It's small wonder, then, that he had thoughts of packing up and going back to England, his collection of English teapots included, should the pan-blues have won the presidential election (the book came out a few days before the poll). But these aren't electioneering pieces -- the discernment based on the author's knowledge of history, with the many different models it contains (even Greenland and Latvia get a mention) sees to that. Nevertheless, once you've read these strong-minded pages it isn't hard to identify their author's style on occasion in the editorial columns of this newspaper.
There are many fascinating incidental insights. World War I began because emotion was allowed to prevail over reason, Australia is a model of a territory that has successfully shaken off the burden of its history, Canada's strong trade links with the US don't mean the places ought to unite, the former mainlanders here are like the English used to be in Ireland, and so on. It's things like these that prevent this from being merely a partisan work. Though there is never any doubt where Eyton stands, this remains a rational and cogently argued statement. Even so, it would probably be fair to say that in essence it represents the fundamental DPP position.
Yet the book is no party program -- there are individual views on almost every page. There are criticisms of pan-green tactics, for instance on the referendum law. The author would have loved to have found the ancestral China with its gentleman scholars the KMT dreams of, but instead found the real Taiwan. The fourth nuclear power station should have been stopped earlier, but now should probably go ahead. And there are honorable reasons for supporting -- "one China" -- even if Eyton doesn't share them.
There are home truths, too, several derived from George Orwell (the two chapters on Orwell's views of nationalism are particularly fine). One is that people support teams or nations to feel better about themselves, another that colonial powers have to despise those they colonize in order to justify their colonialism, a third that the penalty Taiwan has paid for peaceful change is that the old regime remains a power in the land. There are many more.
There is one last point. Eyton apologizes for the fact that he crafted these essays with the aim of making their meaning clear for translation into Chinese. But what an excellent discipline this has proved! Clarity is exactly what marks them, with the result that they're intensely readable. The book's cover looks at first sight as if the text, actually bi-lingual, is in Chinese only. But don't be put off -- find it and read it. Love it or hate it, you're sure to find it an invigorating tonic.
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