In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan. Taiwan reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1946 constitution drawn up for all of China. Over the next five decades, the ruling authorities gradually democratised and incorporated the local population within the governing structure. In 2000, Taiwan underwent its first peaceful transfer of power from the Nationalist to the Democratic Progressive Party. Throughout this period, the island prospered and became one of East Asia's economic ‘Tigers.’ The dominant political issues continue to be the relationship between Taiwan and China - specifically the question of eventual unification or independence (depending on who you’re talking to) - as well as domestic political and economic reform.
The political and social structures are stable and the crime rate is very low – eg, surfshops in the south of Taiwan leave their boards outside overnight, no one touches them. Life is pretty relaxed!