The Dutch East India Company founded a small colony on Taiwan's southwest coast in 1624, at what's now Tainan. The Dutch called this spot Taijowan, a place name which evolved into the Mandarin term for the whole island, Taiwan. Some years later, they established another base in the north, at Tamsui.
Dutch and Spanish settlers established bases in Taiwan in the early 17th century. Around 1.2 million people relocated from China to Taiwan along with the ROC government in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Republic of China officially joined the Allies in World War II. The Republic of China sought Allied agreement for Japan to relinquish Taiwan and return its sovereignty to China after the war.
Historically, most Taiwanese people originated from China (under regimes before the PRC). Taiwanese people (of Chinese descent) have traveled between China and Taiwan throughout history. Taiwanese Indigenous peoples also have a minor presence in China (PRC).
In December 1949, the Republic of China Armed Forces and the Kuomintang were defeated in the Chinese Civil War, forcing the Government of the Republic of China to relocate to Taiwan.
Long answer: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under Mao desired and planned to invade Taiwan from the inception of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and only gradually abandoned the idea after it became clear it would be almost impossible to do so due to the shifting geopolitics of the Cold War in the 1950s.
Most Taiwanese people oppose joining PRC for various reasons, including fears of the loss of Taiwan's democracy, human rights, and Taiwanese nationalism. Opponents either favor maintaining the status quo of the Republic of China administrating Taiwan or the pursuit of Taiwan independence.
The last wave of prehistoric migrations to reach the Philippines was the Austronesian expansion which started in the Neolithic at around 4,500 to 3,500 years ago, when a branch of Austronesians from Taiwan (the ancestral Malayo-Polynesian-speakers) migrated to the Batanes Islands and Luzon.
Control over the island of Taiwan was also surrendered by Japan to the Republic of China on 25 October 1945. After the Japan–China Joint Communiqué in 1972, Japan no longer recognized the Republic of China as the sole official government of China, and official diplomatic relations between the two countries were ceased.
From 1895 to 1945, Japan exerted 50 years of colonial rule over Taiwan. After World War II, colonialism was thoroughly rejected, and colonies in the East and West either became independent or returned to their original motherland.
Japanese is not widely spoken in Taiwan today, but it has historical significance due to Japan's colonial rule from 1895 to 1945. Many older Taiwanese still have some knowledge of Japanese, and elements of Japanese culture remain popular, especially among younger generations interested in Japanese pop culture.
In 1544, passing Portuguese seafarers dubbed Taiwan Ihla Formosa, 'beautiful island', bestowing a name which Westerners used until well after World War II.
Taiwan's transition from authoritarianism to democracy is known as a “quiet revolution.” The main feature and advantage of this is that it enabled the country to gradually and gently establish a democratic system without large-scale bloodshed or huge costs to society.
In 1885, Taiwan's status was upgraded to be the 20th province of China. Throughout the history, Taiwan was temporally colonized twice, but both were later taken back by China. In 1662, Zheng Chenggong, a national hero of China, expelled the Dutch colonists and recovered Taiwan.
Koreans largely revile the Japanese occupation and many still resent Japan today for its colonial atrocities; Taiwanese, by contrast, typically think fondly of Japan and tend to see their occupation in a broadly positive light.
The Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Resident (also known as the Taiwan Compatriot Permit or Taiwan Compatriot Pass) is a travel document issued by the Exit and Entry Administration of the People's Republic of China. This card-size biometric document is issued to Taiwan residents for traveling to mainland China.
The vast majority of Taiwan's population are Han Chinese (around 97 per cent), though most of these belong to two groups considered to be 'Native Taiwanese': the Hokkien who originally began immigrating from China's southern Fujian province in the 16th century and represent about 70 per cent of the total population, ...
The two populations have been reported to share similar genetic backgrounds, as they are descendants of an admixture of Han Chinese and the southeast coastal indigenous population (Yueh) of China (3).
A full list of the recognized ethnic groups of Taiwan, as well as some of the more commonly cited unrecognized peoples, is as follows: Recognized: Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Hla'alua, Kanakanavu, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Tao, Thao, Tsou, Truku, Sakizaya and Sediq.
As Taiwan started opening up after the martial law years, investments came from Europe, the US, and Japan. At the same time, Taiwan officially started importing migrant workers from Southeast Asia in 1992. Immigrants from Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand came in large numbers to drive the country's economy.
The government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) oppose Taiwanese independence since they believe that Taiwan and mainland China comprise two portions of a single country's territory and regards any moves (retaining political autonomy of the ROC or the radical move of declaring formal independence) as separatism ...
Residents of the People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong and Macau), only after gaining permanent resident status abroad, or otherwise establishing a period of residency defined by the regulations, become eligible for a Taiwan passport but do not gain benefits of citizenship.
By the end of that decade – in 2009 - more than 400,000 Taiwanese lived in China. By 2022, that number had plummeted to 177,000, according to official figures from Taiwan. “China had changed,” says Ms Chu, who left Shanghai in 2019.
