Research Links Settlers of Polynesia to Taiwan

The original settlers of the Polynesian islands were longtime residents of Taiwan, not migrants from China who used Taiwan as a staging point before traveling deeper into the Pacific Ocean, according to a study published Monday.

Researchers studied the DNA of nine indigenous Taiwanese tribes and found they shared three specific genetic mutations with today’s Polynesians. Those mutations, not seen in mainland Chinese, suggest the Taiwanese left China roughly 10,000 to 17,000 years before embarking for the Polynesian islands, the researchers reported in the journal Public Library of Science Biology. The Han Chinese who dominate Taiwan today came to the island a mere 400 years ago.