ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the process of formation and transformation of Taiwanese attitudes toward Japan after the imperial era in the light of these traumatic events. Recent historical and anthropological research has emphasised the tensions of empire, and has shown how colonialism was shaped in struggles, and how imperial projects were made possible and vulnerable at the same time. The ethnic composition of postwar Taiwan is rather complicated. The two main ethnic categories are Han Chinese and indigenous Austronesians, often called aborigines. The drastic shift in Taiwanese attitudes toward the mother country, from high expectation to dismal disappointment, began with the landing of the troops, and was accelerated by a series of policies carried out by the Administrative Commander's Office–the centre of political power in Taiwan–after its inauguration on 25 October.
