Taiwan (historically called "Formosa" especially prior to 1945, from Portuguese: Ilha Formosa, "Beautiful Island") is an island and an archipelago in East Asia, composed of Taiwan Island and several much smaller islands such as the Penghu Islands, Orchid Island, Green Island, and Hsiao Liuchiu. The main island is located some 180 kilometres (112 miles) off the southeastern coast of China across the Taiwan Strait. It has an area of 35,883 km² (13,855 sq mi) and straddles the Tropic of Cancer. The archipelago makes up the majority of the territory of the Republic of China (ROC, commonly known as "Taiwan"), after the ROC lost its mainland China territory in the Chinese Civil War.

The East China Sea lies to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the Luzon Strait directly to the south and the South China Sea to the southwest. The island is characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of rugged mountains running in five ranges from the northern to the southern tip of the island, and the flat to gently rolling Chianan Plains in the west that are also home to most of Taiwan's population. Taiwan's highest point is Yu Shan at 3,952 metres (12,966 ft), and there are five other peaks over 3500 meters. This makes it the world's fourth-highest island.

Stan Shih (Traditional Chinese: 施振榮, Hanyu Pinyin: Shī Zhènróng, b. December 8, 1944 in Lukang Township, Changhua County, Taiwan) is a retired Taiwanese business tycoon. After receiving the Bachelor's degree and Master's degree degrees in Electronics Engineering from the National Chiao Tung University, Shih founded Acer (originally named as Multitech, but later changed to Acer in 1987) in 1976 along with his wife Carolyn Yeh and a group of five. Shih chaired Acer until his retirement late in 2004, seeing Acer growing from a tiny start-up to a billion-dollar worldwide brand. After retirement Shih is still active in local charity works, and was even appointed as the Special Representative of President Chen Shui-bian to the APEC Australia 2007.