You can always be certain that election time is around the corner in Taiwan when you start hearing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians touting “Taiwan” and “Taiwanese” in their speeches.
Such was the case with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during his presidential campaign in 2008 and re-election campaign in 2011, in which he told supporters that he would be Taiwanese until the day he dies and created the slogan: “I’m a Taiwanese and also a ROCer” — a citizen of the Republic of China (ROC).
However, over the past seven years, the Ma administration has instead been engaged in “de-Taiwanizing,” from high-school history textbook guidelines created by pro-unification academics to rhetoric on “Taiwan and China share the same Zhonghua culture (中華文化)” and “people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Zhonghua minzu.” (Chinese ethnic group, 中華民族).
Despite having being ruled by the Dutch, the Koxinga Kingdom, the Qing Dynasty, Japan and Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) KMT over the past 400 years, the Taiwanese consciousness has not been crushed, and the number of people who self-identify as Taiwanese has not diminished, despite the Ma administration’s China-friendly policies and an effort to “de-Taiwanize” the nation.
Various surveys have shown over the past few years that not only has the public’s identification with Taiwan skyrocketed, but support for a truly independent and sovereign country has risen.
For example, a poll released by National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center in July showed a record-low 3.3 percent of respondents regard themselves as Chinese, while 59 percent indicated they identify themselves as Taiwanese and 33.7 percent said they are both Taiwanese and Chinese.
In another poll released by the Taiwan Brain Trust last week, 82 percent of respondents aged between 20 and 29 said they believe Taiwan should become an independent nation, while 61.4 percent of all respondents shared the same opinion.
The latest survey by the Taiwan Thinktank on Sunday suggested that 64 percent of respondents believe the nation’s presidential candidates should make a clear statement that Taiwan is not a part of China.
KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) campaign logo was designed around the slogan of “One Taiwan.” With the presidential election 46 days away, many expect Chu and other candidates to repeatedly refer to “Taiwan” and “Taiwanese” in their speeches.
As Chu seeks to be the leader of the nation, it is gratifying to see him embrace the name Taiwan when speaking publicly. However, as the public has witnessed over the years, the name Taiwan has been exploited by Ma for his personal convenience. Hopefully Chu will not turn himself into a “second Ma,” tossing the words “Taiwan” and “Taiwanese” away like toilet paper once he has achieved his own agenda.
If Chu is wise and genuinely cares about Taiwan, he would, after reflecting on why the KMT has grown so unpopular with the public, amend his cross-strait platform to better reflect the wishes of the general public as shown in various polls.
Chu faces an uphill battle, as Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) maintains a solid double-digit lead in public opinion polls as front-runner in the three-way presidential race. However, as long as he is willing to pay heed to the wants of the majority, the public might just be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as he praises the name Taiwan.
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