Taiwanese Americans

Taiwanese Americans

Traditional Chinese: 臺灣裔美國人
Americans with Taiwanese Ancestry by state
Total population
331,224 (2023) Range: 195,000 – 900,595 0.06%–0.3% of the U.S. population (2017)
Regions with significant populations
Los Angeles metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area, San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Boston, Philadelphia metropolitan area, Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, Seattle metropolitan area, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas.
Languages
Taiwanese Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, and other Formosan languages
Religion
Christianity, Taiwanese folk beliefs, Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Overseas Taiwanese, Chinese Americans

Taiwanese Americans (traditional Chinese: 臺灣裔美國人; pinyin: Táiwān yì měiguó rén) are an ethnic group in the United States consisting of Americans with full or partial ancestry from Taiwan, including American-born citizens descended from Taiwanese migrants.

Taiwanese Americans are one of the highest-earning ethnic groups in the United States, and are the highest-earning American ethnic group by per capita income. After World War II and the Chinese Civil War, immigrants from Taiwan first began to arrive in the United States, where Taiwanese immigration was shaped by the Hart-Celler Act (1965) and the Taiwan Relations Act (1979). As of the 2010 U.S. Census, 49% of Taiwanese Americans lived in either California, New York, or Texas.

Notable Taiwanese Americans include Fortune 500 billionaire CEOs Lisa Su (AMD) and Jensen Huang (Nvidia); entrepreneurs Jerry Yang (co-founder of Yahoo), Steve Chen (co-founder of YouTube), Andrew Cherng (Panda Express founder), Tony Hsieh (Zappos); politicians Michelle Wu, Andrew Yang, and Elaine Chao; jurists Goodwin Liu, Florence Pan, and James Ho; HIV/AIDS researcher David Ho, virologist Yuan Chang, and Nobel Prize laureate Yuan T. Lee. Taiwanese American celebrities include Jeremy Lin (NBA basketball player for the New York Knicks), singer-songwriter Wang Leehom, and actress Constance Wu.

Terminology

Taiwanese Americans are one of the newest Asian American ethnic groups in the United States. They encompass immigrants to the U.S. from the Republic of China (known as Taiwan), which is located on the island of Formosa, and their American-born descendants. The nation of Taiwan consists mostly of Chinese descendants from the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong and their Fujianese and Hakka subgroups. As a result, the culture of Taiwan also shares many commonalities with Chinese culture which has often led to the categorization of Taiwanese Americans with Chinese Americans.

Since the leaders and affiliates of the nationalist Republic of China (1912–1949), under its Kuomintang government, moved to Taiwan in 1949, Taiwanese Americans also include these mainland Chinese migrants (known as waishengren). The group is more closely associated with China and may also identify as Chinese immigrants or Chinese Americans. Together, immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China constitute the three largest groups which form the Chinese American population, each with unique socioeconomic, cultural, and historical backgrounds. However, Taiwanese Americans who consider Taiwan to be independent from China favor a separate political and cultural identity and have lobbied to be counted as distinct population in the United States census.

Immigration history

The first Taiwanese immigrants to the United States arrived in the late 19th century, but significant immigration from the island to the U.S. only began in the mid-20th century, when Taiwanese migrants traveled to the U.S. in search of educational opportunities either on the West Coast or East Coast. After the end of World War II, the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War forced the nationalist Kuomintang government to retreat to Taiwan in 1949. American aid to Taiwan in the wake of the Korean War (1950–1953) supported the Kuomintang government and culminated in the 1954 Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of China, which precipitated a small influx of Taiwanese immigrants to come to the United States.

From 1949 up until 1979, the United States recognized the Kuomintang-led ROC as the sole legitimate government of China. As a result, immigration from Taiwan was counted under within the same quota for both mainland China and Taiwan. However, because the People's Republic of China (PRC) banned emigration to the United States until 1977, the quota for immigrants from China was almost exclusively filled by immigrants from Taiwan. In 1979, the United States broke diplomatic relations with the ROC, while the Taiwan Relations Act gave Taiwan a separate immigration quota from that of the PRC.

Before the late 1960s, immigrants from Taiwan to the United States tended to be "mainland Chinese" who had immigrated to Taiwan with the Kuomintang (KMT) after the fall of mainland China to the Communists. Later immigrants tended to increasingly be Taiwanese benshengren, or Han Taiwanese whose ancestors had already lived in Taiwan before 1949. Taiwanese immigration to the United States began to subside in the early-1980s due to improving economic and political conditions in Taiwan.

Socioeconomics

See also: Model minority

Education

Taiwanese culture places a high value on education, and many Taiwanese Americans are very highly educated and hold advanced degrees from numerous prestigious universities around the United States. Several distinguished academics, including Nobel Prize winners, are Taiwanese Americans.

Financial and socioeconomic opportunities offered by the United States have lifted many Taiwanese Americans out of poverty, joining the ranks of the America's middle and upper middle class. Estimates indicate that a disproportionate percentage of Taiwanese students attend elite universities despite constituting less than 0.5% of the U.S. population. Taiwanese Americans have the highest education attainment level in the United States, surpassing any other ethnic group in the country, according to U.S Census Bureau data released in 2010. According to the 2010 Labor Statistics from U.S. Census Bureau, 73.6% of all Taiwanese Americans have attained a bachelor's degree or higher. (Compared to 28.2% nationally and 49.9% for all Asian American groups). 80.0% of Taiwanese American men attained a bachelor's degree and 68.3% of Taiwanese American women attained a bachelor's degree. 39.1% of all Taiwanese in the United States possess a master's, doctorate or other professional degree, nearly four times the national average.

Educational Attainment in ACS 2019

Ethnicity	Bachelor's degree or Higher	High school graduate or higher
Taiwanese	78.8%	95.7%
Indian	75.7%	92.7%
Pakistani	59.8%	89.4%
Korean	58.9%	93.3%
Chinese average	56.7%	84.1%
Vietnamese	55.8%	92.3%
Asian average	55.6%	87.8%
Japanese	53.7%	96.1%
Filipino	49.8%	93.5%
Non-Hispanic White	34.4%	90.4%
General US Population	33.1%	88.6%

Employment

Many Taiwanese Americans work as white collar professionals, many of whom are highly educated, salaried professionals whose work is largely self-directed in management, professional and related occupations such as engineering, medicine, investment banking, law, and academia. 66.2% of Taiwanese Americans work in many white collar professions compared to 35.9% for the general American population and 48.1% for Asian Americans. 71.3% of Taiwanese men and 60.4% of Taiwanese women work in management, professional, and related occupations. They also hold some of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation with a figure of 4.3% compared to a national rate of 6.9%. Some of the prominent technology companies in the United States have been founded by Taiwanese Americans such as Min Kao (co-founder of Garmin), Jerry Yang (co-founder of Yahoo), Steve Chen (co-founder of YouTube), Jen-Hsun Huang (co-founder of Nvidia), William Wang (founder of Vizio), Greg Tseng (co-founder of Tagged) and James Chu (founder of Viewsonic).

Economics

According to the 2009 U.S. Census, Taiwanese American men had one of "the highest year-round, full-time median earnings" with a figure of $76,587, while Taiwanese American women had a median income of $51,307. Taiwanese Americans have one of the lowest poverty rates in the US, with a poverty rate of 9.5% compared to 11.3% for the general American population.

Ethnicity	Per Capita Income
	As of 2023
Taiwanese	$83,811
Indian	$72,389
Japanese	$61,568
Chinese except Taiwanese	$61,289
Filipino	$47,819
Vietnamese	$40,037
Korean	$58,560
Total US Population	$43,313

Settlement

The majority of Taiwanese American communities were formed after 1965, following the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, and they have since experienced rapid growth. From 2000 to 2010, the Taiwanese American population increased 59 percent from 144,795 (2000) to 230,382 (2010). In 2013, 59 percent of Taiwanese Americans were between age 18 and age 64, 19 percent were from ages <1 to 17, and 9 percent were over the age of 65. The overall median age was 35. 68 percent of Taiwanese Americans in 2013 were born outside of the United States, of which 67 percent became naturalized U.S. citizens.

Immigration to the United States from Taiwan has remained substantial. 42,182 immigrant visas were issued to Taiwan from 2001 to 2010, and among those who received legal permanent residency in 2010, 2,090 (40%) were the immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Taiwanese emigrants were instrumental in the development of Monterey Park, California in Los Angeles – resulting in the moniker of "Little Taipei" – as well as Flushing, Queens, which generally reflected new investments and capital flowing from Taiwan into newer Taiwanese enclaves instead of traditional Chinatowns. 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.

While Monterey Park is no longer the largest Taiwanese community in Los Angeles today, Flushing remains the main 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, are similar to "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 established what is now widely considered as Houston's new Chinatown on Bellaire Boulevard in the mid-1980s.

The prestige and performance of particular school districts, as well as access to careers in high-tech firms, have played a significant part 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 (Dublin, Pleasanton, 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, Long Island City, and Forest Hills, all within Queens; Nassau County on Long Island; Jersey City and Hoboken in nearby New Jersey; Rockville, Maryland (northwest of Washington, D.C.); Sugar Land, Texas (near Houston), Plano, Texas (near Dallas); Bellevue, Washington (and adjacent areas) (part of the Greater Seattle Area's "Eastside" communities) and Chandler, Arizona. Additionally, the northeastern suburbs of the Atlanta, Georgia area has also received a significant influx of Taiwanese immigrant residents.

From the middle of the 1980s to the 1990s, large numbers of affluent Taiwanese Americans began moving out to upscale neighborhoods such as Cupertino, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Fremont, Newark, and Pleasanton in the Bay Area; 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. Starting in the 2000s, highly educated Nassau County on Long Island east of New York City, as well as suburbs in northern and central New Jersey, have received a large influx of Taiwanese immigrants.

U.S. metropolitan areas with large Taiwanese American populations

The list of metropolitan area with a Taiwanese American population of at least 4,000, as of the 2010 U.S. Census.

Rank	Metro Area	Region	Taiwanese-Americans Alone or in Combination (2010 Census)
1	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana	Pacific	60,478
2	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island	Mid-Atlantic	25,573
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara	Pacific	17,125
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont	Pacific	16,549
5	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria	South Atlantic	7,179
6	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown	West South Central	7,109
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue	Pacific	6,924
8	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario	Pacific	5,913
9	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville	East North Central	5,532
10	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington	West South Central	5,195
11	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy	New England	4,802
12	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos	Pacific	4,722

Politics and government

Michelle Wu

Andrew Yang

Goodwin Liu

Taiwanese Americans have also gradually increased their political engagement in the public sphere of the U.S. in recent years.

Notable examples include:

• Stephanie Chang (member of the Michigan Senate)
• Elaine Chao (United States Secretary of Labor in the George W. Bush Administration, and Secretary of Transportation in the Donald Trump Administration)
• Raymond Chen (United States Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit)
• Lanhee Chen (2022 California State Controller candidate and policy director and chief policy adviser to the 2012 Mitt Romney presidential campaign).
• John Chiang (California State Controller)
• David Chiu (City Attorney of San Francisco and former member of the California State Assembly)
• Shing-Fu Hsueh (Mayor of West Windsor, New Jersey)
• Ted Lieu (member of the United States House of Representatives, representing California's 33rd congressional district.)
• Goodwin Liu (Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California)
• Jessie K. Liu (former United States Attorney for the District of Columbia)

Lanhee Chen

Katherine Tai

Elaine Chao

• John Liu (former Comptroller of New York City)
• Grace Meng (member of the United States House of Representatives, representing New York's 6th congressional district in the New York City borough of Queens, elected in 2008)
• Yuh-Line Niou (member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 65th District in Lower Manhattan, elected in November 2016)
• David Wu (former U.S. Representative, 1st Taiwan born Congressman)
• Sherman Wu (civil rights activist and scientist)
• Michelle Wu (Mayor of Boston, elected 2021, former member of the Boston City Council).
• Katherine Tai (United States Trade Representative)
• Andrew Yang (Mayoral candidate in the 2021 New York City Democratic primary, presidential candidate in the 2020 Democratic primary, and founder of Venture for America)
• Yiaway Yeh (former Mayor of Palo Alto, California)

First generation immigrants and later generations

Lisa Su (left) and Jensen Huang (right) were born in, and later migrated from, Taiwan. Su became the president of AMD, one of the largest semiconductor companies, and Huang co-founded Nvidia, one of the leading software companies in the world. They are first cousins.

First and second generation immigrants from Taiwan usually share a common language, Mandarin. However, many also speak Taiwanese Hokkien, and to a lesser extent, Hakka. Many first-generation immigrants educated before 1945 speak Japanese as their second native language. As with most immigrants to the United States, linguistic fluency in the heritage language quickly disappears in the second generation. Immigrants whose families are from the Taipei metropolitan area usually speak Mandarin as their primary language. There are many first-generation Taiwanese immigrants of full Hakka heritage who speak all three languages. Some Taiwanese Americans of mixed Hoklo and Hakka Heritage speak only Mandarin as their primary language.

Organizations

Organizations geared towards Taiwanese Americans include the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), North America Taiwanese Professors Association (NATPA), Taiwanese American Citizens League (TACL), Taiwanese American Professionals (TAP) and Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association (ITASA). In addition, most cities with concentrations of Taiwanese Americans have a Taiwanese association or Taiwan Center.

The first Taiwanese church in North America, the Winfield Reformed Church in Woodside, Queens, in New York City, was established in 1969.

In 1986, Chaotian Temple from Taiwan has also established a branch temple known as Ma-Tsu Temple in San Francisco Chinatown with the support of Taiwanese American community.

Media

Taiwanese Americans also run several of North America's major Chinese-language newspapers, such as the World Journal based in Queens; and the Chicago Chinese News. However, these influential and highly circulated newspapers are not geared solely to Taiwanese immigrants, but also serve a broader Chinese-speaking immigrant readership. Pacific Journal is a weekly Taiwanese-run newspaper that is geared more exclusively toward Taiwanese readers.

Due to the significant Taiwanese American community, Taiwanese 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.

Taiwanese nationality and residency

Main articles: Nationality law of the Republic of China, National without household registration, and Taiwan passport

Passport of Taiwan

Passport of the United States

In the 1960s, many Taiwanese Americans chose to make America their permanent home and had children in the U.S. Most sought refuge from the numerous arrests and executions during the White Terror era of the KMT, the political party which had dictatorially ruled the country. 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 to return.

Although the oath of naturalization of the United States contains a statement renouncing "allegiance and fidelity" to other countries, the Republic of China (the formal name of Taiwan) does not recognize this renunciation as sufficient for the termination of ROC nationality, and requires a person who wishes to renounce ROC nationality to take another oath before an ROC consular officer. All renunciations are subject to approval from the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry may deny a person's application under Taiwanese law. Without formal renunciation, the ROC government considers its emigrants with American citizenship to continue to be nationals of the ROC. Acquiring US citizenship has no effect on the holder's status as a national of ROC, which makes Taiwan-born Americans still eligible to vote in the ROC elections, provided that their household registration is still intact in Taiwan.

Unlike their Taiwan-born parents, the American-born second generation do not have household registration in Taiwan at birth, making them nationals without household registration (NWOHRs), despite the fact that they are also ROC nationals under Taiwanese law. In contrast with those with household registration in Taiwan, NWOHRs cannot receive a Taiwanese National Identification Card, do not have right of abode in Taiwan, and are subject to immigration control while in Taiwan. They are, however, eligible for a Taiwan passport. It is possible for NWOHRs to be registered as nationals with household registration (NWHRs) if they meet the requirements listed under the Immigration Act of Taiwan.

Connection to politics of Taiwan and cultural ties

Cynthia Wu was born in the United States and returned to Taiwan, where she became a member of the Legislative Yuan.

Some Taiwanese Americans play an active role in the politics and culture of Taiwan, aided in large part by recognition of dual citizenship. The identity politics of Taiwan also influences at least first generation Taiwanese Americans. Many government officials, including presidents Lai Ching-te, Tsai Ing-wen, Ma Ying-jeou, and Lee Teng-hui, have received graduate degrees in the United States. The United States was also a major destination for anti-KMT figures such as Peng Ming-min and Chai Trong-rong, where they were politically exiled. Others, including Nobel Prize laureate Yuan T. Lee were educated in the United States.

From time to time, the issue of loyalty to Taiwan is raised – in 2008, during his successful Presidential campaign, the fact that Ma Ying-Jeou has sisters and a daughter who are American citizens was criticized. Prominent party chairman 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 in the KMT have been controversially alleged to have permanent U.S. residency status or U.S. citizenship without renouncement while serving in public office. Similarly, loyalty was raised as an issue in the feud between Li Ao and Yuan T. Lee, whose children are also American citizens. This issue is partly one of socio-economic status as Taiwanese with extensive connections within the United States are considered wealthier 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 gain a significant political advantage. Both the pan-Blue coalition and pan-Green coalition rely on Taiwanese Americans for votes. In the 2004 ROC Presidential Election, both coalitions campaigned extensively in the United States. An estimated 10,000 Taiwanese Americans traveled to Taiwan to vote in the election. In the 2020 Taiwanese presidential election, tens of thousands of Taiwanese Americans traveled to Taiwan to vote in the election.

While dual citizens are banned from high political office, there has not been a significant movement within Taiwan to ban dual citizenship in general. Taiwan's Supreme Court has ruled that all citizens, dual or singular, are entitled to the same rights. US natural born citizens were included in the decision.

Notable people

For a more comprehensive list, see List of Taiwanese Americans.

See also

• List of Taiwanese Americans
• Taiwanese people
• Han Taiwanese
• Hoklo Americans
• Hakka Americans
• Taiwan-United States relations
• Taiwanese people in New York City
• Taiwanese Americans in Los Angeles

Bibliography

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• Davidson, James W. (1903). The Island of Formosa, Past and Present : history, people, resources, and commercial prospects : tea, camphor, sugar, gold, coal, sulphur, economical plants, and other productions. London and New York: Macmillan. OCLC 1887893. OL 6931635M.
• Jones, J. Sydney, "Taiwanese Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 4, Gale, 2014), pp. 343–356. Online
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• Rubenfeld, Jed; Chua, Amy (2014-02-05). The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America. A&C Black. ISBN 978-1-4088-5222-4.
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• Chen, Carolyn (August 31, 2014). Getting Saved in America: Taiwanese Immigration and Religious Experience. Princeton University Press. ASIN B01B98ZNA8.
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• Ng, Franklin (1998-05-26). The Taiwanese Americans. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-0-313-29762-5.
• Gu, Chien-Juh (2006). Mental Health Among Taiwanese Americans: Gender, Immigration, and Transnational Struggles. Western Michigan University Press. ISBN 978-1-59332-130-7.
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• Gu, Chien-Juh (2018-01-22). The Resilient Self: Gender, Immigration, and Taiwanese Americans. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-8607-6.
• Hsu, Madeline Y. (2015-04-27). The Good Immigrants: How the Yellow Peril Became the Model Minority. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-6637-3.

External links

• History of Taiwanese Americans Archived 2018-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
• Formosan Association for Public Affairs Archived 2021-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
• ITASA – Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association
• UMCP TASA – University of Maryland College Park Taiwanese American Student Association
• Taiwanese American Citizens League
• Taiwanese American Foundation
• TaiwaneseAmerican.org
• Taiwan Center of America
• Taiwanese American Professionals Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
• U.S. Census 2000 – People Born in Taiwan
• Robert A. Johnston. "EXPERIENCES OF IMMIGRATION AMONG WOMEN FROM TAIWAN" (PDF). Sjsu.edu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2018.