Waishengren
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Waishengren, formerly called mainlanders, are a group of migrants who arrived in Taiwan from mainland China between the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945 and the Kuomintang retreat
Pai Hsien yung
Former ROC President Ma Ying-jeou is often regarded as a waishengren, though he grew up in Taipei since the age of 2.
Ma Ying-jeou
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Ma Ying-jeou is a Taiwanese politician, lawyer, and legal scholar who served as the sixth president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Kuomintang, he was previously the mayor
Waishengren
…conscripted by the Kuomintang. Another category consists of refugees, who were hastily evacuated during the Kuomintang retreat. Some others, such as Ma Ying-jeou, arrived in the years after the retreat, for example through Hong Kong. About 40% of waishengren settled in the Taipei area, with another 25% settling…
Ma with his parents and sisters, 1955
Ma in 1972, a law student at National Taiwan University
Ma studied at Harvard Law School (pictured in 2024), earning his doctorate in law in 1981 under professors Louis Sohn and Detlev Vagts.
Mayor Ma at the 2006 Taipei Marathon