The issue of ethnic confrontation still gets on quite a few people's nerves, as if people who talk about these issues are bent on destroying ethnic harmony in the country. They feel that this kind of question should not be discussed -- it should be treated as non-existent.
However, a public opinion poll conducted in Taipei and Kaohsiung by a civic group called the Ethnic Peace Observer Team shortly after the Dec. 7 elections shows that more than 40 percent of residents in the two cities are worried that ethnic confrontation will worsen ahead of the 2004 presidential election. Interestingly, more than 50 percent of respondents in both cities expressed concern that politicians may sell out Taiwan.
Ethnic conflicts will not simply disappear unless people understand their historical and political backgrounds and employ proactive methods to divert hostile sentiments. After taking over Taiwan in 1895, the Japanese employed a divide and rule policy and worked to create discord within local political forces, thereby sowing the seeds for ethnic confrontation. The KMT found it very convenient to continue using such colonialist policies after taking over from Japan in 1945.
During the martial law period, the KMT postponed elections for the Legislative Yuan and the National Assembly. It only allowed elections at the city and township levels -- as a way of quickly dividing society and solidifying its rule. That resulted in conflicts within the Hoklo, the biggest ethnic group, as well as between the Hoklo, Hakka, mainlander and Aboriginal groups. Election grudges also helped aggravate those conflicts. The after-effects of such conflicts still remain today.
On the other hand, full-fledged elections of the central government's legislative bodies did not begin until 1991. Before that, central government power was largely controlled by mainlanders who arrived after the end of World War II. The local political elite could find no opportunity to participate in politics except by waiting quietly for KMT patronage. Opposition against the KMT regime began as early as 1947, with the 228 Incident.
Over the decades, there were movements aimed at bringing down the "10,000-year legislature." In fact, grudges between people of different ancestral origin -- between local Taiwanese and mainlanders -- were inherent in those movements. Today the term"provincial origin" has become too sensitive, so "ethnic group" is now in vogue.
A large number of Taiwanese did not trust the KMT government in the past. Many people still do not find it safe to trust the "one China" policy advocated by the KMT and its splinter parties -- the PFP and the New Party -- to curry favor with Beijing, even though there are quite obvious differences between their "one China" and that of Beijing. From time to time, therefore, some people will cast doubt on politicians and question their loyalty.
Only by understanding a problem can one truly begin to resolve it. Politicians who grew up under the KMT's wings should therefore stop lying to their constituents. They should not use things like "one China" advocacy -- which can easily cause misunderstandings in the international community -- to irritate the nation's internal divisions. Nor should they aggravate the independence-unification standoff, thereby making it even more difficult to resolve ethnic conflicts.
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