The Human Truth Foundation

Taiwan (Republic of China)

http://www.humantruth.info/taiwan.html

By Vexen Crabtree 2013

#taiwan

Taiwan
Republic of China
StatusProto Independent State
Social and Moral IndexThe Best (#1)
CapitalTaipei
Land Area
LocationAsia
GroupingsSmall Islands
Population
GNI
ISO3166-1 CodesTW, TWN, 1581
Internet Domain.tw2
CurrencyDollar (TWD)3
Telephone+8864

1. Overview

#china #japan #taiwan

In all practical respects, Taiwan is an independent nation-state. But China claims that Taiwan is still part of China and has the aim of governing it again in the future.

In 1895, military defeat forced China's Qing Dynasty to cede Taiwan to Japan. Taiwan came under Chinese Nationalist control after World War II. Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1947 constitution drawn up for all of China. Beginning in the 1950s, the ruling authorities gradually democratized and incorporated the local population within the governing structure. This process expanded rapidly in the 1980s. In 2000, Taiwan underwent its first peaceful transfer of power from the Nationalist to the Democratic Progressive Party. Throughout this period, the island prospered and became one of East Asia's economic "Tigers." The dominant political issues continue to be the relationship between Taiwan and China - specifically the question of Taiwan's eventual status - as well as domestic political and economic reform.

CIA's The World Factbook (2013)5

Book CoverWith its all-round adventure landscape, heritage-rich capital, diverse folk traditions and feted night market scene, Taiwan offers a continent-sized travel list for one green island. Famed for centuries as Ilha Formosa (Beautiful Isle), in Taiwan you can criss-cross mountains on colonial-era hiking trails, cycle a lone highway with the blue Pacific on one side and green volcanic arcs on the other or climb to the summit of Yushan, Taiwan´s 3952m alpine roof.

To fuel all of this adventure, Taiwan offers the gamut of Chinese cuisines, as well as the best Japanese outside Tokyo, and a full-house of local specialities from Hakka stir-fries and Taipei beef noodles to aboriginal-style barbecued wild boar.

Taiwan will feed your soul, too: the island is heir to the entire Chinese tradition of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and that amorphous collection of deities and demons worshipped as folk faith. But over the centuries the people have blended their way to a unique and tolerant religious culture. In doing so, the Taiwanese have created Asia´s most vibrant democracy, and liberal society, with a raucous free press, gender equality and respect for human rights and increasingly animal rights as well.

"The World" by Lonely Planet (2014)6

2. Taiwan National and Social Development

#human_development

Social & Moral
Development Index
7,8
Pos.Lower is better
Avg Rank7,8
1Taiwan28.6
2Norway29.4
3Denmark31.2
4Sweden32.2
5Finland32.6
6Netherlands33.8
7Germany35.4
8Austria36.3
9New Zealand36.4
10Canada37.3
11Switzerland37.7
12Iceland39.1
Asia Avg87.1
World Avg86.1
q=195.

The Social and Moral Development Index concentrates on moral issues and human rights, violence, public health, equality, tolerance, freedom and effectiveness in climate change mitigation and environmentalism, and on some technological issues. A country scores higher for achieving well in those areas, and for sustaining that achievement in the long term. Those countries towards the top of this index can truly said to be setting good examples and leading humankind onwards into a bright, humane, and free future. See: Which are the Best Countries in the World? The Social and Moral Development Index.

3. Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance

#equality #freedom #gender_equality #human_rights #morals #politics #prejudice #Taiwan #tolerance

Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2020)9,10
Pos.Lower is better
Avg Rank9,10
1Sweden9.2
2Norway14.7
3Denmark14.7
4Netherlands15.8
5New Zealand17.5
...
15Belgium26.1
16Uruguay26.7
17UK26.8
18Taiwan28.2
19Spain28.3
20Slovenia33.3
Asia Avg99.8
World Avg87.7
q=199.

Taiwan performs very well in ensuring human rights and freedom compared to most other countries. Taiwan performs the best in freethought11. It does better than average in terms of supporting personal, civil & economic freedoms12 (one of the lowest in Asia), supporting press freedom13 (amongst the lowest in Asia) and in LGBT equality14. In 2019, Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage15.

For tables, charts and commentary, see:

4. Taiwan's Modernity and Learning

#education #english #intelligence #it_security #maths #modernity #research #science #technology #the_internet

Compared to Asia (2020)10
Pos.Lower is better
Avg Rank10
1Taiwan10.0
2Japan21.9
3S. Korea24.0
4Singapore27.9
5Israel32.2
6Hong Kong32.6
7Russia40.6
8Turkey50.1
9Malaysia50.2
10Macau50.8
11Cyprus54.0
12UAE56.0
13Saudi Arabia60.4
Asia Avg79.0
q=51.
Modernity and Learning (2020)10
Pos.Lower is better
Avg Rank10
1Finland8.4
2Taiwan10.0
3Switzerland15.1
4Estonia15.8
5Denmark16.0
6Belgium16.1
7Czechia16.7
8New Zealand17.6
9Sweden18.6
10Germany18.6
11Australia19.2
12Iceland19.6
13Austria19.6
World Avg83.2
q=205.

Modernity and Education:

Research and Development (2016)
Pos.Higher is better
% RDP PPP
1S. Korea4.2916
2Israel4.1116
3Japan3.5816
4Finland3.1716
5Sweden3.1616
6Denmark3.0516
7Taiwan3.0116
8Austria3.0017
9Switzerland2.9618
10Germany2.8416
11USA2.7419
12Belgium2.4616
Asia Avg0.75
World Avg0.84
q=126.
Maths, Science & Reading (2015)20
Pos.Higher is better
Score20
1Singapore1655
2Hong Kong1598
3Japan1586
4Macau1582
5Estonia1573
6Taiwan1571
7Canada1571
8Finland1568
9S. Korea1557
10China154321
11Ireland1528
12Slovenia1528
Asia Avg1398
World Avg1389
q=70.
IQ (2006)22
Pos.Higher is better22
1Hong Kong108
2Singapore108
3S. Korea106
4Japan105
5Taiwan105
6China105
7Italy102
8Iceland101
9Switzerland101
10Mongolia101
11Netherlands100
12Norway100
Asia Avg90.4
World Avg85.6
q=138.

Technology and Information:

IT Security (2013)23
Pos.Lower is better23
1Ireland0.11
2Luxembourg0.11
3Belize0.11
4Hong Kong0.12
5Mexico0.16
...
14Peru0.30
15Latvia0.33
16Pakistan0.38
17Taiwan0.44
18Sweden0.44
19Romania0.52
Asia Avg1.08
World Avg0.98
q=81.

5. National Culture

#charity #corruption #happiness #morals #politics

Taiwan has a good long-term record on keeping corruption low, and has spent the last ten years making things even better.

World Giving Index (2013-2021)24
Pos.Lower is better24
1Myanmar (Burma)2.7
2New Zealand4.0
3USA4.7
4Australia4.9
5Indonesia9.0
...
63Tajikistan50.7
64Panama52.5
65Kyrgyzstan54.9
66Taiwan55.3
67Honduras55.5
68Belgium56.6
Asia Avg62.5
World Avg67.9
q=160.
Corruption (2022)25
Pos.Higher is better
Points25
1Denmark90.0
2Finland87.0
3New Zealand87.0
4Norway84.0
5Singapore83.0
...
22Austria71.0
23Seychelles70.0
24USA69.0
25Taiwan68.0
26Bhutan68.0
27UAE67.0
Asia Avg39.98
World Avg42.98
q=180.
Happiness (2018)26
Pos.Higher is better26
1Finland7.6
2Norway7.6
3Denmark7.6
4Iceland7.5
5Switzerland7.5
...
23France6.5
24Mexico6.5
25Chile6.5
26Taiwan6.4
27Panama6.4
28Brazil6.4
Asia Avg5.29
World Avg5.38
q=156.

6. Peace Versus Instability

#extremism #human_development #peace #politics #religious_violence #terrorism

Global Peace Index (2021)27
Pos.Lower is better27
1Iceland1.10
2New Zealand1.25
3Denmark1.26
4Portugal1.27
5Slovenia1.32
...
31Spain1.62
32Italy1.65
33UK1.66
34Taiwan1.66
35Latvia1.69
36Kuwait1.69
Asia Avg2.22
World Avg2.08
q=163.
Impact of Terrorism (2019)28
Pos.Lower is better
Score28
1Togo0.00
2Mongolia0.00
3Swaziland0.00
4Equatorial Guinea0.00
5Cambodia0.00
...
52Honduras0.99
53Vietnam1.00
54Montenegro1.00
55Taiwan1.01
56Laos1.03
57Armenia1.17
Asia Avg3.60
World Avg2.78
q=150.

7. The Natural Environment

#climate_change #the_environment

Environmental Performance (2018)29
Pos.Higher is better29
1Switzerland87.4
2France84.0
3Denmark81.6
4Malta80.9
5Sweden80.5
...
20Japan74.7
21Australia74.1
22Greece73.6
23Taiwan72.8
24Cyprus72.6
25Canada72.2
Asia Avg54.5
World Avg56.4
q=180.

8. Religion and Beliefs

#belief #buddhism #christianity #god #hinduism #islam #judaism #religion #Taiwan

Disbelief In God (2007)30
Pos.Higher is better
%30
1Vietnam81
2Japan65
3Sweden64
4Czechia61
5Estonia49
...
18Finland28
19Russia27
20Australia25
21Taiwan24
22New Zealand22
23Canada22
World Avg9.9
q=137.

Data from the Pew Forum, a professional polling outfit, states that in 2010 the religious makeup of this country was as follows in the table below31:

Christian5.5%
Muslim0.1%
Hindu0.1%
Buddhist21.3%
Folk Religion44.2%
Jewish0.1%
Unaffiliated12.7%

The CIA World Factbook has slightly different data, and states: mixture of Buddhist and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%32.

Freedom of Religion and Belief:

Taiwan has enjoyed an increase in religious liberty since 1989. In that year the Law on Civic Organizations "allowed all religions to exist and removed multiple prohibitions". At the start of this period, in 1990, there were 83 religious groups in Taiwan and this surged to 1062 in the year 2004 "and the total number of temples and churches more than doubled"33.

Links:

There isn't much information in the database for Taiwan, most likely because it is either a part of another country (i.e., a territory or posession) and therefore most international statistics are counted for the country as a whole, or, this is such an exotic place that little data exists about it.