Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey

Taiwanese Americans () are Americans who carry full or partial ancestry from Taiwan. This includes American-born citizens who descend from migrants from Taiwan.

As of the 2010 U.S. Census, 49% of Taiwanese Americans lived in the state of California. New York and Texas have the second and third largest Taiwanese American populations, respectively. Notable Taiwanese Americans include Joy Burke, Elaine Chao, Steve Chen, Michael Chang, Yuan Chang, Jensen Huang, Justin Lin, Jeremy Lin, Lisa Su, Katherine Tai, Constance Wu, Michelle Wu, Andrew Yang, and Jerry Yang.

Immigration history

Taiwanese immigration to the United States was limited in the years before World War II, due to Japanese rule as well as the Immigration Act of 1924, which completely barred immigration from Asia. Prior to the 1950s, emigration from Taiwan (ROC) (then called Formosa), was negligible, but a small number of students came to the United States until 1965. After the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which loosened restrictions and gave preference to skilled workers, many came as students and stayed, partly due to better economic conditions in the U.S. and due to a repressive political climate back home.

In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party took control of mainland China, and 2 million refugees, predominantly from the Republic of China (ROC) Nationalist government, military, and business community, fled to Taiwan. From 1949 up until 1979, the United States recognized the Kuomintang-led ROC as the sole legitimate government of China. As a result, immigration from Taiwan was counted under within the same quota for both mainland China and Taiwan. However, because the People's Republic of China (PRC) banned emigration to the United States until 1977, the quota for immigrants from China was almost exclusively filled by immigrants from Taiwan. In 1979, the United States broke diplomatic relations with the ROC, while the Taiwan Relations Act gave Taiwan a separate immigration quota from that of the PRC.

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 already lived in 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.

Socioeconomics

Education

Taiwanese culture places a high value on education, and many Taiwanese Americans are very highly educated and hold advanced degrees from numerous prestigious universities around the United States. Several distinguished academics, including Nobel Prize winners, are Taiwanese Americans.

Financial and socioeconomic opportunities offered by the United States have lifted many Taiwanese Americans out of poverty, joining the ranks of the America's middle and upper middle class. Estimates indicate that a disproportionate percentage of Taiwanese students attend elite universities despite constituting less than 0.5% of the U.S. population. Taiwanese Americans have the highest education attainment level in the United States, surpassing any other ethnic group in the country, according to U.S Census Bureau data released in 2010. According to the 2010 Labor Statistics from U.S. Census Bureau, 73.6% of all Taiwanese Americans have attained a bachelor's or high degree (compared to 28.2% nationally and 49.9% for all Asian American groups). 80.0% of Taiwanese American men attained a bachelor's degree and 68.3% of Taiwanese American women attained a bachelor's degree. 39.1% of all Taiwanese in the United States possess a master's, doctorate or other professional degree, which is nearly four times the national average.

Employment

Many Taiwanese Americans work as white collar professionals, many of whom are highly educated, salaried professionals whose work is largely self-directed in management, professional and related occupations such as engineering, medicine, investment banking, law, and academia. 66.2% of Taiwanese Americans work in many white collar professions compared to 35.9% for the general American population and 48.1% for Asian Americans. 71.3% of Taiwanese men and 60.4% of Taiwanese women work in management, professional, and related occupations. They also hold some of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation with a figure of 4.3% compared to a national rate of 6.9%. Some of the prominent technology companies in the United States have been founded by Taiwanese Americans such as Morris Chang (founder of TSMC), Min Kao (co-founder of Garmin), Jerry Yang (co-founder of Yahoo), Steve Chen (co-founder of YouTube), Jen-Hsun Huang (co-founder of Nvidia), William Wang (founder of Vizio), Greg Tseng (co-founder of Tagged) and James Chu (founder of Viewsonic).

Economics

According to the 2009 U.S. Census, Taiwanese American men had one of "the highest year-round, full-time median earnings" with a figure of $76,587, whilst Taiwanese American women had a median income of $51,307. Taiwanese Americans have the highest median incomes of any ethnic group in United States with a median income of $68,809, which is roughly 37% percent above the national average. Taiwanese Americans have one of the lowest poverty rates in the US, with a poverty rate of 9.5% compared to 11.3% for the general American population.

Settlement

Many Taiwanese immigrants have not settled in the old Chinatowns because they do not speak Cantonese. Instead, they have generally immigrated directly to American suburbia and as a result, new suburban Taiwanese communities were formed. For example, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Taiwanese emigrants were instrumental in the development of Monterey Park, California in Los Angeles - resulting in the moniker of "Little Taipei" - as well as Flushing, Queens, which generally reflected new investments and capital flowing from Taiwan into newer Taiwanese enclaves instead of traditional Chinatowns.

While Monterey Park is no longer the largest Taiwanese community in Los Angeles today, Flushing remains the main Taiwanese cultural, commercial, and political center in New York City. In Los Angeles County, California, newer communities such as Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, Arcadia, San Marino, Diamond Bar, Walnut, San Gabriel, Temple City, are similar to "''Little Taipei.''" However, many annual Taiwanese cultural events (especially during Taiwanese Heritage Week) are still held in Monterey Park. As an attempt to duplicate the Taiwanese success of Monterey Park in Houston, Texas, Taiwanese immigrant entrepreneurs established what is now widely considered as Houston's new Chinatown on Bellaire Boulevard in the mid-1980s. A number of Taiwanese American businesses and organizations still operate and flourish in this part of Houston.

The prestige and performance of particular school districts, as well as access to careers in high-tech firms, have played a significant part in influencing the settlement patterns of Taiwanese Americans. Areas with high concentrations of Taiwanese immigrants include the San Gabriel Valley (Greater Los Angeles), Santa Clara Valley ( Cupertino, San Jose), East Bay ( Dublin, Pleasanton, El Cerrito, Oakland), Los Angeles/Orange County border communities ( Cerritos/ Artesia), and Irvine in Central Orange County. Outside of California, there are also major Taiwanese concentrations in Flushing, Long Island City, and Forest Hills, all within Queens; Nassau County on Long Island; Jersey City

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