A Skewed Focus in Taiwanese Cultural Studies by Foreign Scholars

Do you know any foreign scholars who specialize in Taiwan studies? I don't know many, but I've attended lectures and interviews by a few, and I've noticed a phenomenon: apart from politics, history, and international relations, whenever they discuss Taiwanese "culture" or "environment," their research is exclusively focused on indigenous peoples.

Think about it, what if...

 * Studying American culture meant only studying the cultures of various indigenous American tribes.

 * Studying Spanish culture meant only studying the culture of the Basques (Indigenous people of Spain).

 * Studying British culture meant only studying Welsh culture.

 * Studying Japanese culture meant only studying Ainu culture.

Wouldn't you find that extremely strange?

If so, why is it that foreign scholars who study Taiwan culture only seem interested in indigenous cultures?

I'm guessing... just a guess! They probably feel that Taiwan's "non-indigenous" population isn't very interesting because they assume that Taiwan's "non-Indigenous" people are simply "Chinese," the "Han people" also found in China, and therefore don't require special study in Taiwan.

In short, they might assume that Taiwan's "non-Indigenous" people lack "Taiwanese-ness" or a "Taiwanese subjectivity." Furthermore, they might even view Taiwan's "non-Indigenous" people as perpetrators of settler colonialism, making them morally less appealing to be investigated.

It's also no wonder they insist on calling "Taiwanese" (Tai-gi) "Taiwanese Hokkien" or "Taiwan(ese) Southern Min," perhaps because they believe this language isn't qualified to represent Taiwan. But sorry to say, similar linguistic and social compositions exist elsewhere in the world. Why is Taiwan singled out and treated this way?

This might be something that some people have "taught" them. Who taught them? Let's think. Besides China, those who wish to eradicate Taiwanese subjectivity are likely a few confused or pro-China Taiwanese scholars.

In fact, the culture of Taiwan's "non-indigenous" people is, of course, different from China's. To treat them as the same without in-depth research—what kind of scholars are these?

Moreover, Taiwan's "non-indigenous" people are the main body and representatives of Taiwanese culture. This follows the norm worldwide. We just need to look at the main ethnic groups of American, Spanish, British, and Japanese cultures to understand this.

We must resist this distortion of Taiwanese cultural research!

Furthermore, the majority of people in most countries worldwide are descendants of settlers. Before accusing Taiwan's "non-indigenous" people using the framework of settler colonialism, let the entire world collectively admit its sins. Do not use this label to singularly assign blame to Taiwan's "non-indigenous" people, and do not subconsciously use this as a reason to exclude them from Taiwanese cultural research.