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62-687: Eurotrain was a joint venture of Siemens (the main maker of the German ICE ) and GEC-Alsthom (the main maker of the French TGV ), formed in March 1996 with the aim to pool their high-speed rail technologies and market it jointly in Asia. The companies wanted to avoid a repeat of a competitive battle they had for Korea's KTX , which resulted in a loss for Siemens and limited benefits for victorious GEC-Alsthom. GEC-Alsthom held 60% and Siemens held 40% in

124-694: A 10% stake in THSRC.) The competitors also received public government backing for their offers. While the Japanese government supported TSC with the above-mentioned promise of loans, a letter from the European Union 's Trade Commission to Taiwan's government expressed Europe-wide support for Eurotrain. A visit by France's Transport Minister was only called off in the wake of the Taiwan frigates kickback scandal , leading to rumours that Eurotrain may have links to

186-558: A cult figure after his death. The control by one single party began the period of "political tutelage", whereby the party was to lead the government while instructing the people on how to participate in a democratic system. The topic of reorganizing the army, brought up at a military conference in 1929, sparked the Central Plains War . The cliques, some of them former warlords, demanded to retain their army and political power within their own territories. Although Chiang finally won

248-613: A leaderless and decentralized way and that Sun was only later elected provisional president of the new Chinese republic. However, Sun did not have military power and ceded the provisional presidency of the republic to Yuan Shikai , who arranged for the abdication of Puyi , the last Emperor, on 12 February. On 25 August 1912, the Nationalist Party was established at the Huguang Guild Hall in Beijing , where

310-700: A poorly planned and ill-supported armed rising to overthrow Yuan, and failed. Yuan, claiming subversiveness and betrayal, expelled adherents of the KMT from the parliament . Yuan dissolved the Nationalists, whose members had largely fled into exile in Japan, in November and dismissed the parliament early in 1914. Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor in December 1915. While exiled in Japan in 1914, Sun established

372-473: A role, but also noted that TSC offered a newer Shinkansen than they had in 1997. It was rumoured that the decision for TSC over Eurotrain was political: according to Taiwanese media, the choice was made to pave the way for then-President Lee Teng-hui 's visit to Japan. THSRC denied the allegations. However, in a book published earlier in May 1999, Lee made a case for picking the Japanese offer, claiming that while it

434-974: Is a centre-right to right-wing party and the largest in the Pan-Blue Coalition , one of the two main political groups in Taiwan. Its primary rival is the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the largest party in the Pan-Green Coalition . As of 2024, the KMT is the largest single party in the Legislative Yuan . The current chairman is Eric Chu . The party originated as the Revive China Society founded by Sun Yat-sen in 1894 in Honolulu . The party underwent reorganization before and after

496-659: The 1911 Xinhai Revolution , which resulted in the collapse of the Qing dynasty and establishment of the Republic of China (ROC), with Sun as the first president. In 1919, Sun re-established the party under the name "Kuomintang" in the Shanghai French Concession . From 1926 to 1928, the KMT under Chiang Kai-shek successfully led the Northern Expedition against regional warlords and unified

558-669: The 2016 election , but regained a legislative plurality in the 2024 election . The KMT is a member of the International Democracy Union . The party's guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People , advocated by Sun Yat-sen and organized on a basis of democratic centralism . As the KMT strongly supports the ROC as the only representative of China, it strongly opposes both Chinese unification under

620-513: The Eurotrain demonstration train was presented to the public in Hamburg. The next day, on 4 May 1998, the train made a presentation run from Göttingen to Hannover with THSRC and BOHSR representatives present, achieving a maximum speed of 316 km/h. THSRC had difficulty raising capital for the project. In May 1999, the government of Japan promised soft loans if THSRC switched to TSC, and

682-639: The Meiji Restoration , Chiang knew relatively little about the West. He also studied in Japan, but he was firmly rooted in his ancient Han Chinese identity and was steeped in Chinese culture . As his life progressed, he became increasingly attached to ancient Chinese culture and traditions. His few trips to the West confirmed his pro-ancient Chinese outlook and he studied the ancient Chinese classics and ancient Chinese history assiduously. In 1923, after

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744-693: The Nanjing incident in March 1927, the NRA stormed the consulates of the United States, the United Kingdom and Imperial Japan , looted foreign properties and almost assassinated the Japanese consul. An American, two British, one French, an Italian and a Japanese were killed. These looters also stormed and seized millions of dollars' worth of British concessions in Hankou , refusing to hand them back to

806-618: The Northern Expedition to suppress the warlords began. Chiang had to defeat three separate warlords and two independent armies. Chiang, with Soviet supplies, conquered the southern half of China in nine months. A split erupted between the Chinese Communist Party and the KMT, which threatened the Northern Expedition. Wang Jing Wei, who led the KMT leftist allies, took the city of Wuhan in January 1927. With

868-511: The Tongmenghui and five smaller pro-revolution parties merged to contest the first national elections. Sun was chosen as the party chairman with Huang Xing as his deputy. The most influential member of the party was the third ranking Song Jiaoren , who mobilized mass support from gentry and merchants for the Nationalists to advocate a constitutional parliamentary democracy. The party opposed constitutional monarchists and sought to check

930-522: The Tongmenghui days, was sent to Moscow for several months' military and political study. At the first party congress in 1924 in Guangzhou , Guangdong, which included non-KMT delegates such as members of the CCP, they adopted Sun's political theory, which included the Three Principles of the People : nationalism, democracy and people's livelihood. When Sun Yat-sen died in 1925, the political leadership of

992-719: The Tongmenghui , a group committed to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and to establish a republic in China. The group supported the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and the founding of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912. Although Sun and the Tongmenghui are often depicted as the principal organizers of the Xinhai Revolution, this view is disputed by scholars who argue that the Revolution broke out in

1054-554: The national government relocated to Taiwan . Following the death of Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek emerged as the KMT leader and launched the Northern Expedition to defeat the northern warlords and unite China under the party. With its power confirmed in the southeast, the Nationalist Government appointed Chiang Kai-shek commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA), and

1116-578: The 1990s. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was under Comintern instructions to cooperate with the KMT, and its members were encouraged to join while maintaining their separate party identities, forming the First United Front between the two parties. Mao Zedong and early members of the CCP also joined the KMT in 1923. Soviet advisers also helped the KMT to set up a political institute to train propagandists in mass mobilization techniques, and in 1923 Chiang Kai-shek, one of Sun's lieutenants from

1178-560: The Chinese Revolutionary Party on 8 July 1914, but many of his old revolutionary comrades, including Huang Xing, Wang Jingwei , Hu Hanmin and Chen Jiongming , refused to join him or support his efforts in inciting armed uprising against Yuan. To join the Revolutionary Party, members had to take an oath of personal loyalty to Sun, which many old revolutionaries regarded as undemocratic and contrary to

1240-550: The European rail industry to create a joint high-speed train platform, to realise economies of scale. DB's spokesman argued that if it is possible for German and French companies to jointly offer Eurotrain in Taiwan, the same should be possible in Europe. The proposal, dubbed Euro-Train by the media, was taken up as a joint project of European state railways and train producers, with Eurotrain constituents Alstom and Siemens remaining

1302-655: The Japanese factories and their supplies. Full-scale civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists erupted in 1946. The Communist Chinese armies, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), previously a minor faction, grew rapidly in influence and power due to several errors on the KMT's part. First, the KMT reduced troop levels precipitously after the Japanese surrender, leaving large numbers of able-bodied, trained fighting men who became unemployed and disgruntled with

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1364-614: The KMT and its Canton government accepted aid from the Soviet Union after being denied recognition by the western powers. Soviet advisers—the most prominent of whom was Mikhail Borodin , an agent of the Comintern —arrived in China in 1923 to aid in the reorganization and consolidation of the KMT along the lines of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) , establishing a Leninist party structure that lasted into

1426-570: The KMT as prime recruits for the PLA. Second, the KMT government proved thoroughly unable to manage the economy, allowing hyperinflation to result. Among the most despised and ineffective efforts it undertook to contain inflation was the conversion to the gold standard for the national treasury and the Chinese gold yuan in August 1948, outlawing private ownership of gold, silver and foreign exchange, collecting all such precious metals and foreign exchange from

1488-480: The KMT fell to Wang Jingwei (" Reorganization Group ") and Hu Hanmin (" Western Hills Group "), respectively the left-wing and right-wing leaders of the party. However, the real power was in the hands of Chiang Kai-shek, who was in near complete control of the military as the superintendent of the Whampoa Military Academy . With their military superiority, the KMT confirmed their rule on Canton,

1550-468: The KMT government and military. Chiang was alarmed by the expansion of communist influence; he wanted to suppress internal conflicts before confronting foreign aggression. The KMT were aided by German military advisors. The CSR was destroyed in 1934 after a series of KMT offensives. The communists abandoned bases in southeast China for Shaanxi in a military retreat called the Long March ; less than 10% of

1612-600: The PRC and formal Taiwan independence . As the KMT opposes non-peaceful means to resolve the cross-strait disputes while still strongly adhering to the ROC constitution , the party favors a closer relationship with the PRC and accepts the 1992 Consensus , which defines both sides of the Taiwan Strait as " one China " but maintains its ambiguity to different interpretations. It seeks to maintain Taiwan's status quo rather than

1674-539: The ROC losing its United Nations seat and most countries, including its ally the US, switching diplomatic recognition to the CCP-led People's Republic of China (PRC) in the 1970s. In the late 1980s, Chiang Ching-kuo , Chiang Kai-shek's son, lifted martial law and the ban on opposition parties. His successor Lee Teng-hui continued democratic reforms and was re-elected in 1996 through a direct presidential election ,

1736-529: The Soviet Model. Chiang was also particularly committed to Sun's idea of "political tutelage". Sun believed that the only hope for a unified and better China lay in a military conquest, followed by a period of political tutelage that would culminate in the transition to democracy. Using this ideology, Chiang built himself into the dictator of the Republic of China, both in the Chinese mainland and after

1798-481: The THSRC offer did not use the wheel type the break of which was the root cause of the derailment. THSRC finally signed the agreement about the BOT contract with the government on 23 July 1998. To meet THSRC's high capacity requirements, Alstom and Siemens planned to create a hybrid train type that combines the lighter and higher capacity TGV Duplex articulated double-deck intermediate cars, extended from 8 to 12 cars, with

1860-523: The UK government. Both Nationalists and Communist soldiers within the army participated in the rioting and looting of foreign residents in Nanjing. NRA took Beijing in 1928. The city was the internationally recognized capital, even when it was previously controlled by warlords. This event allowed the KMT to receive widespread diplomatic recognition in the same year. The capital was moved from Beijing to Nanjing,

1922-700: The United Nations Chinese unification Taiwan independence movement Taiwanese nationalism Tangwai movement The Kuomintang ( KMT ), also referred to as the Guomindang ( GMD ), the Nationalist Party of China ( NPC ) or the Chinese Nationalist Party ( CNP ), is a political party in the Republic of China , initially based on the Chinese mainland and then in Taiwan since 1949. The KMT

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1984-1562: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.236 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 977641518 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 11:00:56 GMT Kuomintang Lai Ching-te ( DPP ) Hsiao Bi-khim ( DPP ) Cho Jung-tai ( DPP ) 11th Legislative Yuan Han Kuo-yu ( KMT ) Shieh Ming-yan acting Vacant Vacant Vacant Control Yuan Chen Chu Lee Hung-chun Local government Central Election Commission Kuomintang Democratic Progressive Party Taiwan People's Party Others New Power Party Taiwan Statebuilding Party People First Party Taiwan Solidarity Union New Party Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Newspapers United Daily News Liberty Times China Times Taipei Times Propaganda Censorship Film censorship Lin Chia-lung Cross-Strait relations Special state-to-state relations One Country on Each Side 1992 Consensus Taiwan consensus Chinese Taipei Australia–Taiwan relations Canada–Taiwan relations France–Taiwan relations Russia–Taiwan relations Taiwan–United Kingdom relations Taiwan–United States relations Republic of China (1912–1949) Chinese Civil War One-China policy China and

2046-539: The communist army survived. A new base, the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region , was created with Soviet aid. KMT secret police persecuted suspected communists and political opponents with terror . In The Birth of Communist China , C.P. Fitzgerald describes China under the rule of the KMT thus: "the Chinese people groaned under a regime Fascist in every quality except efficiency." In 1936, Chiang

2108-532: The communists in the civil war. From 1949 to 1987, the KMT ruled Taiwan as an authoritarian one-party state after the February 28 incident . During this period, martial law was in effect and civil liberties were curtailed as part of its anti-communism efforts, with the period known as the White Terror . The party oversaw Taiwan's economic development , but experienced diplomatic setbacks , including

2170-630: The connection on the ICE ;2 powerheads to the roof-mounted high-voltage cable along the TGV trainset, the installation of electronic and optical cables for the ICE drive control electronics on the roof of the TGV trainset, the installation of a rectifier on a TGV car for the on-board electricity, and the replacement of the automatic coupler on the ICE 2 powerheads with side buffers and standard UIC coupler. Braking systems weren't adapted, only pneumatic braking

2232-445: The final negotiations, THSRC and Eurotrain sought to convince BOHSR about the technical viability of their offer by staging a demonstration run with a hybrid train assembled specifically for this purpose (see Demonstration train ). The Eschede train disaster on 3 June 1998 didn't reduce THSRC's chances: although BOHSR wanted detailed information from Germany about the causes of the accident, it recognised that Eurotrain's train type in

2294-423: The first time in the ROC history. The 2000 presidential election ended 72 years of KMT's dominance in the ROC. The KMT reclaimed power from 2008 to 2016, with the landslide victory of Ma Ying-jeou in the 2008 presidential election , whose presidency significantly loosened restrictions on economic and cultural exchanges with the People's Republic of China. The KMT lost the presidency and its legislative majority in

2356-497: The foreign powers and the Qing dynasty. The KMT government demanded that the foreign powers renegotiate the treaties on equal terms. Before the Northern Expedition, the KMT began as a heterogeneous group advocating American-inspired federalism and provincial autonomy. However, the KMT under Chiang's leadership aimed at establishing a centralized one-party state with one ideology. This was even more evident following Sun's elevation into

2418-464: The formal independence or the unification. The KMT traces its ideological and organizational roots to the work of Sun Yat-sen , a proponent of Chinese nationalism and democracy who founded the Revive China Society at the capital of the Republic of Hawaii , Honolulu , on 24 November 1894. On 20 August 1905, Sun joined forces with other anti-monarchist societies in Tokyo, Empire of Japan , to form

2480-656: The formation of the First United Front , Sun Yat-sen sent Chiang to spend three months in Moscow studying the political and military system of the Soviet Union. Although Chiang did not follow the Soviet Communist doctrine, he, like the Communist Party, sought to destroy warlordism and foreign imperialism in China , and upon his return established the Whampoa Military Academy near Guangzhou, following

2542-409: The fragmented nation , leading to the fall of the Beiyang government . KMT was the sole ruling party of the ROC in China from 1928 to 1949, however the party had no actual control over a lot of territory during this period due to the civil war with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the war against Japanese aggression. The party retreated to Taiwan in December 1949, following its defeat by

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2604-467: The head of the losing CHSRC bid, who was the top financier of the governing Kuomintang , promised funds, too. In light of these offers, in May 1999, THSRC signalled that the selection of the core system supplier is still open, and formally relaunched a tender on 15 June 1999. To balance the perceived financial advantages of the TSC offer, Eurotrain offered to take a 10% stake in THSRC in September 1999. (The next year, TSC, too, would sign an agreement to buy

2666-416: The joint venture. The first and only high-speed project Eurotrain was involved in was THSR. THSR was realised as a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project, but Eurotrain was already involved at the stage of the bidding for the BOT franchise. The bids of the two rival consortia were both based on specific high-speed rail technology platforms: Taiwan High Speed Rail Consortium (THSRC) allied with Eurotrain, while

2728-450: The lobby group at the centre of the scandal. However, further ministerial visits from both France and Germany were planned before the decision came. THSRC announced on 28 December 1999 that it would negotiate a final contract with the Taiwan Shinkansen Consortium, saying that while both trains were satisfactory, TSC had "technology, price, finance and maintenance merits". THSRC emphasized that expectations on exchange rate fluctuations played

2790-556: The more powerful powerheads of German Railways (DB) ICE 2 high-speed trains. In early 1998, the two companies created a demonstration train by combining cars of three existing French and German high-speed trains: ICE 2 powerheads DB 402 042-6 and 402 046-7 and the intermediate cars of TGV Duplex trainset #224. The three components of the demonstration train were adapted separately at Siemens's Duewag plant in Uerdingen , Germany and GEC-Alsthom's plant in La Rochelle , France, in March 1998. Adaptations included

2852-428: The only industry partners in the project by September 2000. The project was officially named Highspeed Train Europe (HTE), and Italy's state railway FS was won as additional partner. However, after the evaluation of 10,000 detail questions, 500 remained in which the partners couldn't compromise, and the HTE project was abandoned in September 2009. Siemens Mobility Too Many Requests If you report this error to

2914-414: The original capital of the Ming dynasty , and thus a symbolic purge of the final Qing elements. This period of KMT rule in China between 1927 and 1937 was relatively stable and prosperous and is still known as the Nanjing decade . After the Northern Expedition in 1928, the Nationalist government under the KMT declared that China had been exploited for decades under the unequal treaties signed between

2976-403: The people and issuing the Gold Standard Scrip in exchange. As most farmland in the north were under CCP's control, the cities governed by the KMT lacked food supply and this added to the hyperinflation. The new scrip became worthless in only ten months and greatly reinforced the nationwide perception of the KMT as a corrupt or at best inept entity. Third, Chiang Kai-shek ordered his forces to defend

3038-404: The power of Yuan. The Nationalists won an overwhelming majority in the first National Assembly election in December 1912. However, Yuan soon began to ignore the parliament in making presidential decisions. Song Jiaoren was assassinated in Shanghai in 1913. Members of the Nationalists, led by Sun Yat-sen, suspected that Yuan was behind the plot and thus staged the Second Revolution in July 1913,

3100-463: The provincial capital of Guangdong . The Guangxi warlords pledged loyalty to the KMT. The KMT now became a rival government in opposition to the warlord Beiyang government based in Beijing . Chiang assumed leadership of the KMT on 6 July 1926. Unlike Sun Yat-sen, whom he admired greatly and who forged all his political, economic, and revolutionary ideas primarily from what he had learned in Hawaii and indirectly through Hong Kong and Japan under

3162-480: The rival Chunghwa High Speed Rail Consortium (CHSRC) allied with Taiwan Shinkansen Consortium (TSC), which offered Japanese Shinkansen technology. On 25 September 1997, THSRC (later renamed Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation with the same acronym) was selected as preferred bidder. Also in 1997, THSRC declared Eurotrain the preferred bidder to supply the core technology, which included the high-speed trains, track, electrification, signalling and communication. During

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3224-470: The spirit of the revolution. As a result, he became largely sidelined within the Republican movement during this period. Sun returned to China in 1917 to establish a military junta at Canton to oppose the Beiyang government but was soon forced out of office and exiled to Shanghai . There, with renewed support, he resurrected the KMT on 10 October 1919, under the name Kuomintang of China ( 中國國民黨 ) and established its headquarters in Canton in 1920. In 1923,

3286-548: The support of the Soviet agent Mikhail Borodin , Wang declared the National Government as having moved to Wuhan. Having taken Nanjing in March, Chiang halted his campaign and prepared a violent break with Wang and his communist allies. Chiang's expulsion of the CCP and their Soviet advisers, marked by the Shanghai massacre on 12 April, led to the beginning of the Chinese Civil War . Wang finally surrendered his power to Chiang. Once this split had been healed, Chiang resumed his Northern Expedition and managed to take Shanghai. During

3348-460: The urbanized cities. This decision gave CCP a chance to move freely through the countryside. At first, the KMT had the edge with the aid of weapons and ammunition from the United States (US). However, with the country suffering from hyperinflation , widespread corruption and other economic ills, the KMT continued to lose popular support. Some leading officials and military leaders of the KMT hoarded material, armament and military-aid funding provided by

3410-461: The use of European high-speed rail technology or specialists in some fields. Although in the nineties, Eurotrain seriously considered to participate in the expected competition for the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway , the constituent companies didn't pursue the joint venture further, and competed for further contracts separately. After a meeting on 17 December 1999, freshly installed DB CEO Hartmut Mehdorn and SNCF CEO Louis Gallois called on

3472-424: The war, the conflicts among the cliques would have a devastating effect on the survival of the KMT. Muslim Generals in Gansu waged war against the Guominjun in favor of the KMT during the conflict in Gansu in 1927–1930 . In 1931, Japanese aggression resumed with the Mukden Incident and occupation of Manchuria, and the CCP founded the Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) in Jiangxi while secretly recruiting within

3534-457: Was a commercial one, reiterating that "price, financial planning, and maintenance" were the only deciding factors. After a lengthy arbitration process, the court ruled in March 2004 that THSRC should pay a compensation for the US$ 32.4 million Eurotrain spent on development and US$ 35.7 million for unjust enrichment. THSRC agreed to pay US$ 65 million (US$ 89 million with interest) to Eurotrain in November 2004. THSRC's working with Eurotrain resulted in

3596-402: Was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang in the Xi'an Incident and forced into the Second United Front , an anti-Japanese alliance with the CCP; the Second Sino-Japanese War started the following year. The alliance brought little coordination and was treated as a temporary cease fire in the civil war. The New Fourth Army Incident in 1941 ended the alliance. Japan surrendered in 1945, and Taiwan

3658-423: Was more expensive, the Shinkansen was superior based on safety and political considerations. The losing Eurotrain consortium interpreted the terms of its earlier preferred bidder status as a binding agreement that THSRC violated by starting negotiations with TSC, and filed an injunction against it. On behalf of Eurotrain, Siemens chairman Heinrich von Pierer also lobbied President Lee Teng-hui for intervention, but

3720-412: Was rejected. The German, French, and British trade offices also questioned THSRC's chairwoman. Eurotrain lost the injunction case both on the initial filing and at the appeal in the High Court. While Eurotrain eventually conceded the train system bid, it filed a US$ 800 million damage claim at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre in February 2001. In response, THSRC contended that their decision

3782-406: Was returned to the Republic of China on 25 October of that year. The brief period of celebration was soon shadowed by the possibility of a civil war between the KMT and CCP. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan just before it surrendered and occupied Manchuria , the north eastern part of China. The Soviet Union denied the KMT army the right to enter the region but allowed the CCP to take control of

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3844-516: Was used. The ICE 2 powerheads also received a special livery to harmonise with that of the TGV Duplex set. The train was assembled in Munich in early April 1998, followed by static and quasi-static tests. Then, between 25 and 30 April 1998, the train conducted test runs with speeds of up to 310 km/h on the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway and the line from Hannover to Minden , to measure running stability, ride comfort, pressure during tunnel crossings, and pass-by noise. On 3 May 1998,

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