It is this kind of colonial culture that has poisoned the minds of Kuo and his ilk. That is why they call Taiwanese people “rednecks” and “Japanese pirates.” The poison runs in their veins and they pass it on to the next generation. No surprise, then, to read on the Internet that Kuo’s daughter, who works in Shanghai, spoke of Taiwanese people in the same terms as her father, calling them “Japanese pirates.” It is Taiwan’s poisoned culture and education that have turned out generations of people like Kuo.
Why is there a market for this kind of poison? Because of the dictatorial power structure propping it up. The ruling elite set up the colonial education system and that system in turn serves to uphold colonial rule. Apart from KMT members, only those Taiwanese who are loyal to the party and state ideology can enter the ruling stratum. Until 1996, the Senior Examination for the Civil Service had quotas for candidates from the 35 provinces of the Republic of China (in proportion to the population of each province), so that ethnic Taiwanese, who are 80 percent of Taiwan’s population, could only take up a small fraction of senior civil service posts.
This ridiculously unjust system ensured that “superior Mainlanders” would stay in control of the top levels of government. The splendid results of this system are still true today, as “superior Mainlanders” retain a monopoly on power in Taiwan’s judiciary, media and civil service.
Therefore, while Taiwan’s problems are spread across its people, culture and system, it is the system that needs to be changed first. Taiwan’s power structure is still by no means a normal, democratic one. Only when all the Kuo-like “superior Mainlanders” have been voted out of the legislature will we see new laws enacted that eliminate communal prejudice and enmity from the system.
As long as Taiwan keeps the system that protects the KMT’s hold on power, the colonial mentality will prevail — and until that is overcome, people’s behavior will not change. Until Taiwan’s system, culture and people are transformed, we will see many more incidents like the Kuo case.
Cao Changqing is a writer based in the US.TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG
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