Tracing Taiwanese bloodlines

This article was written by Tsai Ting-i and published by The Taipei Times on May 6, 2001. It is a record of an interview with Dr Lin Ma-li, a blood geneticist at Mackay Memorial Hospital. Dr Lin released a report in 2001 on the origins of the Taiwanese people, which shows that Taiwanese and Hakka bloodlines can be traced back to the Yueh ethnic group -- not northern China as has long been assumed. This report received much attention in Taiwan as it was a challenge to Han centralism and got caught up in the political debate over unification with China.