Taiwanese American
Encyclopedia
Taiwanese Americans or American people of Taiwanese descent are Americans
of Taiwanese
ancestry.
Americans born in Taiwan
whose ancestors immigrated to Taiwan in the 1940s are sometimes called Taiwanese Americans. Whether Taiwanese Americans should be considered Chinese American
s is a subject of some controversy
. Supporters of Taiwan independence
often object to classification of Taiwanese Americans as Chinese Americans and overseas Chinese
, while advocates of Chinese reunification
often object if Taiwanese Americans are not included in these groups. The controversy over the inclusion or exclusion of Taiwanese Americans as Chinese has extended to the name of the government bureau of the Republic of China handling Taiwanese Americans affairs which was controversially changed in 2006 from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission to the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission
.
Demographic research tends to include immigrants from mainland China
, Hong Kong
, Macau
, and Taiwan
as well as overseas Chinese
who have immigrated from South East Asia into the broadly-defined Chinese American
category as both the governments of the Republic of China
and the United States
account for Taiwanese Americans as a subgroup of Chinese Americans (as ethnic Chinese, not Chinese that alludes to the statehood of China).
In a statement made by Representative
Kleczka
in 2001, he stated that there are around 500,000 Taiwanese Americans. The 2007 American Community Survey
estimated that there are 100,608 Taiwanese Americans, with an error margin of 8,501.
and in the 17th and 18th centuries it served as a destination point for migrating Chinese, primarily Hoklo
s and Hakka
. In 1895, Japan took over control of Taiwan following Japan's victory over China in the First Sino-Japanese war
. Japanese control severely curtailed any movement off the island in the interest of containing dissent against the Japanese Empire.
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, opportunities for immigration from Taiwan to the United States were virtually nonexistent before the 1950s. Previously, in the 1840s when American companies began recruiting cheap, accessible labor from Asia to develop Hawaii and the frontier West, Taiwan was too small to be a target for recruiters.
In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party took control of mainland China
, and the remnant armies of the Republic of China
under Chiang Kai-Shek
retreated to Taiwan
. Because of the Cold War
, the United States continued to recognize the Kuomintang
-led Republic of China
as the sole legitimate government of all of China from 1949 until 1979. As a result, immigration from Taiwan was counted under within the same quota for both mainland China and Taiwan. However, because the Communists banned emigration to the United States until 1977, this quota for immigrants from China was almost exclusively filled by immigrants from Taiwan. After the national origins system was relaxed and repealed by Immigration Acts in 1952 and 1965, many Taiwanese people
came to the United States, forming the first wave of Taiwanese immigration. Their entry into the United States was facilitated by the immigration act of 1965, which created a system in which persons with professional skills and family ties in the United States were given preferential status, regardless of the nation of origin.
In 1979, the United States broke diplomatic relations with the Republic of China
, while the Taiwan Relations Act
gave Taiwan a separate immigration quota from that of mainland China.
Before the late 1960s, Taiwanese immigrants to the United States tended to be waishengren (mainlanders) who were people that immigrated to Taiwan with the Kuomintang after the fall of mainland China to the Communists. Later immigrants tended to increasingly be benshengren
, whose ancestors had lived on Taiwan before 1949. With improving economic and political conditions in Taiwan, Taiwanese immigration to the United States began to subside in the early-1980s.
winners, are Taiwanese Americans. Among Taiwanese Americans, medicine is regarded as particularly high status for historical reasons. During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan before 1945, Taiwanese were barred from politics and administration but were encouraged to become doctors and nurses, leading to this profession being regarded as a high status means of social advancement.
In the 1960s, many Taiwanese Americans chose to make America their permanent home and had children in the U.S. Many sought refuge from the numerous arrests and executions of the White Terror (Taiwan)
of the centre-right Kuomingtang. By the late 1970s, improving economic conditions in Taiwan slowed the rate of immigration. During the 1990s, political liberalization in Taiwan encouraged many who had left Taiwan for political reasons to return.
Although the oath of naturalization for the United States contains a statement renouncing other citizenship, the Republic of China
does not recognize this renunciation as sufficient to end ROC citizenship, and requires that a person who wishes to renounce ROC citizenship make another oath before an ROC consular officer and get approval from the Ministry of the Interior
, subject to denial for certain reasons. Without the formal renunciation, the ROC government considers Taiwanese immigrants with American citizenship to continue to be citizens of the Republic of China. Acquiring US citizenship does not cancel the holder's status as a resident of Taiwan, which makes Taiwanese Americans eligible to vote in the ROC elections, provided that they physically travel to their place of residency. Children of full Taiwanese citizens are not entitled to Taiwanese citizenship, and ID card automatically. Taiwan makes a distinction between nationality and citizenship. While all Chinese people are entitled to ROC nationality, they are not entitled to citizenship, and they can't get the ID card. The ROC also issues separate passports for overseas citizens and local residents who have ID cards and are considered full citizens.
which is aided in large part by recognition of dual citizenship. The identity politics of Taiwan also influences at least first generation Taiwanese Americans. Many future Kuomintang officials including Lee Tenghui, James Soong
and Ma Ying-Jeou
received graduate degrees in the United States. On the other hand, the United States was a major destination where anti-Kuomintang figures such as Peng Ming-min
and Shih Ming-teh
were effectively exiled. Still others including Nobel Prize laureate Lee Yuantze were educated in the United States.
The close connections between Taiwan and the United States has led to some interesting political dynamics. From time to time, the issue of loyalty to Taiwan is raised. For example, the fact that the President of the Republic of China Ma Ying-Jeou
has sisters and a daughter who are American citizens was raised during the 2008 election campaign. James Soong has been criticized for having extensive property holdings in the United States and for the fact that his children are American citizens. Several legislators and government officials from KMT have been controversially alleged to be having U.S. permanency residency status or U.S. citizenship without renouncements while serving in public office. Similarly, this has been raised as an issue in the feud between Li Ao
and Lee Yuantze, whose children are also American citizens. This issue is partly one of socio-economic status as people with extensive connections with the United States are considered richer and more privileged than the average Taiwanese.
However, this issue has not become a large part of Taiwanese political discourse largely because links with the United States are so extensive on both sides of the political spectrum, that no one can use this issue to their political advantage. Both the pan-Blue coalition
and pan-Green coalition
rely on Taiwanese Americans for votes. In the 2004 ROC Presidential Election an estimated 10,000 Taiwanese Americans traveled to Taiwan to vote in an election in which the margin of victory was 30,000, and both groups campaigned extensively in the United States and held campaign rallies on Taiwan to welcome their voters.
While dual citizens are banned from high political office, there has not been a significant movement within Taiwan to ban dual citizenship in general. The Supreme Court
has ruled that all citizens, dual or singular, are entitled to the same rights. US natural born citizens were emphasized in the decision.
as there second native language. As with most immigrants to the United States, linguistic fluency in the heritage language quickly disappears in the second generation. Many second generation Taiwanese Americans are exposed to Taiwanese, but their level of proficiency varies. Many second generation immigrants speak Taiwanese as their heritage language and know little Mandarin, while others, especially whose families are from the Taipei Metropolitan Area, speak Mandarin as their heritage language and know little Taiwanese. 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 Americans of mixed Hoklo and Hakka Heritage may speak only Mandarin as their heritage language. Second Generation Taiwanese who are of mixed Hoklo Taiwanese and waishengren (mainlander) heritage or full mainlander heritage may only know Mandarin at most and not a word of Taiwanese.
s. Instead, they have generally immigrated directly to American suburbia and in effect, they started new Taiwanese communities. For example, beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s at the height of Taiwanese immigration, the Taiwanese emigrants were instrumental in the development of Monterey Park, California
in Los Angeles - thus causing it to earn the moniker of "Little Taipei
" and derisively as "Mandarin Park" - and vicinity and in Flushing, New York, which generally reflected new investments and capital flowing from Taiwan into newer Taiwanese enclaves instead of the well-established and mostly dilapidated Chinatowns.
While Monterey Park is no longer the major Taiwanese community in Los Angeles today, Flushing remains the main vibrant Taiwanese cultural, commercial, and political center in New York City. In Los Angeles County, California, newer communities such as Rowland Heights
, Hacienda Heights
, Arcadia
, San Marino
, Diamond Bar
, Walnut
, San Gabriel
, Temple City
, give the ambience of "Little Taipei" . However, many annual Taiwanese cultural events (especially during Taiwanese Heritage Week) are still held in Monterey Park. As an attempt to duplicate the Taiwanese success of Monterey Park in Houston, Texas, Taiwanese immigrant entrepreneurs pioneered in the mid 1980s what is now widely considered as Houston's new Chinatown
on Bellaire Boulevard (although many Vietnamese-born Chinese immigrants have increasingly settled and set up shop in the area as well). A number of Taiwanese American businesses and organizations still operate and flourish in this part of Houston.
The prestige and performance of particular school districts, as well as access to careers in high-tech firms, have in general played significant parts in influencing the settlement patterns of Taiwanese Americans.
Areas with high concentrations of Taiwanese immigrants include the San Gabriel Valley
(Greater Los Angeles), Santa Clara Valley
(Cupertino
, San Jose
), East Bay (El Cerrito
, Oakland
), Los Angeles/Orange County border communities (Cerritos
/Artesia
), and Irvine
in Central Orange County
. Outside of California, there are also major Taiwanese concentrations in Flushing, New York, Rockville, Maryland
(northwest of Washington, D.C.
), Sugar Land, Texas
(near Houston), Richardson, Texas
(near Dallas), Bellevue, Washington
(and adjacent areas) (part of the Greater Seattle Area's "Eastside" communities). Additionally, the northeastern suburbs of the Atlanta, Georgia
area has also received a significant influx of Taiwanese immigrant residents. The Taiwanese population was formerly dominant in Monterey Park, California
. The San Gabriel Valley has a larger population of "49er
" Taiwanese (also known as Waishengren), essentially outnumbering native Taiwanese. Since the middle 1980s through the 1990s, however, large numbers of more affluent Taiwanese Americans began moving out to more upscale neighborhoods like San Marino
, Arcadia
, South Pasadena
, and Temple City
in Western San Gabriel Valley
; Hacienda Heights
, Rowland Heights
, Walnut
, and Diamond Bar
in Eastern San Gabriel Valley
; with immigrants from the People's Republic of China
and Cantonese
and Teochew
(mostly from Vietnam
) taking their place in Monterey Park, as well as Alhambra
.
Similarly, for the past 10 years, Benshengren have been immigrating to upscale neighborhoods in Los Angeles and Orange County such as Cerritos
and Irvine
respectively. The city of Cerritos is located in Los Angeles County but borders Orange County and has a large diversity of Asian immigrants. The city of Irvine has a very large Benshengren population, though now more and more Waishengren and Mainland Chinese immigrants have flocked to the city. The Irvine Chinese School, which serves mostly the American-born children of Taiwanese immigrants, is one of the largest Chinese Schools in the Orange County area. These immigrants belong to branches from some of the most politically and economically powerful Taiwanese families (with the surnames Chiang, Chen, Cheng, Kung, Tsai, and Wu).
Convenient Taiwanese-oriented strip malls and shopping complexes are typically complete with supermarkets and restaurants, thus Taiwanese American suburbanites have very little need to visit the older Chinatowns. In addition, shops offering imported Taiwanese goods allow for young Taiwanese expatriates in the United States to keep up with the current trends and popular culture
of Taiwan. Taiwanese Americans have also brought with them Taiwanese cuisine
to the communities they have settled, which, possibly excluding bubble tea
, is not generally well-known or served outside these aforementioned Taiwanese immigrant enclaves.
, Taiwanese American Citizens League, and the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association
. In addition, most cities with concentrations of Taiwanese Americans have a Taiwan association or Taiwan Center
.
The first Taiwanese church established in North America is Winfield Reformed Church
in 1969 in Woodside, New York.
and the Chicago Chinese News. However, these influential and highly-circulated newspapers are not geared solely to the Taiwanese, but rather serve the Chinese-speaking immigrant readership. Pacific Journal is weekly Taiwanese-run newspaper that is geared more exclusively toward Taiwanese readers.
Due to the significant Taiwanese American community, Taiwan media dominates the Chinese-language airwaves in the United States. Cable and satellite television of Taiwan-based media keeps Taiwanese Americans abreast of news developments and programming in Taiwan. For example, satellite stations ETTV America
and CTI
cater to Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese immigrants.
chain. Other well-known Taiwanese American businesses include Lollicup
(serving bubble tea
).
Other businesses run or co-founded by Taiwanese Americans include Acer, Asus
, Yahoo!
, Viewsonic
, Nautica, Nvidia
, Garmin
, Newegg.com, and YouTube
.
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
of Taiwanese
Taiwanese people
Taiwanese people may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945...
ancestry.
Americans born in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
whose ancestors immigrated to Taiwan in the 1940s are sometimes called Taiwanese Americans. Whether Taiwanese Americans should be considered Chinese American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
s is a subject of some controversy
Political status of Taiwan
The controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan hinges on whether Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu should remain effectively independent as territory of the Republic of China , become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China , or formally declare...
. Supporters of Taiwan independence
Taiwan independence
Taiwan independence is a political movement whose goals are primarily to formally establish the Republic of Taiwan by renaming or replacing the Republic of China , form a Taiwanese national identity, reject unification and One country, two systems with the People's Republic of China and a Chinese...
often object to classification of Taiwanese Americans as Chinese Americans and overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
, while advocates of Chinese reunification
Chinese reunification
Chinese reunification refers to the bringing together of all of the territories controlled by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China under a single political entity...
often object if Taiwanese Americans are not included in these groups. The controversy over the inclusion or exclusion of Taiwanese Americans as Chinese has extended to the name of the government bureau of the Republic of China handling Taiwanese Americans affairs which was controversially changed in 2006 from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission to the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission
Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission
The Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission is a cabinet-level commission of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China . Its main objective is to serve as a cultural, education, economic, and informational exchanges organization between Taiwan and overseas Chinese...
.
Demographic research tends to include immigrants from mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
, and Taiwan
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
as well as overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
who have immigrated from South East Asia into the broadly-defined Chinese American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
category as both the governments of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
account for Taiwanese Americans as a subgroup of Chinese Americans (as ethnic Chinese, not Chinese that alludes to the statehood of China).
In a statement made by Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Kleczka
Jerry Kleczka
Gerald Daniel "Jerry" Kleczka , an American politician, was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1984 to 2005, representing . The district includes the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was born....
in 2001, he stated that there are around 500,000 Taiwanese Americans. The 2007 American Community Survey
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey is an ongoing statistical survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, sent to approximately 250,000 addresses monthly . It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census...
estimated that there are 100,608 Taiwanese Americans, with an error margin of 8,501.
Immigration history
Prior to the 1950s emigration from Taiwan was negligible. During Taiwan's early history, the island was populated by Austronesian aboriginalsTaiwanese aborigines
Taiwanese aborigines is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Although Taiwanese indigenous groups hold a variety of creation myths, recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han...
and in the 17th and 18th centuries it served as a destination point for migrating Chinese, primarily Hoklo
Hoklo people
The Hoklo people are Han Chinese people whose traditional Ancestral homes are in southern Fujian of South China...
s and Hakka
Hakka people
The Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....
. In 1895, Japan took over control of Taiwan following Japan's victory over China in the First Sino-Japanese war
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
. Japanese control severely curtailed any movement off the island in the interest of containing dissent against the Japanese Empire.
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, opportunities for immigration from Taiwan to the United States were virtually nonexistent before the 1950s. Previously, in the 1840s when American companies began recruiting cheap, accessible labor from Asia to develop Hawaii and the frontier West, Taiwan was too small to be a target for recruiters.
In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party took control of mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
, and the remnant armies of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
under Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
retreated to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Because of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the United States continued to recognize the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
-led Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
as the sole legitimate government of all of China from 1949 until 1979. As a result, immigration from Taiwan was counted under within the same quota for both mainland China and Taiwan. However, because the Communists banned emigration to the United States until 1977, this quota for immigrants from China was almost exclusively filled by immigrants from Taiwan. After the national origins system was relaxed and repealed by Immigration Acts in 1952 and 1965, many Taiwanese people
Taiwanese people
Taiwanese people may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945...
came to the United States, forming the first wave of Taiwanese immigration. Their entry into the United States was facilitated by the immigration act of 1965, which created a system in which persons with professional skills and family ties in the United States were given preferential status, regardless of the nation of origin.
In 1979, the United States broke diplomatic relations with the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, while the Taiwan Relations Act
Taiwan Relations Act
The Taiwan Relations Act is an act of the United States Congress passed in 1979 after the establishment of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and the breaking of relations between the United States and the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan by President Jimmy Carter...
gave Taiwan a separate immigration quota from that of mainland China.
Before the late 1960s, Taiwanese immigrants to the United States tended to be waishengren (mainlanders) who were people that immigrated to Taiwan with the Kuomintang after the fall of mainland China to the Communists. Later immigrants tended to increasingly be benshengren
Demographics of Taiwan
This article is about the demographic features of the population in Taiwan, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
, whose ancestors had lived on Taiwan before 1949. With improving economic and political conditions in Taiwan, Taiwanese immigration to the United States began to subside in the early-1980s.
Occupations and citizenship status
Many Taiwanese Americans are very highly educated. They often hold such occupations as doctor, engineer, professor and scientist. Taiwanese Americans also hold positions in America within the aerospace, defense, research, academic and healthcare sectors. Several distinguished academics, including Nobel PrizeNobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winners, are Taiwanese Americans. Among Taiwanese Americans, medicine is regarded as particularly high status for historical reasons. During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan before 1945, Taiwanese were barred from politics and administration but were encouraged to become doctors and nurses, leading to this profession being regarded as a high status means of social advancement.
In the 1960s, many Taiwanese Americans chose to make America their permanent home and had children in the U.S. Many sought refuge from the numerous arrests and executions of the White Terror (Taiwan)
White Terror (Taiwan)
In Taiwan, the White Terror describes the suppression of political dissidents, as well as public discussion of the 228 Incident in Taiwan under the period of martial law, which lasted from May 19 1949 to July 15 1987, 38 years, and 57 days...
of the centre-right Kuomingtang. By the late 1970s, improving economic conditions in Taiwan slowed the rate of immigration. During the 1990s, political liberalization in Taiwan encouraged many who had left Taiwan for political reasons to return.
Although the oath of naturalization for the United States contains a statement renouncing other citizenship, the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
does not recognize this renunciation as sufficient to end ROC citizenship, and requires that a person who wishes to renounce ROC citizenship make another oath before an ROC consular officer and get approval from the Ministry of the Interior
Ministry of the Interior (Republic of China)
The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of China is a cabinet level executive yuan agency responsible for home affairs and security throughout the Free Area of the Republic of China...
, subject to denial for certain reasons. Without the formal renunciation, the ROC government considers Taiwanese immigrants with American citizenship to continue to be citizens of the Republic of China. Acquiring US citizenship does not cancel the holder's status as a resident of Taiwan, which makes Taiwanese Americans eligible to vote in the ROC elections, provided that they physically travel to their place of residency. Children of full Taiwanese citizens are not entitled to Taiwanese citizenship, and ID card automatically. Taiwan makes a distinction between nationality and citizenship. While all Chinese people are entitled to ROC nationality, they are not entitled to citizenship, and they can't get the ID card. The ROC also issues separate passports for overseas citizens and local residents who have ID cards and are considered full citizens.
Politics
Politically, Taiwanese Americans play a fairly active role in the politics and culture of the Republic of ChinaRepublic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
which is aided in large part by recognition of dual citizenship. The identity politics of Taiwan also influences at least first generation Taiwanese Americans. Many future Kuomintang officials including Lee Tenghui, James Soong
James Soong
James Soong Chu-yu , is a politician in the Republic of China on Taiwan. He founded and chairs the People First Party, a smaller and more conservative party in the Kuomintang -led Pan-Blue Coalition....
and Ma Ying-Jeou
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou is the 12th term and current President of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, and the Chairman of the Kuomintang Party, also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party. He formerly served as Justice Minister from 1993 to 1996, Mayor of Taipei from 1998 to 2006, and Chairman...
received graduate degrees in the United States. On the other hand, the United States was a major destination where anti-Kuomintang figures such as Peng Ming-min
Peng Ming-min
Peng Ming-min is a noted Taiwan independence activist and politician. Arrested for sedition in 1964 for printing a manifesto advocating Taiwanese independence, he dramatically escaped from Taiwan to the United States and after 22 years in exile, returned to became the Democratic Progressive...
and Shih Ming-teh
Shih Ming-teh
Shih Ming-te or Shih Ming-teh was a political prisoner for 25-and-a-half years in the Republic of China .He was arrested at the age of 21 in 1962 and charged with creating the "Taiwan Independence League" with the intention of overthrowing the Kuomintang government, Shih was sentenced to life...
were effectively exiled. Still others including Nobel Prize laureate Lee Yuantze were educated in the United States.
The close connections between Taiwan and the United States has led to some interesting political dynamics. From time to time, the issue of loyalty to Taiwan is raised. For example, the fact that the President of the Republic of China Ma Ying-Jeou
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou is the 12th term and current President of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, and the Chairman of the Kuomintang Party, also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party. He formerly served as Justice Minister from 1993 to 1996, Mayor of Taipei from 1998 to 2006, and Chairman...
has sisters and a daughter who are American citizens was raised during the 2008 election campaign. James Soong has been criticized for having extensive property holdings in the United States and for the fact that his children are American citizens. Several legislators and government officials from KMT have been controversially alleged to be having U.S. permanency residency status or U.S. citizenship without renouncements while serving in public office. Similarly, this has been raised as an issue in the feud between Li Ao
Li Ao
Li Ao , is a writer, social commentator, historian, and independent politician in the Republic of China .He is considered by many to be one of the most important modern Chinese essayists today, although critics have termed him an intellectual narcissist...
and Lee Yuantze, whose children are also American citizens. This issue is partly one of socio-economic status as people with extensive connections with the United States are considered richer and more privileged than the average Taiwanese.
However, this issue has not become a large part of Taiwanese political discourse largely because links with the United States are so extensive on both sides of the political spectrum, that no one can use this issue to their political advantage. Both the pan-Blue coalition
Pan-Blue Coalition
The Pan-Blue Coalition 泛藍聯盟 or Pan-Blue Force is a political alliance in the Republic of China , consisting of the Kuomintang , the People First Party , and the New Party . The name comes from the party colours of the Kuomintang...
and pan-Green coalition
Pan-Green Coalition
The Pan-Green Coalition or Pan-Green Camp, is an informal political alliance of the Republic of China, commonly known as "Taiwan", consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party , Taiwan Solidarity Union , and the minor Taiwan Independence Party...
rely on Taiwanese Americans for votes. In the 2004 ROC Presidential Election an estimated 10,000 Taiwanese Americans traveled to Taiwan to vote in an election in which the margin of victory was 30,000, and both groups campaigned extensively in the United States and held campaign rallies on Taiwan to welcome their voters.
While dual citizens are banned from high political office, there has not been a significant movement within Taiwan to ban dual citizenship in general. The Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
has ruled that all citizens, dual or singular, are entitled to the same rights. US natural born citizens were emphasized in the decision.
Immigrants vs. native-born
First generation immigrants from Taiwan usually share a common language, Mandarin, although many also speak Taiwanese and to a lesser extent, the Hakka language, depending on heritage and whether the individuals are exposed to Mandarin through Mandarin Chinese schools. There are many first generation immigrants who were educated before 1945 speaks JapaneseJapanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
as there second native language. As with most immigrants to the United States, linguistic fluency in the heritage language quickly disappears in the second generation. Many second generation Taiwanese Americans are exposed to Taiwanese, but their level of proficiency varies. Many second generation immigrants speak Taiwanese as their heritage language and know little Mandarin, while others, especially whose families are from the Taipei Metropolitan Area, speak Mandarin as their heritage language and know little Taiwanese. 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 Americans of mixed Hoklo and Hakka Heritage may speak only Mandarin as their heritage language. Second Generation Taiwanese who are of mixed Hoklo Taiwanese and waishengren (mainlander) heritage or full mainlander heritage may only know Mandarin at most and not a word of Taiwanese.
Settlement
Owing to their relative wealth and education attainment, many Taiwanese immigrants have not settled in the old Cantonese-speaking ChinatownChinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
s. Instead, they have generally immigrated directly to American suburbia and in effect, they started new Taiwanese communities. For example, beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s at the height of Taiwanese immigration, the Taiwanese emigrants were instrumental in the development of Monterey Park, California
Monterey Park, California
Monterey Park is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. The city's motto is "Pride in the past, Faith in the future"...
in Los Angeles - thus causing it to earn the moniker of "Little Taipei
Little Taipei
Little Taipei was an informal name given to the city of Monterey Park, California in the late 1970s when it had a large immigrant population from Taiwan...
" and derisively as "Mandarin Park" - and vicinity and in Flushing, New York, which generally reflected new investments and capital flowing from Taiwan into newer Taiwanese enclaves instead of the well-established and mostly dilapidated Chinatowns.
While Monterey Park is no longer the major Taiwanese community in Los Angeles today, Flushing remains the main vibrant Taiwanese cultural, commercial, and political center in New York City. In Los Angeles County, California, newer communities such as Rowland Heights
Rowland Heights, California
Rowland Heights is an unincorporated community of , located in and below the Puente Hills in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population of the census-designated place was 48,993 at the 2010 census, up from 48,553 at the 2000 census...
, Hacienda Heights
Hacienda Heights, California
Hacienda Heights is an unincorporated census-designated place in and below the Puente Hills of the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
, Arcadia
Arcadia, California
Arcadia is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and located approximately northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains....
, San Marino
San Marino, California
San Marino is a small, affluent city in Los Angeles County, California. Incorporated in 1913, the City founders designed the community to be uniquely residential, with expansive properties surrounded by beautiful gardens, wide streets, and well maintained parkways...
, Diamond Bar
Diamond Bar, California
Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 55,544 at the 2010 census, down from 56,287 at the 2000 census. It is named after the "diamond over a bar" branding iron registered in 1918 by ranch owner Frederick E...
, Walnut
Walnut, California
Walnut is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 29,172 at the 2010 census and its current mayor is Tom King, a former Detective from the Los Angeles Police Department....
, San Gabriel
San Gabriel, California
San Gabriel is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is named after the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, founded by Junipero Serra. The city grew outward from the mission and in 1852 became the original township of Los Angeles County. San Gabriel was incorporated in 1913...
, Temple City
Temple City, California
Temple City is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Temple City is part of a cluster of cities, along with Arcadia, Rosemead, Monterey Park, San Marino, and San Gabriel, in the west San Gabriel Valley with a rapidly growing Asian population. Temple City also has a Cuban and Puerto Rican...
, give the ambience of "Little Taipei" . However, many annual Taiwanese cultural events (especially during Taiwanese Heritage Week) are still held in Monterey Park. As an attempt to duplicate the Taiwanese success of Monterey Park in Houston, Texas, Taiwanese immigrant entrepreneurs pioneered in the mid 1980s what is now widely considered as Houston's new Chinatown
Chinatown, Houston
Chinatown is a community in southwestern Houston, Texas, United States. It is roughly bounded by Fondren, Beechnut, State Highway 6, and Westpark, west of Bellaire in the Alief area. The naming of the new Chinatown is disputed, as various ethnic groups live within the community...
on Bellaire Boulevard (although many Vietnamese-born Chinese immigrants have increasingly settled and set up shop in the area as well). A number of Taiwanese American businesses and organizations still operate and flourish in this part of Houston.
The prestige and performance of particular school districts, as well as access to careers in high-tech firms, have in general played significant parts in influencing the settlement patterns of Taiwanese Americans.
San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, United States. It lies to the east of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and west of the Inland Empire. It derives its name from the San Gabriel River that flows...
(Greater Los Angeles), Santa Clara Valley
Santa Clara Valley
The Santa Clara Valley is a valley just south of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California in the United States. Much of Santa Clara County and its county seat, San José, are in the Santa Clara Valley. The valley was originally known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight for its high concentration...
(Cupertino
Cupertino, California
Cupertino is an affluent suburban city in Santa Clara County, California in the U.S., directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 58,302 at the time of the 2010 census. Forbes...
, San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
), East Bay (El Cerrito
El Cerrito, California
-Transportation:The city's primary transportation infrastructure consists of the El Cerrito Plaza and El Cerrito del Norte BART stations along with several local bus lines, operated by AC Transit, providing access to the surrounding area and the nearby cities of Albany, Berkeley and Richmond...
, Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
), Los Angeles/Orange County border communities (Cerritos
Cerritos, California
Cerritos is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is one of several cities that constitute the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. It was incorporated on April 24, 1956...
/Artesia
Artesia, California
Artesia is a city in southeast Los Angeles County, California. Artesia was incorporated on May 29, 1959 and is one of Los Angeles County's Gateway Cities. The city has a 2010 census population of 16,522...
), and Irvine
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
in Central Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
. Outside of California, there are also major Taiwanese concentrations in Flushing, New York, Rockville, Maryland
Rockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
(northwest of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
), Sugar Land, Texas
Sugar Land, Texas
Sugar Land is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area and Fort Bend County. Sugar Land is one of the most affluent and fastest-growing cities in Texas, having grown more than 158 percent in the last decade. In the time period of 2000–2007, Sugar Land also enjoyed a...
(near Houston), Richardson, Texas
Richardson, Texas
Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 99,223. In 2011 the population was estimated to be 107,684. Richardson is an affluent inner suburb of Dallas and home of the Telecom Corridor with a high...
(near Dallas), Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
(and adjacent areas) (part of the Greater Seattle Area's "Eastside" communities). Additionally, the northeastern suburbs of the Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
area has also received a significant influx of Taiwanese immigrant residents. The Taiwanese population was formerly dominant in Monterey Park, California
Monterey Park, California
Monterey Park is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. The city's motto is "Pride in the past, Faith in the future"...
. The San Gabriel Valley has a larger population of "49er
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
" Taiwanese (also known as Waishengren), essentially outnumbering native Taiwanese. Since the middle 1980s through the 1990s, however, large numbers of more affluent Taiwanese Americans began moving out to more upscale neighborhoods like San Marino
San Marino, California
San Marino is a small, affluent city in Los Angeles County, California. Incorporated in 1913, the City founders designed the community to be uniquely residential, with expansive properties surrounded by beautiful gardens, wide streets, and well maintained parkways...
, Arcadia
Arcadia, California
Arcadia is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and located approximately northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains....
, South Pasadena
South Pasadena, California
South Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 25,619, up from 24,292 at the 2000 census. It is located in in the West San Gabriel Valley...
, and Temple City
Temple City, California
Temple City is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Temple City is part of a cluster of cities, along with Arcadia, Rosemead, Monterey Park, San Marino, and San Gabriel, in the west San Gabriel Valley with a rapidly growing Asian population. Temple City also has a Cuban and Puerto Rican...
in Western San Gabriel Valley
San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, United States. It lies to the east of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and west of the Inland Empire. It derives its name from the San Gabriel River that flows...
; Hacienda Heights
Hacienda Heights, California
Hacienda Heights is an unincorporated census-designated place in and below the Puente Hills of the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
, Rowland Heights
Rowland Heights, California
Rowland Heights is an unincorporated community of , located in and below the Puente Hills in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population of the census-designated place was 48,993 at the 2010 census, up from 48,553 at the 2000 census...
, Walnut
Walnut, California
Walnut is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 29,172 at the 2010 census and its current mayor is Tom King, a former Detective from the Los Angeles Police Department....
, and Diamond Bar
Diamond Bar, California
Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 55,544 at the 2010 census, down from 56,287 at the 2000 census. It is named after the "diamond over a bar" branding iron registered in 1918 by ranch owner Frederick E...
in Eastern San Gabriel Valley
San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, United States. It lies to the east of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and west of the Inland Empire. It derives its name from the San Gabriel River that flows...
; with immigrants from the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
and Cantonese
Cantonese people
The Cantonese people are Han people whose ancestral homes are in Guangdong, China. The term "Cantonese people" would then be synonymous with the Bun Dei sub-ethnic group, and is sometimes known as Gwong Fu Jan for this narrower definition...
and Teochew
Teochew people
The Chaozhou people are Han people, native to the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province of China who speak the Teochew dialect. Today, most Teochew people live outside China in Southeast Asia especially in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. They can also be found almost anywhere in the...
(mostly from Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
) taking their place in Monterey Park, as well as Alhambra
Alhambra, California
Alhambra is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, which is approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. As of the 2010 census, the population was 83,089, down from 85,804 at the 2000 census. The city's...
.
Similarly, for the past 10 years, Benshengren have been immigrating to upscale neighborhoods in Los Angeles and Orange County such as Cerritos
Cerritos, California
Cerritos is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is one of several cities that constitute the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. It was incorporated on April 24, 1956...
and Irvine
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
respectively. The city of Cerritos is located in Los Angeles County but borders Orange County and has a large diversity of Asian immigrants. The city of Irvine has a very large Benshengren population, though now more and more Waishengren and Mainland Chinese immigrants have flocked to the city. The Irvine Chinese School, which serves mostly the American-born children of Taiwanese immigrants, is one of the largest Chinese Schools in the Orange County area. These immigrants belong to branches from some of the most politically and economically powerful Taiwanese families (with the surnames Chiang, Chen, Cheng, Kung, Tsai, and Wu).
Convenient Taiwanese-oriented strip malls and shopping complexes are typically complete with supermarkets and restaurants, thus Taiwanese American suburbanites have very little need to visit the older Chinatowns. In addition, shops offering imported Taiwanese goods allow for young Taiwanese expatriates in the United States to keep up with the current trends and popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
of Taiwan. Taiwanese Americans have also brought with them Taiwanese cuisine
Taiwanese cuisine
Taiwanese cuisine has several variations. In addition to the following representative dishes from the people of Hoklo ethnicity , there are also Aboriginal, Hakka, and local derivatives of Chinese cuisines .Taiwanese cuisine itself is often associated with influences from mid to southern...
to the communities they have settled, which, possibly excluding bubble tea
Bubble tea
Bubble tea is the name for pearl milk tea and other similar tea and juice beverages that originated in tea shops in Taichung, Taiwan during the 1980s. Drink recipes may vary, but most bubble teas contain a tea base mixed with fruit and/or milk...
, is not generally well-known or served outside these aforementioned Taiwanese immigrant enclaves.
Organizations
Organizations geared towards Taiwanese Americans include the Formosan Association for Public AffairsFormosan Association for Public Affairs
The Formosan Association for Public Affairs is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that seeks to build worldwide support for Taiwan independence. Its 52 chapters also seek to advance the interests of Taiwanese people and communities around the world. Currently, the President of FAPA...
, Taiwanese American Citizens League, and the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association
Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association
The Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association was established by a group of students in the East Coast and Midwest in the United States to grow the Taiwanese American college community. ITASA is a national 501 non-profit organization staffed by students and recent graduates to serve...
. In addition, most cities with concentrations of Taiwanese Americans have a Taiwan association or Taiwan Center
Taiwan Center
The Taiwan Centers of North America serve the Taiwanese American community at large. During the day most have programs that cater to Taiwanese seniors, with varied programs towards the evening that aim at the general public...
.
The first Taiwanese church established in North America is Winfield Reformed Church
Winfield Reformed Church
Winfield Reformed Church is a Protestant church founded in 1880, located in Woodside, NY, USA. The church was originally located on Queens Blvd, and moved to its current location in 1910. The current building was built in 1914. It is part of the Reformed Church in America denomination...
in 1969 in Woodside, New York.
American media
The Taiwanese also run several of North America's major Chinese-language newspapers, such as the World JournalWorld Journal
World Journal is a daily Chinese language newspaper serving overseas Chinese in North America. The newspaper has its headquarters in Whitestone, Queens, New York City....
and the Chicago Chinese News. However, these influential and highly-circulated newspapers are not geared solely to the Taiwanese, but rather serve the Chinese-speaking immigrant readership. Pacific Journal is weekly Taiwanese-run newspaper that is geared more exclusively toward Taiwanese readers.
Due to the significant Taiwanese American community, Taiwan media dominates the Chinese-language airwaves in the United States. Cable and satellite television of Taiwan-based media keeps Taiwanese Americans abreast of news developments and programming in Taiwan. For example, satellite stations ETTV America
ETTV America
ETTV America is a Chinese-language news/business broadcasting channel in the Americas that is operated by ETTV, a Taiwanese subsidiary of parent company Eastern Television...
and CTI
Chung T'ien Television
Chung T'ien Television , is a nationwide cable TV network based in Taiwan. It belongs to the China Times group, which also owns China Television .-History:...
cater to Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese immigrants.
Businesses
There are several businesses targeted towards the Taiwanese American immigrant population, such as the 99 Ranch Market99 Ranch Market
Although most of its customers are ethnic Chinese Americans and Taiwanese Americans, shoppers also include recent immigrants from China, ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, and others. The chain sells a wide range of imported food products and merchandise from Hong Kong, Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, ...
chain. Other well-known Taiwanese American businesses include Lollicup
Lollicup
Lollicup Coffee and Tea Lollicup Coffee and Tea Lollicup Coffee and Tea (chi. 樂立杯）, formerly known as Lollicup TeaZone, is an American fast food chain specializing in bubble tea, coffee, espresso, a large variety of fruit juices, slushes and smoothies, and a variety of other kinds of cold and hot...
(serving bubble tea
Bubble tea
Bubble tea is the name for pearl milk tea and other similar tea and juice beverages that originated in tea shops in Taichung, Taiwan during the 1980s. Drink recipes may vary, but most bubble teas contain a tea base mixed with fruit and/or milk...
).
Other businesses run or co-founded by Taiwanese Americans include Acer, Asus
ASUS
ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated is a multinational computer technology and consumer electronics product manufacturer headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Its product range includes motherboards, desktops, laptops, monitors, tablet PCs, servers and mobile phones...
, Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, Viewsonic
ViewSonic
ViewSonic Corporation is a manufacturer and provider of visual technology, specifically CRT monitors, liquid crystal displays, projectors, plasma displays, HDTV technology, and mobile products, including Mini and All-in-One PCs and wireless monitors....
, Nautica, Nvidia
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
, Garmin
Garmin
Garmin Ltd. , incorporated in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, is the parent company of a group of companies founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao , that develops consumer, aviation, and marine technologies for the Global Positioning System...
, Newegg.com, and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
See also
- Taiwanese peopleTaiwanese peopleTaiwanese people may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945...
- Asian AmericanAsian AmericanAsian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
- Demographics of the United StatesDemographics of the United StatesAs of today's date, the United States has a total resident population of , making it the third most populous country in the world. It is a very urbanized population, with 82% residing in cities and suburbs as of 2008 . This leaves vast expanses of the country nearly uninhabited...
- Diaspora politics in the United StatesDiaspora politics in the United StatesDiaspora politics in the United States is the study of the political behavior of transnational ethnic diasporas, their relationship with their ethnic homelands and their host states, as well as their prominent role in ethnic conflicts. This article describes case studies and theories of political...
- Hyphenated AmericanHyphenated AmericanIn the United States, the term hyphenated American is an epithet commonly used from 1890 to 1920 to disparage Americans who were of foreign birth or origin, and who displayed an allegiance to a foreign country. It was most commonly used to disparage German Americans or Irish Americans who called...
- Nationality Law of the Republic of ChinaNationality Law of the Republic of ChinaThe Nationality Law of the Republic of China defines and regulates nationality of the Republic of China . It was first promulgated by the Nationalist Government on February 5, 1929 and revised by the Taipei-based Legislative Yuan in 2000, 2001, and 2006.The Act, like the Constitution of the...
: American Taiwanese, opposite of Taiwanese American - Chinese AmericanChinese AmericanChinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...