Newsademic British English edition 260

12th November 2015 
N e w s a d e m ic .co m ™
 - British English edition 
page 
18
storms washed away a lot o f soil. 
The powerful winds uprooted many 
o f the island’s trees.
The two cyclones destroyed or 
badly damaged hundreds o f homes. 
After the storms passed, planes from 
Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab 
Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia 
arrived. They brought food, water, 
tents, and medicines. □
X
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- M
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m e e t in g
On 7th November a historic event 
took place in Singapore. China’s 
president, Xi Jinping, and Ma Ying- 
jeou, the president o f Taiwan, met for 
talks. This was the first time that the 
leaders o f the two countries had met 
since 1949. Then, the country split in 
two after the Chinese Civil War.
China’s X i Jinping (L) and Taiwan’s Ma Ying-jeou (R)
The civil war was fought be­
tween the Communists and the N a­
tionalists, or Kuomintang (KMT). 
Mao Zedong led the Communists. 
Chiang Kai-shek was the K M T’s 
leader. After many years o f fighting 
the Communists controlled most of 
the country. In 1949 the KMT re­
treated to the island o f Taiwan.
Both the Communists and the 
KMT claimed to be the official 
government o f China. Even to­
day the official names o f Taiwan 
and China are very similar. China 
is the People’s Republic o f China 
(PRC) and Taiwan is the Repub­
lic o f China (ROC). To avoid
confusion, many people call the PRC 
‘mainland China’.
After 1949 the KMT ran Taiwan 
for 50 years. The country’s first ful­
ly democratic elections were held in 
1996. These were between Taiwan’s 
two main political parties, the KMT 
and the Democratic Progressive