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Taiwan has a history of frequent changes in colonial rulers, which influenced and shaped Taiwan’s current society and political relationships with China. Prior to Taiwan’s first colonisation, aborigines occupied the land as well as waves of settlers

from Mainland China (hereafter referred to Mainland or China) (Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2007). Portugal was the first European nation to locate Taiwan, but the Dutch were the first to colonise in 1624. What follows the Dutch colonisation are conquest, conflict and changes for Taiwan and its people. Within three to four centuries, Taiwan has been completely or partially ruled by regimes including Holland, Spain, China and Japan (Roy, 2003; Xiaofeng, 2009; Zhang, 2003). Today’s Taiwanese people have developed from generations of intermarriages, mixture of cultures and the struggle to be recognised as an independent nation (Fleischauer, 2007; Zhang, 2003).

Taiwan was first under the Dutch rule for 38 years, during this period the Spanish sought to take over and invaded the island’s north coast (Xiaofeng, 2009). The Spanish occupied the north coastlines for 16 years before being driven out by the Dutch. The Dutch rule ended in 1662 when a Ming loyalist from the Mainland invaded Taiwan with an army of 25,000 soldiers (Zhang, 2003). The Dutch were forced out of Taiwan and the island became a place for Chinese rebels who fled from the Mainland once the Qing dynasty gained dominance. People of the Qing dynasty later invaded Taiwan in 1683 and took over the island for 211 years (Xiaofeng, 2009). The Qing dynasty later conceded Taiwan to Japan following their defeat in the 1894 Sino-Japanese War, where afterwards Japan ruled Taiwan for 50 years by strict dominance and control (Roy, 2003; Zhang, 2003). Although many Taiwanese respected the efficiency of Japan’s administration and security forces, many felt discrimination against the Taiwanese. Meanwhile in the Mainland, political struggles intensified between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Kuomintang (KMT) the nationalist party (Zhang, 2003).

Taiwan was returned to the Mainland following Japan’s defeat in World War II. The KMT were internationally accepted to govern Taiwan and took over the island in 1945 (Zhang, 2003). Taiwanese people initially welcomed back the Chinese sovereignty as the Mainland was their ancestral home, meaning there were stronger cultural connections and the opportunity for self-governance (Fleischauer, 2007; Zhang, 2003). However, KMT did not treat Taiwanese people with respect and extracted resources from Taiwan to support the civil war in the Mainland. Taiwan was not granted the status of a regular province, and native Taiwanese were unable to participate in political matters (Fleischauer, 2007). The extraction of resources resulted in food shortages and high inflation (Zhang, 2003), and much of the assets were redirected towards corrupt officials and their relatives (Roy, 2003). The KMT rule was thought to be no better than the Japanese. In 1946, a full-scale civil war broke out in the Mainland between CPC and KMT, resulting in two million nationalists forced to escape to Taiwan (Agoramoorthy & Hsu, 2007; Zhang, 2003).

On February 27, 1947, a significant event now known as the ‘228 Incident’ triggered the widespread rebellion and massacre of thousands of Taiwanese people. The trigger of the 228 Incident was when state officers violently arrested a Taiwanese widow for selling unlicensed cigarettes, wounding and killing several bystanders in the process (Fleischauer, 2007; Zhang, 2003). This event caused an outbreak of violence and resistance against KMT and other immigrants from the Mainland. The Taiwanese demanded greater autonomy and independence; however, their demands were not met as military enforcements were sent from the Mainland to suppress them. The Taiwanese were thereafter subjected to a period of repression, punishment and executions. The KMT executed a generation of Taiwanese managerial and intellectual elites as they potentially threatened KMT’s control over

the island. Around 10,000 to 25,000 individuals were said to have been killed by the undisciplined army, with many others arrested or disappeared. The 228 Incident “became both the source and the most important point of reference for the formation of Taiwanese identity”, where Taiwanese began to identify themselves as a separate ethnic group from the Mainland (Fleischauer, 2007, p. 375).

In 1949, back in the Mainland, the KMT regime were defeated by the CPC and the remaining KMT were forced to flee to Taiwan (Roy, 2003; Zhang, 2003). From 1949 to 1987, martial law was put in place which made advocacy of Taiwan’s independence illegal and prevented the formation of any opposition political party. After 1971, changes in the international environment made it increasingly difficult for KMT to fulfil their claims of becoming the only legitimate government of all China. Events such as Taiwan’s decline into the United Nations and America’s de-recognition of Taiwan indicated that many nations did not recognise Taiwan as an independent nation (Zhang, 2003). Political liberalisation started taking place. Taiwanese individuals as well as Chinese technocrats with Western education were assigned a place in government. Gradual movements towards democracy eventually led to the Democratic Progressive Party leading government in 2000, putting an end to KMT’s monopoly in administration (Roy, 2003). However, KMT was once again elected in 2008 and worked towards strengthening the economic ties between China and Taiwan (Council on Foreign Relations, 2009).

Today’s Taiwanese people are a mixture of bloodlines, but they are generally considered as Han Chinese, the descendants of Mainland China. In 2014, over 95 percent of the population is Han Chinese, with Mandarin as the official language, and Buddhism and Taoism being two of the major religions (Executive Yuan, 2014). Due to historical clashes, political tension remains high between China and

Taiwan, especially on the topic of unification of the nations (Agoramoorthy & Hsu, 2007). Despite the political tension, China has became one of Taiwan’s largest trading partner and the economic ties continue to strengthen (Council on Foreign Relations, 2009).

The Human Development Index is an index that reflects the standard of living, life expectancy, and educational attainment of a country (United Nations Development Programme, 2015). Taiwan is not included in the Index calculations due to its exclusion from the United Nations, but Taiwan’s Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics states Taiwan’s Human Development Index is expected to rank 22 out of 188 countries in 2011, suggesting very high human development and placing Taiwan with other advanced nations (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2011). Taiwan has been ruled by many different nations, but Confucianism, a philosophy enshrined in Chinese culture, was traditionally seen to guide societal behaviour. However, democratisation and gradual modernisation has resulted in a movement away from traditional Confucianism values.