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Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Research Purpose
This article explores the ways in which Taiwanese unmarried adult women employed as female migrants in the Netherlands adopt information and communication technologies (ICTs) to maintain intergenerational relationships with their parents in Taiwan. This study does not envisage parents as a whole, but examines daughter-mother and daughter-father relationships respectively and comparatively to illustrate in detail how these transnational daughters perform the roles of daughters through ICTs in transnational intergenerational communication in Taiwanese contexts.
1.2 Research Background
The transnational family as a form of unit in which familial relations may reside and develop is becoming more common in global societies (Yeoh, Huang, & Lam, 2005). Members of a transnational family have relied on various strategies to maintain intimate relationships across national borders, such as mediated communication and economic support. The development of ICTs have allowed mobilized individuals to communicate with their friends and families creatively and make them feel closer to distant ones (Peile, 2016; Nedelcu & Wyss, 2016).
In particular, feminization of labor migration from developing to developed countries in Asia has increased participation in transnational flows (Yeoh et al., 2005).
Hence, the concerns of migrant women who are involved in the global care chain (Basa, Harcourt, & Zarro, 2011) from Asia, and their maintenance of family relationships are becoming popular in ICTs and transnational family studies. These studies demonstrated that the roles of transnational women as mothers and wives who are responsible for taking care of children and emotional support at home are
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embedded in ICTs (Uy-Tioco, 2007; Vertovec, 2009; Madianou & Miller, 2013).
In Taiwan, not only do many migrant workers make up the labor force, for example, lots of research examines female migrant workers from South East Asia and explores their life experiences, civil rights, labor conditions, and relationships with their counties of origin through ICTs (Lan, 2006; Hsia, 2004; Wang, 2010), but also many Taiwanese workers are increasingly leaving Taiwan for various reasons to go on to various host countries. For example, some Taiwanese families immigrate to North America to enable their “Parachute Kids” to receive a Western education (Sun, 2014).
Many Taiwanese male breadwinners move to China to support their families in Taiwan (Lin, 2013).
Taiwan as one of East Asia countries is encountering feminization of migration as well. Kim (2011) demonstrated that migration from East Asia has become increasingly feminized through forms of study abroad and work which give rise to student diaspora since 1980s because of rapid economic growth in East Asia. These student diasporas who have become a common career move for women from middle-upper class families in their 20s shifted the patterns of international migration towards movement of the highly skilled and knowledge-intensive from Asia into western countries (Kim, 2011).
Nowadays, increasing populations of youth choose to go abroad for further studies in Europe to live in host countries. The most popular country among Taiwanese youth is the United Kingdom, followed by France and Germany. The fourth most popular country is Spain, followed by the Netherlands between 2001 and 2014. The average number of Taiwan’s young generation who study abroad in the Netherlands is more than 200 per year (Ministry of Education, 2014). In these countries, the Netherlands and Taiwan have close relationships in terms of history and economy.
The relationship between Taiwan and the Netherlands can be traced back to
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colonial times when Taiwan was under colonial Dutch rule in 1624. After 37 years, the colonial Dutch period was brought to the end by the invasion of Koxinga's army in 1662. The background of Chinese-speaking migrants in the Netherlands has shifted in the past decades. In the 1960s to 70s, many overseas Chinese who lived in Hong Kong moved to the Netherlands to make a living working in Chinese restaurants (Overseas Community Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan), 2009). Most of them lived in main cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, mostly working in catering and tourism.
The Netherlands and Taiwan which are both small export-oriented have had longstanding close economic relations since colonial period. The Netherlands Trade and Investment office (NTIO) (2016) indicated that the economy relationships between Taiwan and the Netherlands in terms of system of ports, trade relations and trade routes are still influenced by colonial period. The Taipei Representative Office in the Netherlands (2014) investigated that since the 1980s, Taiwanese companies have started to set up branch companies from IT industries, biological technology, and financial business and so on in the Netherlands. The relationships below show the strong economic connection between the Netherlands and Taiwan.
First, the Netherlands is the largest European investor and is also the 2nd largest trading partner from the EU in Taiwan. Second, the flight between Amsterdam and Taipei is the only daily direct flight between Taiwan and Europe. Furthermore, an agreement for the avoidance of double taxation was signed between the Netherlands and Taiwan in 2001 (NTIO, 2016). In 2016, there are over 200 Taiwanese companies investing in the Netherlands. And total amount of Taiwanese investments in the Netherlands is 1,517 (million/USD), followed by United Kingdom, and Germany (NTIO, 2016). A report also investigated that there were over 1,119 Taiwanese in the Netherlands who still held the passport of the Republic of China, including 650
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females and 469 males between 1995 to 2005 (Statistic of Overseas Chinese Population in Netherlands, 2005). Their ages mostly ranged from 25 to 35 years old.
In 2012, the Taipei Representative Office in the Netherlands (2014) claimed that there were over 3,000 Taiwanese living in the Netherlands, with the numbers of women relatively more than men.
The relationships between the Netherlands and Taiwan can not only be addressed in the increasing numbers of Taiwanese youth for education persuasion but also in strong economic connection so far and so forth. More and more young generations especially females from Taiwan choose to start their new life as male and female migrants in the Netherlands where is easier for Taiwanese to start their career life because of large numbers of Taiwanese investing companies and capitals and better labor conditions.
However, studies and statistics related to Taiwanese in the Netherlands are very few. Transnational and migration studies on Taiwanese entrepreneurs have mainly focused on United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, South East Asia, China (Wong, 2004) so far, and have paid little attention to the context of Taiwanese migrants in Netherlands. Furthermore, very little research focuses on Taiwanese women and the intimate relationships with their families within transnational family and ICTs studies. Lan (2008) also demonstrated that the studies of unmarried adult women are neglected in transnational migration studies, which mainly focus on migrant women as mothers and wives. Women as daughters perform differently in transnational processes and their relationships with their parents will be reshaped under the contexts beyond borders. ICTs become an irreplaceable mediator in transnational communication. Moreover, research on ICTs, female migrants as daughters and their families rarely examines intergenerational relationships and compares daughter-mother with daughter-father relationships.
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In sum, the significance of the study lies in its focus on how unmarried adult daughters as female migrants in the Netherlands maintain intergenerational relationships through ICTs beyond borders from the perspectives of daughters under younger feminization of migration from East Asia to Western countries. In particular, this study sheds lights on how the roles of Taiwanese daughters that are rarely addressed in the family roles of transnational women studies in terms of social expectations and cultural norms are embedded in ICTs in transnational family contexts.
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