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Removing ethnicity from local politics

I am a second-generation Mainlander whose father served as a low-ranking public servant. I went to school in Taipei and then landed a job with a foreign firm before going to the US to continue my studies. I have worked in Beijing for many years. In my everyday life, I have neither the need nor the opportunity to speak Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese), and therefore don't speak it very well.

While I was growing up, I always had a bad impression of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) functionaries, or the so-called "instructors" and their heavy-handed, dictatorial and obscurantist policies. As a result, I have never identified with the KMT. Many of my friends and classmates were and are Hoklo Taiwanese.

This notwithstanding, I have often been labeled a pan-blue camp supporter because I am a second-generation Mainlander and my shaky command of Hoklo. Surely there must be many other second-generation Mainlanders who, like me, dislike the KMT but remain stuck with the reductionist political label.

In a televised speech a few days ago, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) argued that Taiwan should stop disputing the independence/unification issue, an argument I fully agree with.

Both the KMT's Republic of China (ROC) and the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Taiwan exist independently of the People's Republic of China. Although ROC and Taiwan are different appellations, they both refer to the same distinct political identity encompassing Taiwan proper, Kinmen, Matsu and the Pescadores.

While "house" may be called fangzi in Chinese and cu in Taiwanese, they still describe the same object, making the difference in appellation insignificant. There is no point in bickering over whether it should be called fangzi or cu. Rather, we should seek to increase the value of the house.

In reality, the ROC is an independent political entity with jurisdiction over its own territory. From this perspective, Taiwan is independent. What we should do is redirect our efforts toward more constructive endeavors.

Furthermore, Chinese don't care about what province we second-generation Mainlanders who are doing business in China come from, or whether our Hoklo is any good. To them, we're all just Taiwanese. In fact, a substantial number of businesspeople are second-generation Mainlanders, such as Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘). The achievements of these people, born and bred in Taiwan, are the result of their efforts. We never hear that Hon Hai is not a Taiwanese company -- or not pro-Taiwan enough -- because of Guo's origins.

Most individuals under the age of 60 identify themselves as Taiwan-born Taiwanese. For all intents and purposes, the contemporary KMT is a Taiwanese political entity. When today's 70-year-old Mainlanders followed the KMT onto Taiwan 60 years ago, they were not even in their teens. They have now lived in Taiwan for six decades and only have faint recollections of escaping disaster during their childhood. Their feelings for Taiwan are far more profound than their ties to China. Consequently, little is gained by calling the KMT an "alien political party."

The DPP may well focus its policies on cultivating and strengthening Taiwanese consciousness, but there is little value in its portrayal as a "localized regime." In fact, if the KMT were to win next year's presidential election, it, too, would be a localized regime.

The foregoing are the musings of a Mainlander who does not identify with the KMT. They will have served their purpose if they can enlighten just one person who tends to see everything political from a localized perspective.

Dean Shueh is an associate professor in China Institute of Technology's department of international business.

Translated by Daniel Cheng and Lin Ya-ti
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