Hello viewers . Welcome to Across Strait of CCTV Chinese International Channel .
In the 2008 Taiwan election , Ma Ying - jeou , the Mainlander candidate of the Kuomintang , scored a landslide victory over Frank Hiseh , candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party , a so - called " native " in Taiwan . Taiwan media offered an analysis by saying that it fully manifests that the ethnic card that the Democratic Progressive Party repeatedly plays in the election has lost its effectiveness on Ma Ying - jeou this time .
Then , what ethnic groups exist in Taiwan society ? Why is there conflict between the natives and the Mainlanders ? Today , by means of satellite connection , we will invite two guests from Taiwan to explore this topic with us .
One is Mr. Cheng Youping , professor at the National Taipei University . Another one is Taiwan current affairs commentator Mr. Chang Chi - kai . How are you two ? 
Hello host , hello viewers .
Hello host , hello everyone .
Uh , first , before we get into our discussion on today 's topic , let 's watch a short film .
In the 2008 leadership election in Taiwan region , Ma Ying - jeou , a Kuomintang figure who has always been attacked by the Democratic Progressive Party as the representative of Mainlanders , won .
Taiwan media commentaries argued that the victory of Ma Ying - jeou implies that the ethnic card that the Democratic Progressive Party is best at playing in elections has now failed .
Ma Ying - jeou also appealed for harmony among ethnic groups in Taiwan in his victory speech .
The China Times in Taiwan also conducted a poll about the ethnic issue after the election . The result showed that 61 percent of the people believed that the victory of Ma Ying - jeou would quell the ethnic rift .
According to understanding , after the retreat in defeat of the Kuomintang to Taiwan in 1949 , the so - called " four major ethnic groups " , namely the Minnan people , the Mainlanders , the Hakkas , and the Aborigines were formed in Taiwan . The conflict among these four ethnic groups is known as the ethnic conflict in Taiwan . Every time there is an election , the Democratic Progressive Party will claim to be the natives and attack the Kuomintang by calling them the Mainlanders in order to gain the support of voters and instigate ethnic conflict .
We know that the newly elected uh , Taiwan region leader Ma Ying - jeou was born in Hong Kong in 1950 . He went to Taiwan when he was one year old . Well , many supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party said that Ma Ying - jeou is a Mainlander . What exactly is this concept of " Mainlander " , Professor Cheng ? 
In fact , the uh , ethnic concept in Taiwan , oh , er , is somewhat created by political differentiation and intentional segregation .
However , it is undeniable that the concept of the so - called " Mainlanders " mainly refers to the fact that after 1949 , well , the Kuomintang government led over one million uh , soldiers and civil servants to retreat to Taiwan .
Well , at that time , this group of people came from everywhere . People from all corners of the country and every province were included .
Then , besides this group of people , there were also hundreds of thousands of people who gradually moved to Taiwan starting probably ((pw)) , before '49 , probably in 1945 , '46 , and '47 , probably after World War II .
Just like my father , he came to Taiwan before uh , 1949 . He first worked at the Salt Affairs Bureau .
Well , take me as an +example . I am a typical so - called " second generation Mainlander " . My father is a native of Fuzhou , Fujian . My mother is a native of Hefei , Anhui . Therefore , in the general concept , Taiwan society will call us pure Mainlanders and second generation Mainlanders .
Nowadays , there are relatively few people in Taiwan whose parents are both Mainlanders . The number of people whose fathers are Mainland retired army personnel and veterans while their mothers are natives is rising . This is a very typical phenomenon .
Of course , there are many whose fathers are natives who married uh , uh , er , the daughters of Mainlanders .
The phenomenon of inter-marriage is becoming increasingly frequent especially after the second generation .
Thus , it is indeed a bit difficult to separate Mainlanders from natives in Taiwan nowadays .
Then , Professor Cheng , can you give us some examples of Mainlanders who are currently active in Taiwan politics ? 
Uh , for the so - called " Mainlanders " in Taiwan politics nowadays , oh , Ma Ying - jeou uh , is on the front line , the first and most evident example .
Besides Ma Ying - jeou , many legislators including Lee Ching - an , Chiang Hsiao - yen , oh , uh , all these legislators , Lin Yu - fang , Lin Yu - fang is Hakka , also , also can not be considered as so - called " natives " . In addition , for instance , Yao Eng - chi , former uh , Vice President of the Legislative Yuan , he is also Hakka . Nobody thinks that he is Minnan either .
Well , now , Wang Jin - pyng , President Wang is an authentic so - called " Minnan " or " native " . Therefore , uh in Taiwan , people can basically tell straight off between Mainlanders and natives , especially these famous people in politics .
Then , when we compare James Soong and Lien Chan , James Soong is a genuine Mainlander while Lien Chan is what we called " Half - Tangshan people " . Yet , in the eyes of the Democratic Progressive Party , Lien Chan is still a Mainlander . He is not native enough .
Then , in Taiwan , in the past , these early power elites from Chiang Ching - kuo , Sun Yun - hsuan , and Yan Chia - kan , almost all these Kuomintang seniors were Mainlanders .
In addition , there is one more thing worth noticing , that is , in the early days , that is , about 10 years ago , almost all the generals of the Taiwanese army , the senior generals whom we saw in the Taiwanese army were so - called " Mainlanders " .
Then , probably in the past 10 years , the native uh , ethnic group , so - called " native ethnic group " have been gradually promoted to ((pw)) and senior uh , leadership positions . We see an increasing number of natives occupying Major General , Lieutenant General , and even a few General uh , positions in the army .
Professor Cheng , you said earlier that you are a pure Mainlander . Then , I want to ask Mr. Chang Chi - kai , based on the uh , differentiation criteria that Professor Cheng assigned earlier , are you a native or a Mainlander ? In your daily uh , work or life , have you particularly noticed the difference between native and Mainlander ? 
Oh , my ancestors came to Taiwan from Fujian approximately 200 years ago , that was , during the Qing Dynasty . I am considered having the so - called " Mainlander " place of origin . If we consider my Mainlander place of origin , I am already the seventh generation . Therefore , they say that I am a very authentic Taiwanese , that is , the seventh generation Mainlander who came from Fujian . Now , I am called Taiwanese .
I grew up in the country in Chiayi , Taiwan myself . Why did I live in the country in Chiayi ? At that time , under poverty - stricken situation , my ancestors crossed the so - called " Black Strait " , which is the Taiwan Strait , to come to Taiwan to seek a living .
Well , the Chiayi , Yunlin , and Tainan regions were the most fertile places in Taiwan so they ((pw)) , settled down in this place . They started farming and working . After that , they started to take roots in this place .
Children who grew up in the country like me , when I return to the country in Chiayi , the language I use to communicate with my family and my relatives is still the language you hear in Fujian .
I started reporting on political news in Taiwan 21 years ago in 1987 . At that time , I reported on news of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan , the so - called " political headlines " . I had a deep impression at that time . When I went to the Legislative Yuan then , almost the entire over 200 legislators came from the Mainland at that time , only about a dozen were Taiwanese legislators elected through by - election in Taiwan , including ((pw)) those whom Mr. Cheng mentioned earlier .
All soldiers as long as their ranks were higher , for instance , above the Lieutenant Colonel level , may be above the so - called " Senior Colonel " level in the Mainland , they were almost all Mainlanders . However , this has gradually changed . ((pw)) , for instance , in 1991 , an overall +improvement started 16 years ago . Political power has been gradually handed over to the Taiwanese . Therefore , with the passing of more than a decade , the barrier is slowly becoming smaller and smaller .
However , under what circumstances do we in turn say that , uh , the cultural differences are still huge ? An example would be , as I mentioned earlier , in the language , in the language used , especially among older people . For example , perhaps majority of the people over 60 years old in Taiwan may still speak Minnan now . This was why during the election , when Ma Yin - jeou went to deliver speeches at many occasions , you saw that he spoke Minnan in his speech .
We saw that Chen Shui - bian always boasted that he is the son of Taiwan , including when the Democratic Progressive Party came to power in 2000 , he said that this represented the first time natives in Taiwan truly extricated themselves .