Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “new southbound policy” has sparked discussion, but the most fervent response was probably from the Presidential Office, which called the policy a copy or a continuation of what President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has been doing.
It might be grating, but it is true that the nation’s Southeast Asia policy might go unchanged, despite a new administration, if the same mindset dominates.
A “new Taiwanese” with an Indonesian mother who calls himself a second-generation “new inhabitant” wrote an opinion piece for a local newspaper criticizing what he described as narrow-minded and backward thinking by the government when it comes to Southeast Asian nations.
Born, raised and educated to graduate level in Taiwan, the University of Indonesia doctoral candidate has great credentials.
However, when he expressed his desire to work for public agencies as a part-time interpreter, he was told he would be required to first take classes such as “Chinese writing” and “Introduction to the study of law,” which are low-level courses.
“Needless to say, that it is because the government [and agencies that run accreditation exams] have a prejudiced idea that highly educated Taiwanese would not have the ability to speak Southeast Asian languages,” he wrote.
It is true, as Ma and his supporters — such as former minister of economic affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) — have said, that economic and commercial exchanges with Southeast Asian nations and India have been progressing.
There have been efforts to boost education and cultural links as well, such as an education cooperation agreement with Thailand and a memorandum of understanding on cultural exchanges with Indonesia.
However, Tsai’s retort to the Presidential Office is no less accurate.
“If Ma had really put emphasis on developing close relations with Southeast Asia and India, the ties would not be what they are today,” Tsai said.
What is lacking in government policy — and might also be absent with the next administration?
To be blunt, it is a self-reflective repudiation of shameful feelings of superiority over what some call “backward” Southeast Asia, as the “new inhabitant” said in his piece, and as has been exemplified in various discriminatory behavior and remarks.
Roy Lee (李淳), who is deputy executive director of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research’s WTO and Regional Trade Agreement Center, weighed in on Tsai’s policy, saying that it is not “newness” that is needed in her policy, but “wholeheartedness.”
What is needed is a change of attitude, Lee said.
“It might be abstract, but it is crucial,” he said, adding that many people, even with professional backgrounds, have an extremely shallow understanding of the region.
He also called for “genuineness” and “cooperation with empathy and understanding of what they need that would militate for real beneficial reciprocity.”
Ma and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) like to tout Taiwan’s special relationship with China, framing the two as being “the same in writing and in race,” and emphasizing “Taiwan’s decisive advantages” in having closer economic and cultural ties with its powerful neighbor.
Not only is it factually false to say such things — as both are multiethnic nations — but the claim also betrays a sense of exclusiveness that appeals to racial affinity, which is both anachronistic and dangerous.
Let us hope that the DPP, which brands itself as “democratic” and “progressive,” and upholding of plurality, can lead people out of such a bigoted mentality if it wins the opportunity to govern.
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