T aiwan

Abstract

This entry describes the changing meaning of “ethnic groups” in Chinese terms after 1987 and how the idea of the “four major ethnic groups” was conceived around 1990 in Taiwan. The four ethnic groups of Taiwanese now commonly accepted are the aborigines, the Holo, the Hakka, and mainlanders. Besides the groups' historical origins and cultural characteristics, the new ethnic concept also emphasized their unequal social relations. In fact, ethnic group boundaries based on shared disadvantaged social positions rather than shared cultural traits were proposed. A unique feature of Taiwan's ethnicity is that in the early 1990s all ethnic groups claimed to have ethnic minority statuses in some aspects and demanded equal treatment based on their citizenship. Also important have been the close connections between ethnicity and Chinese and Taiwanese nationalistic politics. From the mid‐1990s, international marriages increased rapidly. Many now consider the more than half a million foreign spouses to be Taiwan's fifth ethnic group.