Taiwanese People

Taiwanese people (traditional Chinese: 台灣人; simplified Chinese: 台湾人; pinyin: Táiwān rén; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-oân-lâng) may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on Taiwan, or Taiwan Area which has been governed by the Republic of China (ROC) since 1945. At least three competing (occasionally overlapping) paradigms are used to identify someone as a Taiwanese person: a nationalist criteria, self-identification (including the concept of "New Taiwanese") criteria, and socio-cultural criteria. These standards are fluid, in keeping with an evolving social and political milieu. The complexity resulting from competing and evolving standards is compounded by a larger dispute regarding Taiwan's identity crisis, the political status of Taiwan, and its potential de jure Taiwan independence or political integration with the People's Republic of China.

98% of Taiwan's population is made up of Han Chinese People, while 2% are Taiwanese aborigines. The composite category of "Taiwanese People" is often reputed by many Taiwanese to include a significant population of at least four constituent ethnic groups: the Hoklo (70%), the Hakka (15%), waishengren (or mainland Chinese) (13%), and Taiwanese aborigines (2%) (Copper 2003:12–13; Hsiao 2004:105). Although the concept of the "four great ethnic groups" was a deliberate attempt by the Hoklo-dominated Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to defuse Chinese Taiwanese people tensions, this conception has become a dominant frame of reference for dealing with Taiwanese ethnic and national issues (Makeham 2005:4–5). Despite the wide use of the "four great ethnic groups" in public discourse as essentialized identities, the relationships between the peoples of Taiwan have been in a constant state of convergence and negotiation for centuries. The continuing process of cross-ethnic mixing with ethnicities from within and outside Taiwan, combined with the disappearance of ethnic barriers due to a shared socio-political experience, has led to the emergence of "Taiwanese" as a larger ethnic group (Harrell & Huang 1994:14–15).