What is Taiwan?

Here are some quick facts about Taiwan:

Taiwan (Formosa) is an island off the east coast of southern China. See CIA Factbook, Wikipedia
Taiwanese history [Wikipedia] includes Prehistoric Settlement, Dutch rule (1624-1661), Ming regime (1662-1683), Qing (Manchu) rule (1683-1874), Japanese rule (1895-1945), occupation by Chiang Kai-Shek on behalf of Allied forces (1945-1949), and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rule (1949-2000).
The KMT sponsored the widespread massacre of Taiwanese (and Chinese) people following the 28 February 1947 (1947-02-28) Incident .
About 80% of Taiwanese people speak Taiwanese Holo (Hoklo), a language similar to that of Amoy, Southern Hokkien Province, China. Mandarin Chinese, a Han dialect of northern China, was forced upon Taiwanese people after Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang (KMT) + Republic of China (ROC) regime took refuge on Taiwan.
"With the lifting of martial law in 1987, however, liberalization took a hold on just about every aspect of the island's life--political, economic, and social. After such lengthy repression, it is perhaps not surprising to find a sudden flowering of Taiwanese culture." [Ref]

A timeline of the history of Taiwan can be found here.