In a recent opinion piece, Jerome Keating hailed the possibility of an “out of Taiwan” thesis that can explain the origins and settlement of nations and empires in the Austronesian region, an idea that has a prominent following in scientific circles (“Taiwan’s great epic of migration,” Feb. 1, page 8).
This “epic” understanding of the source of Austronesian peoples is compelling, and is probably at least in part true, but the possibility that Austronesia was founded by peoples from China or Southeast Asian nations, which had ancient seafaring peoples that also voyaged into these regions, is also a distinct likelihood.
The actual origins of Austronesian peoples, ethnicities and languages is not fully understood at this time, unlike for example the diaspora from Russia and China that crossed the Bering Strait into the Americas, or the out of Africa thesis explaining the origins of almost all of humankind. For these reasons, it is not appropriate to claim the origin of Austronesia as Taiwan’s own yet.
Although looking at the ancient exodus and origins it gave rise to is interesting, and will no doubt cast light on Taiwan’s rich past and help to solidify and amalgamate Taiwanese identity, I think a different look might be even more compelling.
This is a look at Taiwan’s recent past, comprising another great migration that is just as interesting and relevant. Here, I mean the diaspora out of Taiwan since World War II, and the significant effect it has had around the world.
It could be said that it is related to the Chinese diaspora, which has been occurring since the mid-1900s. The migration of Taiwanese to other lands has been going on for almost as long, but the Taiwan of modern times, when Taiwanese have in a sense found a new identity in their migrations, coheres in important ways with the contemporary world.
Taiwanese students have in many ways been at the core of this migration, as they have traveled to other countries in great numbers for the past 70 years. Taiwanese have studied in the US since the 1950s, long before Chinese students began to study there in larger numbers. These students and other Taiwanese have been called a “first wave” of immigration to the US.
More recently, a multitude of Taiwanese have gone to the US to study (approximately 25,000). It has been said that Taiwanese Americans have the highest educational attainment ranking in the US, surpassing any other ethnic group or country. By comparison, there were about 19,000 Taiwanese studying in Europe from 2013 to 2014, most of whom were in the UK, and 7,200 in Australia.
Other Taiwanese have also been migrating to the US. The 2010 census showed that there were 196,691 Taiwanese — and many more of Taiwanese descent. This is far fewer than the 3,137,061 Chinese, but by no means insignificant.
Taiwanese students, working professionals and families have also been migrating for almost as long, again reflecting the global perspective of Taiwanese migration. I do not consider this a “narrow perspective,” as Keating states. It is truly a global view, with Taiwanese migrating and settling far and wide.
If the “out of Taiwan” thesis proves to be true, the modern diaspora, with its hundreds and thousands of people, might never match the empires and nations that were given rise to in ancient times, but it might be no less important to Taiwanese identity and consciousness. With Taiwan having shaped the modern world in significant ways, giving so much back, this might one day comprise an epic of its own.
I hope this story is one day told. Telling stories is sharing stories, sharing stories is bolstering the quality of life and experience. This is what we look forward to.
David Pendery is an associate professor at National Taipei University of Business.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
RSS