Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Taiwan Trilogy: (On Taiwanese Popular Culture and Famous People) 台湾三部曲:第三部曲....

The final post in the Taiwan Trilogy....

The previous two post dealt with Taiwan's politics but this post shall deal with the popular culture of Taiwan, which has extended well beyond its borders, as well as famous people who are Taiwanese or came from Taiwan, some of whom are known internationally but which we never knew had Taiwanese connections but always presumed to be from China instead (includin. me!):

Famous Taiwanese people:

In Asia-Pacific:

The Music Scene: Currently and from the 70s until now, Taiwan has always been the mecca of Mandarin popular music NOT China. All the most popular singers in the music industry either from the 70s,80s, 90s, and even now still come from Taiwan or are based in Taiwan, NOT China. This may come as a surprise to foreigners unfamiliar with Chinese entertainment but due to the communist history of China and its only recent reform and economic opening up, the Mandarin music scene is still based heavily in Taipei, Taiwan and not Shanghai or Beijing,etc. Thus, the most popular and top Mandarin singers across China, HK, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities all come from Taiwan or are based in Taiwan.

Amei 阿妹:

She was once the most popular, and let me repeat that, THE most popular singer in the Chinese-speaking world in the 90s and early 2000s. Everyone knew who she was and she was undisputedly the most famous Mandarin singer in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Singapore,etc....Amei, Chang Hui-Mei. She is actually not Han Chinese but is an Aborigine of Taiwan (aborigines make up about 2% of Taiwan's population).

Wang Lee Hom 王力宏:

One of the most popular Taiwanese singers of my generation, he is popular for his r n b style and American way of singing as he's Taiwanese-American. Also, incredibly popular for his good looks and boy-next-door charm amongst not only straight girls but also a legion of gay chinese men.

David Tao 陶喆:

Another Taiwanese-American with superb songs and incredibly famous across HK, Singapore, Malaysia, China,etc as well....love his song tian tian and love is simple.

Jeff Chang 张信哲:

The most popular Mandarin love-song singer of the 90s. Famous for his renditions of love songs and once again he can be said to be the most famous singer of love songs in China, HK, and Taiwan (as well as overseas chinese communities) of the 90s. His songs are still regular orders at karaokes today.

F4: A 4 member boy-band whom at one stage were like so popular in Taiwan, China, HK, and even in South East Asia in places like Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

The Movie Scene: Although Taiwan's film industry dwindled in the 80s and 90s, there has been a resurgence in recent yrs with many films being produced, most notably those with gay content, have been surprisingly successful not only amongst mainstream audiences in Taiwan, but also in Hong Kong and overseas communities.

Hsu Chi 舒淇:

Arguably Taiwan's most famous export to Hong Kong, Hsu Chi, was and still is the top Hong Kong actress in the Hong Kong movie industry. She is probably the most well known and bankable actress now and started off as a soft-porn actress in Hong Kong. Her success from soft porn to the A list is something of a miracle.

Brigette Lin Hsing-Hsia 林青霞:

The most famous actress of the 70s and 80s, she was famous for her roles in all the romantic melodramas produced in Taiwan in the 70s and 80s. People of my parent's generation, even those living in Chinese communities in SEA all know who she is.


Qin Han 秦汉: Brigette Lin's onscreen partner...the two basically were linked together all the time...and it is said they had an offscreen romance as well....before Brigette Lin wisely decided to marry the CEO director of international fashion house 'Esprit'.

World-wide:

Many people famously known around the world now, or in America now, come from Taiwan or were children of immigrant Taiwanese parents. Here's some:

Ang Lee:

Obviously, an important person. The director of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' , 'Brokeback Mountain' and the first director of Asian origin to receive an Oscar Best Director as well as two-time Venice top prize winner. He was born and raised in Taiwan and has always been adamant in representing his films as 'Taiwan films'. Thus, 'Crouching Tiger' won the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category at the Oscars representing 'Taiwan' and Not China as many mistakenly believe.

Ang Lee also insisted that his latest film 'Lust, Caution' be labeled as representing 'Taiwan' when organisers, prob out of political reasons, labeled it as a 'China' film before.

Lucy Liu:

Who would have thought that the most successful Asian-American actress in Hollywood, Lucy Liu, was born to Taiwanese and not Chinese immigrant parents??? Well, here's her intro at wikipedia:

'She was born and raised with her brother, Alex Liu, in
Jackson Heights, Queens, New York by Taiwanese immigrant parents.[1] Liu has said that she grew up in a "diverse" neighborhood.[1] Her family spoke Mandarin at home and she did not learn English until she was five years old.[2][3] Her father was a civil engineer and her mother a biochemist in Taiwan, but they sacrificed those careers to come to the United States.'

Way to go Lucy~~~

Coco Lee:

Once again, the only Asian-American singer to have ever graced the Oscars Award, Coco Lee, when she sang the title theme for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is also from Taiwan.

Iris Chang:

The famous author of 'The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of WW2' is ALSO born to Taiwanese parents, not mainland Chinese parents. Without her book, the Nanking Massacre would well still be destined to obscurity now and the the Sundance award-winning docu 'Nanking' by AOL vice-pre. Ted would never have been made as that docu was made in memory of Iris Chang.

Jerry Yang:

One of two co-founders of Yahoo! (yes an Asian actually founded the world famous Yahoo! search engine) is an immigrant from Taiwan. Who would have thought that a Taiwanese would one day invent the most famous search engine in the world?? (at least most famous in the 90s)

Teresa Teng Li-Jun邓丽君:

The title of the most famous Mandarin singer of all-time in recent Chinese history has got to go to Teresa Teng. Born in the small town of Tainan, Taiwan, she went on to become the most famous singer of her time. Her fame swept through China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, as well as ALL overseas Chinese communities such as in America, Canada, UK, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and etc. It was at one time said that wherever there are Chinese, there will be Teresa Teng (songs). Even today, her songs are still well known amongst all Chinese people, old and young, and her songs can still be heard at karaokes and in Chinatowns across the world. Truly a Daughter of Taiwan.

Sam Ting:Winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Physics. He immigrated as a child to America from Taiwan.

Dr. David Ho: 1996's TIME Magazine Man of the Year. He also immigrated as a child from Taiwan to America.

Thus, many famous Asian-Americans in America nowadays actually come or have roots from Taiwan and not China which is a common misconception of Americans and other nationalities. Although it is also accurate to call them Chinese-Americans, it would be more precise to also call them Taiwanese-Americans. The reason why so many successful Americans of Chinese background come from Taiwan and not China has to do with America's immigration policy as well as the history of China. The 1965 Act in America opened the doors for Asian immigrants to immigrate to America. However, China had closed its doors to the outside world since 1949 and Chinese citizens were not allowed to travel overseas under any circumstances, especially not to such capitalist countries such as UK, Australia, America,etc. Thus, only Taiwanese and HK people could immigrate to these countries early on and establish roots there with most Taiwanese immigrating over to these places being those with means and intellectuals. So obviously, there children would be more well placed to succeed in American society thus the abundance of examples of successful well-known Taiwanese-Americans in America now. Mainland Chinese could only immigrate overseas in the 1980s and thus had a later start and also many immigrated as illegal immigrants or lower paid jobs thus the lower likelihood to succeed in life. link:
http://www.pbs.org/becomingamerican/ce_witness.html


Taiwan's popular culture has also been extremely influential across Asia today, with Taiwanese food and the 'bubble tea' trend having originated from Taiwan and the top Chinese cuisine restaurant Ding Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 being based in Taiwan and not China. This restaurant serves arguably the best Shanghai Xiao Long Bao in the world outbeating any in Shanghai (i've tasted the ones in Shanghai, even at the famous Nanxiang place in Yuyuan, sorely dissapointing) and has chains in Japan, Singapore and other countries as well. In fact, I think Chinese food such as Sichuan Beef Noodle Soup, Shanghai Xiao Long Bao, etc taste way better in Taiwan than compared to in Sichuan or Shanghai in China!! Further, Chinese style breakfast such as soybean drink are more established in Taiwan, where there are chain stores selling chinese breakfast and chinese supper such as congee with side dishes unlike in China where its still more street style and uncommercialised, though Taiwanese chainstores selling these chinese food have popped up everywhere in China and are incredibly popular (not to mention expensive!!!!) amongst mainland chinese.

Din Tai Fung Link (in Chinese,Japanese,English): http://www.dintaifung.com.tw/ch/index.asp

Taiwanese idol dramas 偶像劇and variety shows 综芸節目are also the most popular in China and not locally produced mainland Chinese dramas and shows. Its kinda like how in Australia, all the most popular TV shows,dramas, and movies are from America. Well, Hong Kong and Taiwan, represent the Chinese Hollywood for mainland Chinese audiences.

Thus the 'soft power' of Taiwan is immense and popular shows such as Kang Xi Lai Le 康熙来了by Cai Kang Yung and Xiao S help to shore up Taiwan's image for mainland Chinese as well as overseas Chinese. Further, as China was closed until the 80s, all foreigners and overseas Chinese who wanted to further their education in Mandarin had to go to Taiwan (HK speaks Cantonese). Thus, many people of my mother's generation went to Taiwan for their university education and have maintained links with Taiwan. This is particularly common for ethnic Chinese living in Malaysia and Indonesia back in the 50s~90s with my mother being one of them. Even today, there are still Malaysian and Indonesian Chinese whom go to Taiwan for their university education although its much less now with many choosing to go to China as their education destination of choice.

So as one can see, many famous people come from Taiwan and not China, and the popular culture of Taiwan has incredible 'soft power' across Asia and the world.

Well, thats the end of my Taiwan Trilogy, I hope you've enjoyed it and learnt more about Taiwan.:)

Film Recommendations 08.....娱乐推介08.....映画おススメ08...

Movies to Recommend:

SAW:

Hairspray (2007) US:


Now, I seldom recommend Hollywood films (cos i hardly watch them, i know, unbelievable in this day and age and living in Syd!!) but I would definitely recommend this nice meaningful film for those who missed it. I expected a light-hearted comedy but it was surprisingly meaningful and nice...and further, I have a personal bias in favour of 50s/60s fashion of frocks and gowns and musicals...haha...

Brothers and Sisters (2007/08) US:

I seldom watch Hollywood movies, much less American TV dramas such as Heroes or Desperate Housewives, which all do not catch my attention at all, but I watched Brothers and Sisters and really like it...love Sally Field, still as good as ever...people should watch it if u like family dramas..its also surprisingly progressive, anti-Iraq war, pro-gay...one son is gay and at the end of last season, it was revealed that Sally Field's brother and their uncle was possibly gay too...

Official Site: http://abc.go.com/primetime/brothersandsisters/index?pn=index


TO SEE:

CJ 7 (2008) HK:

Stephen Chow and his son (which out of interest for those who didn't know is played by a girl!) in a heart-warming embrace.

The alien teacher in a tight-fitting white 1960's style qipao (chinese dress) uniform.....




I am really looking forward to the new film from HK all-time funny man Stephen Chow, CJ7. I am particularly keen on this film because it has a more sentimental and emotional theme of father-son relationship unlike his previous two films, Kungfu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer, which were more masculine in nature. Further, there is an extra draw for me, being that the main female actress's uniform in the movie is a tight-fitting 1960's style cheongsam!! This was a pleasant surprise for me as clearly it shows a re-appreciation for the cheongsam (chinese dress) amongst chinese people and Stephen Chow(??) as it must have been a deliberate choice to make her uniform that of a cheongsam. This is as the cheongsam as either a uniform or daily wear has fell from fashion since 1949 with the communist takeover. Further, even if the story was set in HK (it isn't, its set in a city in modern day China) the cheongsam as a school teacher's uniform was only used in a handful of hong kong schools and only then until the 1970s when it was abolished as a rule.
Can't wait!!!!

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

The Taiwan Trilogy (On Taiwan's Political Parties and the Presidential Elections '08)...台湾三部曲(第二部曲)...

The Taiwan Trilogy continues....

Taiwan has three main political parties. They are:

1)The KMT (Kuomintang)

2) The DPP (Democratic People's Party)

3) The PFP (People's First Party)

Taiwan also has two side parties which are smaller but also wield some influence, one representing the most pro-unification stance and the other the most pro-independence faction. They are:

1) The TSU (Taiwan Solidarity Union)


2) The NP (The New Party)

The KMT is of course originally the KMT government of China who lost to the Communist in the civil war in 1949 and fled to Taiwan.

The DPP meanwhile has its origins from the martial law era in which it was the opposition underground party against the dictatorial KMT party which ruled Taiwan under dictatorship/martial law from 1945 to 1987.

The PFP came about in 2000 when James Soong, its leader, whom was formerly in the KMT was kicked out by the party after disputes with it and formed his own party with his supporters, most of whom were former KMT members.

Now, for the sake of those reading this and unfamiliar with Taiwanese politics, i shall briefly go through each parties guiding philosophy as well as cross-strait policy as well as key politicians in each party, before turning to my arguements on which party i would prefer to see win the Presidential Elections to be held in March 2008.

Pan-Blue Camp ( in Taiwan, this means the parties and people whom support eventual reunification with China once it attains democracy):


The KMT: The KMT had always regarded that it was the sole and only legitimate government of China (including present-day China and Mongolia) and that the PRC Communist government was an illegitimate 'occupying' force based in Beijing since its retreat in 1949 to Taiwan (and outlying islands of Penghu and Kinmen). The KMT party slowly, under now widely known pro-independence figure Lee Teng-Hui, shifted its position in the 90s and in 1992 signed a joint statement with the PRC now known as the 'One-China' policy. This 'One-China' policy states that there is only one China, and more importantly, this one China includes Taiwan. However, both Taiwan and China are free to interpret which government rules over both the Mainland and Taiwan. This presumably means that the PRC would interpret it as the sole government of both mainland China, HK, and Taiwan whilst the KMT would interpret the ROC (Republic of China) to be the sole government over China, HK, and Taiwan.

Now, if that wasn't complicated enough, the KMT, like i said, has since shifted its position and no longer actively claims to be the government of mainland China anymore. Thus it now (though legally, the Constitution of ROC stills claims the government of the ROC to be the sole government of all China and Taiwan) only claims to be the government of the ROC which consists of Taiwan and the outlying islands. It has effectively admitted that it is the Communist

Party which has effective control of China now and is the sole government of the territory the entire world knows as: 'China'.

The KMT's cross-strait policy is that of eventual reunification with China and an adherence to the One-China policy. However, given that it has effectively relinquished claims to the mainland, how they reconcile their claim of only governing Taiwan (ROC) and accepting PRC rule over mainland china whilst at the same time adhering to only accepting One-China is beyond me*rolls eyes* and pretty contradictory...(i mean doesn't it make KMT policy sound more like a 'TWO China' policy, one ROC in Taiwan, one PRC in China, which is completely against the one China policy????)

Presidential Candidate in 2000: Lien Chan 2004: Lien Chan 2008: Ma Ying-Jeo

The PFP: They are really an offshoot of the KMT and they also adhere to the One-China policy as the KMT and their cross-strait policy is also one of eventual reunification. In the

2004 elections they teamed up with the KMT so as not to split the pan-blue vote despite mutual distrust of each other (remember the PFP was formed out of the KMT because they couldn't get along in the first place!) Thus their 2004 'marriage' was a purely political one.

Presidential Candidate in 2004: James Soong as vice-President.

The New Party: They are a minor party whom are the most pro-unification in the entire spectrum of Taiwanese politics. Strong supporters of reunification with China and made up of mostly mainlanders and their descendants.

Pan-Green Camp (in Taiwan, this means those parties and people whom support Taiwanese independence):

The DPP: The DPP has its origins in democratic movements for democracy in Taiwan and was crucial for bringing democracy to Taiwan. They came to power in 2000 and have remained in power as the government of Taiwan since then. The DPP's founding beliefs is that Taiwan is an independent nation and should remain so and is separate from China. The cross-strait policy is that of one of negotiation with China and opposition to the One-China policy as this policy presumes that Taiwan is part of China, whether under ROC or PRC, whilst the DPP maintains that Taiwan is an independent state separate from China.


Presidential Candidate in 2000: Chen Shui-Bian 2004: Chen Shui-Bian 2008: Frank Hsieh

The TSU: A small party made up of staunch pro-independence members whom believe that Taiwan independence is the only way and oppose any reunification with China. The leader is former KMT leader Lee Teng-Hui.

Now for my opinion and arguements...

I personally prefer the DPP the most out of all the politicial parties and hope they win in the March Presidential elections ...now no party is perfect, but i think the DPP represent the most democratic, environmentally-friendly, progressive party out of all the rest. I think Taiwan needs to move with the times and the DPP represent that fresh change of new air and new concepts suitable for the 21st century. The DPP have always maintained that the issue of independence/reunification should be left to a referendum to the people to decide ultimately which way they want to walk towards. Despite their own leaning towards independence, the DPP has never said outright that reunification with China is not a possibility or that Taiwanese independence is the only option that they will entertain. Indeed, President Chen in 2004 said in an interview with the Washington Post that, "We should not exclude independence as one of the options nor should we exclude unification as a possible choice. Similarly, we should not make Taiwan independence the only choice, nor should we make unification the only choice."

I believe the DPP position is the most democratic as opposed to the KMT's policy which is one of adherence to the One-China policy which effectively limits Taiwanese people choice to only one of 'eventual reunification' with China. How democratic is that?

Further, the KMT have blocked bills to purchase arms from America which is essential for the balance of power in the Taiwan Straits giving one excuse after another (eg. arms race, too expensive,etc, blah,blah,blah) and also oppose any referendums which would allow the Taiwanese people to vote either for reunification or against reunification which has consistently been proposed by the DPP. I mean the KMT really compares poorly with the DPP and the above examples have just given me a poor impression of them and makes me feel that they are undemocratic and still have a by-gone era mentality. (lets not forget that this is the party responsible for political murders and incarcerations from the 40s to the 80s in Taiwan!!!)

The KMT's cross-strait policy is also contradictory, as I mentioned, since they admit that the ROC only rules Taiwan but yet insist on the one-China policy (akin to the PRC government)and the two can't be reconciled as this leads to an inevitable two-China policy. Further, the KMT also likes to have high-level well publicised meetings with CCP party leaders which is detrimental to the unity of Taiwan and for me seems like a sell-out of Taiwan...i mean the CCP does not even want to recognise nor talk with the DPP government and here we have the opposition party acting like they are the government of Taiwan holding high-level talks with the Chinese Communist Party government trying to curry favour and win political points which is highly self-serving and selfish and disregards the interest of the Taiwanese people at heart.

The KMT and PFP care more about their own political gains as most indisputably seen by their cooperation in 2004 when they hated each other, i mean how superficial can they get?? And then at the end of 2004 both parties stated that Taiwanese independence was an option now to garner pan-green votes and then did a back-flip in 2005 where they went back to the undemocratic one-China policy of opposition to Taiwanese independence and the sole option of eventual reunification with China.

The KMT and opponents of the DPP will no doubt point to the entire list of DPP faults which i shall list here and go over point by point to explain why these aren't major faults or that the KMT is worse:

The list: 1) The DPP is corrupt and corruption is rampant under the DPP. 2) The DPP handles the economy poorly and the Taiwanese economy is in shambles now. 3) The DPP won 'undemocratically' in the 2004 elections by 'staging' the shooting incident of President Chen.
4) The DPP is a disgrace to the Taiwanese people as they often have to use 'money-diplomacy' to buy the diplomatic relations of the few remaining small countries. Further, the Taiwanese President cannot stop over many countries which is a disgrace to Taiwan and Taiwan cannot access world bodies such as the WHO which is the fault of the DPP.

1) Everyone knows that the KMT were really corrupt during their rule and so corruption is certainly not a monopoly of the DPP, or for that matter, any single government of the world. Now, people nowadays, say that the DPP is far worst than the KMT but where is the proof? In fact, how can we compare? Lets not forget that from 1945 to 1987, the KMT ruled Taiwan under a dictatorship with martial law in place. We will never know the extent of KMT corruption simply cos there were no zealous media back then to expose all the corruption of the KMT or the freedom of political opponents to voice their dissent without being thrown into jail by the KMT unlike now where the Taiwanese media (one of the freest in the world mind you!) are free to expose all and every indiscretion of the DPP and its members and political opponents are allowed to expose DPP corruption without landing themselves in jail.
This is most prominently seen in the First Lady Corruption Scandal where someone exposed the fact that President Chen's wife (whom is paralysed from the waist down due to a politically motivated 'accident' in the 80s (most probably planned by yours truly KMT party) and stuck in a wheelchair)was involved in some Sogo departmental store vouchers scandal and wasn't murdered or bundled off to jail in the middle of the night before her exposure of the scandal. People, even overseas Chinese, like to ridicule Taiwanese politics and Taiwan's democracy but fail to see that the fact so much corruption scandals are exposed doesn't mean that the DPP is somehow unbelievably corrupt and how relatively uncorrupt governments like China, Malaysia, and Singapore are but that the media and Taiwan is truly a democratic society where the media is free to report and the judiciary independent enough to actually prosecute government officials. So next time you hear complaints of the DPP's corruption, just think of the corruption which occurs in places like Malaysia and in Africa but which don't make it to the newspapers or don't end up being prosecuted. Opponents of the DPP should remember what it was like under the KMT and realise that as bad as it is under the DPP, corruption under the KMT (with its lengthy history of corruption) could not have been any better.

2) It is true that the DPP is not handling the economy well but once again its not as bad as some Taiwanese say with recent well-publicised media incidents of people going up to President Chen and vice-Presid. Annette Lu and saying they 'can't live anymore cos of the poor economy' which is really an exaggeration... i mean these people should move to places like Nigeria, Tanzania, or maybe closer to home, like the Philippines or Vietnam, and then really understand what the meaning of 'can't live anymore' or a poor economy really means....but with that said, the DPP could well improve on its economic management skills...though they are more known to be environmentally friendly with their opposition to expanding nuclear plants and nuclear energy which is supported by the business-oriented KMT party..

3) This is the most common criticism of the DPP party saying that the shooting incident in 2004 just before election day was a setup by the DPP to win sympathy votes. I don't believe President Chen would risk his life to do this though it is possible that others in his party did which he cannot be responsible for. Further, the courts have already ruled that the elections were valid and the narrow margin was created only because the arch-rivals of Lien Chan and James Soong teamed up despite their personal and political animity meaning that if they didn't team up and the KMT and the PFP had campaigns separately, the pan-blue vote gain would have been reduced significantly.
And the worst part was the KMT total lack of respect for the democratic system with large demonstrations asking for the President to step down EVEN with the court's final decision that the elections were VALID. Basically, the KMT are sore losers, when they lost, they couldn't admit their defeat with grace, which would have given me a favourable impression of them. Instead, they protested and howled like spoiled children and accused the elections were 'undemocratic' (bcuz they lost!!).

4) You often see those whom dislike Taiwanese independence and the DPP engaged in nonsensical attacks against them. This happens alot in the Taiwanese media, HK media, and obviously the mainland Chinese media which are mostly anti-Taiwanese independence in stance. One common thing is to ridicule the DPP for having to use money to buy diplomatic relations with small nations and how Taiwan is isolated internationally. But hello??, in case these people and media didn't realise, this is not the fault of the DPP. The roots of Taiwan's international isolation started with the KMT and mainland China. Let us not forget that by the time the DPP came to power in 2000, Taiwan had lost most its diplomatic allies already under the KMT, including Japan, America, and other big nations. Further, money diplomacy was an inherited practice learnt from the KMT and not a DPP creation. And China is also to blame for applying pressure internationally in isolating Taiwan and thus the DPP cannot be blamed for Taiwan's international isolation now. Further, It was during KMT rule when Taiwan lost its UN seat in 1975 . But, you still see Chinese/HK/Taiwanese media blaming the DPP for Taiwan's international problems as if they don't realise all these problems stem from KMT days and also China's bully-mongering attitude! The DPP have had to basically deal with the 'crappy situation' 澜摊子left by the KMT.

Alittle update, in the recent Taiwanese legislature elections, the KMT won a majority of the seats and the DPP did unexpectedly badly. I was abit upset as this paves the way and is an indication of a KMT win at the Presidential elections in March 2008.

With a KMT win, it is already expected that all the changes to names will now be reversed and the policy of 'Localization' 本土化 will presumably be reversed slightly as well. Now, under the DPP there was a policy of 'localisation' which meant to create a Taiwanese identity. Thus, there have been name-changes to public institutions and monuments as well as public companies and organisations which is the only correct and 21st Century path to go. For instance, 'China Post' (the national postal system) has been renamed appropriately 'Taiwan Post' , many public companies with China such as China Petroleum has been renamed Taiwan Petroleum. I mean to any foreigner this would only make sense, its confusing to give the name 'China' to everything when you are in Taiwan. Further, passports now have the word 'Taiwan' printed on them as opposed to just 'The Republic of China' which is really confusing for customs at airports overseas whom may assume that the holder is from...well, China. The KMT wants to change the names bck to 'China' betraying their backward thinking mentality (as if we were still living in the cold-war era and Taiwan still represented 'free-China' as opposed to 'red-China'. ) There was a big debate over renaming CKS memorial hall to 'Taiwan Democracy Memorial' and Chiang Kai-Shek airport is now 'Taoyuan Airport'. This all came under DPP rule as i personally think its inappropriate to name such big institutions with the name of any single person. Many now like to talk about 'Desinicisation' 去中国化 which is a word coined by the opposition KMT and Chinese media in HK and China as if its a 'bad word'. They say the DPP is trying to eradicate the roots of Chinese culture from Taiwan and go so far as saying the DPP policy could lead to all traditional festivities such as Chinese New Year being banned, any customs with Chinese origins discouraged,etc which is just plain silly. Localisation and forming a Taiwanese identity does not mean denying Chinese origins. It isn't an either or, both do not have to be mutually exclusive.

This is just like saying developing an 'Aussie' or 'Canadian' culture means denying their anglo-saxon roots and not being able to speak ENGLISH or having christmas celebrations. Or that Chinese-Malaysians, Chinese-Americans, Chinese-Singaporeans, Chinese-Canadians are denying their Chinese roots when they identify with Canadian,etc culture as well. Thus, it is not 'desinification' which is occuring in Taiwan currently but a long overdue formation of a national Taiwanese identity which CAN be mutually compatible with recognising the Chinese roots of much of Taiwan's culture. I watched with interest this talk show in Taiwan last year about the 70th Nanking Massacre anniversary and how the people were all talking about how Taiwan's youth were no longer aware of this atrocity due to the DPP's policy of desiniscisation. The host and the guests were trying to say do we regard this as 'China's history' or 'Our history' as if the DPP were advocating lack of concern for historical issues. I mean, even treating China's history as separate from Taiwan's history does not mean that Taiwanese people cannot sympathise or learn about another country's history. Treating Taiwan as separate from China does not mean one cannot learn about the atrocity of the Nanking Massacre and feel sympathy just like one does not have to be an Israeli (or even a Jew) to feel sad over the Holocaust in Europe.
I mean the pro-KMT people are just using their usual scare-mongering tactics such as saying Taiwan is losing its culture and history under DPP policy of 'localization' and divisive ways to divide the people of Taiwan.

I would just like to end with my conclusion that the KMT and people against Taiwanese independence carry a huge historical baggage. That is that Taiwan must somehow belong to China, that just because Taiwan was part of China a hundred years ago, it must remain so, and that places with Chinese people must remain part of the territory of China. These are all backwards China-centric views which i term 'Chinese Chauvinism' just the kind of sentiments feared across South East Asia from the 50s through to the late 80s, where there was suspicion over the loyalties of the local ethnic Chinese. Adhering to this type of thinking, Singapore would have to also be regarded as part of 'China', an outpost in SEA, which would be clearly an offensive suggestion to any Singaporean or that America and Canada could never have become independent due to long cultural, historical, ties to Great Britain (lets not forget all the arguements used by anti-Taiwanese independence people can also be used against granting Canada or America independence). One must realise that times have changed and arguments along the lines of cultural roots, historical connections can no longer hold weight over any argument on whether a country should remain independent or reunite with the 'motherland'.

And if you've been reading until here, first off, thank you very much for having the patience and taking the time to read my post.
And, If you were wondering whether i was a native Taiwanese 本省人(those without mainland Chinese roots, as opposed to descendants of mainland Chinese whom fled to Taiwan in 1949) then you are dead WRONG!! I am what in Taiwan, one would term a 'mainlander' 外省人 with my grandpa being a KMT soldier from Hunan province, China whom went to Taiwan in 1945 and the family in Taiwan all living in Taipei and in the suburb identified with the highest concentration of 'mainlanders' Da-an district, Taipei. So my family is very 'mainlander' and live not in some rural area in Southern Taiwan but in the very pro-KMT district of Da-an in KMT stronghold Taipei. (quick note: Northern Taiwan incl. cities of Taichung and Taipei are considered pro-KMT whilst Southern Taiwan incl. Kaohsiung and Tainan are considered pro-DPP and opposed to reunification with China)
Thus i should be very pro-KMT and anti-Taiwanese independence in terms of my 'category' but I'm not cos i look at the facts with a progressive 21st Century pro-democracy pro-local identity outlook and not based on the background i belong to.

Post Script: It appears I'm not the only person with a background which does not appear to suit his political views. The great-grandson of Chiang Kai-Shek, whom was raised in Canada and studied in New York, one whom would presumably be very pro-KMT and anti-Taiwanese Independence given his family background (i assumed so myself and held an unfair presumption against him), is surprisingly progressive and open in his thinking and not at all pro-KMT. If anything, he even seems pro-DPP and 'pro-green' in his political views. His blog (in Chinese) can be read here: http://www.yubou.tw/index.html

Final Post of my Taiwan Trilogy coming in the next few days.....stay tuned:)

Sunday, January 06, 2008

The Taiwan Trilogy (On Taiwan's Status and Taiwan-China Relations) (I)...台湾三部曲(第一部曲)...


If anyone has realised, although my blog is titled 'Chinese Chic', I have never really written on China or China-related issues. This year, being the Year of the Chinese Olympics held in Beijing as well as China's continued phenomenal economic and political rise on the world stage, I shall write my first post on a China-related issue-that of Taiwan.

This post shall detail my thoughts on my other homeland of Taiwan, its current diplomatic situation, political situation, its cultural might and influence in the Chinese-speaking world, as well as the much debated issue of Taiwanese 'independence' or 'reunification' with China. I shall state my opinions as well as position on all these issues via the Taiwan Trilogy posts which shall also include my thoughts on the Presidential Elections in Taiwan in March this year.

Taiwan as an Independent Nation(台湾民国):

Firstly, I must state my most basic position in regards to Taiwan.

That is: Taiwan is an independent country, a sovereign nation.

Regardless of what China might insist on, it is an UNDENIABLE FACT that Taiwan has been an independent country since a long time and has NEVER BEEN a part of the People's Republic of China (PRC). This is as anyone whom has a cursory knowledge of Chinese history would know that the Communist Party of China only came into power in China in 1949 and has never controlled Taiwan before. It was the Manchurian Qing Dynasty which ruled Taiwan before its accession to imperial Japan in 1895 and the KMT Nationalist government which reclaimed Taiwan from Japan in 1945 after WW2. Thus, the current CCP govt in China simply does not have any legitimate claim over Taiwan. In fact, it would be the Qing govt, if it were still existing, which would have a greater claim over Taiwan than the Communist Party of China ruling over China now.
Taiwan has its own parliament, own military force, own police force, own education system and syllabus, own democratically elected president and vice-president, own cabinet and government departments, own postal service, own healthcare system, own laws, as well as many other characteristics of a sovereign nation. One may point out that Taiwan is not recognised as a nation by most countries of the world, has no diplomatic embassies in most countries nor diplomatic relations with most nations and is not even in the U.N.. However, not being recognised by others as a nation does not mean that it ISN"T a nation. Many countries, in particular the people of countries around the world often do differentiate between Chinese (from the PRC) and Taiwanese and many governments around the world do not recognise the Taiwanese government not because they sincerely believe in the legitimacy of China's claim over Taiwan, but rather, in difference towards China's economic and political might on the world stage currently.

The Independence/Reunification Question(統・独問題):

My position that Taiwan is a country thus leads to two questions: When did it become a country?? If Taiwan is now a country, then how would this relate to the independence/reunification question?? (統独問題)

The first question is a very complicated one and i would put the date at which Taiwan became an independent country as 1945. This is as one can argue that Taiwan was never really independent until the dictatorial KMT Nationalist government (国民党)was voted out of office in 2000 or that Taiwan is still not an independent country as the Constitution still states that it is the Constitution of the Republic of China and that Taiwan's official name and flag still carries that of the Republic of China (中華民国). However, the reality is that Taiwan possesses all the characteristics of an independent nation and also is a 'convenient myth' that the Republic of China still exists now and thus I think the most appropriate answer and date would be 1945 as Taiwan's independence date.
South Korea provides a good example to follow. The South Korean state was established officially in 1947 and Korean independence is officially set as being in 1945, the year the Korean peninsula was liberated from Japanese colonialism. One could argue, along the lines of those whom deny the independent status of Taiwan, that South Korea has not achieved independence yet given that it is still not reunified with North Korea. Further, S.Korea was under military dictatorship until only 1992 so some could again argue that it didn't become truly independent until 1992 with a change to civilian rule. Now, that would be an unwise and impractical analysis and thus the same rationale can be applied to Taiwan.

It does not matter that the KMT ruled Taiwan until 2000 or that martial law in Taiwan only ended in 1987, Taiwan's independence date should be set as 1945, the date when it was released from Japan's colonial governance. Otherwise, to set the date for independence at 1987 (when martial law ended) or 2000 (when the DPP Party (民進党) came into power) would mean other SEA nations would also have to postpone their independence date to the date when they could freely elect their own governments such as indonesia in 1998 and the philippines in 1987 with people power I. (In places like Malaysia and Singapore where there is still no true democracy with restrictive media censorship laws in place, lack of rallies and protest rights, and dictatorial laws such as the Internal Security Act which allows for indefinite detention without trial, one can argue is there 'true independence' now so many years after Western colonial powers have left??)
Thus Taiwan's independence for me occurred on October 1945 with the official handing over ceremony to the KMT from Japanese hands.

The second question has been a hot political topic in Taiwan for at least the past 10 years. If my position that Taiwan has been an independent nation since 1945 is agreed upon (or at some later date), then the option is not of 'Taiwanese independence' or 'Reunification with mainland China' is it???

The option now for Taiwan and its citizens is really either maintaining the status quo (of independence) or reunification with China. Thus its really silly to continue debating over the pros and cons of Taiwanese independence or for the Chinese media to always mention 'Taiwanese independence' as the 'taboo' word when the matter of the fact is that Taiwan is already an independent nation. Thus, polls have consistently shown that Taiwanese people overwhelmingly want to maintain the status quo, with some stating that they wish to maintain the status quo FOREVER. What this means is that Taiwanese people want Taiwan to remain independent forever. Some take this to mean Taiwan's people want Taiwan to remain non-independent non-reunification with China but maintaining the status quo really means maintaining Taiwanese independence as the status quo now=Taiwan as an independent nation, regardless of what some would choose to interpret otherwise.

Therefore, what Taiwan now needs to choose is whether to maintain its status as an independent nation or to opt for 'reunification' with mainland China or even to choose a third option, that of a federation/commonwealth framework with China.

Taiwan-China Relations (台中関係):
China, on the other hand, must learn to give Taiwan more space in the international arena if it is to win the hearts and minds of Taiwanese. It cannot keep insisting on treating Taiwan as a renegade 'province' and the Taiwanese government as 'illegitimate' and continue to stifle Taiwan's diplomatic space by bully-mongering nations into preventing Taiwan's president from making diplomatic stopovers (it does this all the time) or insisting that UN agencies go thru it over Taiwan's affairs when it has practically no control over Taiwan's affairs (eg. the SARS crisis in 2003 is a prime example whereby Taiwan, not being a WHO member, was denied access to international help and assistance as China insisted on the WHO going thru it, China, on the SARS crisis in Taiwan).
The One-Country Two Systems Proposal (一国两制):

This is not a feasible or implementable proposal in relation to Taiwan even if it were to decide to 'reunify' with China. This is as Taiwan cannot be treated in the same manner as Hong Kong or Macau for one simple reason. Taiwan was never a colony and is currently not a colony (since WW2) unlike Hong Kong and Macau which were Western colonies and had no choice in deciding whether or not to return to China. Lets not forget that many Hong Kongers were reluctant to return to Chinese rule (many immigrated in the 80s and 90s before the 1997 handover in fear of CCP rule. Many have since returned to HK encouraged by the continued prosperity of Hong Kong and the rapid economic growth of mainland China.) and actually preferred British colonial rule and had no input into whether to return to Chinese rule or not. The decision was made by the British government who had to return Kowloon and the New Territories under a lease signed with the Qing govt. and so decided, out of practicality, that Hong Kong Island had to be returned as well. The same applies to Macau whereby the Portuguese government had already signed an agreement which mandated the return of Macau to China in 1999.

Thus, in both cases, historical agreements mandated their return to China and the one country two systems policy came about as a kind of negotiated compromise to maintain their capitalist systems in harmony with the controlled capitalism of the mainland in the 1980s. (of course no one would have imagined the rapid advance of China's economy in the 90s and 2000s making it even more 'capitalist' and 'bourgeious' than HK and Macau.)

Taiwan is not a colony and no agreements have ever been signed mandating a date on which it must return to China and thus, unlike the situation of HK and Macau, the one country two systems proposal simply cannot be applied. This system would also mean a downgrading of Taiwan's current status as an independent nation with its own legislature, president, education system, military force, police force, etc into one where like Hong Kong, it would not have its own military force, and would effectively become only one of China's 'SAR' along with Hong Kong and Macau as opposed to a fully-fledged nation.

Maybe a new proposal based on some kind of Chinese Commonwealth making Taiwan an equal in a new 'Chinese Commonwealth' with mainland China could be proposed in the future.

Until then, and with the current social consensus in Taiwan, it is unlikely that Taiwan will 'reunify' with China anytime soon.

This post dealt with my position on Taiwan and its status as well as Taiwan-China relations, my next post in the 'Taiwan Trilogy' shall continue with my analysis on Taiwan-China relations as well as my thoughts on Taiwan's political parties as well as the Taiwanese Presidential Elections coming in March........ stay tuned for more thought provoking and insightful posts on Taiwan in my Taiwan Trilogy:)

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Happy New Year 2008...新年快乐....あけましておめでとう.....


I want to wish all my readers a happy, memorable, and meaningful 2008 ahead:):)