PEOPLE

While Taiwan may be described as a predominantly Han Chinese society, with more than 95 percent of the population claiming Han ancestry, its heritage is actually much more complex. The successive waves of Chinese immigrants that began arriving in the 17th century belonged to a variety of subgroups with mutually unintelligible languages and different customs. Today in Taiwan, however, distinctions between them have become blurred as a result of extensive intermarriage and the universal use of Mandarin. Taiwan is a multicultural society comprising diverse Han subgroups, as well as indigenous Malayo-Polynesian peoples and immigrants from all over the world. Recent years, for example, have seen an influx of new arrivals from China and Southeast Asia, mostly through marriage. Currently, the number of new immigrants is over 530,000.

There is growing appreciation in Taiwan for the cultural legacies of the 16 officially recognized Austronesianspeaking tribes, which constitute a little more than 2 percent of the population. Public and private organizations are making efforts to revitalize their languages and cultures, as illustrated by the launch of Taiwan Indigenous Television and the passage of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act.

This convergence and interplay of currents of humanity in Taiwan have helped transform it into an openhearted, forward-looking society that has incorporated diverse elements of civilization from around the world in a distinctive and harmonious manner.