TaiwanTai·wan (t??wän?) An island off the southeast coast of China, the seat of the Republic of China since 1949. Originally inhabited by Austronesian peoples, it was settled in the 1500s by Han Chinese, explored in 1590 by the Portuguese (who named the island Formosa), and held by the Dutch in the mid-1600s before being seized by China in 1683. Taiwan was ceded to Japan in 1895 and regained by China after World War II (1945). Taiwan broke off from mainland China in 1949 when the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek fled from Mao Zedong’s forces and established their government on the island. Taipei is the capital and the largest city.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.Taiwan (?ta??w??n) n (Placename) an island in SE Asia between the East China Sea and the South China Sea, off the SE coast of the People’s Republic of China: the principal territory of the Republic of China; claimed by the People’s Republic of China since its political separation from mainland China in the late 1940s. Pop: 23 299 716 (2013 est). Former name: Formosa Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014Tai?wan (?ta??w?n) n. 1. an island off the SE coast of China. Formerly, Formosa. 2. a republic consisting of this island, Penghu, Quemoy, Matsu, and other small islands: under Nationalist control since 1948 but claimed by the People’s Republic of China. 22,113,250; 13,885 sq. mi. (35,960 sq. km). Cap.: Taipei. Tai`wan?ese? (-w??niz, -?nis) adj., n., pl. -ese. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.