Both of them claim to be the same country. Taiwan won't declare independence because that would invalidate their claim to the rest of China.

One of the two main political coalitions in Taiwan has independence as their main policy but have so far never actually declared it - mainly because Beijing have said they'll invade if they do.

I'm no fan of the PRC; not too hot on Communism (even though thats gone now) or one party authoritarian states, but they're right for the time being in saying that Taiwan isn't a country.

Being part of the Republic of China does not mean Taiwan isn't a country. Wales, Scotland and England are countries in their own right but part of Great Britain.

Do you think China's threat is what's stopping Taiwan from owning up to the fact that they are an independent country?

8 criterias which determine whether a land is considered a country, does Taiwan follow the criteria?


Based on this above criteria of what defines a country, they are a in fact, a country whether they'd like to believe it or not.

I'm half Taiwanese.
Taiwan has its own language, government and is still recognised by the US as a country.
The UN has to tiptoe around China and so does not recognise them - but the Olympics see them as seperate, albeit under the alias of Chinese Taipei.

HK also has a seperate team in Olympic Games...And Taiwan's language (台湾国语) is Chinese, which is even closer to Mandarin than most of other Chinese dialects (e.g. Cantonese, Shanghaiese...)

Taiwan's own language isn't a real language, it's just a dialect.

By your logic, Spanish and Italian, or German and Dutch are the same language and therefore they are all the same nation - evidently not so.
Just because China is powerful does not give them the right to dictate what is, and what is not a nation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination
The people of the Falklands were allowed to decide - why is Taiwan any different?

There's no written Taiwanese. You can only speak it.

By your logic, Spanish and Italian, or German and Dutch are the same language and therefore they are all the same nation - evidently not so.
Just because China is powerful does not give them the right to dictate what is, and what is not a nation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination
The people of the Falklands were allowed to decide - why is Taiwan any different?

Firstly, I didn't infer anything from the same-language argument.

Secondly, Spanish & Italian/German & Dutch are apparently different languages. Your argument makes no sense.

Thirdly, who allowed people in Falklands to decide? Definitely not Argentina.

I'm shocked you don't know about the dispute!

The UN perhaps? - It's not Argentina's call is it.
Erm . . . Argue dialect and language, it's a fine line. Taiwanese words are different, the pronounciation is different. That's more than can be said for many European languages.
You may also notice I quoted a second person to whom some of the post was directed.

Well I am Chinese. So I guess I can tell that Taiwan official language (台湾国语) is over 90% the same language with Chinese Mandarin - the slight differences in pronunciation/slang are the result of being adapted to the native dialects (which is exactly same with the dialect in Fujian Province).

I can't understand Cantonese, Shanghaiese, etc. On the contrary, I can totally and easily understand Taiwanese and I can easily stimulate their pronunciation.

According to one of my friends, who is from Gambia, their president has declared that Gambia will never turn it's back on Taiwan, and has even promised to send Gambian marines to protect Taiwan if the PRC ever invade!

I personally speak mandarin. My mother speaks taiwanese, and it's all Greek to me I've picked up a few words, but nothing serious.