title: Political status of Taiwan

text: However, after the outbreak of the Korean War, Truman decided to "neutralize" Taiwan claiming that it could otherwise trigger another world war. In June 1950, President Truman, who had previously given only passive support to Chiang Kai-shek and was prepared to see Taiwan fall into the hands of the Chinese Communists, vowed to stop the spread of communism and sent the U.S. Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Strait to prevent the PRC from attacking Taiwan, but also to prevent the ROC from attacking mainland China. He then declared that "the determination of the future status of Formosa must await the restoration of security in the Pacific, a peace settlement with Japan, or consideration by the United Nations." President Truman later reaffirmed the position "that all questions affecting Formosa be settled by peaceful means as envisaged in the Charter of the United Nations" in his special message to the Congress in July 1950. The PRC denounced his moves as flagrant interference in the internal affairs of China.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: On 8 September 1950, President Truman ordered John Foster Dulles, then Foreign Policy Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State, to carry out his decision on "neutralizing" Taiwan in drafting the Treaty of Peace with Japan (San Francisco Peace Treaty) of 1951. According to George H. Kerr's memoir "Formosa Betrayed", Dulles devised a plan whereby Japan would first merely renounce its sovereignty over Taiwan without a recipient country to allow the sovereignty over Taiwan to be determined together by the United States, the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Republic of China on behalf of other nations on the peace treaty. The question of Taiwan would be taken into the United Nations (of which the ROC was still part), if these four parties could not reach into an agreement within one year.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: When Japan regained sovereignty over itself in 1952 with the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace with Japan (San Francisco Peace Treaty) with 48 nations, Japan renounced all claims and title over Taiwan and the Pescadores. Many claim that Japanese sovereignty only terminated at that point. Notably absent at the peace conference was the ROC which was expelled from mainland China in December 1949 as a result of the Chinese Civil War and had retreated to Taiwan. The PRC, which was proclaimed 1 October 1949, was also not invited. The lack of invitation was probably due to the dispute over which government was the legitimate government of China (which both governments claimed to be); however, Cold War considerations might have played a part as well. Some major governments represented in the San Francisco Conference, such as the UK and Soviet Union, had already established relations with the PRC, while others, such as the U.S. and Japan, still held relations with the ROC.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The UK at that time stated for the record that the San Francisco Peace Treaty "itself does not determine the future of these islands," and therefore the UK, along with Australia and New Zealand, was happy to sign the peace treaty. One of the major reasons that the delegate from the Soviet Union gave for not signing the treaty was that: "The draft contains only a reference to the renunciation by Japan of its rights to these territories [Taiwan] but intentionally omits any mention of the further fate of these territories."


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Article 25 of this treaty officially stipulated that only the Allied Powers defined in the treaty could benefit from this treaty. China was not listed as one of the Allied Powers; however, article 21 still provided limited benefits from Articles 10 and 14(a)2 for China. Japan's cession of Taiwan is unusual in that no recipient of Taiwan was stated as part of Dulles's plan of "neutralizing" Taiwan. The ROC protested its lack of invitation to the San Francisco Peace conference, to no avail.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Subsequently, the Treaty of Taipei was concluded between the ROC and Japan on 28 April 1952 (effective 5 August), where Japan essentially re-affirmed the terms of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and formalized the peace between the ROC and Japan. It also nullified all previous treaties made between China and Japan. Article 10 of the treaty specifies:"For the purposes of the present Treaty, nationals of the Republic of China shall be deemed to include all the inhabitants and former inhabitants of Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores) and their descendants who are of the Chinese nationality in accordance with the laws and regulations which have been or may hereafter be enforced by the Republic of China in Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores)." However, the ROC Minister of Foreign Affairs George Kung-ch'ao Yeh told the Legislative Yuan after signing the treaty that: "The delicate international situation makes it that they [Taiwan and Penghu] do not belong to us. Under present circumstances, Japan has no right to transfer [Taiwan] to us; nor can we accept such a transfer from Japan even if she so wishes." In July 1971 the U.S. State Department's position was, and remains: "As Taiwan and the Pescadores are not covered by any existing international disposition, sovereignty over the area is an unsettled question subject to future international resolution."


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The position of the PRC is that the ROC ceased to be a legitimate government upon the founding of the former on 1 October 1949 and that the PRC is the successor of the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China, with the right to rule Taiwan under the succession of states theory.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The position of PRC is that the ROC and PRC are two different factions in the Chinese Civil War, which never legally ended. Therefore, the PRC claims that both factions belong to the same sovereign country—China. Since, as per the PRC, Taiwan's sovereignty belongs to China, the PRC's government and supporters believe that the secession of Taiwan should be agreed upon by all 1.3 billion Chinese citizens instead of just the 23 million residents of Taiwan. Furthermore, the position of PRC is that UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, which states "Recognizing that the representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations", means that the PRC is recognized as having the sovereignty of all of China, including Taiwan. Therefore, the PRC believes that it is within their legal rights to extend its jurisdiction to Taiwan, by military means if at all necessary.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In addition, the position of PRC is that the ROC does not meet the fourth criterion of the Montevideo Convention, as it is recognized by only and has been denied access to international organizations such as the UN. The PRC points out the fact that the Montevideo Convention was only signed by 19 states at the Seventh International Conference of American States. Thus the authority of the United Nations as well as UN Resolutions should supersede the Montevideo Convention. However, "When speaking of statehood, one invariably refers to the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, 60 which, laying down what is now considered a rule of customary international law, states that "[t] he State as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with other States." Taiwan indeed satisfies all these criteria for statehood." Many would argue that Taiwan meets all the requirements of the Montevideo Convention. But to make such an argument, one has to reject China's claim of sovereignty over the territory of the Taiwan island, a claim that has been recognized by most states in the world.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: It is clear that the PRC still maintains that "there is only one China in the world" and "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China", however instead of "the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of China", the PRC now emphasizes that "both Taiwan and the mainland belong to one and the same China". Although the current position allows for flexibility in terms of defining that "one China", any departure from the One-China policy is deemed unacceptable by the PRC government. The PRC government is unwilling to negotiate with the ROC government under any formulation other than One-China policy, although a more flexible definition of "one China" such as found in the 1992 consensus is possible under PRC policy. The PRC government considers the 1992 consensus a temporary measure to set aside sovereignty disputes and to enable talks.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The PRC government considers perceived violations of its "One-China policy" or inconsistencies with it such as supplying the ROC with arms a violation of its rights to territorial integrity. International news organizations often report that "China considers Taiwan a renegade province that must be united with the mainland by force if necessary", even though the PRC does not explicitly say that Taiwan is a "renegade province" in any press releases. However, official PRC media outlets and officials often refer to Taiwan as "China's Taiwan Province" or simply "Taiwan, China", and pressure international organizations to use the term.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The ROC argues that it maintains all the characteristics of a state and that it was not "replaced" or "succeeded" by the PRC because it has continued to exist long after the PRC's founding.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: According to the Montevideo Convention of 1933, the most cited source for the definition of statehood, a state must possess a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. Many argue that the ROC meets all these criteria. However, to make such an argument, one has to reject the PRC's claim of sovereignty over the territory of the Taiwan island, a claim that the PRC has forced all other states to accept as a condition to establish diplomatic relations with it, as well as severing said relations with the ROC. Most states have either officially recognized this claim or carefully worded their agreement ambiguously, such as the United States.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Both the original 1912 constitution and the 1923 draft version failed to list Taiwan as a part of the ROC since at the time Taiwan was Japanese territory. It was only in the mid-1930s when both the CPC and KMT realised the future strategic importance of Taiwan that they altered their party positions to make a claim on Taiwan as a part of China. After losing the Civil War against the Communist Party in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Party fled to Taiwan, and continued to maintain that their government represented all of China, i.e. both Taiwan and the mainland.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The position of most supporters of Taiwan independence is that the PRC is the government of "China" and that Taiwan is not part of China, defining "China" as only including Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Regarding the ROC, one ideology within Taiwan independence regards the ROC as already an independent, sovereign state, and seeks to amend the ROC's existing name, constitution, and existing framework to reflect the loss of ROC's mainland territory, and transform ROC into a Taiwan state; while another ideology of Taiwan independence regards the ROC as both a military government that has been administering the Taiwan island as a result of post-war military occupation on behalf of the allies of World War II since 1945, and a Chinese refugee regime currently in exile on Taiwan since 1949, and seeks to eliminate the ROC and establish a new independent Taiwan state.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The Democratic Progressive Party states that Taiwan has never been under the jurisdiction of the PRC, and that the PRC does not exercise any hold over the 23 million Taiwanese on the island. On the other hand, the position of most Chinese unification supporters is that the Chinese Civil War is still not over since no peace agreement has ever been signed, and that the current status is a state of ceasefire between two belligerents of "One China".


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The position of the Republic of China has been that it is a "de jure" sovereign state. "Republic of China," according to the ROC government's definition, extended to both mainland China (Including Hong Kong and Macau) and the island of Taiwan.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In 1991, President Lee Teng-hui unofficially claimed that the government would no longer challenge the rule of the Communists in mainland China, the ROC government under Kuomintang (KMT) rule actively maintained that it was the sole legitimate government of China. The Courts in Taiwan have never accepted President Lee's statement, primarily due to the reason that the (now defunct) National Assembly never officially changed the acclaimed national borders. Notably, the People's Republic of China claims that changing the national borders would be "a precursor to Taiwan independence". The task of changing the national borders now requires a constitutional amendment passed by the Legislative Yuan and ratified by a majority of all eligible ROC voters, which the PRC has implied would constitute grounds for military attack.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: On the other hand, though the constitution of the Republic of China promulgated in 1946 does not state exactly what territory it includes, the draft of the constitution of 1925 did individually list the provinces of the Republic of China and Taiwan was not among them, since Taiwan was arguably "de jure" part of Japan as the result of the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895. The constitution also stipulated in Article I.4, that "the territory of the ROC is the original territory governed by it; unless authorized by the National Assembly, it cannot be altered." However, in 1946, Sun Fo, son of Sun Yat-Sen and the minister of the Executive Yuan of the ROC, reported to the National Assembly that "there are two types of territory changes: 1. renouncing territory and 2. annexing new territory. The first example would be the independence of Mongolia, and the second example would be the reclamation of Taiwan. Both would be examples of territory changes." Japan renounced all rights to Taiwan in the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951 and the Treaty of Taipei of 1952 without an explicit recipient. While the ROC continuously ruled Taiwan after the government was directed to Taiwan by the General Order No. 1 (1945) to receive Japanese surrender, there has never been a meeting of the ROC National Assembly in making a territory change according to the ROC constitution. The explanatory memorandum to the constitution explained the omission of individually listing the provinces as opposed to the earlier drafts was an act of deliberate ambiguity: as the ROC government does not recognize the validity of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, based on Chiang Kai-shek's Denunciation of the treaty in the late 1930s, hence (according to this argument) the sovereignty of Taiwan was never disposed by China. A ratification by the ROC National Assembly is therefore unnecessary.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The have mentioned "Taiwan Province," and the now defunct National Assembly passed constitutional amendments that give the people of the "Free Area of the Republic of China", comprising the territories under its current jurisdiction, the sole right, until unification, to exercise the sovereignty of the Republic through elections of the President and the entire Legislature as well as through elections to ratify amendments to the ROC constitution. Also, Chapter I, Article 2 of the ROC constitution states that "The sovereignty of the Republic of China shall reside in the whole body of citizens." This suggests that the constitution implicitly admits that the sovereignty of the ROC is limited to the areas that it controls even if there is no constitutional amendment that explicitly spells out the ROC's borders.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In 1999, ROC President Lee Teng-hui proposed a two-state theory (兩國論) in which both the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China would acknowledge that they are two separate countries with a special diplomatic, cultural and historic relationship. This however drew an angry reaction from the PRC who believed that Lee was covertly supporting Taiwan independence.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: President Chen Shui-bian (2000 – May 2008) fully supported the idea that the "Republic of China is an independent, sovereign country" but held the view that the Republic of China is Taiwan and Taiwan does not belong to the People's Republic of China. This is suggested in his Four-stage Theory of the Republic of China. Due to the necessity of avoiding war with the PRC however, President Chen had refrained from formally declaring Taiwan's independence. Government publications have implied that Taiwan refers to the ROC, and "China" refers to the PRC. After becoming chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in July 2002, Chen appeared to move further than Lee's special two-state theory and in early August 2002, by putting forward the "one country on each side" concept, he stated that Taiwan may "go on its own Taiwanese road" and that "it is clear that the two sides of the straits are separate countries." These statements essentially eliminate any "special" factors in the relations and were strongly criticized by opposition parties in Taiwan. President Chen has repeatedly refused to endorse the One China Principle or the more "flexible" 1992 Consensus the PRC demands as a precursor to negotiations with the PRC. During Chen's presidency, there had not been any successful attempts to restart negotiations on a semi-official level.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In the 2008 ROC elections, the people delivered KMT's Ma Ying-jeou with an election win as well as a sizable majority in the legislature. President Ma, throughout his election campaign, maintained that he would accept the 1992 consensus and promote better relations with the PRC. In respect of Taiwan political status, his policy was 1. he would not negotiate with the PRC on the subject of unification during his term; 2. he would never declare Taiwan independence; and 3. he would not provoke the PRC into attacking Taiwan. He officially accepted the 1992 Consensus in his inauguration speech which resulted in direct semi-official talks with the PRC, and this later led to the commencement of weekend direct charter flights between mainland China and Taiwan. President Ma also interprets the cross-strait relations as "special", "but not that between two nations". He later stated that mainland China is part of the territory of the Republic of China, and laws relating to international relations are not applicable to the relations between mainland China and Taiwan, as they are parts of a state.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In 2016, Tsai Ing-Wen of the DPP won a landslide victory on the Presidential election, and was later re-elected for the second term in 2020. She refused to agree that Taiwan is part of China, and also rejects the One country, two systems model proposed by the PRC. Instead she said that Taiwan is already an independent country and Beijing must face this reality.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Because of anti-communist sentiment at the start of the Cold War, the Republic of China was initially recognized as the sole legitimate government of China by the United Nations and most Western nations. On 9 January 1950, the Israeli government extended recognition to the People's Republic of China. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 505, passed on 1 February 1952 considered the Chinese communists to be rebels against the Republic of China. However, the 1970s saw a switch in diplomatic recognitions from the ROC to the PRC. On 25 October 1971, Resolution 2758 was passed by the UN General Assembly, which "decides to restore all its rights to the People's Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it." Multiple attempts by the Republic of China to rejoin the UN, no longer to represent all of China but just the people of the territories it governs, have not made it past committee, largely due to diplomatic maneuvering by the PRC, which claims Resolution 2758 has settled the matter.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The PRC refuses to maintain diplomatic relations with any nation that recognizes the ROC, but does not object to nations conducting economic, cultural, and other such exchanges with Taiwan that do not imply diplomatic relation. Therefore, many nations that have diplomatic relations with Beijing maintain quasi-diplomatic offices in Taipei. Similarly, the government in Taiwan maintains quasi-diplomatic offices in most nations under various names, most commonly as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The United States of America is one of the main allies of Taiwan and, since the Taiwan Relations Act passed in 1979, the United States has sold arms and provided military training to Taiwan's Republic of China Armed Forces. This situation continues to be a point of contention for People's Republic of China, which considers US involvement disruptive to the stability of the region. In January 2010, the Obama administration announced its intention to sell $6.4 billion worth of military hardware to Taiwan. As a consequence, China threatened the United States with economic sanctions and warned that their cooperation on international and regional issues could suffer. The official position of the United States is that China is expected to "use no force or threat[en] to use force against Taiwan" and that Taiwan is to "exercise prudence in managing all aspects of Cross-Strait relations." Both are to refrain from performing actions or espousing statements "that would unilaterally alter Taiwan's status." The United States maintains the American Institute in Taiwan.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, India, Pakistan and Canada have formally adopted the One China policy, under which the People's Republic of China is theoretically the sole legitimate government of China. However, the United States and Japan "acknowledge" rather than "recognize" the PRC position that Taiwan is part of China. In the case of the United Kingdom and Canada, bilateral written agreements state that the two respective parties "take note" of Beijing's position but do not use the word "support". The UK government position that "the future of Taiwan be decided peacefully by the peoples of both sides of the Strait" has been stated several times. Despite the PRC claim that the United States opposes Taiwanese independence, the United States takes advantage of the subtle difference between "oppose" and "does not support". In fact, a substantial majority of the statements Washington has made says that it "does not support Taiwan independence" instead of saying that it "opposes" independence. Thus, the US currently does not take a position on the political outcome, except for one explicit condition that there be a peaceful resolution to the differences between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The United States bi-partisan position is that it does not "recognize" the PRC's claim over Taiwan, and considers Taiwan's status as unsettled. All of this ambiguity has resulted in the United States constantly walking on a diplomatic tightrope with regard to cross strait relations.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The ROC maintains formal diplomatic relations with , mostly in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and Oceania. Additionally, the Holy See also recognizes the ROC, a largely non-Christian/Catholic state, due partly to the Catholic Church's traditional opposition to communism, and also to protest what it sees as the PRC's suppression of the Catholic faith in mainland China. However, Vatican diplomats were engaged in talks with PRC politicians at the time of Pope John Paul II's death, with a view towards improving relations between the two countries. When asked, one Vatican diplomat suggested that relations with Taiwan might prove "expendable" should PRC be willing to engage in positive diplomatic relations with the Holy See. Under Pope Benedict XVI the Vatican and PRC have shown greater interest in establishing ties, including the appointment of pro-Vatican bishops and the Pope canceling a planned visit from the 14th Dalai Lama.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: During the 1990s, there was a diplomatic tug of war in which the PRC and ROC attempted to outbid each other to obtain the diplomatic support of small nations. This struggle seems to have slowed as a result of the PRC's growing economic power and doubts in Taiwan as to whether this aid was actually in the Republic of China's interest. In March 2004, Dominica switched recognition to the PRC in exchange for a large aid package. However, in late 2004, Vanuatu briefly switched recognition from Beijing to Taipei, followed by a return to its recognition of Beijing. On 20 January 2005, Grenada switched its recognition from Taipei to Beijing, in return for millions in aid (US$1,500 for every Grenadian). However, on 14 May 2005, Nauru announced the restoration of formal diplomatic relations with Taipei after a three-year hiatus, during which it briefly recognized the People's Republic of China.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: On 26 October 2005, Senegal broke off relations with the Republic of China and established diplomatic contacts with Beijing. The following year, on 5 August 2006, Taipei ended relations with Chad when Chad established relations with Beijing. On 26 April 2007, however, Saint Lucia, which had previously severed ties with the Republic of China following a change of government in December 1996, announced the restoration of formal diplomatic relations with Taipei. On 7 June 2007, Costa Rica broke off diplomatic ties with the Republic of China in favour of the People's Republic of China. In January 2008 Malawi's foreign minister reported Malawi decided to cut diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China and recognize the People's Republic of China.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The latest countries to break off formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan were El Salvador on 21 August 2018, the Solomon Islands and Kiribati in September 2019 and Nicaragua on 9 December 2021. On 4 November 2013, the Government of the Gambia announced its break-up with Taiwan, but the Foreign Affairs Ministry of China denied any ties with this political movement, adding that they were not considering on building a relation with this African nation.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Under continuing pressure from the PRC to bar any representation of the ROC that may imply statehood, international organizations have adopted different policies toward the issue of ROC's participation. In cases where almost all UN members or sovereign states participate, such as the World Health Organization, the ROC has been completely shut out, while in others, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) the ROC participates under unusual names: "Chinese Taipei" in the case of APEC and the IOC, and the "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kimmen and Matsu" (often shortened as "Chinese Taipei") in the case of the WTO. After nine years of negotiations, members of the WTO completed the conditions on which to allow Taiwan admittance into the multilateral trade organization. At the end of 2011, Jeffery Bader, Assistant United States Trade Representative for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, led and finalized the final stages of Taiwan's accession to the WTO which were approved by trade ministers in November in Doha, Qatar.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The issue of ROC's name came under scrutiny during the 2006 World Baseball Classic. The organizers of the 16-team tournament intended to call Taiwan as such, but reverted to "Chinese Taipei" under pressure from PRC. The ROC protested the decision, claiming that the WBC is not an IOC event, but did not prevail. The ISO 3166 directory of names of countries and territories registers Taiwan (TW) separately from and in addition to the People's Republic of China (CN), but lists Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China" based on the name used by the UN under PRC pressure. In , Taiwan is also coded CN-71 under China, thus making Taiwan part of China in ISO 3166-1 and ISO 3166-2 categories.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Naming issues surrounding Taiwan/ROC continue to be a contentious issue in non-governmental organizations such as the Lions Club, which faced considerable controversy naming its Taiwanese branch.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Today, the ROC is the "de facto" government of Taiwan; whereas the PRC is the "de facto" government over Mainland China. However, each government claims to be the legitimate government of all China "de jure". The arguments below are frequently used by proponents and/or opponents of these claims.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The ROC and PRC both officially support the One China policy and thus share common arguments. In the arguments below, "Chinese" is an ambiguous term that could mean the PRC and/or ROC as legal government(s) of China.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Arguments by various groups that claim Taiwan should declare itself to be an independent sovereign nation


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Many political leaders who have maintained some form of the One-China Policy have committed slips of the tongue in referring to Taiwan as a country or as the Republic of China. United States presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush have been known to have referred to Taiwan as a country during their terms of office. Although near the end of his term as U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell said that Taiwan is not a state, he referred to Taiwan as the Republic of China twice during a testimony to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on 9 March 2001. In the People's Republic of China Premier Zhu Rongji's farewell speech to the National People's Congress, Zhu accidentally referred to Mainland China and Taiwan as two countries. Zhu says in his speech at MIT University on April 15, 1999, "These raw materials and the components are mainly imported from Japan, [Korea], Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, while the value-added parts in China is very, very insignificant. That is to say, Chinese exports to the United States actually represent a transfer of the exports to the United States by the above-mentioned countries and the regions that I mentioned." There are also those from the PRC who informally refer to Taiwan as a country. South Africa delegates once referred to Taiwan as the "Republic of Taiwan" during Lee Teng-hui's term as President of the ROC. In 2002, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, referred to Taiwan as a country. Most recently, former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated in a local Chinese newspaper in California in July 2005 that Taiwan is "a sovereign nation". The People's Republic of China discovered the statement about three months after it was made.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In a controversial speech on 4 February 2006, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso called Taiwan a country with very high education levels because of previous Japanese colonial rule over the island. One month later, he told a Japanese parliamentary committee that "[Taiwan's] democracy is considerably matured and liberal economics is deeply ingrained, so it is a law-abiding country. In various ways, it is a country that shares a sense of values with Japan." At the same time, he admitted that "I know there will be a problem with calling [Taiwan] a country". Later, the Japanese Foreign Ministry tried to downplay or reinterpret his remarks.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In February 2007, the Royal Grenada Police Band played the National Anthem of the Republic of China in an inauguration of the reconstructed St George's Queen's Park Stadium funded by the PRC. Grenada had broken off diplomatic relations with Taiwan just two years prior in favor of the PRC.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: When the Kuomintang visited Mainland China in 2005, the government-controlled PRC media called this event a "visit," and called the KMT one of "Taiwan's political parties" even though the Kuomintang's full name remains the "Chinese Nationalist Party." In mainland China, there is a legal party called the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang that is officially one of the nine "consultative parties," according to the PRC's Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: On the Foreign Missions page of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for China, the embassy of the People's Republic of China was referred to as the 'Republic of China'.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Taiwan was classified as a province of the People's Republic of China in the Apple Maps application in 2013; searches for "Taiwan" were changed automatically to "China Taiwan province" in Simplified Chinese, prompting the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand a correction from Apple.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Until 1979, both sides intended to resolve the conflict militarily. Intermittent clashes occurred throughout the 1950s and 1960s, with escalations comprising the First and Second Taiwan Strait crises. In 1979, with the U.S. change of diplomatic recognition to the PRC, the ROC lost its ally needed to "recover the mainland." Meanwhile, the PRC's desire to be accepted in the international community led it to promote peaceful unification under what would later be termed "one country, two systems", rather than to "liberate Taiwan" and to make Taiwan a Special Administrative Region.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Notwithstanding, the PRC government has issued triggers for an immediate war with Taiwan, most notably via its controversial Anti-Secession Law of 2005. These conditions are:


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: It has been interpreted that these criteria encompass the scenario of Taiwan developing nuclear weapons ("see main article" Taiwan and weapons of mass destruction also Timeline of the Republic of China's nuclear program).


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The third condition has especially caused a stir in Taiwan as the term "indefinitely" is open to interpretation. It has also been viewed by some as meaning that preserving the ambiguous status quo is not acceptable to the PRC, although the PRC stated on many occasions that there is no explicit timetable for unification.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Concern over a formal declaration of "de jure" Taiwan independence is a strong impetus for the military buildup between Taiwan and mainland China. The former US Bush administration publicly declared that given the status quo, it would not aid Taiwan if it were to declare independence unilaterally.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: According to the US Department of Defense report "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2011" conditions that mainland China has warned may cause the use of force have varied. They have included "a formal declaration of Taiwan independence; undefined moves "toward independence"; foreign intervention in Taiwan's internal affairs; indefinite delays in the resumption of cross-Strait dialogue on unification; Taiwan's acquisition of nuclear weapons; and, internal unrest on Taiwan. Article 8 of the March 2005 "Anti-Secession Law" states Beijing would resort to "non-peaceful means" if "secessionist forces . . . cause the fact of Taiwan's secession from China," if "major incidents entailing Taiwan's secession" occur, or if "possibilities for peaceful reunification" are exhausted".


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The possibility of war, the close geographic proximity of ROC-controlled Taiwan and PRC-controlled mainland China, and the resulting flare-ups that occur every few years, conspire to make this one of the most watched focal points in the Pacific. Both sides have chosen to have a strong naval presence. However, naval strategies between both powers greatly shifted in the 1980s and 1990s, while the ROC assumed a more defensive attitude by building and buying frigates and missile destroyers, and the PRC a more aggressive posture by developing long-range cruise missiles and supersonic surface-to-surface missiles.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Although the People's Liberation Army Air Force is considered large, most of its fleet consists of older generation J-7 fighters (localized MiG-21s and Mig-21BIs), raising doubts over the PLAAF's ability to control Taiwan's airspace in the event of a conflict. Since mid-1990s PRC has been purchasing, and later localizing, SU-27 based fighters. These Russian fighters, as well as their Chinese J11A variants, are currently over 170 in number, and have increased the effectiveness of PLAAF's Beyond Visual Range (BVR) capabilities. The introduction of 60 new-generation J10A fighters is anticipated to increase the PLAAF's firepower. PRC's acquisition of Russian Su30MKKs further enhanced the PLAAF's air-to-ground support ability. The ROC's air force, on the other hand, relies on Taiwan's fourth generation fighters, consisting of 150 US-built F-16 Fighting Falcons, approximately 60 French-built Mirage 2000-5s, and approximately 130 locally developed IDFs (Indigenous Defense Fighters). All of these ROC fighter jets are able to conduct BVR combat missions with BVR missiles, but the level of technology in mainland Chinese fighters is catching up. Also the United States Defense Intelligence Agency has reported that few of Taiwan's 400 total fighters are operationally capable.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In 2003, the ROC purchased four missile destroyers—the former , and expressed a strong interest in the . But with the growth of the PRC navy and air force, some doubt that the ROC could withstand a determined invasion attempt from mainland China in the future. These concerns have led to a view in certain quarters that Taiwanese independence, if it is to be implemented, should be attempted as early as possible, while the ROC still has the capacity to defend itself in an all-out military conflict. Over the past three decades, estimates of how long the ROC can withstand a full-scale invasion from across the Strait without any outside help have decreased from three months to only six days. Given such estimates, the US Navy has continued practicing "surging" its carrier groups, giving it the experience necessary to respond quickly to an attack on Taiwan. The US also collects data on the PRC's military deployments, through the use of spy satellites, for example. For early surveillance may effectively identify PRC's massive military movement, which may imply PRC's preparation for a military assault against Taiwan.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Naturally, war contingencies are not being planned in a vacuum. In 1979, the United States Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act, a law generally interpreted as mandating U.S. defense of Taiwan in the event of an attack from the Chinese Mainland (the Act is applied to Taiwan and Penghu, but not to Kinmen or Matsu, which are usually considered to be part of Mainland China). The United States maintains the world's largest permanent fleet in the Pacific Region near Taiwan. The Seventh Fleet, operating primarily out of various bases in Japan, is a powerful naval contingent built upon the world's only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier . Although the stated purpose of the fleet is not Taiwanese defense, it can be safely assumed from past actions, that is one of the reasons why the fleet is stationed in those waters. It is written into the strategy of the United States department of defense within this region that, "First, we are strengthening our military capacity to ensure the United States can successfully deter conflict and coercion and respond decisively when needed. Second, we are working together with our allies and partners from Northeast Asia to the Indian Ocean to build their capacity to address potential challenges in their waters and across the region. Third, we are leveraging military diplomacy to build greater transparency, reduce the risk of miscalculation or conflict, and promote shared maritime rules of the road."


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Starting in 2000, Japan renewed its defense obligations with the US and embarked on a rearmament program, partly in response to fears that Taiwan might be invaded. Some analysts believed that the PRC could launch preemptive strikes on military bases in Japan to deter US and Japanese forces from coming to the ROC's aid. Japanese strategic planners also see an independent Taiwan as vital, not only because the ROC controls valuable shipping routes, but also because its capture by PRC would make Japan more vulnerable. During World War II, the US invaded the Philippines, but another viable target to enable direct attacks on Japan would have been Taiwan (then known as Formosa). However, critics of the preemptive strike theory assert that the PRC would be loath to give Japan and the US such an excuse to intervene.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The United States Department of Defense in a 2011 report stated that the primary mission of the PRC military is a possible military conflict with Taiwan, including also possible US military assistance. Although the risk of a crisis in the short-term is low, in the absence of new political developments, Taiwan will likely dominate future military modernization and planning. However, also other priorities are becoming increasingly prominent and possible due to increasing military resources. Many of mainland China's most advanced military systems are stationed in areas opposite Taiwan. The rapid military modernization is continually changing the military balance of power towards mainland China.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: A 2008 report by the RAND Corporation analyzing a theoretical 2020 attack by mainland China on Taiwan suggested that the US would likely not be able to defend Taiwan. Cruise missile developments may enable China to partially or completely destroy or make inoperative US aircraft carriers and bases in the Western Pacific. New Chinese radars will likely be able to detect US stealth aircraft and China is acquiring stealthy and more effective aircraft. The reliability of US beyond-visual-range missiles as a mean to achieve air superiority is questionable and largely unproven.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In 2021 Admiral Phillip Davidson said in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that China could take military action on Taiwan some time in the next 6 years. A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry later responded stating that Davidson was trying to "hype up China's military threat."


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In 1996, the PRC began conducting military exercises near Taiwan, and launched several ballistic missiles over the island. The saber-rattling was done in response to the possible re-election of then President Lee Teng-hui. The United States, under President Clinton, sent two aircraft carrier battle groups to the region, reportedly sailing them into the Taiwan Strait. The PRC, unable to track the ships' movements, and probably unwilling to escalate the conflict, quickly backed down. The event had little impact on the outcome of the election, since none of Lee's contestants were strong enough to defeat him, but it is widely believed that the PRC's aggressive acts, far from intimidating the Taiwanese population, gave Lee a boost that pushed his share of votes over 50 percent.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: This was an aggressively serious escalation in response to the Taiwan Strait and the ongoing conflict between China and Taiwan. This hostile reaction by mainland China is the result of China implementing Putnam's Two-level game theory. This theory suggests that the chief negotiator of a state must balance and abide by both international and domestic interests, and in some cases must focus more on domestic interests. In the case of China, "a serious escalation of tensions in the Taiwan Strait and raised the specter of war—one that could conceivably draw in the United States. This turn of events is either the result of pressure by hawkish, hard-line soldiers on moderate, mild-mannered statesmen for a tougher, more aggressive response to Taiwan, or a strong consensus among both civilian and military leaders in the Politburo."


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: On 24 October 2006, Roger C. S. Lin led a group of Taiwanese residents, including members of the Taiwan Nation Party, to file a complaint for declaratory relief in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. According to their lawyer, Charles Camp, "the Complaint asks the Court to declare whether the Taiwanese plaintiffs, including members of the Taiwan Nation Party, have certain rights under the United States Constitution and other US laws". Their central argument is that, following Japanese renunciation of all rights and claims to Taiwan, Taiwan came under U.S. jurisdiction based on it being the principal occupying power as designated in the Treaty of Peace with Japan and remains so to this day. This case was opposed by the United States government.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The District Court agreed with United States government on 18 March 2008 and ruled that the case presents a political question; as such, the court concluded that it had no jurisdiction to hear the matter and dismissed the complaint. This decision was appealed by plaintiffs and the appeals court unanimously upheld the district court ruling.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Although the situation is complex, most observers believe that it is stable with enough understandings and gentlemen's agreements to keep things from breaking out into open warfare. The current controversy is over the term "one China", as the PRC insists that the ROC must recognize this term to begin negotiations. Although the Democratic Progressive Party has moderated its support for Taiwan independence, there is still insufficient support within that party for former President Chen Shui-bian to agree to one China. By contrast, the Kuomintang (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) appear willing to agree to some variation of one China, and observers believed the position of the PRC was designed to sideline Chen until the 2004 presidential election where it was hoped that someone who was more supportive of Chinese unification would come to power. Partly to counter this, Chen Shui-bian announced in July 2002 that if the PRC does not respond to Taiwan's goodwill, Taiwan may "go on its own ... road."


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: What ROC president, Chen Shui-bian, means by this is that there are other ways of combatting China as a powerful hegemon. For example, "If Taiwan's Chen Shui-bian had declared legal independence by a popular referendum, scholars agree that is could have immediately triggered a crisis in China, due to its political sensitivity on the mainland". Taiwan's forced establishment of sovereignty scares the PRC; so when they implement laws, such as the Anti-secession law, it angers ROC's public opinion, and actually creates a 'rallying around the flag' effect in support of the Taiwanese independence movement.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: With Chen's re-election in 2004, Beijing's prospects for a speedier resolution were dampened, though they seemed strengthened again following the Pan-Blue majority in the 2004 legislative elections. However, public opinion in Taiwan reacted unfavorably towards the anti-secession law passed by the PRC in March 2005. Following two high-profile visits by KMT and PFP party leaders to the PRC, the balance of public opinion appears to be ambiguous, with the Pan-Green Coalition gaining a majority in the 2005 National Assembly elections, but the Pan-Blue Coalition scoring a landslide victory in the 2005 municipal elections.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Legislative elections were held in Taiwan on 12 January 2008. The results gave the Kuomintang and the Pan-Blue Coalition an absolute majority (86 of the 113 seats) in the legislature, handing a heavy defeat to President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party, which won the remaining 27 seats. The junior partner in the Pan-Green Coalition, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, won no seats.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The election for the 12th President of ROC was held on 22 March 2008. Kuomintang candidate Ma Ying-jeou won, with 58% of the vote, ending eight years of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leadership. Along with the 2008 legislative election, Ma's landslide victory brought the Kuomintang back to power in Taiwan. This new political situation has led to a decrease of tension between both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the increase of cross-strait relations, making a declaration of independence, or war, something unlikely.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its Chinese counterpart – the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) signed four agreements in Taipei on 4 November 2008. Both SEF and ARATS have agreed to address direct sea links, daily charter flights, direct postal service and food safety.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: It has been reported that China has set a 2049 deadline for the unification of Taiwan with Mainland China, which is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. With CCP general secretary Xi Jinping has been saying that unification was part of the Chinese Dream.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In 2021, the Chinese Government stated that they would not allow pro-Taiwan independence people into China and also Hong Kong and Macau.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: In May 2022, the U.S. State Department Taiwan fact sheet on its website was changed to remove wording on not supporting Taiwan independence and acknowledging China's position that Taiwan is part of China, which drew criticism the Chinese Foreign Ministry. A State Department spokesperson said that while the wording had changed, "our underlying policy has not changed" and "we do not support Taiwan independence".


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Public opinion in Taiwan regarding relations with the PRC is notoriously difficult to gauge, as poll results tend to be extremely sensitive to how the questions are phrased and what options are given, and there is a tendency by all political parties to spin the results to support their point of view.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: According to a November 2005 poll from the Mainland Affairs Council, 37.7% of people living in the ROC favor maintaining the status quo until a decision can be made in the future, 18.4% favors maintaining the status quo indefinitely, 14% favors maintaining the status quo until eventual independence, 12% favors maintaining the status quo until eventual unification, 10.3% favors independence as soon as possible, and 2.1% favors unification as soon as possible. According to the same poll, 78.3% are opposed to the "One Country, Two Systems" model, which was used for Hong Kong and Macau, while 10.4% is in favor.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: However, it is essential to consider current events or newly developing positions when determining public opinion in order to maintain accuracy and efficiency, especially when it comes to conducting foreign policy and determining Taiwan's political status and hopeful eventual independence. For example, "Large jumps in the proportion of independence supporters after China's missile test in mid-1996 (from 13% in February to 21% in March) and Lee Teng-hui's "special state–to-state" speech in mid-1999 (from 15% in March to 28% in August) suggest that the cross-Strait tension influenced the Taiwanese to become more independence-minded".


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: According to a June 2008 poll from a Taiwanese mainstream media TVBS, 58% of people living in Taiwan favor maintaining the status quo, 19% favors independence, and 8% favors unification. According to the same poll, if status quo is not an option and the ones who were surveyed must choose between "Independence" or "Unification", 65% are in favor of independence while 19% would opt for unification. The same poll also reveals that, in terms of self-identity, when the respondents are not told that a Taiwanese can also be a Chinese, 68% of the respondents identify themselves as "Taiwanese" while 18% would call themselves "Chinese". However, when the respondents are told that duo identity is an option, 45% of the respondents identify themselves as "Taiwanese only", 4% of the respondents call themselves "Chinese only" while 45% of the respondents call themselves "both Taiwanese as well as Chinese". Furthermore, when it comes to preference in which national identity to be used in international organizations, 54% of people in the survey indicated that they prefer "Taiwan" and only 25% of the people voted for "Chinese Taipei".


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: According to an October 2008 poll from the Mainland Affairs Council, on the question of Taiwan's status, 36.17% of respondents favor maintaining the status quo until a decision can be made in the future, 25.53% favors maintaining the status quo indefinitely, 12.49% favors maintaining the status quo until eventual independence, 4.44% favors maintaining the status quo until eventual unification, 14.80% favors independence as soon as possible, and 1.76% favors unification as soon as possible. In the same poll, on the question of the PRC government's attitude towards the ROC government, 64.85% of the respondents consider the PRC government hostile or very hostile, 24.89 consider the PRC government friendly or very friendly, while 10.27% did not express an opinion. On the question of the PRC government's attitude towards the people in Taiwan, 45.98% of the respondents consider the PRC government hostile or very hostile, 39.6% consider the PRC government friendly or very friendly, while 14.43% did not express an opinion.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: May 2009 Taiwan's (Republic of China) Department of the Interior published a survey examining whether people in Taiwan see themselves as Taiwanese, Chinese or both. 64.6% see themselves as Taiwanese, 11.5% as Chinese, 18.1% as both and 5.8% were unsure.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: According to a December 2009 poll from a Taiwanese mainstream media TVBS, if status quo is not an option and the ones who were surveyed must choose between "Independence" or "Unification", 68% are in favor of independence while 13% would opt for unification.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: As of March 2012, a poll by the Global Views Monthly indicated that support for Taiwanese independence has risen. According to the survey 28.2 percent of respondents indicated that they support a formal declaration for Taiwan independence, a rise of 3.7 percent compared to a similar poll conducted earlier in 2012. Asked whether Taiwan would eventually declare itself a new and independent nation, 49.1 percent replied yes while 38 percent responded negatively, the Global Views Monthly said. Only 22.9 percent agreed that Taiwan should eventually unify with China, while 63.5 percent disagreed.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: A June 2013 poll conducted by DPP showed an overwhelming 77.6% consider themselves as Taiwanese. On the independence-unification issue, the survey found that 25.9 percent said they support unification, 59 percent support independence and 10.3 percent prefer the "status quo." When asked whether Taiwan and China are parts of one country, the party said the survey found 78.4 percent disagree, while 15 percent agreed. As for whether Taiwan and China are two districts in one country, 70.6 percent disagree, while 22.8 percent agree, the survey showed. D)When asked which among four descriptions—"one country on each side," "a special state-to-state relationship," "one country, two areas," and "two sides are of one country"—they find the most acceptable, 54.9 percent said "one country on each side," 25.3 percent chose "a special state-to-state relationship," 9.8 percent said "one country, two areas" and 2.5 percent favor "two sides are of one country," the survey showed.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: From the perspective of the ROC constitution, which the mainstream political parties such as the KMT and DPP currently respect and recognize, changing the ROC's governing status or completely clarifying Taiwan's political status would at best require amending the ROC constitution. In other words, if unification supporters wanted to unify Taiwan with mainland China in such a way that would effectively abolish the ROC or affect the ROC's sovereignty, or if independence supporters wanted to abolish the ROC and establish a Republic of Taiwan, they would also need to amend or abolish the ROC constitution and redraft a new constitution. Passing an amendment requires an unusually broad political consensus, which includes approval from three-quarters of a quorum of members of the Legislative Yuan. This quorum requires at least three-quarters of all members of the Legislature. After passing the legislature, the amendments need ratification from at least fifty percent of all eligible voters of the ROC, "irrespective" of voter turnout.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Given these harsh constitutional requirements, neither the Pan-Greens nor the Pan-Blues can unilaterally change Taiwan's political and legal status with respect to the ROC's constitution. However, extreme Taiwan independence supporters view the ROC's constitution as illegal and therefore believe that amendments to the ROC constitution are an invalid way to change Taiwan's political status.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: On October 24, 2021, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" aired an episode about Taiwan after a petition on Change.org in June invited Oliver to discuss Taiwan's complex political situation and its international significance. In the segment, a brief but comprehensive history of Taiwan is provided with notable points such as occupation by the Dutch, Spanish, Manchu-Qing dynasty, and Japanese; path to becoming a prominent Asian democracy; and the strained relation with modern-day China. Oliver also highlighted Taiwan as the birthplace of bubble tea, apologies made by John Cena after referring to Taiwan as a country, and the hesitation of international organizations like the World Health Organization and the Olympics in properly representing Taiwan. He concluded the episode by emphasizing Taiwanese citizens' point of view and their right to determine the country's own future.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: Some scholarly sources as well as political entities like the PRC refer to Taiwan's controversial status as the "Taiwan question", "Taiwan issue", or "Taiwan problem". The ROC government does not like these terminologies, emphasizing that it should be called the "Mainland issue" or "Mainland question", because from the ROC's point of view, the PRC is making an issue out of or creating a problem out of Taiwan. Others use the term "Taiwan Strait Issue" because it implies nothing about sovereignty and because "Cross-Strait relations" is a term used by both the ROC and the PRC to describe their interactions. However, this term is also objectionable to some because it still implies that there is an issue, which they feel is created only by the PRC.


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: The use of the terms "de facto" and "de jure" to describe Taiwan's as well as the Republic of China's status as a state is itself a contentious issue. This partially stems from the lack of precedents regarding derecognized, but still constitutionally functioning states (i.e., those meeting the four requirements of the Montevideo Convention). For instance, it is argued by Jacques deLisle that "An additional difficulty for Taiwan is the implicit fifth of the four criteria for statehood under international law: some assertion by the relevant authorities that the entity is, in fact, a state". For example, is recognition as a state by the UN a decisive feature of statehood, given that such recognition, for the most part, correlates well with entities recognised as states by customary international law? If this "implicit fifth" principle is accepted, then the Republic of China may have ceased to be a state post-1971 as a matter of international law (""de jure""), yet continued to otherwise function as the state that it previously was recognised as (""de facto"").


title: Political status of Taiwan

text: From the 1990s onwards, media wire services sometimes describe Taiwan as having "de facto" independence, whereas the Republic of China has always considered itself as a continuously functioning "de jure" state.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Kedarnath Bhattacharya (born 20 October 1957), better known as Kumar Sanu, is an Indian playback singer. He is known as the King of Melody in Bollywood. He is famous for singing thousands of Bollywood Hindi songs. Apart from Hindi, he has also sang in other languages including Marathi, Nepali, Assamese, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Manipuri, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Punjabi, Odia, Chhattisgarhi, Urdu, Pali, English and his native language Bengali, both in West Bengal and Bangladesh. He holds the record for winning five consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer from 1990 to 1994. For his contribution to Indian cinema and music, he was awarded the Padma Shri in 2009 by the Government of India. Many of his tracks feature in BBC's "Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of all time".


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Kumar Sanu's father, Pashupati Bhattacharya, was a vocalist and composer. The two and Sanu's elder sister lived in the Sinthee area of Calcutta (now Kolkata) near Biswanath Park. Kumar Sanu lived at Panchanan tala at Gopal Bose Lane in Sinthi area at North Kolkata.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Kumar Sanu started his playback career as Sanu Bhattacharya. In 1986, he was in the Bangladeshi film "Tin Kanya", directed by Shibli Sadiq. Sanu had his first major Bollywood song in "Hero Hiralal" (1989).


title: Kumar Sanu

text: In 1989 September 23, Jagjit Singh introduced Kumar Sanu to Kalyanji in Vimal Bunglow, Mumbai. On their suggestion, Sanu changed his early name from "Sanu Bhattacharya" to "Kumar Sanu" after his idol Kishore Kumar. Sanu then relocated to Mumbai, where Kalyanji-Anandji gave him a chance to sing in the film "Jaadugar".


title: Kumar Sanu

text: For the 1990 film "Aashiqui", Sanu sang all but one of the songs. He won the first of his record five consecutive Filmfare Awards as Best Male Playback Singer. His next Filmfare Awards came for songs in the movies "Saajan" (1991), "Deewana" (1992), "Baazigar" (1993) and "" (1994). He won 5 back to back Filmfare awards for singing, between 1990 and 1994.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Kumar Sanu got his major break when Gulshan Kumar with music directors Nadeem and Shravan gave him chance to sing most of the songs of movie "Aashiqui" (1990), songs were recorded earlier for an album and later movie was made around the songs. The movie as well as the songs were a grand success. Thereafter, they worked together in many films, including "Apmaan Ki Aag" (1990), "Saajan" (1991), "Phool Aur Kaante" (1991), "Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin" (1991), "Sadak" (1991), "Pyaar Ka Saaya" (1991), "Saathi" (1991), "Jaan Ki Kasam" (1991), "Deewana" (1992), "Dil Ka Kya Kasoor" (1992), "Jaan Tere Naam" (1992), "Sapne Sajan Ke" (1992), "Anaam" (1992), "Paayal" (1992), "Panaah" (1992), "Bekhudi" (1992), "Kal Ki Awaaz" (1992), Dilwale Kabhi Na Hare (1993), "Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke" (1993), "Sainik" (1993), "Junoon" (1992), "Balmaa" (1993), "Waqt Hamara Hai" (1993), "Rang" (1993), "Dil Tera Aashiq" (1993), "Tadipaar" (1993), "Sangraam" (1993), "Shreeman Aashiq" (1993), "Dhartiputra" (1993), "Kaise Kaise Rishte" (1993), "Aadmi Khilona Hai" (1993), "Divya Shakti" (1993), "Damini" (1993), "Dilwale" (1994), "Stuntman" (1994), "" (1994), "Salaami" (1994), "Chhoti Bahu" (1994), "Ekka Raja Rani" (1994), "Saajan Ka Ghar" (1994), "Kranti Kshetra" (1994), "Andolan" (1995), "Gaddar" (1995), "Barsaat" (1995), "Anokha Andaaz" (1995), "Saajan Ki Baahon Mein" (1995), "Zamaana Deewana" (1995), "Raja Hindustani" (1996), "Agnisakshi" (1996), Majhdhaar (1996), Himmatvar (1996), Jeet (1996), "Saajan Chale Sasural" (1996), "Pardes" (1997), "Naseeb" (1997), "Aa Ab Laut Chalen" (1999), "Sirf Tum" (1999), "Dhadkan" (2000), "Kasoor" (2001), "Hum Ho Gaye Aapke" (2001), "" (2001), "Yeh Dil Aashiqanaa" (2002), "Ansh" (2002), "Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya" (2002), "Dil Hai Tumhaara" (2002), "Tum Se Achcha Kaun Hai" (2002), "Dil Ka Rishta" (2003), "" (2003), "Footpath" (2003), "Andaaz" (2003), "Indian Babu" (2003), "Hungama" (2003), "Sheen" (2004), "Hatya" (2004), "Gumnaam" (2004), "Barsaat" (2005), "Mere Jeevan Saathi" (2006), and "Sanam Teri Kasam" (2009). He sang most of his songs for them (293 songs).


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Sanu has sung songs of various genres with Anu Malik. It was Malik who made Sanu sing his first western-style song "Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhe", from the film "Baazigar" (1993). Some other achievements of the combo are "Chamatkar" (1992), "Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee" (1993), "Sir" (1993), "Imtihaan" (1994), "Vijaypath" (1994), "Main Khiladi Tu Anari" (1994), "Naaraaz" (1994), "Yaar Gaddar" (1994), "Hum Hain Bemisaal" (1994), "Aa Gale Lag Jaa" (1994), "Naajayaz" (1995), "Gundaraj" (1995), "Hulchul" (1995), "Akele Hum Akele Tum" (1995), "Diljale" (1996), "Sapoot" (1996), "Daraar" (1996), "Chaahat" (1996), "Virasat" (1997), "Hamesha" (1997), "Dil Kitna Nadaan Hai" (1997), "Judwaa" (1997), "Tamanna" (1997), "Duplicate" (1998), "Kareeb" (1998), "Soldier" (1998), "Iski Topi Uske Sarr" (1998), "Hum To Mohabbat Karega" (2000), "Ajnabee" (2001), "" (2003), "Ishq Vishq" (2003), "Fida" (2004) and "No Entry" (2005). In 2015, they were again back with songs in "Dum Laga Ke Haisha"


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Sanu started his work with Jatin–Lalit on the 1992 film "Khiladi". From then on he provided his voice for hit movies including "Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman" (1992), "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa" (1993), Boy Friend (1993), "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (1995), "" (1996), "Yes Boss" (1997), "Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai" (1998), "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" (1998), "Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha" (1998), "Ghulam" (1998), "Dil Kya Kare" (1999), "Khubsoorat" (1999), "Sangharsh" (1999), "Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan" (1999), "Vaastav" (1999), "Sarfarosh" (1999) and "Flames- Term 2 (The Timeliners Originals)" (2019). He has sung a total of 137 songs for them.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Sanu worked for Himesh Reshammiya, for all title tracks of TV serials which Reshammiya produced. All the title tracks were sung by Sanu, and then in his debut film as a music director, " Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya" and further for many other films such as "Kurukshetra", "Yeh Hai Jalwa", "Humraaz", "Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye", "Hello Brother", "Bandhan", "Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge", "Jodi No.1", "Uljhan", "Footpath" and "".


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Beginning with "Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye" in the movie "Jurm" (1990), Sanu's collaboration with Rajesh Roshan produced one hit after another. Significant movies include "Karan Arjun" (1995), "Sabse Bada Khiladi" (1995), "Papa Kehte Hai" (1996), "Dastak" (1996), "Koyla" (1997), "Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai" (2000), "Kya Kehna" (2000), "" (2000) and "Aetbaar" (2004).


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Kumar Sanu has rendered his voice for some of Viju Shah's greatest compositions. "Vishwatma" (1992), "Mohra" (1994), "Tere Mere Sapne" (1996), "" (1997), "Aar Ya Paar" (1997), "Beti No. 1" (1999), "Bulandi" (2000), "Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat" (2001) and "Kasam" (2001) are some of their notable albums.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Kumar Sanu has recorded over 150 songs with Anand–Milind. Breaking away from his romantic image, he has sung peppy numbers for the duo, his most famous ones being for actor Govinda. He worked with the duo and successfully delivered hits such as "Trinetra" (1991), "Jigar" (1992), Bol Radha Bol (1992), Insaniyat Ke Devta (1992), Ek Ladka Ek Ladki (1992), Suryavanshi (1992), Hasti (1992), Giraft (1992), Platform (1992), "Raja Babu" (1994), "Suhaag" (1994), "Jai Kishan" (1994), "Coolie No 1" (1995), "Hero No. 1" (1997), "Gair" (1998), "Chal Mere Bhai" (2000), "Army" (1996), "Lootere" (1993), "Gopi Kishan" (1994) and "Rakshak" (1996).


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Sanu has released albums of Kishore Kumar's songs including "Kishore Ki Yaadein", a collection early in his career. Then came the "Yaadein" series where he sang many of the songs of Kishore Kumar along with singers Abhijeet Bhattacharya and Vinod Rathod.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Sanu has composed music for various Indian films. "Utthaan" and "Yeh Sunday Kyun Aata Hai" are most remarkable among them. Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Anuradha Paudwal, Sapna Mukherjee, Alka Yagnik, Sonu Nigam, Sadhana Sargam, Sudesh Bhonsle, Shaan, Shreya Ghosal, Hema Sardesai, Sunidhi Chauhan and many more lent their voices for his music. "Yeh Kaisa Utthhan Hai" (sung by Asha Bhosle and Sonu Nigam in two different versions) and "Jisne Sapna Dekha" (sung by Sanu himself) are critically acclaimed. He sang the title song for the TV show "Yeh Duniyan Gazab Ki", with singer Udit Narayan.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: In 2017, Sanu along with Sadhna Sargam sung for the title track of 19s Story based TV Series "Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hain" and also appeared as a part for cameo in it. In 2019, he made a little singing for the Star Plus's "Kulfi Kumarr Bajewala".


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Other than singing and composing music for films, he has also shown interest in producing films. In 2006, he produced his first Hindi film "Utthaan". Currently, he is working with a fellow producer, Rakesh Bhhatia on a new project named "Yeh Sunday Kyun Aata Hai". The film is based on the lives of four children who live in the streets of Mumbai and polish shoes at a train station in order to earn their livelihoods. The film will feature Mithun Chakraborty in a leading role. Recently, Sanu sang for a Bangladeshi Bengali film "Hason Raja", which was directed by a UK-based filmmaker Ruhul Amin. This movie was never released. He also has composed for some Bengali movies; "Amrita" and "Tobu Aporichito".


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Sanu was on the panel of judges on Sony TV for "Waar Parriwar", a reality show based on the bringing together of a singing gharana (family of singers) and on Zee TV in a music reality show called "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa". In 2012, he judged the Zee Bangla musical reality show "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – Gane Gane Tomar Mone". At present, he is one of the judges of the Star Jalsha popular musical reality show "Super Singer".


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Recently he recorded an album named "Hum aur Tum". He also recorded a Spanish song for an album. He has also the record for the most recordings of songs in a single day, 28 songs. He also made special appearances as an actor in the movies "sapne sajan ke" "Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain" (1999) and "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" (2015).


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Sanu opened a primary school, Kumar Sanu Vidya Niketan, for underprivileged children in Karol Bagh, Delhi. The students are given uniforms and books free of cost.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: In 2022 Sanu collaborated with music director Vaibhav Saxena and two young singers for "Mohabbat Mein tere sanam" which was released and distributed worldwide by new-age Record Label Vusic Records.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Sanu had multiple hit duet numbers with singers Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Anuradha Paudwal, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sadhana Sargam, Alisha Chinai, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sapna Mukherjee, Poornima, Sapna Awasthi, Hema Sardesai, Shreya Ghoshal, Akriti Kakkar, Monali Thakur, Neha Kakkar, and others.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Sanu also multiple duets with his daughter Shannon K, pop singer and songwriter, who has launched her career in the United States in 2017.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Sanu is also credited with the highest number of version songs and male duet hits with the finest singers of 1980s and 1990s. Some of the notable songs are as follows:


title: Kumar Sanu

text: He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2004 in a ceremony headed by then Party President Venkaiah Naidu, but he later resigned to concentrate on singing.


title: Kumar Sanu

text: Kumar Sanu returned to playback singing in 2012. He made a comeback at the urge of composers Sajid–Wajid. Sajid-Wajid gave him "Chammak Challo Chhail Chhabili" – "Rowdy Rathore", a wedding song with Shreya Ghoshal. In 2015, Kumar Sanu replaced Lata Mangeshkar as the background voice of Yash Raj Films logo for the film "Dum Laga Ke Haisha". This was the first time in YRF's 45-year history that Lata Mangeshkar's voice was replaced.


title: Frederick Trump

text: Frederick Trump (born Friedrich Trump, ; March 14, 1869 – May 30, 1918) was a German-born American barber and businessman. He was the patriarch of the Trump family and the paternal grandfather of Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States.


title: Frederick Trump

text: Born and raised in Kallstadt, Kingdom of Bavaria, Trump immigrated to the United States in 1885. In 1891, he began speculating in real estate in Seattle. During the Klondike Gold Rush, he moved to the Yukon and made his fortune by operating a restaurant and a brothel for miners in Whitehorse.


title: Frederick Trump

text: In 1901, Trump returned to Kallstadt and married Elisabeth Christ. As he had purportedly immigrated to the United States in order to evade conscription, the Bavarian Government stripped him of his citizenship in 1905. As a result, he returned to the United States with his family.


title: Frederick Trump

text: Trump worked as a hotel manager and was beginning to acquire real estate in Queens when he died in the 1918 flu pandemic.


title: Frederick Trump

text: Friedrich Trump was born in Kallstadt, Palatinate, then part of the Kingdom of Bavaria, to Christian Johannes Trump (1829–1877) and Katharina Kober (1836–1922). Confessionally, the village was Protestant in contrast to the Bavarian mainland, which was overwhelmingly Catholic.


title: Frederick Trump

text: Trump's earliest known male ancestor is Johann Philipp Trump (1667–1707, parents or place of birth not recorded), who married Juliana Maria Rodenroth. The couple had a son, Johann Sebastian Trump (1699–1756). Johann Sebastian's son Johann Paul Trump (1727–1792) was born in Bobenheim am Berg.


title: Frederick Trump

text: The first link to Kallstadt can be established for Johann Sebastian's grandson Johannes Trump (1789–1836) who was born in Bobenheim am Berg and married in Kallstadt, where he also died. The Palatinate, then a relatively impoverished region, has been known for its viticulture since the Roman Empire.


title: Frederick Trump

text: From 1816 to 1918, when Bavaria became the Free State of Bavaria, the Palatinate was part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1871, Bavaria became a part of the newly formed German Empire. During periods of war and anti-German discrimination in the United States, Trump's son Fred later denied his German heritage, claiming his father had been a Swede from Karlstad, Sweden. This version was repeated by Fred's son Donald in his 1987 autobiography.


title: Frederick Trump

text: After being sick with emphysema for 10 years, Trump's father, Christian Johannes, died on July 6, 1877, at the age of 48, leaving the family in severe debt from medical expenses. While five of the six children worked in the family grape fields, Friedrich was considered too sickly to endure such hard labor. In 1883, then aged 14, he was sent to nearby Frankenthal by his mother to work as a barber's apprentice and learn the trade.


title: Frederick Trump

text: Trump worked seven days a week for two and a half years under barber Friedrich Lang. After completing his apprenticeship, he returned to Kallstadt, a village with about 1,000 inhabitants. He quickly discovered there was not enough business to earn a living. He was also approaching the age of eligibility for conscription to military service in the Imperial German Army. He quickly decided to immigrate to the United States, later saying, "I agreed with my mother that I should go to America." Years later, his family members said that he departed secretly at night, leaving his mother a note. As a result of Trump fleeing mandatory conscription required of all citizens, a royal decree was later issued banishing him from the country.


title: Frederick Trump

text: In 1885, at age 16, Trump immigrated via Bremen, Germany, to the United States aboard the steamship "Eider", departing on October 7 and arriving at the Castle Garden Immigrant Landing Depot in New York City on October 19. As he had not yet served the mandatory military duty of two years in the Kingdom of Bavaria, this immigration was illegal under Bavarian law. U.S. immigration records list his name as "Friedr. Trumpf" and his occupation as "none". He moved in with his older sister Katharina – who had immigrated in 1883 – and her husband Fred Schuster, also from Kallstadt. Only a few hours after arriving, he met a German-speaking barber who was looking for an employee, and began working the following day. He worked as a barber for six years. Trump lived with his relatives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a neighborhood with many Palatine German immigrants, at 76 Forsyth Street. Due to the cost of operating at 76 Forsyth Street getting expensive, they later moved to 606 East 17th Street and to 2012 2nd Avenue.


title: Frederick Trump

text: In 1891, Trump moved to Seattle, in the newly admitted U.S. state of Washington. With his life savings of several hundred dollars, he bought the Poodle Dog, which he renamed the Dairy Restaurant, and supplied it with new tables, chairs, and a range. Located at 208 Washington Street, the Dairy Restaurant was in the middle of Seattle's Pioneer Square; Washington Street was nicknamed "the Line" and included an assortment of saloons, casinos, and brothels. Biographer Gwenda Blair called it "a hotbed of sex, booze, and money, [it] was the indisputable center of the action in Seattle." The restaurant served food and liquor and was advertised to include "Rooms for Ladies", a common euphemism for prostitution. In 1892, Trump became a U.S. citizen and voted in Washington's first presidential election. He lived in Seattle until early 1893.


title: Frederick Trump

text: On February 14, 1894, Trump sold the Dairy Restaurant, and in March, he moved to the emerging mining town of Monte Cristo, Washington in Snohomish County north of Seattle. After evidence of mineral deposits had been discovered in 1889, Monte Cristo was expected to produce a fortune in gold and silver. Many prospectors moved to the area in hopes of becoming rich. Rumors about financial investments by millionaire John D. Rockefeller in the entire Everett area created an exaggerated expectation of the area's potential.


title: Frederick Trump

text: Before leaving Seattle, Trump bought in the Pine Lake Plateau, east of the city, for $200, which was the first major real estate purchase of the Trump family. In Monte Cristo, Trump chose a plot of land near the later train station that he wanted to build a hotel on, but could not afford the $1,000-per-acre fee to purchase it. Instead, he filed a gold placer claim on the land, which allowed him to claim exclusive mineral rights to the land without having to pay for it, even though the land had already been claimed by Everett resident Nicholas Rudebeck. At that time, the U.S. Land Office was known to be corrupt and frequently allowed such multiple claims. Despite the placer's claim providing Trump no right to build any structure on the land, he quickly bought lumber to build a new boarding house and operate it similarly to the Dairy Restaurant. He never tried to mine gold on the land. Blair described Trump as "mining the miners" since they needed a place to sleep at night while they were mining.In July 1894, Rudebeck filed to incorporate the land and sent an agent to collect rent; this was apparently unsuccessful since the people of Monte Cristo did not pay attention to legal titles. Trump finally bought the land in December 1894. While in Monte Cristo, Trump was elected in 1896 as justice of the peace by a 32-to-5 margin.


title: Frederick Trump

text: Years of mining had revealed that there was not nearly as much gold and silver in Monte Cristo as had once been believed, and in August 1894, Rockefeller pulled out of most of his investment in the area, creating the "Everett bubble burst." By the spring of 1896, most of the miners had left Monte Cristo. Trump suffered both from a shortage of workers and reduced business, although he had been one of the few people to make money in Monte Cristo. Trump prepared for the bubble burst by funding two miners in the Yukon, Canada in exchange for them staking a claim for him. In July 1897, the Klondike Gold Rush began after boats loaded with gold arrived in San Francisco and Seattle. Thousands of people rushed to the area in hopes of making a fortune. Trump sold off most of his property in Monte Cristo a few weeks later and moved back to Seattle.


title: Frederick Trump

text: In Seattle, Trump opened a new restaurant at 207 Cherry Street. Business was so good that he paid off the mortgage in four weeks. Meanwhile, on 7 July, the two miners whom Trump had funded staked his claim at Hunker Creek, a tributary of the Klondike. After spending $15 to register the claim, they sold half of it for $400 the next day. A week later, another miner sold it for $1,000. On 20 September, they staked a second claim, at Deadwood Creek. Half of it was sold in October for $150, while the other half was sold in December for $2,000. It is, however, unknown if Trump ever received any money from there. By early 1898, he had made enough money to go to the Yukon himself.


title: Frederick Trump

text: He bought all the necessary supplies, sold off his remaining properties in Monte Cristo and Seattle, and transferred his 40 acres in the Pine Lake Plateau to his sister Louise. In 1900, Louise sold the property for $250. In the winter following Trump's departure from Monte Cristo, the town suffered some of the worst avalanches and floods in its short history, and this time, Rockefeller refused to reconstruct the almost vital railroad to Everett.


title: Frederick Trump

text: According to Blair's account, when Trump left for the Yukon, he had no plans to do actual mining. He likely travelled the White Pass route, which included the notorious "Dead Horse trail", so named because drivers whipped animals of transport until they dropped dead on the trail and were left to decompose. In the spring of 1898, Trump and another miner named Ernest Levin opened a tent restaurant along the trail. Blair writes that "a frequent dish was fresh-slaughtered, quick-frozen horse".


title: Frederick Trump

text: In May 1898, Trump and Levin moved to Bennett, British Columbia, a town known for prospectors building boats in order to travel to Dawson. In Bennett, Trump and Levin opened the Arctic Restaurant and Hotel, which offered fine dining, lodging and sex in a sea of tents. The Arctic was also originally housed in a tent, but demand for the hotel and restaurant grew until it occupied a two-story building. A letter to the "Yukon Sun" newspaper described the Arctic:


title: Frederick Trump

text: For single men the Arctic has excellent accommodations as well as the best restaurant in Bennett, but I would not advise respectable women to go there to sleep as they are liable to hear that which would be repugnant to their feelings – and uttered, too, by the depraved of their own sex.


title: Frederick Trump

text: The Arctic House was one of the largest and most extravagant restaurants in that region of the Klondike, offering fresh fruit and ptarmigan in addition to the staple of horse meat. The Arctic was open 24 hours a day and advertised "Rooms for ladies", which included beds and scales for measuring gold dust. The local detachment of North-West Mounted Police were known to tolerate vice so long as it was conducted discreetly.


title: Frederick Trump

text: In 1900, the White Pass and Yukon Route, a railroad between Skagway, Alaska and Whitehorse, Yukon, was completed. Trump founded the White Horse Restaurant and Inn in White Horse. They moved the building by barge, relocated on Front Street, and were operational by June.


title: Frederick Trump

text: The new restaurant, which included one of the largest steel ranges in the area, prepared 3,000 meals per day and had space for gambling. Despite the enormous financial success, Trump and Levin began fighting due to Levin's drinking. They broke up their business relationship in February 1901, but reconciled in April. Around that time, the local government announced the suppression of prostitution, gambling and liquor, though the crackdown was delayed by businessmen until later that year. In light of this impending threat to his business operation, Trump sold his share of the restaurant to Levin and left the Yukon. In the months that followed, Levin was arrested for public drunkenness and sent to jail, and the Arctic was taken over by the Mounties. The restaurant burned down in the White Horse fire of 1905. Blair wrote that "once again, in a situation that created many losers, [Frederick Trump] managed to emerge a winner."


title: Frederick Trump

text: Trump returned to Kallstadt in 1901 as a wealthy man. Biographer Blair said that "the business of seeing to his customers' need for food, drink and female companionship had been good to him." He quickly met and proposed to Elisabeth Christ (1880–1966), the daughter of a former neighbor; she was eleven years younger than Trump. Trump's mother disapproved of Christ because she considered her family to be of a lower social class. Trump and Christ married on August 26, 1902, and moved to New York City.


title: Frederick Trump

text: In New York, Trump found work as a barber and a restaurant and hotel manager. The couple lived at 1006 Westchester Avenue in the German-speaking Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx. Their daughter Elizabeth was born on April 30, 1904. In May 1904, when Trump applied in New York for a U.S. passport to travel with his wife and his daughter, he listed his profession as "hotelkeeper". Due to Elizabeth Sr.'s extreme homesickness, the family returned to Germany later that year. In Germany, Trump deposited into a bank his life's savings of 80,000 marks, .


title: Frederick Trump

text: Soon after the family arrived in Germany, Bavarian authorities determined that Trump had emigrated from Germany to avoid his military-service obligations, and he was classified as a draft dodger. On 24 December 1904 the Department of Interior announced an investigation to banish Trump from Germany. Officially, they found that he had violated the Resolution of the Royal Ministry of the Interior number 9916, an 1886 law that punished immigration to North America to avoid military service with the loss of Bavarian and thus German citizenship. In February 1905, a royal decree was issued ordering Trump to leave within eight weeks due to having emigrated to evade military service and failing to register his departure with the authorities. For several months, Trump petitioned the government to allow him to stay but he was unsuccessful.


title: Frederick Trump

text: He and his family returned to New York on 30 June 1905. Their son Fred was born on 11 October 1905, in Bronx, New York. The family lived at 539 East 177th Street. In 1907, their second son, John, was born. Later that year the family moved to Woodhaven, Queens. While living in Queens, Trump opened a barber shop at 60 Wall Street in Manhattan.


title: Frederick Trump

text: In 1908, Trump bought real estate on Jamaica Avenue in Woodhaven. Two years later, he moved his family into the building on the land, renting out several rooms. He also worked as a hotel manager at the Medallion Hotel on 6th Avenue and 23rd Street. Trump intended to continue buying more land, but during World War I he kept a low profile because of the pervasive anti-German sentiment in the US due to the war. German-born citizens came under suspicion.


title: Frederick Trump

text: A family story of his death is that "on May 29, 1918, while walking with his son Fred, Trump suddenly felt extremely sick and was rushed to bed. The next day, he was dead. What was first diagnosed as pneumonia turned out to be one of the early cases of the Spanish flu, which caused millions of deaths around the world." In reality, Trump became ill on May 23, 1918 and died May 30, 1918 at 6 a.m., an illness of eight days, from pneumonia and a secondary cause, nephritis.


title: Frederick Trump

text: At his death, his net holdings included a 2-story, 7-room home in Queens; 5 vacant lots; $4,000 in savings; $3,600 in stocks; and 14 mortgages. Altogether his net worth was $31,359 ($ in dollars). His wife and son Fred continued his real estate projects under the name Elizabeth Trump & Son.


title: Frederick Trump

text: U.S. immigration records from October 1885 list his name as Friedr. Trumpf. An early recorded appearance of the name "Trump" appears 25 years later in the 1910 United States census records. In her book "The Trumps", American biographer Gwenda Blair mentions a Hanns Drumpf who settled in Kallstadt in 1608 and whose descendants changed their name from Drumpf to Trump during the Thirty Years' War. A 2015 Deutsche Welle article claims Blair said in an interview that Trump's grandfather was named Friedrich Drumpf, which is no doubt a mistake made by the journalist because this would contradict Blair's book. According to Kallstadt's transportation association, "Drumpf" was the original spelling of the family's surname but that it had already been changed to "Trump" before this spelling was recorded in the population register produced by French annexation of the Left Bank of the Rhine (from 1798 to 1814). The fact-checking website "Snopes" presents sources showing the family name was once "Drumpf" and showing the aforementioned contradictory reporting of Blair's opinion on whether Frederick Trump first used "Drumpf" but also showing that neither Donald Trump nor his father ever had the surname Drumpf.


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: Red Scare is an American cultural commentary and humor podcast founded in March 2018 and hosted by Dasha Nekrasova and Anna Khachiyan.


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: The show has been associated with both the dirtbag left and the new right, as well as the subculture surrounding Dimes Square. It has been described in "The Cut" as "a critique of feminism, and capitalism, from deep inside the culture they've spawned."


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: "Red Scare" bills itself as a cultural commentary podcast hosted by "bohemian layabouts" Dasha Nekrasova and Anna Khachiyan, and is recorded from their homes in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Nekrasova is a Belarus-born actress, who became known as "Sailor Socialism" after an interview with an "InfoWars" reporter went viral in 2018. She immigrated to Las Vegas, Nevada, with her acrobat parents when she was four. Khachiyan is a Moscow-born writer, art critic and daughter of Armenian mathematician Leonid Khachiyan. She was raised in New Jersey. The two women met on Twitter, and started the podcast in March 2018 after Nekrasova relocated to New York City from Los Angeles.


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: Early episodes were produced by Meg Murnane, who also appeared as the show's third co-host. She made her last appearance on the show in October 2018, and episodes have been self-produced since then. On an episode released on December 5, 2018, Nekrasova and Khachiyan announced that they had parted ways with Murnane "amicably and mutually".


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: The show covers current topics in American culture and politics and is a critique of neoliberalism and feminism in a manner both comedic and serious in tone. The hosts are influenced by the work of Mark Fisher, Slavoj Žižek, Camille Paglia, Michel Houellebecq and Christopher Lasch. Recurring topics include Russiagate, the #MeToo movement, woke consumerism and call-out culture.


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: Several writers, artists, social commentators and cultural figures from across the political spectrum have appeared on "Red Scare", including Elizabeth Bruenig, Angela Nagle, Tulsi Gabbard, Glenn Greenwald, Steve Bannon, Slavoj Žižek, Adam Curtis, Alex Jones and Curtis Yarvin. Nekrasova and Khachiyan have hosted several episodes of the show live, most notably broadcasting on NPR at The Green Space at WNYC and WQXR, as well as interviewing social media influencer Caroline Calloway at the Bell House in Brooklyn, and John Waters as part of NPCC fest. Khachiyan has been interviewed by Bret Easton Ellis and Eric Weinstein on their respective podcasts.


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: An episode of "Red Scare" is typically between 50 and 90 minutes long. The show's theme song is "All the Things She Said", the 2002 single by Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. Weekly free episodes of the show are available via podcast hosting services such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Subscribers who contribute at least $5 per month via Patreon gain access to additional weekly premium bonus episodes. As of July 2022, the show has generated over $54,200 per month from over 12,100 subscribers.


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: As of , , -2 episodes of "Red Scare" have been released. The show's most frequent guest is photographer Dan Allegretto at seven appearances, followed by Amber A'Lee Frost of "Chapo Trap House" at six appearances, writer Patrik Sandberg at five appearances and Glenn Greenwald at four appearances.


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: The hosts have been called "provocateurs", with a "New York Times" op-ed dismissing "Red Scare" as a "louche hipster podcast" for its "contempt for social liberalism" and a desire to ""épater la bourgeoisie"". Both hosts supported Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic primaries, but later became disillusioned with both the political establishment and millennial leftist figures (such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) for prioritizing identity politics over class. Nekrasova, a practicing Catholic who has expressed sedevacantist views, has been credited for trending catholicism in certain demographics of millennials and zoomers.


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: In 2022, a "Vanity Fair" article referenced Nekrasova and Khachiyan in association with "the new right" and reported that Khachiyan had met with billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel and political candidate Blake Masters. Nekrasova and Khachiyan have rejected this characterisation and repeatedly denied receiving any funding from Thiel.


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: In 2021, Sydney Sweeney confirmed that "Red Scare" was the inspiration for the characters she and Brittany O'Grady played in the HBO satirical drama series "The White Lotus", created by Mike White. Sweeney listened to episodes of the show before filming scenes to get into character.


title: Red Scare (podcast)

text: Audrey Gelman, Lena Dunham, Chloë Sevigny, Cazzie David, Leah McSweeney, Alex Ross Perry, Charli XCX, Rachel Comey and Elizabeth Olsen have mentioned listening to the show in interviews. Gelman's husband, Genius co-founder Ilan Zechory, was a co-host on "Red Scare Roundup", a podcast that recapped episodes of the show from May to November 2018.


title: Chip 'n' Dale

text: Chip and Dale (also spelled Chip 'n' Dale) is a cartoon duo of anthropomorphic chipmunks created in 1943 by The Walt Disney Company.


title: Chip 'n' Dale

text: The characters were first drawn by Bill Justice and introduced in the 1943 Pluto short "Private Pluto", directed by Clyde Geronimi. In the short, they fight with Pluto about whether they can store their nuts in a military base cannon. Three years later, director Jack Hannah decided to use them as co-stars in Donald Duck shorts. Hannah said:


title: Chip 'n' Dale

text: Of the two, Chip is portrayed as being safe, focused, and having a mind for logical scheming. Dale, by contrast, is more laid-back, dim-witted, and impulsive, and has a very strong sense of humor. Originally the two had a very similar appearance, but as a way to tell them apart, some differences were introduced: Chip has a small black nose and two centered protruding teeth, whereas Dale has a large dark red nose and a prominent gap between his buckteeth. Chip is also depicted as having smooth hair on top of his head while Dale's tends to be ruffled.


title: Chip 'n' Dale

text: In most cartoons, they are paired with Mickey Mouse, or most often, Pluto and Donald Duck, whom they usually battle when they see an activity they do out of curiosity or when they try to get food without getting caught by them. They were given their own series in the 1950s, but only three cartoons resulted under their name: "Chicken in the Rough" (1951), "Two Chips and a Miss" (1952) and "The Lone Chipmunks" (1954). The duo was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film three times in four years: in 1946 for "Squatter's Rights" (against Mickey and Pluto), in 1947 for "Chip an' Dale" and in 1949 for "Toy Tinkers" (both against Donald Duck). In the 1980s, they became the lead characters of a half-hour television series, "", in which they have adventures as leaders of a detective agency.