taiwan

2 definitions found

taiwan - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Formosa \Formosa\ prop. n.
     An island off the coast of China, also called Taiwan. It
     was occupied by Japan from 1895 to 1945, when it was returned
     to Chinese sovereignty. After the Communist revolution which
     took over the Chinese mainland in 1949, the Nationalist
     Chinese under Chang Kai-Shek retreated to the island of
     Formosa and established that island as the base of their
     government, being recognized for several years as the de jure
     possessor of the China seat in the United Nations. The
     capital is Taipei. As of 1998, both the Taiwan government and
     the mainland China government recognized Taiwan as properly a
     part of China, but the island is currently ruled as a de
     facto independent nation, though it does not possess a seat
     in the United Nations. The question of when and under what
     circumstances the island will be reunited with the mainland
     government is still unresolved.
  
     Syn: Taiwan.
          [PJC]

taiwan - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Taiwan
      n 1: a government on the island of Taiwan established in 1949 by
           Chiang Kai-shek after the conquest of mainland China by the
           Communists led by Mao Zedong [syn: Taiwan, China,
           Nationalist China, Republic of China]
      2: an island in southeastern Asia 100 miles off the coast of
         mainland China in the South China Sea [syn: Taiwan,
         Formosa]