"New immigrants" is a term that can be used to refer to the
"Mainlanders" who arrived in Taiwan after 1945 in the wake of
the Japanese defeat. In fact, this term is more appropriate than
"Mainlanders"; after all, Taiwan is a society of immigrants,
made up of different ethnic groups and separate waves of
immigrants who have coalesced into what is now Taiwanese
society. The immigrants that came in 1945 from various parts of
China constituted an armed community, including government,
political parties, military, public servants and ordinary
people, so that they were necessarily more isolated from society
at large, more defensive and xenophobic. After 50 years of
living in Taiwan, these new immigrants have gradually become
integrated and can no longer be easily distinguished from other
inhabitants. But because their family background, upbringing and
education is different from that of immigrants who came to
Taiwan prior to 1945, they naturally have a different
perspective on history and culture. This is most evid