As you delve deeper into Taiwan's history, you'll discover its multiple experiences of colonization, most notably by China. Similar to what I mentioned in my article about Matsu, these settlers can be traced back to as early as the 1300s.
Today, Taiwan is a diverse melting pot of indigenous peoples, mixed Japanese and Chinese descendants, as well as pre-and post-1949 ethnic Han Chinese individuals.
A Dutch, Spanish and Japanese Encounter
Formosans have long experienced various forms of colonization. In the 17th century, Dutch and Spanish explorers briefly occupied the island due to its strategic location along East Asian sea trade routes. Most notably, Taiwan was colonized by the Japanese Empire from 1895 to 1945. This period was crucial and remains an underlying factor in the complex dynamic of identity that many Taiwanese grapple with to this day.
The Post-1949 “Republic of China”
After World War II, Japan returned Taiwan to the rule of the Nationalist government led by the Kuomintang (KMT), which had been established in 1912. However, in the late 1940s, a civil war erupted in China between the existing Nationalist Party, led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the emerging Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong. The Communist Party unexpectedly emerged victorious, prompting the Nationalist government, along with around 1.2 million Chinese citizens, to flee to Taiwan.
Establishing their government in Taiwan, the Nationalists were formally known as the Republic of China (ROC), while mainland China became the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under Communist rule.
