Taiwanese immigrants
Taiwanese immigrants represent a significant and prosperous group within the Asian immigrant population in the United States, particularly emerging during the late twentieth century. The migration from Taiwan began in earnest after World War II, spurred by political upheaval and the establishment of the Republic of China on the island. Key waves of immigration were influenced by factors such as the relaxation of U.S. immigration quotas, the economic prosperity of Taiwan in the 1960s and 70s, and the looming threat of potential conflict with mainland China.
Initially, many Taiwanese came as students, with high educational aspirations leading to their permanent settlement in the U.S. Following the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which favored skilled workers, a significant number of Taiwanese professionals and their families moved to the U.S., contributing to the growth of new Chinatowns in urban areas. By the late 20th century, the phenomenon of "parachute children" emerged, where affluent families sent their children to study in the U.S. while maintaining businesses in Taiwan.
As of the early 21st century, Taiwanese immigrants largely comprised a mix of native Taiwanese and those from mainland China who had settled in Taiwan. Despite political tensions and the threat of invasion from China, Taiwanese immigration patterns have remained relatively stable, with a notable proportion of the community holding college degrees and achieving high income levels. In recent years, trends show fluctuating migration patterns, influenced by both international relations and societal changes, reflecting the resilience and adaptability of the Taiwanese immigrant experience.
Taiwanese immigrants
SIGNIFICANCE: During the late twentieth century, Taiwanese became one of the largest and most prosperous immigrant groups from Asia, settling in new Chinatowns and suburbs.
Following the course of Chinese history, immigration from the island of Taiwan to the United States was primarily a late-twentieth-century phenomenon. Almost no immigrants came from Taiwan until after Chiang Kai-shek established the Republic of China on the island. In earlier centuries, Taiwan was a remote island belonging to the Chinese Empire and populated mostly by Austronesian aborigines and Han Chinese who had come from Fujian Province on the Chinese mainland. In 1895, Japan wrested control of the island, which it retained until it was defeated in World War II.
Mainland Chinese Immigration to the United States
In contrast to later Taiwanese immigration, large numbers of Chinese from mainland China immigrated to the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. Most of them came from Hong Kong and Guangdong (Canton) Province and settled in and near San Francisco. By the time the U.S. Congress enacted the first Chinese exclusion laws during the 1880s, approximately 300,000 Chinese had immigrated to the United States and lived in Chinatowns throughout the nation. Chinese immigration was sporadic in the following decades until Chinese exclusion was repealed in 1943. This change was, to some extent, due to the U.S. speaking tour of Soong Mei-ling, the wife of the president of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek. With the end of World War II, China reclaimed Taiwan from Japan. After Mao Zedong’s communists took power in China in 1949, Chiang’s Nationalist forces found refuge on Taiwan, where Chiang set up a quasi-independent government. As a result of these calamitous events, the first wave of immigration of Chinese from Taiwan began slowly. Meanwhile, emigration from mainland China was forbidden by the new communist government.
Late-Twentieth-Century Immigration from Taiwan
With the Republic of China ensconced on the island of Taiwan, Taiwanese immigration to the United States began in earnest. This immigration included two groups of Chinese. The first consisted of ethnic Chinese who were native to Taiwan. These were people whose families had arrived in Taiwan from the mainland in previous centuries and who spoke a language derived from the southern Fujian dialect. The second group comprised Chinese who had more recently arrived with Chiang Kai-shek in response to the communist takeover and spoke Mandarin.
Immigration from Taiwan was prompted by several factors. Because U.S. immigration quotas for Asia had grown less restrictive, Chinese immigrants began coming from all parts of China. At the same time, the looming threat of Taiwan’s being invaded by the vastly larger People’s Republic of China prompted emigration. Also, the great economic prosperity that Taiwan attained during the 1960s and 1970s also made it economically feasible for many Taiwanese to send their children to study in the United States.
The first stage of immigration from Taiwan occurred between the years immediately after World War II ended until 1965. This stage consisted mostly of students coming to the United States to study for higher degrees. Massachusetts’ Wellesley College was a particularly attractive destination for elite Taiwanese women, as it was Madame Chiang Kai-shek’s alma mater. Three-quarters of these Taiwanese students remained in the United States after graduating, often taking well-paying jobs.
The second stage of Taiwanese immigration began after U.S. passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (also known as the Hart-Celler Immigration Reform Act). This law eliminated national quotas for immigration and instituted preferences for skilled workers. As a result, many Taiwanese professionals and technical workers immigrated to the United States with their families. After arriving in the United States, Taiwanese immigrants helped to create new and more spacious Chinatowns in New York City’s Flushing and Queens neighborhoods and in Monterey Park, California. Many of them settled in prosperous new suburban neighborhoods in other cities.
In 1979, the United States switched from recognizing Taiwan as the official government of China to recognizing the People’s Republic. However, the Taiwan Relations Act passed during that same year allowed entry for up to 20,000 Taiwanese starting in 1982. With the Republic of China liberalizing its own emigration policy in 1980, a third stage of Taiwanese immigration began.
During the 1980s, American newspapers began reporting on a new kind of Taiwanese immigrants—“parachute children”—children whose parents remained in Taiwan to continue their successful businesses while sending their children to attend public schools in the United States while living on their own. A 1990 study undertaken by the University of California at Los Angeles estimated that as many as 40,000 Taiwanese “parachute kids” were studying in the United States. Most lived in wealthy California suburbs.
Twenty-First-Century Trends
By the early twenty-first century, Chinese immigrants from Taiwan were almost equally divided between native Taiwanese and Chinese from the mainland who had arrived in Taiwan after World War II. Divisions between these groups have lessened within Taiwan and are little evident in the Taiwanese communities of the United States.
Between 1984 and 1999, an estimated 200,000 Taiwanese immigrated to the United States, at a rate of about 13,000 per year. By the 2010 census, self-identified residents of Taiwanese immigrants living in the United States totaled 358,460, and though this number is relatively small, it was similar to that of much larger countries such as Italy and Brazil that year. More than 70 percent of Taiwanese immigrants had a college degree, and on average, they earned nearly $100,000 per year in 2017.
A perennial threat to Taiwan for decades was the potential of an invasion from mainland China. Many surmised this danger would be an inducement for Taiwanese to immigrate to countries such as the United States. In the early 2020s, when media reporting suggested a Chinese invasion was a greater near-term possibility, Taiwan did experience large population outflows. When the mainland threat abated, immigration out of Taiwan remained high for the next several years. This left many to surmise that the departures were after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the pattern reversed and Taiwan again showed positive migration into the country. A common observation is that the Taiwanese have learned to live with the doomsday invasion scenario, and as such, Taiwanese migratory inflows and outflows remain stable. One sentiment is the belief that mainland Chinese would first attempt to make Taiwan cower in submission before resorting to combat. Many Taiwanese believed the Chinese saber-rattling that was prevalent in the early and mid-2020s was intended to psychologically wear down the Taiwanese populace for this purpose.
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