Taiwan: A Unique Blend of China and Japan

Taiwanâ??s unique colonial history, a â??historical period most consequential to the formation of the complex identity of the island,â? is difficult to view using the standard lens of contemporary colonial and post-colonial studies. Unlike most colonizing governments of the time, the Japanese government on Taiwan conducted meticulous censuses, resulting in â??one of the most accomplished feats of data-collection from any population, at any given time, anywhere in the world.â? From a theoretical perspective, this demonstrates significantly that a colonizing government does not necessarily need to distort truth in order to govern; rather, through illuminating data on everything from land rent to population to number of cows, the Japanese colonial government was able to control every aspect of life in the colony. This, the authors say, illustrates â??the close relation between power and knowledge.â?