Taiwan’s original population had been made up of more than a dozen tribes who are probably distant relatives of tribes in the Philippines.  These are Taiwan’s “aborigines,” altogether about 200,000 people in 1948.

At about the time of the Sung dynasty, Chinese began to establish outposts on the island; these developed into regular agricultural settlements toward the end of the Ming dynasty.  Immigration increased in the eighteenth and especially the nineteenth centuries.  These Chinese immigrants and their descendants are the “Taiwanese,” Taiwan’s main population of about eight million people as of 1948.

Taiwan was at first a part of the province of Fukien, whence most of its Chinese settlers came; there was also a minority of Hakka, Chinese from Kuangtung province.  When Taiwan was ceded to Japan, it was still a colonial area with much lawlessness and disorder, but with a number of flourishing towns and a growing population.  The Japanese, who sent administrators but no settlers, established law and order, protected the aborigines from land-hungry Chinese settlers, and attempted to abolish headhunting by the aborigines and to raise the cultural level in general.  They built a road and railway system and strongly stressed the production of sugar cane and rice.  During the Second World War, the island suffered from air attacks and from the inability of the Japanese to protect its industries.

After Chiang Kai-shek and the remainder of his army and of his government officials arrived in Taiwan, they were followed by others fleeing from the communist regime, mainly from Chekiang, Kiangsu, and the northern provinces of the mainland.  Eventually, there were on Taiwan about two million of these “mainlanders,” as they have sometimes been called.

When the Chinese Nationalists took over from the Japanese, they assumed all the leading positions in the government.  The Taiwanese nationals who had opposed the Japanese were disappointed; for their part, the Nationalists felt threatened because of their minority position.  The next years, especially up to 1952, were characterized by terror and bloodshed.  Tensions persisted for many years, but have lessened since about 1960.

The new government of Taiwan resembled China’s pre-war government under Chiang Kai-shek.  First, to maintain his claim to the legitimate rule of all of China, Chiang retained—­and controlled through his party, the KMT—­his former government organization, complete with cabinet ministers, administrators, and elected parliament, under the name “Central Government of China.”  Secondly, the actual government of Taiwan, which he considered one of China’s provinces, was organized as the “Provincial Government of Taiwan,” whose leading positions were at first in the hands of KMT mainlanders.  There have since been elections for the provincial assembly, for local government councils and boards, and for various provincial and local positions.  Thirdly, the military forces were organized under the leadership and command of mainlanders.  And finally, the education system was set up in accordance with former mainland practices by mainland specialists.  However, evolutionary changes soon occurred.