Taiwan's indigenous peoples, who originated in Austronesia and southern Asia, have lived on Taiwan for 12,000 to 15,000 years. Significant migration to Taiwan from the Chinese mainland began as early as A.D. 500. Dutch traders first claimed the island in 1624 as a base for Dutch commerce with Japan and the China coast. Two years later, the Spanish established a settlement on the northwest coast of Taiwan, which they occupied until 1642 when they were driven out by the Dutch. Dutch colonists administered the island and its predominantly aboriginal population until 1661. The first major influx of migrants from the Chinese mainland came during the Dutch period, sparked by the political and economic chaos on the China coast during the Manchu invasion and the end of the Ming Dynasty.During the 18th and 19th centuries, migration from Fujian and Guangdong provinces steadily increased, and Chinese supplanted indigenous peoples as the dominant population group. In 1895, a weakened Imperial China ceded Taiwan to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki following the first Sino-Japanese war.During its 50 years (1895-1945) of rule, Japan expended considerable effort in developing Taiwan's economy. At the same time, Japanese rule led to the "Japanization" of the island, including compulsory Japanese education and pressuring residents of Taiwan to adopt Japanese names. At the end of World War II in 1945, Taiwan reverted to Chinese rule (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2012) http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35855.htm
Throughout its history Taiwan never truly had a firm grasp on their own homeland. While they did for some time they were slowly being taken over by the Dutch, then the Spanish, then Chinese, Japanese, and finally back to the Chinese. This tiny little country went through many dramatic changes in power, which untimitly lead to their present high economic status. Without the constant changes, their knowledge of trade and value may never have grown to what it is now.
Some concerns over Taiwan is their vulnerability. If they have been so easily influenced in change of power before, whos to say that history won't repeat itself in the near fututure.
Does the country have a risk of changing powers yet again? Would their economic status rise or fall due to the possible change?
