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Hey! I resent that.
Some people jokingly refer to Taiwan as the 51st state of the US...
What I don't understand is why the Fixed Gear Taiwan site is in English and not Mandarin...
Fixed gear is like flying, the first language is English.
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Of course it's a country, it was established iun 1949 by the Nationalist losers in the Revolution Chang Kai Shek and Sun Yat Sen. Frosty relations with China have thawed a little in recent years...
Not quite right. The ruling regime in Taiwan is officially dubbed the Republic of China (ROC), which has been around since 1911. The ROC used to rule the big chunk of land that everybody calls China, with its capital in Nanjing.
In an epic fail in 1949, the ROC managed to lose that entire chunk of land to the Chinese Communist Party, who set up the People's Republic of China (PRC). The ROC government, led by Chiang Kai-shek (Sun Yat-sen was dead by then), high-tailed it to Taiwan and set up shop there.
Since then, there's been the ROC in Taiwan, and the PRC in mainland China. Most of the world acknowledges the PRC to be the "legitimate" China, and they're one of the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council. The PRC blocks any move by the international community to treat the ROC/Taiwan as a nation. Which is why the Taiwanese team competes in the Olympics under "Chinese Taipei" rather than "ROC" or "Taiwan".
However, the ROC/Taiwan is a de facto independent country... we've got our own democratically-elected government and all that, independent of the PRC government. I think most of the world, especially the US, doesn't know what to do... on the one hand, nobody wants to piss off China. But on the other hand, Taiwan's got lots of semiconductors and bicycles...
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Which explains why countries like the US like to send a chunk of fleet into the eastern Pacific on training exercises whenever China makes noises about reclaiming it's soveriegn rights etc. Although I don't think China likes the word soveriegn much.
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a right kettle of worms ive opened here. sorry cg5154 if you have taken offence. its just my personal opinion from my studies on the issue.
free tibet anyone?
No offense taken... everybody's entitled to their own opinion.
Besides, there are roughly 1.3 billion people in China who think Taiwan isn't a country. My own grandparents are mainlanders, and I learned a long time ago not to mention "Taiwanese independence" around them.
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Which explains why countries like the US like to send a chunk of fleet into the eastern Pacific on training exercises whenever China makes noises about reclaiming it's soveriegn rights etc. Although I don't think China likes the word soveriegn much.
Maybe because the word is spelled "sovereign" :-P
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the US had a very long history of helping the nationalist government of China.. before 1949, they were the US's biggest allies in Asia.
this only increased after 1949 of course, but in the form of Taiwan... heck, 'China' wasnt even recognised as a country for mmmaanny years..
and yeh, the main role of the US navy in S.E Asia after Vietnam has been to 'defend' Taiwan. and sell it weapons.
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hanging out in the Carhartt London office per chance?? :)
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About
www.fixedgeartaiwan.com
Posted by
@Multi_Grooves
I got this email earlier. looks interesting:
Hello there~~
I come from a beautiful country called "Taiwan"~~
My name is "Burner", greetings to all fixed gear riders out there.
There is a steady growth in Fixed Gear riding happening here in Taiwan.
With the help of this web site www.fixedgeartaiwan.com
I hope to collaborate and share information with all Fixed Gear riders around the world. You may send photos of your bikes along with information or individual modification regarding your bikes to this email address: burner.mbp@gmail.com
And I will post it on the www.fixedgeartaiwan.com
Look forward to all riders that are willing to share their thoughts and enjoy the fun of riding Fixed Gear bicycles.