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Taiwanese Australians are Australian citizens of ethnic Taiwanese ancestry. Taiwanese ancestry can manifest itself in several ways. Anyone who was born in Taiwan, is descended from someone born in Taiwan, was raised in Taiwan (but was not necessarily born there), possesses Taiwanese (ROC) citizenship, has an ancestor who possesses or possessed Taiwanese (ROC) citizenship, or has pledged allegiance to the Republic of China government, can also be considered to be Taiwanese, regardless of their ethnicity.

Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China, is a fully autonomous state in East Asia which does not have recognition by the United Nations (UN), and it is officially recognized as a Secessionist State within China. Taiwan's history as a 'nation' is quite short, but the nationalistic sentiment amongst the young Taiwanese is gradually increasing as the rift between Taiwan and its rival state, the People's Republic of China, widens. Taiwan was separated from China, also known as 'Mainland China', following the events of the First Sino-Japanese War, which occurred between 1894 and 1895. Qing Dynasty officials ceded Taiwan to the Empire of Japan in 1895 after losing the war, with the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki (which has subsequently been deemed illegitimate by the ROC and PRC governments).

Taiwan was only 'returned' to China in 1945, following Japan's surrender at the end of WWII (this fact is highly contested). The ROC was then exiled to Taiwan in 1949-1950s as a result of heavy losses in the Chinese Civil War, increasing the population of Taiwan by roughly 1.2 million (according to the Taiwanese government's official statistics). The ROC continued to hold China's position on the United Nations Security Council until 1971 (in that year, it lost the China seat, along with its Security Council powers, to the PRC), and it lost diplomatic recognition from its greatest ally, the United States of America, in 1978, though a Taiwan Relations Act (between Taiwan and the US) was arranged in 1979, to defend the territorial integrity of the ROC and to maintain peace and stability in East Asia. After Chiang Kai-shek (Taiwan's president at the time) decided to turn down an offer to re-enter the UN as the "Chinese Republic of Taiwan" or just the "Republic of Taiwan", Taiwanese people were effectively left Stateless, and Taiwan was officially wiped off the map.

Today, Taiwanese people (of Han Chinese descent) are divided between 'Mainlanders' and 'Natives'. They are also divided between a 'Pan-Blue Camp' and a 'Pan-Green Camp', with the former being led by the Kuomintang, the ROC's original party (which used to govern Taiwan as a One-Party Dictatorship), and with the latter being led by the Democratic Progressive Party, which emerged in Taiwan slightly before Martial Law was lifted in 1987. However, Taiwanese people are loosely united by their general opposition to the PRC and its ruling party, the Chinese Communist Party, which is adamant on destroying the ROC and reclaiming Taiwan, which it claims as 'ancient Chinese territory, a Province of China'. The PRC is responsible for politically and socially isolating Taiwan, and it also threatens Taiwan with war on a daily basis, warning the Taiwanese to not dare declare independence.

Taiwan is the traditional ancestral land of the Taiwanese indigenous peoples, who have been living on the island for tens-of-thousands of years. They remained isolated from the rest of the world until the Age of Discovery. Though the Chinese originally respected the sovereignty of the Taiwanese Indigenous peoples, the Europeans did not. Various European powers vied for Taiwan for use as a strategic trading port with which to conduct trade with China, Korea, and Japan. Eventually, the Dutch (who had already defeated the Spanish in Taiwan) were driven out of Taiwan by the Chinese in 1662, due to Chinese fears that the Dutch could launch an attack against China from such a close distance. Qing China annexed Taiwan, taking over from the Kingdom of Tungning, in 1683.

Immigration

The exact number of Taiwanese Australians is hard to calculate since most demographic research tends to clump immigrants from People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, into the broadly defined "Chinese Australian" category as both the governments of People's Republic of China and Australia force Taiwanese Australians as a subgroup of Chinese Australians due to the 'One China Policy' adopted by the Australian government with the recognition of the People's Republic of China in 1972 as Republic of China was ousted by majority of Member States of the United Nations General Assembly voting in United Nations Resolution 2758. This has consequently been a subject of controversy especially with those of the Pan-Green coalition in Taiwan that advocates Taiwan independence, that contradicts Australia's One China Policy to the island of Taiwan with recognition of People's Republic of China as the sole government of China that Taiwan is a part of China, and One China Policy adopted by Australia is different from the perspective of the United States that Australia does not have a "Taiwan Relations Act", but Australia does have a (number of) domestic Racial Equality-related Act(s) since Multiculturalism of Australia after the era of White Australia Policy from 1980's onwards as Australia was preparing to integrate in Asia, therefore, the term Taiwanese Australian officially refers to the Asian community in Australia although there is split identity in Taiwan all people with Taiwanese citizenship or background are regarded as Taiwanese/Formosan. At the 2016 census, 46,882 people declared they were born in Taiwan.

Immigration to Australia

Taiwan has been inhabited by Austronesian peoples since antiquity. These people had virtually no direct contact with the outside world, but their ancestors certainly did. It is widely hypothesised that Taiwan was the (most recent) traditional homeland of all Austronesian peoples, based on linguistic theories. Austronesians spread out from Taiwan several thousand years ago and colonised distant archipelagic lands, including Madagascar, Easter Island, Hawaii (US), Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hainan (PRC), Australia, and New Zealand. Australian Aboriginal peoples are completely unrelated to the Taiwanese Aboriginal peoples. However, the natives of New Zealand, as well as the Torres Strait (home to Australia's Torres Strait Islanders), can trace their ancestry back to Taiwan. Therefore, the first 'Taiwanese' people to immigrate to Australia were, in fact, the Torres Strait Islanders.

As for the Han Taiwanese, there are virtually no widely-known records of Taiwanese immigration to Australia prior to the 1970s, with Taiwanese people only being counted in Australian censuses since 1976 . Taiwanese people were originally classified exactly the same as Chinese people (so you could not easily tell who was Taiwanese), and Taiwan is still classified as a "subregion of China" in Australian censuses. Taiwanese people were only allowed to migrate to Australia, on a large scale, beginning from 1973, with the dismantlement of the White Australia Policy. For this reason, Taiwanese migration to Australia prior to 1973, or perhaps prior to 1945 (the end of WWII), was quite negligible. Additionally, under Japanese rule, the Taiwanese weren't easily able to emigrate, though it certainly was possible and there are records of emigration from Taiwan midway through this period. Following the 1895 Japanese invasion of Taiwan, the Native Taiwanese (including the Indigenous, who would also later become subjects of the Japanese Empire) were given an ultimatum - "leave within two years, or you will become a subject of the Japanese Empire".

Of course, many Taiwanese were attached to their land and attempted to fend off the Japanese forces, whilst a group of Qing-loyalists tried to declare independence as the "Republic of Formosa", but these people were crushed too. The impending doom that the Taiwanese people found themselves facing resulted in a large-scale emigration from Taiwan, with most people returning to Mainland China or migrating to Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. Many Taiwanese chose not to emigrate because they did not have faith in the Chinese government or because they were too attached to their homes and possessions, which they could not evacuate from Taiwan. The remaining Taiwanese were forced to spend the next 48 years living under Colonial Japanese rule, which would later sometimes be characterised as "brutal but benevolent", especially in comparison to life under the KMT during the Martial Law period.

During WWII, Taiwan served as a southern base of operations for the Japanese military. Taiwan became heavily involved in the war effort, with Taiwanese Aborigines being sent as far south as Papua New Guinea (which was part of Australia) to fight the Allies. Taiwanese Natives also found themselves fighting Chinese, Indians, British, Americans, and other Allied forces in the Southeast Asia region. Most Taiwanese were indistinguishable from a typical Japanese, in the eyes of Allied prisoners-of-war and soldiers. This sort of mentality, as well as the fact that the Taiwanese were beginning to convert their names to Japanese, were beginning to become assimilated into Japanese culture, and were even serving Japan as spies (and not just as clueless soldiers), eventually caused the Allies to group the Taiwanese up with the Japanese, along with the Koreans (and, eventually, the Manchurians from Manchukuo).

Allied POW camps did not just hold Japanese prisoners, but also prisoners who originated from all four corners of the Empire. At least 1405 Taiwanese, and perhaps up to 3000, were interned in Australia, whereas a larger number was interned in India, though it is uncertain whether the US and Canada interned any Taiwanese. In any case, this means that at least 1405 Taiwanese people spent roughly 4.5 years living in Australia, from December 1941 (or January 1942) until March 1946. Although all of these people were repatriated to Taiwan on the Yoizuki, roughly 100 children were born in Australia and gained Australian citizenship thanks to Jus soli. Some of these children, and some adults, did eventually return to Australia a few decades later, maintaining their Australian citizenship and their history with this country. The maximum 'generation' that someone descended from this lineage should be able to be is 5th-generation (which means that 4 generations of the family were born in Australia, and 1 generation immigrated).

Modern Taiwanese immigration to Australia began in the 1970s, with the abolishment of the White Australia Policy.

Immigrants vs. native-born

First generation immigrants from Taiwan usually share a common language, Mandarin, although many also speak Taiwanese Hokkien, commonly referred to as "Taiwanese", and to a lesser extent, Taiwanese Hakka. As with most immigrants to Australia, linguistic fluency in the heritage language quickly disappears in the second generation. Many second generation Taiwanese Australians are exposed to Taiwanese, but their level of proficiency varies. Many second generation immigrants speak Taiwanese as their heritage language and may not know any Mandarin. This is typical for many overseas Taiwanese. There are also second generation Taiwanese, especially whose families are from the Taipei Metropolitan Area, who speak Mandarin as their heritage language and know little Taiwanese. Mandarin or Taiwanese as the heritage language, however, depends on parents, and whether the individuals are exposed to Mandarin through Taiwanese Mandarin schools. Second generation Taiwanese of Hakka descent tend to speak better Mandarin as their heritage language. There are many first generation Taiwanese of full Hakka heritage who may speak all three languages. Taiwanese Australians of mixed Hoklo and Hakka Heritage may speak only Taiwanese Mandarin as their heritage language. Second Generation Taiwanese who are of mixed Hoklo Taiwanese and Waisheng Taiwanese (or other Chinese) heritage may only know Taiwanese Mandarin at most and not a word of Taiwanese.

Settlement

Brisbane remains as Australia's top Taiwanese settling city with Sydney and Melbourne coming in close.

See also

• Taiwanese people
• Demographics of Australia
• Chinese Australians
• Taiwanese Canadians
• Taiwanese Americans

References

1. ^ "2016 Census Community Profiles: Australia". Quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
2. "Origins: History of immigration from Taiwan - Immigration Museum, Melbourne Australia". museumsvictoria.com.au. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
3. "SYDNEY, NSW. 1946-03-06. THE JAPANESE DESTROYER YOIZUKI WHICH IS TO REPATRIATE 1405 FORMOSAN POWS ..." www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 18 December 2018.

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according to Reflecting a Nation: Stories from the 2011 Census, 2012–2013 and Census of Population and Housing: Reflecting Australia - Stories from the Census, 2016

• Immigration to Australia
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