Taipei: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:11, 9 October 2003

Revision as of 18:18, 18 October 2003

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[[de:Taipei]][[ja:台北]][[pl:Tajpej]][[zh:台北市]]

'''T'ai-pei''', (台北, [[pinyin]]: '''Táibĕi''', old Japanese: '''Taihoku'''; population 2,600,543 in 2000), is the provisional capital of the [[Republic of China]] on [[Taiwan]]. It also was the capital of [[Taiwan Province]] until the [[1960s]] when that was moved to [[Chung-hsing-hsin-ts'un]]. Administratively in Chinese, "Taipei" can refer to Taipei City, which is a special [[municipality]] administered directly under the central government, or [[Taipei County]], which is administered as part of Taiwan Province. This article will focus on the City.

Major industries include electrical and electronic equipment, [[textiles]], [[metal]]s, [[ship-building]], and [[motorcycle]]s. Founded in the [[18th century]], Taipei began development only after [[1885]], when it replaced [[Tainan]] as the capital of the [[China|Chinese]] [[Taiwan province|province of Taiwan]]. Much of the architecture of Taipei dates from the period of [[Japan]]ese rule including the Presidental Palace which was the former mansion of the Japanese governor and which faces [[Tokyo]].

In [[1949]], the [[Communist Party of China|Communists]] forced the government of [[Chiang Kai-shek]] to flee from the [[Mainland China]] and establish Taipei as provisionalthe capitalseat of the ROC.

The current mayor of Taipei is the [[Kuomintang]]'s [[Ma Ying-jeou]]. The office of mayor of Taipei is seen as a stepping stone to higher office, both the

current and previous [[President of the Republic of China|Presidents of the Republic of China]] [[Chen Shui-bian]] andis [[Lee Teng-hui]] werea former mayors. Until 1994, the mayor of Taipei was an appointed position, but since then it has been elected.

mayor of Taipei. [[Lee Teng-hui]] was also a former mayor.

Taipei city has a higher proportion of [[Mainlander]]s than as average in Taiwan. This and the fact that the city is highly dependent on commerce and finance which would be disrupted in case of conflict with the [[People's Republic of China]] means that the city is somewhat more favorable to [[Chinese reunification]] than other areas of Taiwan. Indeed, it was the fact that [[Chen Shui-bian]] was able to win the mayorship in 1994, despite this tendency that made him the obvious DPP candidate for President in 2000.

Taipei's [[public transport]] system uses both a [[light rail]] system based on [[VAL]] technology and a conventional [[metro]].

[[Taipei 101]] is a new financial center being constructed recently in Taipei.

Nearby [[Taoyuan]] hosts [[Chiang Kai-shek International Airport]], which serves Taipei for international flights. There is also [[Sungshan Domestic Airport]] in the heart of the city.

See also: [[Political divisions of the Republic of China]]

==External links==