Taiwanization

Taiwanization (Chinese: 臺灣本土化運動; pinyin: Táiwān běntǔhuà yùndòng; Pe̍h-oē-jī: Tâi-oân pún-thó͘-hòa ūn-tōng), also known as the Taiwanese localization movement, is a political term used in Taiwan to emphasize the importance of a separate Taiwanese culture rather than to regard Taiwan as solely an appendage of China. This involves the teaching of the history of Taiwan, geography, and culture from a Taiwan-centric perspective, as well as promoting languages locally established in Taiwan, including Taiwanese Hokkien (Taiwanese), Hakka, and aboriginal languages.

Originally part of the Taiwan independence movement and related to the Taiwan Name Rectification Campaign, some of Taiwanization's aims are now endorsed by some supporters of Chinese unification on Taiwan.

The localization movement has been expressed in forms such as the use of language or dialect in the broadcast media and entire channels devoted to aboriginal and Hakka affairs. Textbooks have been rewritten by scholars to more prominently emphasize Taiwan. The political compromise that has been reached is to teach both the history of Taiwan and the history of mainland China.

Some Taiwanese-owned companies or organizations established in earlier times have names containing the words "China" or "Chinese". They have been encouraged in recent years to change the word "China" in their names to "Taiwan" as an act of Taiwanization. This campaign for changing the names is known as the "Name Rectification Campaign" (Chinese: 正名運動; pinyin: Zhèngmíng Yùndòng; Wade–Giles: Cheng4-ming2 Yun4-dung4) or "Taiwan Name Rectification". Many Taiwan-based companies in international sectors already identify themselves as "Taiwan"-based for clarity's sake. This keeps international customers from confusing them with an enterprise based in the People's Republic of China. Other Taiwan-based companies decline to change to a "Taiwanese" name because of expense or the political views held by important clients and company leaders.