Authorities in Taiwan have come under fire for removing the “Han” category from demographic groups listed on the official information page, a move seen as an effort to further distance the island from mainland China.
Advertisement
The change comes as Taiwan’s ruling, independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) intensifies its efforts to promote the island’s indigenous identity while gradually eroding its historical and cultural ties with the mainland in various ways.
The revised web page of Taiwan’s top administrative body, the Executive Yuan, categorises Han Chinese – the overwhelming majority on both sides of the Taiwan Strait – as “other population”.
The Executive Yuan did not publicly announce the change to the ethnic composition section, which was made on March 24, but several Taiwanese media outlets spotted it and reported on it on Saturday.
“Taiwan now has a registered population of 2.6 per cent indigenous, 1.2 per cent foreign and 96.2 per cent other population,” the page reads.
Advertisement
According to Taiwanese media, the page previously said: “Taiwan’s current registered population is composed of Han Chinese as the largest ethnic group, accounting for 96.4 per cent of the total population.”