Taiwan, officially known as the ROC, is a subject that until recently was studiously avoided by most politicians in the English-speaking world, and the leaders of all the world's major nations. Barack Obama, president of the world's most powerful country, only ever dared to publicly refer to the state as an "entity", for fear of incurring the wrath of the Peoples' Republic of China. More often than not, it was only ever talked about in terms of 'The Taiwan Question'; resolving the question of the island's status to Beijing's satisfaction, preferably without bloodshed. This terminology also suited the Chinese Communist Party just fine, as 'question' and 'problem' are the same word in Chinese. But now, Taiwan is being talked about more, and more openly, in other terms: The Taiwan Experience. China's increasing willingness to back up extravagant territorial claims with military power, use economic punishments against international commercial concerns that don't toe the line with respect to the terminology used to describe Taiwan, its direct intervention in the administration of Hong Kong, the establishment of re-education camps for Muslims in Xinjiang, its handling of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak and the dubious origins of virus, as well as numerous other issues have made many countries around the world less willing to be party to the Chinese Communist Party's insistence on keeping Taiwan out of the international spotlight. But over the past 30+ years, Taiwan has evolved from an inward-looking one-party state, into a vibrant, multi-party democracy. This is The Taiwan Experience that other countries around the world - including the reform factions within undemocratic states - are interested in knowing more about. This edition was revised in 2025.