“Taiwanization” in Taiwan’s Politics

Abstract

Historically, the concept of “Taiwan” has played a variety of roles in the politics of the island. During the Qing 淸 dynasty (1683–1895 in Taiwan), the Han-settled areas of Taiwan were local areas within the larger Qing empire, while the aboriginal areas were quite literally “off the map.” During the Japanese period (1895–1945) several approaches to the identity of Taiwan competed including assimilation as Japanese, local autonomy as Taiwanese in the Japanese empire, and Taiwanese as Chinese.