Our History – context and pluralism

A succession of foreign governments (the Dutch, Spanish and Ching [Manchu] Dynasty) took control of various parts of Taiwan from the 17th to the 19th centuries. In 1887 the failing Ching Dynasty made Taiwan a province of China, but eight years later, in 1895, when China lost the first Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was handed over to Japan “in perpetuity.” As a Japanese colony for fifty (50) years Taiwan experienced considerable development in agriculture, industry, transportation, city planning, public health and education.

At the end of World War II in 1945, the Allied Forces instructed the Chinese Nationalist (Kuo-ming-tang [KMT]) Government to accept the Japanese surrender of Taiwan and to undertake, temporarily, the military occupation of the island as a trustee on behalf of the Allied Powers.

In 1949, China fell to Communist forces, and the Nationalist KMT Government, along with many soldiers and civilians, fled to Taiwan. Once again, the people on Taiwan were under the rule of people from outside - a rule presaged by a massacre, which began on 28 February 1947 (228 massacre) and lasted for several weeks, wiping out at least 20,000 elite Taiwanese leaders and youth by KMT Nationalist troops. Martial Law, that included a one language policy, was immediately enforced by the KMT - a regime that was not to be lifted until 1987.

About 3 million (13%) of the current population of Taiwan consists of these Chinese “Mainlander” troops and civilians and their descendants. Over the past two decades Taiwan also witnessed a great influx of migrant workers numbering in the region of 300,000 as well as more recently “foreign brides” –cross cultural marriages.