Ho Tam, Vase with map of Taiwan (FC-017) (2025)

Ho Tam  
Vase with map of Taiwan (FC-017) 
2025  
inkjet on glossy photo paper  
edition of 5  
22 x 17 inches
unframed
 
 
The island of Taiwan is located southeast of Mainland China. Formerly known as Formosa, it was inhabited by aboriginal tribes until the Dutch and Spanish settlement during the Age of Discovery in the 17th century, when Han Chinese people also began immigrating to the island.
 
After China was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), Taiwan was ceded to Japan as a colony. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, Japan relinquished its control of the island. After the Chinese Communists defeated the Nationalist Party Kuomintang (KMT) government forces in the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949), the KMT-led regime retreated to Taiwan and established the island as a base of operations to fight back to the Chinese mainland.
 
As the new People’s Republic of China government on the mainland, led by Mao Zedong, began preparations to “liberate” Taiwan by military force, it began a period of Taiwan’s de facto political independence from the Chinese mainland that continues today.