Being Taiwanese
I would like to thank Yang Liu Hsiu-hwa (楊劉秀華) for so simply stating what appears to many to be so difficult. Being Taiwanese is not just contained in a word (Letter, July 21, page 8). It is “who you are” and “what you are,” a sense of pride in what makes Taiwan and Taiwanese people so great.
My wife, who happens to be Taiwanese, and I took a tour last year and traveled with a dozen other couples from Taiwan. One evening I was asked by one of our fellow travelers if my wife was Chinese or Taiwanese. When I explained that she took great pride in being Taiwanese, the man seemed offended and said that she should consider herself Chinese.
This, of course, stirred great debate and, I am afraid, left some hard feelings.
While I am American and am proud of that heritage, I also acknowledge the fact my ancestors came from Spain and Italy. However, that is just history. I owe the homeland of my ancestors no allegiance. Nothing more than a “thank you” for enabling my grandparents the opportunity to leave and seek a better life.
If, as Yang Liu says, some find it difficult to claim to be Taiwanese, maybe they need to emigrate back to China. Maybe they need to experience first-hand what it means to “be Chinese” and feel the constraints on everyday life. Then and only then will they begin to appreciate what they had and have relinquished.
TOM KULECK
Minnesota and Taichung
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