Talking about the Republic of China (ROC) is not taboo. After 60 years and democratization, expressions such as “government-in-exile,” “occupation government,” “totalitarian government” and “authoritarian government” are all things of the past. However, using these expressions today is part of freedom of expression, and there is no need to get upset about it.
It should be possible to discuss these matters in a rational, calm manner. That would be the only way to gain a clearer understanding, build a new political culture and turn Taiwan into a model of a diverse, democratic and open society that promotes ethnic harmony and offers a secure living environment. In this way we could build a common future together.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) recently said that “post-war Taiwan has been ruled by a government-in-exile.”
This is only a historical statement, but taken out of context, it has set off a nonsensical, pointless debate. If we look at what Tsai said at the launch of the book The Republic of China’s 60 Years as a Government-in-Exile on Taiwan and Taiwan’s International Status After the War and an article in the Chinese-language newspaper the Apple Daily titled “The main point is ‘divided group,’ not ‘government-in-exile,’” it shouldn’t be too difficult to see that she is trying hard to promote ethnic harmony. It has only been distorted and played up for political purposes. In the past, politicians have played on ethnic sentiment to gain electoral advantages. Such immoral behavior is gradually becoming less effective, in particular after the two changes in national government and the development of educational materials.
Clear evidence that the ethnicity issue is no longer of much use is that even Chinese talk of “the Chinese race” and “being of the same blood” cannot stop democracy, human rights, diversity, tolerance and national identity from surging forward.
The current ROC government is a popularly elected government, and the ROC is a sovereign and independent state. Despite that, it finds itself in a difficult situation from which it cannot extricate itself, and it is forced to use names such as “Chinese Taipei” that are not commensurate with its national status.
In China, its citizens must use “Taiwan compatriot entry permits” without national flag or title. This, of course, causes anger and unhappiness among Taiwanese and has set off many historical complaints that have led to disputes between dissidents of all stripes, which in turn has resulted in social and ethnic division. If we look for the sources of this situation, we find that they lie in the tragic period when the previous authoritarian government created terror and fear. It is this history that politicians need to face up to.
For example, in that unfair totalitarian system, a small number of ruling Mainlander cliques brought harm to almost every ethnic group, be it veterans from China or the local population. Furthermore, if the feelings among a minority of Mainlanders toward China’s history and culture are not understood and respected, or are seen as negative or criticized on ethnic grounds, or if the use of Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) is increasingly accepted as Mandarin chauvinism weakens, that can easily lead to unnecessary ethnic tension. That would work contrary to the concept of a gemeinschaft, or “a community of fate,” that has developed over the past few years. This is an issue that the elites of the biggest ethnic group should find ways of resolving.
Tsai has said: “What the DPP should do is to earnestly resolve ethnic distrust and lack of recognition, and, while drawing up a blueprint for Taiwan’s future, create an environment where people feel that they are at home and can create a life where they won’t be displaced again. The Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] must stop seeing the Mainlander ethnic group as the target of mobilization, and earnestly face up to the wounds it has inflicted on this land in the past.”
This is indeed a great undertaking that requires a full out effort to win the public’s trust. The DPP must not repeat the mistakes of its time in government.
As to what the ROC really means, and even whether or not it exists — the People’s Republic of China says it doesn’t — that all depends on your outlook, on whether you take a historical, cultural, political or social point of view, and on the degree of magnification. Whether a view is right or wrong, just or unjust, fair or unfair, will have to be decided by public debate. At the moment, the official name of Taiwan remains the Republic of China, but what that entails will depend on your outlook. The KMT must stop deceiving itself and instead take an earnest look at its past.
Lu I-ming is the former publisher and president of Taiwan Shin Sheng Daily News.
TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON
A series of strong earthquakes in Hualien County not only caused severe damage in Taiwan, but also revealed that China’s power has permeated everywhere. A Taiwanese woman posted on the Internet that she found clips of the earthquake — which were recorded by the security camera in her home — on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. It is spine-chilling that the problem might be because the security camera was manufactured in China. China has widely collected information, infringed upon public privacy and raised information security threats through various social media platforms, as well as telecommunication and security equipment. Several former TikTok employees revealed
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
At the same time as more than 30 military aircraft were detected near Taiwan — one of the highest daily incursions this year — with some flying as close as 37 nautical miles (69kms) from the northern city of Keelung, China announced a limited and selected relaxation of restrictions on Taiwanese agricultural exports and tourism, upon receiving a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegation led by KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁). This demonstrates the two-faced gimmick of China’s “united front” strategy. Despite the strongest earthquake to hit the nation in 25 years striking Hualien on April 3, which caused
In the 2022 book Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China, academics Hal Brands and Michael Beckley warned, against conventional wisdom, that it was not a rising China that the US and its allies had to fear, but a declining China. This is because “peaking powers” — nations at the peak of their relative power and staring over the precipice of decline — are particularly dangerous, as they might believe they only have a narrow window of opportunity to grab what they can before decline sets in, they said. The tailwinds that propelled China’s spectacular economic rise over the past