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 immigrated to 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,