Editing Taiwanese indigenous peoples (section)

=== Transition to democracy ===
{{Conservatism in Taiwan|Related}}
Authoritarian rule under the Kuomintang ended gradually through a transition to democracy, which was marked by the lifting of martial law in 1987. Soon after, the KMT transitioned to being merely one party within a democratic system, though maintaining a high degree of power in indigenous districts through an established system of patronage networks.{{sfnp|Stainton|2006|pp=400–410}} The KMT continued to hold the reins of power for another decade under President [[Lee Teng-hui]]. However, they did so as an elected government rather than a dictatorial power. The elected KMT government supported many of the bills that had been promoted by indigenous groups. The tenth amendment to the [[Constitution of the Republic of China]] also stipulates that the government would protect and preserve indigenous culture and languages and also encourage them to participate in politics.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

During the period of political liberalization, which preceded the end of martial law, academic interest in the Plains indigenous surged as amateur and professional historians sought to rediscover Taiwan's past. The opposition ''[[tang wai]]'' activists seized upon the new image of the Plains indigenous as a means to directly challenge the KMT's official narrative of Taiwan as a historical part of China, and the government's assertion that Taiwanese were "pure" Han Chinese.{{sfnp|Hsiau|2000|p=170}}{{sfnp|Brown|2004|pp=23–29}} Many ''tang wai'' activists framed the Plains indigenous experience in the existing anti-colonialism/victimization Taiwanese nationalist narrative, which positioned the [[Taiwanese Minnan|Hoklo]]-speaking Taiwanese in the role of indigenous people and the victims of successive foreign rulers.{{sfnp|Hsiau|2000|pp=171–173}}{{sfnp|Edmondson|2002|pp=32–42}}{{sfnp|Su|1986}}

By the late 1980s many Hoklo- and [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]]-speaking people began identifying themselves as Plains indigenous, though any initial shift in ethnic consciousness from [[Hakka people|Hakka]] or [[Hoklo people]] was minor.
Despite the politicized dramatization of the Plains indigenous, their "rediscovery" as a matter of public discourse has had a lasting effect on the increased socio-political reconceptualization of Taiwan—emerging from a Han Chinese-dominant perspective into a wider acceptance of Taiwan as a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic community.{{sfnp|Hsiau|2000|p=171}}

In many districts Taiwanese indigenous tend to vote for the [[Kuomintang]], to the point that the legislative seats allocated to the indigenous are popularly described as ''iron votes'' for the [[pan-blue coalition]]. This may seem surprising in light of the focus of the [[pan-green coalition]] on promoting indigenous culture as part of the Taiwanese nationalist discourse against the KMT. However, this voting pattern can be explained on economic grounds, and as part of an inter-ethnic power struggle waged in the electorate. Some indigenous see the rhetoric of Taiwan nationalism as favoring the majority Hoklo speakers rather than themselves. Indigenous areas also tend to be poor and their economic vitality tied to the entrenched patronage networks established by the Kuomintang over the course of its fifty-five year reign.{{sfnp|Stainton|2006|pp=401–410}}{{sfnp|Gao|2007}}{{sfnp|Eyton|2004}}