Yesterday, something else occurred in addition to the heckler at the Bush/Hu press conference and to the administration's missteps calling Hu Jintao's trip to America a "visit" and not a "state visit," and refering to his country as the "Republic of China," etc; hidden behind the firewall of membership to the Wall Street Journal was an op ed by Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian, entitled: "We Believe in Democracy." Now, in all my years studying Chinese language and culture, I have not taken sides in cross-straits politics, nor have I overtly expressed any opinions to friends from Taiwan or Mainland about domestic politics in either place. I have lived in Taiwan and Mainland, and have friends in both; perhaps I am guilty of protecting my access to Chinese society just as certain reporters in America are guilty of protecting their access to the administration.
President Chen's op ed is interesting to me, not just because of its timing (though it couldn't have been better), but because of the way it expresses very clearly the same views as many of the people I have met in Taiwan. Here are a few select passages:
[quote]Over the past quarter of a century, the emergence of Taiwan as a democracy and the emergence of China as an economic and military power have added new dimensions to the dynamics in the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwan people have struggled, with some success, to adapt in an era of globalization while building institutions that guard against one man, a single party or an outside power from imposing its will on them without their assent. Our progress is continuing, but we have much to be proud of.
China's government has struggled, with some success, to sustain high economic growth rates and significant military expansion while maintaining stable relations with the major global powers and avoiding liberalization of domestic (especially political) institutions. Unfortunately, China's success has unleashed forces that challenge Taiwan's politicial and economic development, as well as its security....
...We believe in democracy and uphold the principle of popular sovereignty, which means that Taiwan's future and our relations with China can only be determined by the will of Taiwan's 23 million people. We oppose the non-democratic approach that Beijing has taken against its own people and against the people of Taiwan. Meanwhile, we continue to seek better relations with the people in China through economic and cultural exchanges, in the hope that eventually, democracy could become a reality in China--which the whole world would benefit from.[/quote]
Now, Beijing does not recognize Chen Shui-bian as the legitimate leader of Taiwan, and yet, he was democratically elected with results very similar to recent American elections. Moreover, Beijing views Taiwan as a province, while most Taiwanese people view it as a country. Complicated situation. Part of the issue is that most Mainlanders (not just the government) don't have the concept of popular sovereignty. I recently had a conversation with a friend from Beijing, and she said to me that she doesn't know where she stands on the Taiwan issue, and I wondered to myself: "Have you considered what people in Taiwan feel about this?"
What also complicates the situation is the history of Taiwan over the past one hundred years. To many Taiwanese, life wasn't easy during the Japanese Occupation, and so they welcomed the KMT at first, but it soon turned out that the new Chinese government was just as bad, if not worse, than what came before. For several years, people had to live under martial law, and today, there are still those who identify with Japan more than they do with China.
They have also lived in a democratic society for several years now, but remember, the first democratic elections took place in the nineties, so Taiwan is a fledgling democracy, and an exciting one at that. Religion and politics--two fields that are highly restricted on the Mainland--thrive in Taiwan and often unfold spontaneously before one's eyes: demonstrations, parades, processions, night markets--everything goes.
Taiwan has also developed into something very unique. It is Chinese (some who came 300 years ago and some who came 50 years ago), but it is also Japanese, Aboriginal, and international. It has an island spirit and island people are often independent.
Is there any wonder why people there would be sceptical about Beijing's offers to liberate them?
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