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Fight for a diverse Taiwan not over

Taiwan is a diverse and democratic society ruled by law and composed of several ethnic groups. This means that the different historical backgrounds of these ethnic groups and their wish for self rule must be respected, since collective memory lies at the core of ethnic identity. The "freedom to remember" is an inalienable right of every ethnic group.

The monument outside Chungshan Hall in Taipei commemorates the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which triggered the Chinese War of Resistance against Japan on July 7, 1937. The 228 memorial remembers those who died as a result of the 228 Incident on Feb. 28, 1947. The sites deal with different issues without any group trying to suppress another group's collective memory. This is the perfect symbol of Taiwan's cultural diversity.

When the memorial to the Takasago Aboriginal units who fought in the Japanese army in World War II was set up, it further consolidated Taiwan's ethnic diversity. Aboriginal groups finally began to actively build their own collective memories. But when the Taipei County Government tore down the memorial in February, they proved this view of diversity to be naive. Taiwan still is far from being a mature and truly diversified society.

All politicians representing ethnic groups should stop manipulating the ethnicity issue. Your official duties are to promote reflection and communication regarding different ethnic groups' painful memories, and to build consensus. Politicians trying to monopolize the rights of ethnic groups to express themselves are "ethnic entrepreneurs" in the language of political science. They sell out and manipulate ethnic groups to gain personal political benefits.

To the China Times, initiator of evil: You should stop manipulating news. The media's responsibility is to report the truth, not to advance the ideology of certain groups by fabricating news and stirring things up. Nor should the media suppress the disadvantaged in the name of press freedom. Do you really believe that people do not see through the way you are stirring up ethnic sentiment as part of a political struggle?

Those in power must not violate the public's right to remember. Your responsibility is to maintain the foundations for law and order and to guarantee each ethnic group's right to their memories and identity. It is not to interfere with the public's memories. No matter how impotent the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), it is still the most tolerant government Taiwan has seen. At least its impotence or inactivity have guaranteed that there is room for a diversity of identities in Taiwan.

But then we have people like Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), who promised positive action and to "have the courage to carry out his duties." There is also the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) bare-faced commandeering of the names of figures such as the Atayal chief Mona Rudao, the Taiwanese nationalist pioneer Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水), or even Li You-pang (李友邦), whose blood is on their own hands. From their methods it is quite clear that we have genuine cause for concern that if the KMT regains power a new orthodoxy will emerge. If this happens, the Taiwanese people's freedoms of speech and thought, and even of feeling, memory and identity, will once more be seriously repressed.

Keep in mind the date -- Feb. 24, 2006 -- that the Takasago memorial in Wulai was torn down. This incident should be remembered as the first time since Taiwan democratized in the 1990s that political authorities intervened to suppress a people's affirmation of their identity.

If nobody stands up and protests, these people will get a taste for this kind of suppression and Taiwan's democracy will take a step backward. Arrogant politicians should stop concocting their own historical narratives and desist from using the people's right to remember as a tool in their political wranglings.

As for the academics who were consulted on this issue by the Taipei County Government, they should be careful not to overstep the boundaries. Historians have no authority to "review" the thoughts or feelings of other people. Rather, they should apply empathy and a critical mind to the objective and fair study of history, and let society judge the results.

When dealing with this incident, the wishes of the parties involved and their ethnic group should be respected. They should reach a consensus and decide what they want to remember based on internal communication and reflection. Such communication and reflection would allow people to rebuild their own collective memories, making them a true "ethical community."

Finally, Taiwan's different ethnic groups with their different memories should follow this method of communication and reflection, and build a consensus on the nation's historical memory in a spirit of patience, respect, understanding and sincerity. Taiwan is a multi-ethnic society and the public must learn to respect and accept differences between various groups. That is the only way the Taiwanese people can all live together on this divided island.

Wu Rwei-ren is an assistant research fellow in the Institute of Taiwan History at Academia Sinica.

Translated by Paul Cooper and Perry Svensson
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