Han Chinese, Making Up 96.2% of the Population, Reclassified as "Other Population"
Executive Yuan Spokesperson: "Describing Population Structure Based on Objective Facts"
KMT Lawmaker Criticizes Move as "Absurd"
The Taiwanese government has reclassified the Han Chinese, who make up the majority of the population, as "other population," prompting backlash from the pro-China Kuomintang (KMT) party.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and Taiwan's United Daily News on May 12, the Executive Yuan of Taiwan updated its website in March to categorize the Han Chinese as "other population" in its description of Taiwan's ethnic composition.
Currently, the website states that Taiwan's population consists of 2.6% indigenous peoples, 1.2% foreigners, and 96.2% other population. Taiwanese media reported that prior to this change, the website had indicated that the Han Chinese accounted for 96.4% of Taiwan's total population, making them the largest ethnic group.
Li Huizhi, spokesperson for the Executive Yuan, explained that the change was made because the practice of classifying all people except indigenous peoples and foreigners as Han Chinese does not fully reflect reality. He added that the adjustment was made to objectively describe the population structure, without any other political considerations.
The Kuomintang, a pro-China opposition party in Taiwan, strongly objected to the change. Li Mingxian, a KMT Taipei City Councilor, criticized, "Taiwan is gradually moving toward extreme confrontation and hatred under the influence of political forces." He continued, "Posting a false designation that ignores history and blood ties is a wrong political direction," and accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of "taking de-Sinicization policies too far." Another KMT lawmaker condemned the move as "historical denial to satisfy the DPP government's ideology."
According to Chinese media outlet Jingbaowang, KMT legislator Chen Jinghui called the change "absurd," pointing out that "in general, the majority of the population is listed first in demographic statistics, and then other ethnic groups are classified as 'others,' but the Lai Chingte administration is taking the opposite approach." He added, "After clearly distinguishing the 3.8% indigenous peoples and foreigners, they ambiguously classify over 96% of the Han Chinese as 'the rest,' which raises questions." He argued that "true diversity is about including various voices and identities." SCMP analyzed that "this appears to be an effort to distance the island (Taiwan) from mainland China."
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