Tilman Aretz's China-Taiwan Blog and database

Contents of this blog / sitemap

2010-10-26T21:02:00.071+08:00

Overview
[This blog was established on Sun, May 25, 2008, and last edited/updated on Sat, Feb. 4, 2012]
So far this weblog contains 17 posts under the following headlines:
• The Chinese Lunar Calendar
• Nuclear power plants in Greater China

• Overwhelming degrees of kinship

• Hanyu Pinyin
• Elections in Hong Kong at a glance
• China's Olympic gold
• The 3000 most frequently used Chinese characters
• Updates to The Greater China Factbook
• Greater China = pro-unification? (Essay)
• Chinese tongue twisters
• Disasters and accidents in Greater China
• ROC elections and referendums
• Index of Chinese cities
• The Greater China Factbook
• Currencies in Greater China
• Who's who in Greater China's politics
• Earthquakes in Greater China

To see a more detailed overview of this blog's content, please click the link below! Doing so leads you to the Scribd file BInh04 (it's a PDF file). An easy and convenient way to use it and get around in my blog is to download the file, start it from your Adobe Acrobat Reader and click the link of the item you want to see, the page should then appear in your internet browser window. [5 pages; file last edited/updated on Tue, Oct. 26, 2010]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7834192/BInh04
Updates
Scribd files posted in this blog that were recently created, edited, or upgraded:
2012, Feb. 4—Major accidents in Greater China since the 20th century
2012, Feb. 4—Stock exchange indices
2012, Feb. 4—Annual exchange rates
2012, Feb. 4—Monthly exchange rates
2012, Feb. 3—Chronology of events in Greater China in 2011
2012, Feb. 3—Democratic elections in the ROC since 1989
2012, Feb. 2—Members of the ROC Legislative Yuan since 1992
2012, Feb. 2—China's current leadership (PRC/ROC)
2012, Feb. 2—Who's who in Taiwan ROC
2012, Jan. 17—Who's who in the PRC
2012, Jan. 13—Cross-strait dialogue between SEF and ARATS since 2008
2012, Jan. 7—Chronology of events in Greater China in 2010
2012, Jan. 7—Chronology of events in Greater China in 2009
2012, Jan. 5—The Chinese Lunar Calendar 1900-2100
2011, Dec. 28—Nuclear power plants in Greater China
2011, Dec. 22—Errata in The Greater China Factbook
All my PDF files, including files not posted on this blog like my M.A. thesis, can be found on the Scribd website. Unless otherwise indicated, these PDF files have the format A4. If you have trouble downloading any of my PDF files posted on Scribd.com or don't want to bother signing up as a Scribd user but still would like to have PDF files created by me on your hard drive, please feel free to contact me by e-mail so that I can send you the requested PDF file(s) as e-mail attachment. If you wish, I can also send you all future updates of such files.

http://www.scribd.com/people/documents/1025815-tilman-aretz
http://www.scribd.com/people/view/1025815-tilman-aretz
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7755519/BZLH
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7755615/ZLHPics

The Chinese Lunar Calendar

2010-10-26T20:28:00.007+08:00

Every year colourful New Year celebrations of the Chinese lunar calendar are reported in the media around the globe. The attached file provides a complete conversion table of the solar calendar to the lunar calendar between 1900 and 2100, including tables which help the user understand the patterns in the Chinese Lunar calendar. [217 pages; file last edited/updated on Thu, Jan. 5, 2012]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/40149790/B-Lunar

Nuclear power plants in Greater China

2010-01-10T13:53:00.010+08:00

China and Taiwan both employ nuclear technology to generate electricity. Especially Communist China is showing a clear tendency to aggressively expand its nuclear power generating capacities. The following file lists the nuclear power plants which have already been completed as well as those under construction in China and Taiwan. [7 pages; file last edited/updated on Wed, Dec. 28, 2011]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/25004758/B-AKW

Overwhelming degrees of kinship

2008-11-09T11:28:00.005+08:00

The combination of strong family ties with a distinct sense of social hierarchy in China resulted in a myriad of different words for relatives in Mandarin Chinese. Trying to overcome the confusion of the countless various titles for aunts and uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces poses a major challenge for people from the west. The following file lists degrees of kinship (English—Chinese, Chinese—English) in alphabetical order. [9 pages; file last edited/updated on Sun, Nov. 9, 2008]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7834081/BKIN

Hanyu Pinyin

2008-11-05T19:41:00.010+08:00

Most countries in the world have adopted Hanyu Pinyin as standard Romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. Before Hanyu Pinyin became the most common Romanization system, Wade Giles was widely used, and systems like Mandarin Phonetic Symbols (MPS) and Tongyong Pinyin exist in Taiwan. The variety of existing Romanization systems often causes confusion. The following file shows conversion tables comparing Hanyu Pinyin with Wade Giles, MPS and Tongyong Pinyin. [23 pages; file last edited/updated on Tue, Nov. 23, 2010]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/12713028/BPINYIN

Elections in Hong Kong at a glance

2008-09-28T11:41:00.011+08:00

Hong Kong, which became a British colony after the Opium Wars in the 19th century, was given back to China in 1997 and has been under the control of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) ever since. Under the framework "one country, two systems", the authoritarian Communist regime in Beijing has so far allowed democratic elections in Hong Kong to a certain degree: parts of the Legislative Council (LegCo) and the District Councils are directly elected by registered voters. However, Hong Kong's Chief Executive is still handpicked by a committee which is largely loyal to Beijing.
The following file lists the results, material and information about the Legislative Council elections (1998, 2000, 2004, 2008), District Council elections (1999, 2003, 2007, 2011) and Chief Executive elections (2002, 2005, 2007).
[11 pages; file last edited/updated on Thu, Dec. 1, 2011]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6395100/BHKPOL

China's Olympic gold

2008-08-24T21:00:00.010+08:00

During the 29th Olympic Summer Games which took place Aug. 8-24, 2008 in the PRC's capital Beijing, the host nation by far collected the most gold medals of all participating countries. The following file lists all Olympic gold medals ever won by athletes from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, along with interesting information and statistics.
[13 pages; file last edited/updated on Tue, March 2, 2010]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/5482053/BOlgold

The 3000 most frequently used Chinese characters

2008-07-21T20:50:00.018+08:00

Many people shy away from learning Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language because of the Chinese characters. Although there exist more than 47,000 characters, the knowledge of 3000 is regarded sufficient for daily use. The following file includes these 3000 characters in order of their frequency, depicted in their traditional form and their simplified form, complete with the pronunciation in Hanyu Pinyin. At the end of the file you also find a list of single-character Chinese family names and single-character classifiers (measure words). Very helpful for people who want to learn how to write Chinese, and a useful tool for students whose first language is not Chinese and who want to check the level of their Chinese proficiency!

[33 pages; file last edited/updated on Sat, Aug. 8, 2009]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18366372/M3Ke1

Alternative lists of the 3000 most frequently used Chinese characters:

Traditional characters arranged according to the 214 Radicals [29 pages]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18510433/M3KRx

Traditional characters with Hanyu Pinyin [16 pages]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18366671/M3Kt1

Simplified characters with Hanyu Pinyin [16 pages]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18366521/M3Ks1

Traditional characters only [7 pages]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18366312/M3Kt2

Simplified characters only [7 pages]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18366611/M3Ks2

Many dictionaries containing traditional Chinese characters use the so-called 214 Radicals as their classification system. The following file provides an introduction to the 214 Radicals, including an overview plus a detailed list with the Chinese pronunciation of each Radical in Hanyu Pinyin and the meaning in English. [5 pages; file last edited/updated on Sat, Oct. 10, 2009]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20866346/B-214Rad
Japan's writing system is based on traditional Chinese characters. The following file gives an overview over Japanese characters (Kanji) and the two sets of syllabary (Hiragana and Katakana). The file also includes a comparative table of 201 Joyo Kanji which were simplified in a manner unique for Japan and therefore are different from traditional Chinese characters and simplified Chinese characters as used in the People's Republic of China (PRC). [16 pages; file last edited/updated on Tue, Sept. 15, 2009]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/19765754/BKanji

The following file shows a complete comparative list of the 1945 Joyo Kanji with the equivalent traditional and simplified Chinese characters for each Kanji. [21 pages; file last edited/updated on Fri, April 23, 2010]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30423971/Kanji3xc

Updates to The Greater China Factbook

2008-06-28T16:36:00.057+08:00

After a reference book is published, it is unavoidable that at least part of the information it contains is outdated before long. "The Greater China Factbook" is no exception. For example, less than a year after publication, there was a transition of power with a new president and a new government in Taiwan.
Even after the book went to press, I have been collecting information and material, and I kept track of events in the Greater China area. Many of the files posted in this blog are supposed to provide updated data and information for the users of my book, e. g. the lists of politicians in the PRC and the ROC (see Who's who in China's politics, post published in May 2008).
The following file contains updated figures and statistics on population and economic indicators in China und Taiwan (complement to the chapter "China's economy", p. 91-109, and to the gazetteer, p. 119-201, in The Greater China Factbook). [12 pages; file last edited/updated on Fri, Dec. 11, 2009]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7819839/BSTATS

The following five files are a continuation of the "Chronology of Greater China 1911-2006" in the Greater China Factbook (p. 295-389) and list events in China and Taiwan in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively.

Chronology 2007 [11 pages; file last edited/updated on Thu, Nov. 3, 2011]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20697918/BTime07

Chronology 2008 [11 pages; file last edited/updated on Thu, Nov. 3, 2011]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/20697879/BTime08

Chronology 2009 [15 pages; file last edited/updated on Tue, Jan. 3, 2012]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24692608/B-Time09

Chronology 2010 [13 pages; file last edited/updated on Tue, Jan. 3, 2012]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/46202025/B-Time10

Chronology 2011 [14 pages; file last edited/updated on Fri, Feb. 3, 2012]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/77440444/B-Time11

Greater China = pro-unification?

2008-05-31T13:31:00.018+08:00

The use of the term "Greater China" is often mistakenly regarded as an equivalent to a pro-China stance, to favouring unification of China and Taiwan. Because the title of my book is "The Greater China Factbook" and the book includes information about Taiwan, I discovered some people believed I am supporting an annexation of Taiwan by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and oppose Taiwan independence. I therefore see the urgent need to clarify my position.
First of all, when I was a student in the 1980s and 1990s, Taiwan studies were naturally regarded an integral part of sinology, there was no shred of doubt about it. This was based on the fact that the majority of the people living in Taiwan today are ethnic Han Chinese, speak Mandarin or the southern Fujian dialect and observe Chinese customs and holidays. Their ancestors may have come to Taiwan many generations ago, some as early as the 17th century, and many of them interbred with Taiwan's indigenous people so that most Taiwanese today have mixed DNA, but yet they raised their offspring as Chinese. Culturally, these descendants are definitely not aborigines but Chinese. At the beginning of the 21st century, less than three percent of Taiwan's population are officially categorized as aborigines (= members of one of the 14 indigenous groups officially recognized by the ROC government), more than 90 percent are ethnic Han Chinese, subdivided into "Taiwanese" (Taiwanren or benshengren [literally "people from this province"], i. e. descendants of early immigrants who arrived in Taiwan centuries ago, including the Hakkas who make up at least 15 percent of Taiwan's total population) and "mainlanders" (waishengren [literally "people from outer provinces"], i. e. Chinese from the mainland who moved to Taiwan after 1945).
So, making Taiwan studies a part of China studies was purely for cultural reasons and had nothing to do with the question unification of China or Taiwan independence. Many sinologists like myself chose to come to Taiwan to learn Mandarin. I maintain that Taiwan today is culturally a part of Greater China. It is, however, not a province of the PRC either, and that, in my opinion, is a good thing.
Taiwan has left the time of authoritarian rule and bloody repression under dictator Chiang Kai-shek behind and evolved to a pluralistic democracy. Although Taiwan is a young democracy (martial law was lifted less than a quarter of a century ago in 1987) and its political system still has some way to go before it can be called a mature democracy, but nevertheless the differences to the conditions in the PRC are striking. Taiwan has freedom of speech and religion, there are no political prisoners, the government can be scathingly criticized without fear of persecution, there are more than 100 political parties, the media and the judiciary are free of state intervention, and so on. None of that is the case in the PRC.
Should China and Taiwan politically unite? Under the present circumstances I can only express a strong warning against such a step. An immediate unification with the PRC we know now would require Taiwan to give up its freedoms and surrender to CCP rule. Unification according to the terms of Hong Kong's "one country, two systems" (yiguo liangzhi) as proposed by the PRC would label Taiwan's democracy with an expiration date of fifty years. It would be tantamount to suicide—who could imagine that the CCP would tolerate free elections of Taiwan's leaders, judges who make their decisions according to the law instead of obeying CCP orders, outspoken opposition parties and free media? So far this is still unthinkable.
So what about Taiwan independence? Face it—Taiwan has been de facto independent since 1949. Declaring independence (changing the official name of the state from "Republic of China" to "Republic of Taiwan", that is) would merely be a formalization of the Status Quo, but doing it right now would be outright disastrous since the Communist regime of the PRC has reiterated over and over its threat to attack Taiwan and unite it with the PRC by force if Taiwan's leaders declare formal independence. Such an attack would inevitably lead to Taiwan's destruction, and the US would probably not come to Taiwan's help, since Washington could claim Beijing's attack was not unprovoked. But even in the unlikely case that the PRC did not react violently to a Taiwanese declaration of independence, the PRC would still step up its diplomatic pressure against Taiwan. There would be strong objection by a large part of the international community, fearing that the situation across the Taiwan Strait could get out of control. Taiwan would certainly not gain anything, at least not more diplomatic recognition than it has now. Personally I believe formal independence (i. e. Status Quo plus new name and recognition by the international community, including the PRC) would clearly be best for Taiwan, at least in the long run, but it cannot be realized without Beijing's approval.
What are the options? I believe the best approach would be maintaining the Status Quo—for now. Certainly that is not an ideal solution, but Taiwan has done fairly well in the last decade despite its frequent diplomatic setbacks, isolation in the international arena and exclusion from important international organizations as the UN and the WHO thanks to pressure from Beijing. While keeping the name "Republic of China" seems to be hard to stomach for independence activists who associate the ROC with Chiang Kai-shek's regime, it should be considered that the ROC has changed dramatically and the KMT in the 21st century is not the KMT of Chiang Kai-shek any more. More important than the official name of the state is which kind of freedoms the state can provide and whether its citizens can live the life they want. Not the label matters but what's inside the bottle.
Despite the huge differences of the respective political systems I still favour steps to improve the relations across the Taiwan Strait. The strict anti-China policy of Taiwan's DPP-led government between 2000 and 2008 might be interpreted as an understandable reaction to continuous threats, diplomatic pressure, military buildup by the PRC and more than 1000 missiles pointed on targets on the island, but it yielded no results other than increased tensions and alienation from important partners like the US. If the thorny sovereignty issue is temporarily set aside, the results of resuming direct talks could lead to valuable improvements like the three links, including regular direct cross-strait flights. The enthusiasm caused by direct charter flights during the Chinese New Year holidays in 2005 proves that the people both in Taiwan and China welcome closer ties. The formula "one China, respective interpretations" (yizhong gebiao) offers the chance for positive development of China-Taiwan relations.
While striving for better relations with China, Taiwan still needs to be on its guard. Although the PRC has sort of softened its rhetoric slightly ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and now calls for peaceful unification, and it has shown a bit more openness of the media in the wake of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake compared to the information policy during the 2003 SARS crisis, but the PRC's crackdown against separatists in Tibet is a clear sign that the PRC will not hesitate to use force if the CCP leadership believes the "integrity of the motherland" is threatened by "splittists".
Today, it is impossible to predict whether the further development will eventually lead to unification or Taiwan independence. But no matter which one it is going to be, it must be approved by the majority of Taiwan's population through referendum because it is the Taiwanese who will be affected most by a change of the circumstances. Taiwan independence is possible if a majority of Taiwanese wants it and the PRC drops its threat of violence. If China and the international community approve Taiwan independence and the people on the island want it, what would be wrong with it? China and Taiwan could thus develop close and excellent relations and might even form a federation of two sovereign and independent states, which would be a win-win situation. On the other hand, if China opens up, becomes a full-fledged democracy and accepts the values of freedom that have already been adopted in Taiwan, unification could be perfectly possible as well if the Taiwanese people want it and both sides can agree on terms of how the unification is realized. In any case the key for a peaceful solution lies in Beijing, like it or not.

—————————————————————————

Cross-strait relations have seen some improvement since 2008. The following file shows the complete and unabridged texts of cross-strait agreements signed between SEF and ARATS plus relevant material, the official English translation is followed by the Chinese original. [80 pages; file last edited/updated on Fri, Jan. 13, 2012]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/26865618/B-CSR
On June 29, 2010, an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) was signed by SEF and ARATS representatives in Chongqing. The following two files show the English translation provided by the ROC's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and the Chinese original provided by the ROC's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), both complete and unabridged. [36 pages/31 pages, files last edited/updated on Thu, Oct. 21, 2010]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/39949037/ECFA-en
http://www.scribd.com/doc/39949169/ECFA-ch

Although the so-called "1992 Consensus" is known to be an invention of a high-ranking ROC politician, the term still appears in discussions about cross-strait issues. The following file contains material about that term. [10 pages; file last edited/updated on Fri, Feb. 19, 2010]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/27058267/B-1992K

Chinese tongue twisters

2008-05-28T21:49:00.005+08:00

Thought you mastered the Chinese language already? Well, then try this! These tongue twisters are difficult even for native speakers. The following list [2 pages] provides the pronunciation and characters only, who cares what they actually mean…

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3246865/BTwist

Disasters and accidents in Greater China

2008-05-28T16:32:00.116+08:00

China and Taiwan are not only threatened by earthquakes, but also by frequent typhoons and floods. The volcanoes in the Greater China area are considered extinct, there has been no eruption since the 1950s. More details about natural disasters can be found in the following file [2 pages; file last edited/updated on Wed, Sept. 9, 2009].

http://www.scribd.com/doc/19571610/BDisas

China's mines are considered to be among the most dangerous in the world, and aviation accidents make headlines occasionally as well. The following file lists major mine disasters and plane crashes in China and Taiwan since the 20th century. [7 pages; file last edited/updated on Sat, Feb. 4, 2012]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20846615/B-Accid

Mass killings, shooting sprees, murderous rampages have been reported in many countries of the world. The following file lists major non-political mass killings in Greater China since 1949. [4 pages; file last edited/updated on Sun, Jan. 9, 2011]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20315503/BKill

ROC elections and referendums

2008-05-28T16:32:00.115+08:00

After martial law was lifted in 1987 and constitutional reforms were subsequently implemented, elections in the ROC (Taiwan) could be regarded as free and democratic. The following file provides details about ROC elections on the central level—the names, birth years and party affiliations of all the presidential candidates and their running mates at the ROC direct presidential elections since 1996 plus election results (eligible voters, voter turnout, total votes cast, number of valid and invalid votes); results of ROC parliamentary elections on the central level (Legislative Yuan, National Assembly) since 1991 and the Taiwan provincial elections of 1989 and 1994; elections for the mayors of Taiwan's special municipalities since 1994, as well as details about the six referendums in the ROC since 2004 (submitted questions, figures about the results). [20 pages; file last edited/updated on Fri, Feb. 3, 2012]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/56461500/B-ROCel3
The inaugural speech of a new ROC president is usually regarded as a major political statement about the concepts and plans the incoming head of state wishes to implement during his term. The following file shows the full text of four inaugural addresses delivered by ROC presidents: Lee Teng-hui (1996), Chen Shui-bian (2000, 2004), and Ma Ying-jeou (2008). The official English translation is followed by the Chinese original, all complete and unabridged. [26 pages; file last edited/updated on Fri, March 19, 2010]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/9641999/BINAUG

Index of Chinese cities

2008-05-28T16:31:00.010+08:00

An alphabetical list of ca. 700 cities in China and Taiwan [8 pages; file last edited/updated on Mon, June 30, 2008].

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3718320/BCity

Details and information about the Chinese provinces, including population, area, population density, economic data, and a list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China. [15 pages; file last edited/updated on Thu, Dec. 24, 2009]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7819846/BProv

For better orientation check out these maps which can be found online.
China (topographic map):
http://www.albany.edu/~yhuang/ChinaMap.jpg
China (political map):

http://www.nationsonline.org/maps/china_provinces_map1200.jpg
Taiwan (topographic map):
http://www.knowledgerush.com/wiki_image/7/79/Taiwan_map_large.gif
Taiwan (political map):
http://www.mapsofworld.com/taiwan/maps/taiwan-map.jpg
Disclaimer: I do not review or control third party Web sites that link to or from my blog, I am not responsible for their content, and I do not represent that their content is accurate or appropriate. Your use of such third party site is on your own initiative and at your own risk and may be subject to the other sites' terms of use.

The Greater China Factbook

2008-05-27T11:01:00.037+08:00

What the book is about
The Greater China Factbook is basically the kind of reference book which I was always looking for since my time at the university. I wanted a reference book that contained all the basic information about China and Taiwan, not too detailed but still comprehensive, concise and resourceful, with information about the Chinese provinces, about China's long history and so on, with all the personal and geographical names in Chinese characters. While I was still in university, there was no such book, but I kept looking after graduation.
Sometimes I would come across a reference book which contained part of the information I wanted. Two of them were Colin Mackerras' "New Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China" (Cambridge University Press 2001, ISBN 0521786746) and the German-language "Das Grosse China-Lexikon" (The Great China Dictionary, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2003, ISBN 3534149882). Both are useful handbooks, but in my opinion the gazetteer in Mackerras' book was not resourceful enough, and the contents about history were simply disappointing. What's more important, the book doesn't contain a single Chinese character and almost no information about Taiwan. On the other hand, there are ample data about China's economy. The German encyclopedia had a glossary with characters of personal names only. The amount of specialized information in the encyclopedia is impressive, but I did not like the structure of the book very much because it's not exactly user-friendly.
It was around late August 2002 when I finally decided to write the reference book myself. In retrospective I think the decision was not as crazy as I thought it would be at that time. During my studies as a sinologist in Freiburg and Bochum in the 1980s and 1990s, me and my fellow students learned what the basics in China studies—language, culture, geography, culture and so on—consisted of, and were trained how to find the information we needed. Besides, I only wanted to collect the detailed basics of the most relevant fields, and how scattered though that information seemed to be, it turned out that it was actually not too difficult to locate it after all. Writing the book still took a lot of my spare time, it required diligence, perseverance and patience, as well as a sense of order and structure, the two latter of which I as a German have plenty.
Creating the historic maps proved to be less difficult than I expected. Using several excellent historical atlases from China, I created 18 maps in several steps including tracing, scanning, editing and others in less than 6 weeks, providing a useful reference for readers of books about China's history.
In the end, I was lucky—I was introduced to a publisher who supported my project, and I found people who possessed expertise in areas like linguistics and economics and agreed to review my manuscript about those topics, helping me to improve these chapters. And last not least, I was blessed to find an excellent professional editor who checked the whole book for me, correcting all my mistakes in English grammar and style, thus making the book readable.
It has now been more than four years since the book went to press, and I'm still very satisfied with the result. Of course time did not stop at publication, and although there is no guarantee that there will ever be a second edition, I keep collecting information and data, and this blog is a way to share these new materials with interested users. The lists which I am posting on this blog mostly contain information I collected only after publishing my book. Downloading the lists in the blog and browsing my book would certainly be the most efficient way to get quick information about the basics in Chinese geography, history and so on.
For more information on The Greater China Factbook, please refer to Brian Asmus's article in the China Post (Nov. 3, 2007) and the book review from the GIGA Institute of Asian Studies in Hamburg, Germany.

The China Post, Nov. 3, 2007:
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/supplement/2007/11/03/129370/German%2Dsinologist.htm
GIGA book review (English translation; 2 pages):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3294123/REZ02e

GIGA book review (German original; 2 pages):

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6377759/REZ01e

Another book review can be found in The China Quarterly, Vol 198, June 2009, p. 474-475, written by Dr Lars Laamann, lecturer in the history of China at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. The China Quarterly is the leading scholarly journal in its field, covering all aspects of contemporary China including Taiwan. Unfortunately, I cannot publish the contents of Dr Laamann's book review on my blog for copyright reasons, but it can be purchased and downloaded from the CQY website.
Website of The China Quarterly:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=CQY
Table of contents of Vol 198, June 2009:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?iid=5873048

Currently, the book is available in major Taiwanese bookstores like Eslite and Page One, and it can be ordered online via Books.com.tw:
http://www.books.com.tw/exep/prod/booksfile.php?item=0010380377
It can also be ordered in the US on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Greater-China-Factbook-Tilman-Aretz/dp/9867762975
Book details (1 page):

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16848520/Flyer-15

Table of contents (6 pages):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3111880/p001006
Preface (3 pages):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3111879/p007009
Sample pages—gazetteer (4 pages):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3111867/p166169
Sample pages—history (4 pages):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3111870/p232235
Errata and misprints [3 pages; file last edited/updated on Thu, Dec. 22, 2011]:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16848471/BErrata

Missing pages—due to a mistake during the binding process, some copies of the book are missing the pages 297 to 312 but contain the pages 313 to 328 twice. So far less than a dozen of such faulty copies have surfaced. The author and the publisher regret the error and apologize for any inconvenience caused by it. A file showing the missing 16 pages can be found here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3987622/p297312

Publishing information (2 pages):

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3526847/p001669

Currencies in Greater China

2008-05-27T11:00:00.053+08:00

Of course you know the US-Dollar and the Euro, but do you know the Pataca? Any idea which currencies are used in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, and Singapore?
China (People's Republic of China)—Renminbi/RMB
Hong Kong—Hong Kong Dollar/HK$
Macau—Pataca/M$
Taiwan (Republic of China)—New Taiwan Dollar/NT$
Singapore—Singapore Dollar/S$
Japan—Yen/¥
South Korea—Won
Vietnam—Dong
Monthly exchange rates for RMB, HK$, NT$ and Yen against Euro and US$ (updated monthly). [8 pages; file last edited/updated on Sat, Feb. 4, 2012]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20554292/BForex1

Annual exchange rates for RMB, HK$, M$, NT$, S$, Yen, Won and Dong against Euro and US$. [5 pages; file last edited/updated on Sat, Feb. 4, 2012]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20554309/BForex2

For further information on economic trends, please check the file containing data of Asia's and the world's most important stock exchange indices and the development of crude oil and gold prices since 1995 (updated monthly). [13 pages; file last edited/updated on Sat, Feb. 4, 2012]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20554280/BStocks

Who's who in Greater China's politics

2008-05-26T15:32:00.147+08:00

To most people, China is equivalent to the People's Republic of China (PRC), but in fact another independent and sovereign political entity also exists in the Greater China area—the Republic of China (ROC), which controls Taiwan, the Pescadores (Penghu), Kinmen (also known as Quemoy), Matsu and other small islets.
The fact that both states have their own governments but quite similar names often causes confusion. The following lists show top government and party officials of each side.
Politicians in the PRC [57 pages; file last edited/updated on Tue, Jan. 17, 2012]:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16848535/PolPRC

Politicians in Taiwan ROC [48 pages; file last edited/updated on Thu, Feb. 2, 2012]:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/19641434/PolROC

China's current leadership (PRC/ROC) [15 pages; file last edited/updated on Thu, Feb. 2, 2012]:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/19641447/BLead11

Members of the ROC Legislative Yuan (i. e. Taiwan's parliament) since 1992 [31 pages; file last edited/updated on Thu, Feb. 2, 2012]:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20582981/BLifa

ROC city mayors and county magistrates since 1989 [13 pages; file last edited/updated on Mon, Dec. 27, 2010]:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20697910/BROCcty

Earthquakes in Greater China

2008-05-25T19:15:00.025+08:00

The massive earthquake which devastated the area around Wenchuan County in China's Sichuan province on May 12, 2008, killed at least 69,200 and has made headlines all over the world.
For information about major earthquakes in the Greater China area, please refer to my file B-Quakes.pdf. The file includes a list detailing the date, magnitude, casualties and epicenter of major temblors in China and Taiwan since 1900, and there is also a separate list of historical earthquakes, providing information about dates and epicenters of quakes before 1900. [5 pages; file last edited/updated on Fri, March 11, 2011]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17292457/BQuakes