The new perspective of Taiwanese expatriates, arisen from the change from “overseas Chinese” to “overseas community,” requires more thorough deliberation as the government continues to expand and develop the strategy of its “new southbound policy.”
At the Fifth Global Conference on Overseas Compatriot Affairs in Kaohsiung on Tuesday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) called on the nation’s expatriates to “be a bridge between domestic enterprises and the international market.”
Tsai’s words were echoed by Keng Kim-yung (何景榮), an Indonesian-Taiwanese and a member of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) New Immigrant Committee.
During an event launching a legislative subgroup for addressing issues concerning new immigrants, Keng said that the skills immigrants and their children possess should help the nation develop “closer business and cultural ties with Southeast Asian countries.”
Since the announcement of the “new southbound policy,” Keng has urged both the government and the public to focus on the “human-centered” aspects of the policy, rather than view it as solely an economic initiative.
He has also warned the government of the risks of relying solely on Chinese-speaking communities in Southeast Asia for expanding Taiwan’s ties, and urged a deepening of relationships throughout the region.
Traditional Taiwanese businesses have almost exclusively worked with ethnic Chinese communities overseas because of the relatively low level of language and cultural barriers. However, easy entrance can generate unwanted inertia and immobilize businesses, which would take a toll on Taiwanese businesses in China.
Focusing only on those easy-to-access communities in Southeast Asia would result in a limited market in the region, which is not likely to help build strong relations within those countries.
Taking on ethnic Chinese-centered views also goes against the “human-centered” focus — which is supposedly about respecting national, cultural and religious differences — adopted by the “new southbound policy.”
However, it is an entrenched habit followed by the Republic of China (ROC) and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administrations, which have touted the nation’s purported 40 million expatriates (greater than Taiwan’s total population), who are potential ROC citizens, as ROC citizenship is granted according to “bloodline” rather than place of birth.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) has undergone a few name changes, from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, which later changed by the then-DPP administration in 2006 to the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission, but the moniker was then briefly reinstated in 2012 for one year by then-president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, before again being revised to what it is now called.
The battle has not been confined to the name. In many nations where overseas Chinese have had strong and stable communities since the 19th century, a political fault line between those sympathetic with the Chinese Communist Party and later affiliated with the People’s Republic of China, and those siding with the KMT and the ROC is still apparent.
The battlefront in recent years has been further widened with the rise of Taiwanese national identity that characterizes itself as distinct from Chinese identity.
Relying on what one is familiar with is natural, but in this case, appealing to common ancestry would not only work against the policy’s aim — it would also fail to distinguish Taiwan from China, the “authentic origin” of the said ancestry, which would be both politically and economically disastrous.
Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan in late February. During their various meetings with Taiwan’s leaders, this delegation never missed an opportunity to emphasize the strength of their cross-party consensus on issues relating to Taiwan and China. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Their instruction upon taking the reins of the committee was to preserve China issues as a last bastion of bipartisanship in an otherwise deeply divided Washington. They have largely upheld their pledge. But in doing so, they have performed the
It is well known that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ambition is to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by unification of Taiwan, either peacefully or by force. The peaceful option has virtually gone out of the window with the last presidential elections in Taiwan. Taiwanese, especially the youth, are resolved not to be part of China. With time, this resolve has grown politically stronger. It leaves China with reunification by force as the default option. Everyone tells me how and when mighty China would invade and overpower tiny Taiwan. However, I have rarely been told that Taiwan could be defended to
It should have been Maestro’s night. It is hard to envision a film more Oscar-friendly than Bradley Cooper’s exploration of the life and loves of famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. It was a prestige biopic, a longtime route to acting trophies and more (see Darkest Hour, Lincoln, and Milk). The film was a music biopic, a subgenre with an even richer history of award-winning films such as Ray, Walk the Line and Bohemian Rhapsody. What is more, it was the passion project of cowriter, producer, director and actor Bradley Cooper. That is the kind of multitasking -for-his-art overachievement that Oscar
Chinese villages are being built in the disputed zone between Bhutan and China. Last month, Chinese settlers, holding photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), moved into their new homes on land that was not Xi’s to give. These residents are part of the Chinese government’s resettlement program, relocating Tibetan families into the territory China claims. China shares land borders with 15 countries and sea borders with eight, and is involved in many disputes. Land disputes include the ones with Bhutan (Doklam plateau), India (Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin) and Nepal (near Dolakha and Solukhumbu districts). Maritime disputes in the South China