Results of a survey conducted by the Taiwan Brain Trust released on Wednesday might have aggravated the greatest fear of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration: Growing and unstoppable domestic support for Taiwanese independence, particularly among the younger generation.
The poll found that an overwhelming 82 percent of respondents aged between 20 and 29 believe that Taiwan should become an independent nation, while an overall 61.4 percent of respondents share the same opinion.
Also, the percentage of respondents in the same age group who identify themselves as Taiwanese rose to 98 percent, from the 92.4 percent of those polled in a survey conducted prior to the meeting between Ma and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping (習近平), in Singapore on Nov. 7.
The message young Taiwanese have for the nation’s leaders and for the rest of the world is simple: We were born and raised in an independent state that we identify as “Taiwan” — regardless of how many foreign nations recognize its sovereignty — and its name is not the Republic of China (ROC), Chinese Taipei or any other appellation forcefully assigned to it.
The younger generation’s desire to express their stance on the nation’s identity appears to have been intensified by the Ma-Xi meeting, which has been touted by Ma as a significant milestone in cross-strait ties and a success mainly, if not solely, on the part of the KMT.
While Ma continues to bask in the joy of having achieved his ultimate goal as president of the ROC, young Taiwanese have been left unnerved by the potential consequences of Ma’s seemingly deliberate omission of the “different interpretations” component of the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The omission has jeopardized the already fragile “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait, which the younger generation have reluctantly accepted only because no other options have been offered by Ma’s administration.
It has also left no room for future Taiwanese leaders to maneuver in cross-strait relations.
Nevertheless, Ma’s oversight rekindled the spirit of nationalism in some Taiwanese, primarily among those of a younger age who have less, if not zero, emotional attachment toward China than their older counterparts. They are now eager to make their voices heard.
Yet the growing Taiwanese nationalism can be smothered by the KMT or Ma’s administration before it can spread to other age groups.
Consider the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ proposal to ban any form of alteration to Taiwanese passports, whether they are made on the front or back covers or the inner pages of the document.
Many netizens have interpreted the policy as an attempt to put an end to a popular movement which has seen many people covering the “Republic of China” seal on their passports with a “Republic of Taiwan” (台灣國) sticker.
The person who started the movement, Lao Tan (老丹), criticized the ministry’s decision, saying that putting stickers on the passport’s cover does not make Taiwan a de jure independent state.
“The stickers are simply designed to draw the attention of Taiwanese to the preposterous existence of the ROC and the necessity for Taiwan to declare its independence,” he said.
It is sad that some Taiwanese are willing to risk being deported or denied entry to a foreign nation by carrying altered passports that aim to express their national identity, while the nation’s leaders are trying any means possible to mask that identity.
A government that leaves its people no choice but to resort to aggressive measures to prove the existence of their nation is simply a government not worth having.
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