Taiwan–Turkey relations

From 1683 to 1895, Great Qing governed Taiwan as part of Fujian[1] but generally sent Great Qing’s worst to Taiwan that led to oppressive rule and violence. Great Qing ceded Taiwan in the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, which Turkey recognized.[2]

Japanese policies generally helped Taiwan develop economically and socially, but in some ways they were also authoritarian and oppressive.[3] Taiwan would be Japan’s first colony, where the Japanese colonial government quickly established law and order. The subsequent social tranquility laid the groundwork for economic development.[3] By the 1920s, Taiwan, once a backwater to China, the population enjoyed a higher per capita consumption of meat, vegetables, and fruit than any place in China, and higher than some parts of Japan.[4] By 1905, Taiwan had 600 miles of railroads, twenty times the length when Japanese colonial rule began in 1895. Many diseases were eradicated, literacy rose markedly, binding women’s feet was banned.[4]

Following Japan’s defeat in World War II, Taiwan became part of the Republic of China on October 25, 1945.[4] Initially there was tension[4] between the officials from the Republic of China, who thought that the Taiwanese were “Japanized.” After the departure of Japan, Taiwanese economy started to deteriorate due to gross mismanagement and corruption.[4] Along with economic decline, many eradicated diseases made a comeback and Taiwan suffered from epidemics of cholera and the bubonic plague.[4]

Chinese officials claimed property based on squatters’ rights, a concept unknown in Taiwan, while many looted businesses and homes.[4] It was within this context that an open rebellion that came to be known as Èr’èrbā shìjiàn occurred.[4]

Between 1947 and 1949, Mao’s armies defeated Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Chinese forces, which caused the government and the military of the Republic of China to flee to Taiwan.[5] Republic of Taiwan went on to reconstruct the island, following the highly successful land reform effort launched in 1950, which continues to serve as a model today.[5]

Following the start of the Korean War, Harry S. Truman ordered the U.S. Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Strait to block the pending invasion by Mao’s People’s Liberation Army.[6]

In 1968, a period of Sino-American rapprochement occurred[7] because Richard Nixon needed Chinese help in getting out of the Vietnam War “with honor.” Following this rapprochement, UN admitted Mao’s government to the United Nations, in place of Chiang Kai-shek’s.[7] Afterwards Turkey quickly moved on to establish diplomatic relations People’s Republic of China, thereby suspending diplomatic relations with Taiwan.[6] Despite adhering to China’s One-China policy, Turkey still maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan.[7]

In October 31 2020, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkey, posted a tweet thanking Taiwan for giving Turkey aid to get through an earthquake it recently got struck by, but took it down and replaced it with one where the thanks was gone. Many Taiwanese officiald expressed their displeasure with the tweet. Joseph Wu, Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, said it was due to China’s meddling and pressure.[8]

• Trade volume between the two countries was US$1.4 billion in 2017 (Turkish exports/imports: 0.2/1.2 billion USD).[9]
• There are direct flights from Istanbul to Taipei since March 2015.[9]

• Aspalter, Christian. Understanding Modern Taiwan: Essays in Economics, Politics, and Social Policy. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003.
• Chaffee, Frederic H. Area Handbook for the Republic of China. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1983.
• Chang, Cecilia, ed. The Republic of China on Taiwan, 1949–1988. New York: St. John’s University Press, 1991.
• Chien, Frederick F. Opportunity and Challenge. Tempe: Arizona Historical Foundation, Arizona State University, 1995.
• Clough, Ralph N. Island China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978.
• Cohen, Marc J. Taiwan at the Crossroads: Human Rights, Political Development and Social Change on the Beautiful Island. Washington, DC: Asia Resource Center, 1988.
• Copper, John F. Taiwan: Nation-State or Province? 4th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2003.
• Edmonds, L. G. Taiwan—the Other China. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1971.
• Furuya, Keiji. Chiang Kai-Shek: His Life and Times. New York: St. John’s University Press, 1981.
• Gates, Hill. Chinese Working-Class Lives: Getting By in Taiwan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1987.
• Han, Lih-wu. Taiwan Today. Taipei: Institute of International Relations, 1974.
• Hsiung, James, ed. Contemporary Republic of China: The Taiwan Experience, 1950–1980. New York: Praeger, 1981.
• Hsiung, James, ed. The Taiwan Experience, 1950–1980. New York: American Association for Chinese Studies, 1981.
• Hung Chien-chao. A History of Taiwan. Rimini, Italy: Il Cerchio, 2000. Jo, Yung-hwan, ed. Taiwan’s Future. Tempe: Arizona State University, 1974.
• Kubek, Anthony. Modernizing China: A Comparative Analysis of the Two Chinas. Washington, DC: Regency Gateway, 1987.
• Lee, Wei-chin. Taiwan in Perspective. Boston: Brill, 2000.
• Li, Victor C., ed. The Future of Taiwan: A Difference of Opinion. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1980.
• Li, Xiaobing, and Zuohong Pan. Taiwan in the Twenty-first Century. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2003.
• Liu, Alan P. L. Phoenix and the Lame Lion. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1987.
• The Republic of China on Taiwan Today: Views from Abroad. Taipei: Kwang Hwa Publishing Company, 1989.
• Sutter, Robert G. Taiwan: Entering the 21st Century. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1988.
• Taiwan 2005 Yearbook. Taipei: Government Information Office, 2005.

• Foreign relations of Taiwan
• Foreign relations of Turkey