How Do China & Taiwan Compare?

China and Taiwan, two countries with the same origin, the Chinese internal conflict. Taiwan was a part of the old Republic of China. Once the People's Republic defeated them in the war between them, the Republic of China armies and government took refuge in the island of Taiwan. Today, the country has become more known as Taiwan itself, rather than the Republic of China, due to the One China policy imposed by the PRC. But they still use the same flag as the old Mainland Republic of China did. Common with the PRC one in the red field, the PRC uses the gold stars while they use their blue and white symbol. The One China policy leads to one of the many differences between the two countries, recognition. To avoid antagonizing mainland China, most of the countries worldwide have recognized it as the One China, leaving Taiwan out in the Even if they maintain good relations with them, only 14 states worldwide recognize Taiwan as the one China, all the rest recognize the PRC, on these maps we can see how the situation evolved throughout time. Today they have very different regimes, one is a democracy and the other one isn't, and the mainland continues to claim control over the island, stating essentially that it's a matter of time until they take it either diplomatically or, hopefully not, militarily. But despite being completely opposite in political terms, China and Taiwan are fairly culturally similar at least in origin. Both countries have a majority Han Chinese ethnicity in their population and most Taiwanese speak Mandarin. After all, the island has been populated by Chinese for a long time. Historical sources suggest that the island first came under full Chinese control in the 17th century when the Qing dynasty began administering it, but migrations of Chinese people had begun However, around 70% of the people also speak Taiwanese Hokkien, a native language, and there are still some native Polynesian people in Taiwan, the original natives of the island from which Polynesian expansion into the Pacific seemingly started. There are many similarities and differences between the countries and their people, so this got me thinking, how do China and Taiwan compare? In addition to the ones I already mentioned, we're going to be taking a look at a number of indicators that will allow us to both learn a little about each of them, but also understand how the two countries compare. Starting with the basics, China has around 1.4 billion people, Taiwan has around 23 million. This means China's population is 58 times greater. This makes sense due to their difference in size. China is 9,597 million square kilometers large, while Taiwan is only 36,197, a small island compared to a gigantic mainland. However, the population density in Taiwan is 673 per square kilometer, while in China it is 153, meaning Taiwan actually has a higher density. Although China varies a lot, we all know that population divide line map cities in China also tend to be very densely populated, while the countryside, not so much. Curiously, a similar situation happens in Taiwan with most of the people living on the western coast. It's also interesting to compare the population pyramids of the two. China is in somewhat of a population crisis. Some projections point to the population being reduced to half by 2100, however, they still have a slightly less aging population than Taiwan does, but they're pretty similar. Life expectancy is slightly higher in Taiwan, 78 for males and 84 for females. Let's take a look at a few economic and financial indicators. Taiwan has an unemployment rate of 3.68%, China's is 6.20%, although some sources point to it being closer to 10 or even 15. I couldn't confirm this though. The average salary in Taiwan is 129,000 new Taiwan dollars, or around $4,600 a month. In China, the national average is about 8,000 yuan per month, meaning $1,140. China's economy is much bigger, and so their GDP is as well. 14.7 trillion US dollars, Taiwan's is significantly smaller at 1.5 trillion, but still reasonably high when compared to others worldwide, ranking 19th on the list, while China is number one. But Taiwan comes first when it comes to GDP per capita, meaning their GDP population ratio is smaller. China's GDP per capita is 10,500 US dollars, while Taiwan's is 71,244. Although, as we saw, these numbers don't match the average salary that much, which is a much better indicator of how much people actually make. Another great indicator is wealth distribution or inequality, where Taiwan also wins with a much lower level of inequality, measured through the Gini index or coefficient, which goes from 0 to 100. 100 being the worst. Taiwan's is 34, while China's is 46. 10% of people in China also live under the poverty line, a number that is only 1% in Taiwan. China's HDI is 0.768 on a scale of 0 to 1 where 1 is ideal, while Taiwan is much closer to the top at 0.916. The HDI considers the health, education and income When talking about the average salaries, I mentioned each of their currencies. So how do they compare? China's currency is the yuan, Taiwan's is the new Taiwan dollar. One Chinese yuan is worth around 4 Taiwanese dollars, so China's currency is more valuable and their inflation rate seems reasonably similar. In sum, China's national economy is bigger, but individual people seem to live better and be wealthier in Taiwan. Another key aspect about Taiwan's economy in which it surpasses China is a strategic market in which they are the most important. Taiwan dominates the global production of computer chips, a key product in today's world. They have 65% of the global production, while China only has 5%, perhaps one of the reasons why the mainland wants to take over. Regarding religion, China is mostly an atheist According to a 2014 poll, 73% of the people are either atheist or follow a folk religion. I don't get why these two are grouped together. 15.8% are Buddhist, 7.6% follow Taoism, 2% are Protestant, and 1% are Muslim. In Taiwan, things are a little different. Not only are the amount of non-religious people less, a lot of native religions also exist. 35% are Buddhist, 33% Taoist, 18% Atheist, 4% Catholic, 3.5% follow Yigong Dao and 2% follow Hinduism, and then there's other small native religions. When it comes to other cultural similarities or differences, like I mentioned earlier, most Taiwanese people can trace their origin to mainland China. Because of this, many of their traditions are the same. For instance, both people celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, the Moon Festival, the Lunar New Year, and the Lantern Festival. But there But there are many small differences. A 2021 poll tracked the continuous National identity feeling of Taiwanese people. As we can see, more and more have they felt more Taiwanese than Chinese. Although a big amount still consider themselves as both. Today, only less than 5% consider themselves exclusively Chinese. Military-wise, perhaps the reason many clicked on this video, due to the potential conflict that might soon exist between the two states, here is how they compare. According to GlobalFirepower.com, China ranks number 3, having the 3rd strongest military worldwide out of 142 considered, being only behind the US and Russia apparently. While Taiwan ranks 21st on this list, much lower but still significantly high considering their country size. They are ahead of countries like Poland or Greece. China supposedly has 2 million active personnel in their military, while Taiwan only has 170,000. China, however, only has 510,000 in reserve, while Taiwan has 1.5 million. I believe both countries have mandatory military service, at least for male population. Their military budgets are also quite different. China's is 230 billion, while Taiwan's is 16 billion. When it comes to material, China is listed as having over 3,000 aircrafts versus 500 from Taiwan, 900 helicopters versus 200. China's monumental size and economy allows it to surpass Taiwan in almost every military indicator, having more tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, rockets, and so on. With Taiwan being an island, any conflict between the two would necessarily have a big naval component. In here, China is also vastly superior, they have a lot more ships, China has two aircraft carriers while Taiwan has none, also counting on 79 submarines versus four. There is however one aspect in which Taiwan surpasses China, alliances and suppliers. The army of the Republic of China is supplied by Australia, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Singapore, the UK and the United States. The United States especially have a strong relationship with Taiwan and just recently President Biden stated that US forces would defend Taiwan from Chinese invasion. So in the case of a conflict, it wouldn't just be China versus Taiwan's resources and manpower, it would be China versus Taiwan and at least part of the United States But hopefully none of this will ever be relevant, with no real conflict emerging between the two countries. According to a 2021 poll, Taiwanese people don't believe there will be a Chinese invasion. There's other differences common to any other country, like the fauna and flora existing in each one. Taiwan's climate is subtropical, summers are long and hot, and winters are short and mild. China is so large that it has various weather types throughout its territory. We can see the various ones on this map, but essentially we can mostly divide it between north and south. In the north, the climate is temperate, with summer temperatures around 25 Celsius and very cold winters. In the south, it is subtropical, similar to Taiwan, which makes sense because So, that is how China and Taiwan compare, from things as basic as their territory size and population numbers to where and how those people live, the economic state of each country and how people benefit more or less from it, going through some cultural customs in which they are both similar and different depending on which one and also taking a look at the military power comparison. Which other two countries or regions should I compare? Let me know in the comments, along with any additional information you might have on this topic. Thanks so much for watching this video, subscribe if you want, and I will see you next time for more general knowledge.