NewsTracker Answers for week of Sep. 10, 2018

Q: In 1978, the United States ties with Taiwan in favor of diplomatic relations with China. Last week, The United States recalled its envoys to the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Panama after recent decisions by those nations to do the same thing. Where is the island of Taiwan?

Circle the area on this map


Q: While the United States formally recognizes only China, it remains the main military supporter of Taiwan’s government and maintains a de facto embassy in the island’s capital . . .

A. Beijing

B. Hong Kong

C. Seoul

D. Taipei


D. When Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek fled Communist forces on mainland China in 1949, he went to Taiwan and made Taipei the “temporary” capital of his Republic of China, which still claims to be the valid government of all of China. The Communist Party runs the People’s Republic of China which rules mainland China from Beijing and also claims sovereignty over Taiwan.


Q: Taiwan now has formal relations with only 17 countries, almost all of them small and less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific. What is the main reason many nations have chosen to establish diplomatic ties with Beijing instead of Taipei?

A. Economic

B. Political

C. Military

D. Religious


A. China now has the world’s largest economy and it has been investing in many nations, lending them money and pressuring them over Taiwan. The White House has warned that China lures countries with economic inducements that “facilitate economic dependency and domination.” Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate is consider legislation to cut aid to nations that end ties with Taiwan.


Q: How is China pressuring the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau, to end its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan?

A. Calling in loans

B. Military blockade

C. Tourism ban


C. Tourism accounts for 42.3% of Palau’s economy, and until this year more than half its visitors came from mainland China. Last November, Beijing ordered tour operators to stop selling package tours to Palau, and the island nation’s economy slumped. Government leaders have vowed not to abandon ties to Taiwan, which supplies about $10 million aid to Palau every year.


Q: Which nation ruled Taiwan before the Republic of China took control of the island in 1945?

A. Britain

B. Japan

C. Korea

D. Russia


B. In 1895, Taiwan’s western neighbor Japan took the island from its eastern neighbor China, which had ruled Taiwan for more than 200 years. Japanese colonial rule was instrumental in the industrialization of the island, extending the railroads and other transportation networks, building an extensive sanitation system, and establishing a formal education system.