Taiwan is rich with a population composing of aborigines, Holo, Hakka, the Han people, and Chinese immigrants, which signifies the diversity and acceptance of the Taiwanese society to various cultures. Despite the abundant cultural heritage, historical data on aboriginal development is lacking prior to the 1990s. The aborigines have been the neglected and often suppressed group. Through historical periods, Kao discusses the change in policies concerning governing of aboriginals, and significantly, how these policies have affected the development of the aboriginal society.

There are over 5,000 aboriginal tribes around the world, and they all face the same threat of losing their culture and ethnic origin. The aborigines of Taiwan are no exception. Though they were the first comers to this land, coming from the Austronesian origin, they were soon outnumbered by the large number of Han immigrants and other incoming invaders. Up to November 2011, aboriginal Taiwanese peoples only made up 2% of the total population.  

Through various periods of colonization by western or Asian rulers, aboriginal people were gradually marginalized. During the Dutch and Spanish colonization, missionaries and western rule brought great change to the religion and socioeconomic environment within tribes. Later, Koxinga and the Qing dynasty rule brought large groups of Han immigrants. They also enforced acts to separate aborigines and the Han people, and introduced suppressive policies. While under the Japanese rule, the government was passive in the beginning, but gradually decided to invade and eventually control the aboriginal colonies. This resulted in revolts by the aborigines, the most serious of which was Wushe Incident. Afterwards, the Japanese adjusted their policies to pacify their anger and assimilate their language and culture. Though various rulers attempted to either control or impose governing over the aborigines, none of them were well-suited or reasonable, but rather treated them in all aspects as the minority.  

After WWII, the ROC government took over Taiwan and imposed new cultural assimilation measures. The timeline of aborigine cultural assimilation to cultural development is composed of five stages. The first stage (1945-1950) is Ethnic Assimilation which includes language attainment, unified Chinese education, name changing, and re-settlement of mountain tribes. In the second stage (1951-1962), the government further passed mountain aborigine governing policies which on the surface was to provide equal rights and development opportunities to Mountain Aborigines, but in implementation was to decrease the economic burden to govern aborigines by removing local tailored administration services or policies. The third stage (1962-19587) is the Social Blending period. Though the setting of new policies may have been to maintain diversity while unifying the society, the actual carrying out of new policies, including decrease of protection measures and increased counseling, only accelerated the cultural assimilation. Aboriginal tribes gradually rose to request for their rights to preserve their name, land, and culture against the new policies. In the face of rapidly changing circumstances, a new solution was proposed in 1988 and carried out throughout 1995 that characterizes as the Social Development stage. During this period, emphasis on respecting aborigine development while encouraging the interaction with social entities, participation in political activities made a turn from the former assimilation policies and reflected the maturing of the society. In the final stage of Ethnic Development (1996-2011), basic laws for aboriginal cultural and lifestyle preservation were passed, as well as setting equality, diversity, self-governance, and development as principals for future policy-making.  

Currently, social and ethnical problems still exist between Han and aboriginal groups. The first is the legal and political positions or status of aboriginals. Though laws protect the selection of aboriginal representatives in the government, their numbers are still limited to make great impact on policies. Another problem exists in economic development, where aboriginals often face unfair working conditions, welfare, and living environment. Their land and living rights are sacrificed due to land policies, social development, and environmental preservation. Socially, aborigines face cultural assimilation through marriage, politics, social structure, and other aspects such as belief, attitude, or legal rights. In cultural education and preservation aspects, many issues to address include the loss of aboriginal languages, departure of young workers from the tribe, and lack of resources to carry out work on cultural preservation.

Though the current social situation has much to be desired, Kao believes our society is striving to establish a better environment for aboriginal development. Some current steps to take include increasing the empowerment and independence of the people, as well as expanding their actual freedom and capabilities to carry out the development in their societies. It is hopeful that we can see a diverse and equal society between the Han and the aborigines in the Taiwan society in the near future.