For nearly eight decades, Taiwan has provided a home for, and shielded and nurtured, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). After losing the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the KMT fled to Taiwan, bringing with it hundreds of thousands of soldiers, along with people who would go on to become public servants and educators. The party settled and prospered in Taiwan, and it developed and governed the nation. Taiwan gave the party a second chance.
It was Taiwanese who rebuilt order from the ruins of war, through their own sweat and tears. It was Taiwanese who joined forces with democratic activists around the globe to resist the KMT regime’s contraventions of human rights during the White Terror era. As the Martial Law era ended and Taiwan transitioned to a democracy, it was Taiwanese who allowed KMT members to remain in the Legislative Yuan, run for office and continue to influence Taiwanese politics.
Such events are testaments to the tolerance and trust Taiwanese have given the KMT.
What has the KMT done in return?
To this day, it continues to make revanchist claims, such as asserting that “mainland China is integral to the Republic of China” and that Taiwanese are descendants of the Yan Emperor (炎帝) and Yellow Emperor (黃帝), the so-called Yanhuang shizhou (炎黃世胄). The KMT’s heart is far from the land that nurtured it and supported it, but with the long-irrelevant “motherland that birthed it.”
When Taiwanese contributed to the rescue effort after the Hualien earthquake last year, the KMT sent delegates to China for “dialogue exchanges.” When Chinese planes and warships enter the Taiwan Strait and threaten Taiwan’s safety, the KMT accuses the armed forces of provoking China through routine military exercises. When Taiwanese civilians volunteer to safeguard democracy and recall legislators who have paralyzed the political system, the KMT makes slanderous accusations based on populism and a desire for revenge.
The KMT has forgotten that Taiwan gave it a refuge to heal, a place for its children to grow up and build families in freedom, and a chance for the KMT, once a failed regime, to compete in a democratic system against other parties.
Taiwan does not judge people by their origins, but by their willingness to build a better future. Today, we must ask the KMT: Where do you consider home?
As a Taiwanese saying goes: “We are more indebted to the parents who care for us than the parents who birthed us.” It is not just an idiom; it is a measure of morality and loyalty. If the KMT continues to worship China and despise Taiwan, then Taiwan would abandon the KMT.
Taiwan does not need visitors longing for a “motherland.” Taiwan needs a family of friends who will stand with it.
Hsu Pai-yueh is a former air force fighter pilot and commercial airline pilot.
Translated by Cayce Pan
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