Thu, Jan 14, 2016 page4

• FEATURE: Independence finds traction in south

  RADICAL AGENDA: ‘Independence is the only way for us to develop and move forward,’ said Free Taiwan Party candidate Huang Hsien-ching, who is vieing for a seat in Tainan

  • By James Pomfret / Reuters, TAINAN
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  In a gritty suburb of Tainan, Huang Hsien-ching (黃憲清) was stacking election flyers and inspecting campaign trucks rigged with megaphones ahead of Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections.

  As a rookie candidate for the fledgling Free Taiwan Party — one of a number of smaller, radical groups advocating Taiwanese independence — Huang, a family doctor, said he has put his career and US$30,000 of his savings on the line to try and fight back against what he sees as an increasingly assertive China.

  “More and more people want independence in Taiwan,” said Huang, 61, in his campaign office fronted by a giant billboard of himself holding his arm aloft with the logo of a bird in flight.

  “China is suppressing Taiwan internationally and they do not treat us as equals. Independence is the only way for us to develop and move forward,” added Huang, who grew up in Tainan.

  Huang’s rhetoric is exactly the kind of thing Beijing hates. China has repeatedly warned it would never tolerate independence for a nation it considers a rebel province and has not ruled out the use of force to ensure eventual unification.

  In cities, townships and villages across the nation, deep-rooted ideological differences shaped by Taiwan’s fraught history with China are once again set to play out at the ballot box.

  Nearly seven decades of enmity between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have made independence or unification a core issue.

  More radical, anti-China voices like Huang’s persist, even with the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) expected to sweep in a new president and legislative majority on Saturday — and potentially reshape the cross-strait relationship.

  During a campaign rally in Tainan — a traditional DPP stronghold — tens of thousands of people thronged the streets, set off firecrackers, waved flags and cheered as DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) swept by in a motorcade.

  “Taiwan and China, we are brothers for sure, but we have already divided into two families,” said prominent Taiwanese rapper Dwagie (大支), who attended a Tsai campaign pitstop at an ornate ancient temple in Tainan with a few friends.

  “Independence is an ambition for the future, but it’s not possible in the current situation. We should focus on the economy first,” said Dwagie, who raps in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese).

  However for another rookie, China Unification Promotion Party legislative candidate Fu Chien-feng (傅建峰), engagement with China is a historical imperative.

  The 57-year-old former journalist concedes he has little chance of winning a seat, but feels his minority pro-China voice remains important.

  “If we can have a ‘one country, two systems’ arrangement like in Hong Kong and it is in Taiwan’s interest, I think we should consider it,” he said in his office in Tainan’s Anping District (安平).

  “If Tsai Ing-wen pushes for independence, we would be punished by China economically,” Fu said. “Look at the West and how it now engages and cooperates with China. How is it possible that Taiwan, with the same language and culture, does not do the same?”

  However, in his office surrounded by rice fields and fish farms, Huang said a democratic, free and open Taiwan could not accept the rule of an authoritarian regime.

  “We must pay whatever price to achieve independence ... even if it means war with China,” Huang said.

  “I do not trust China. Look at Tibet, Xinjiang and now Hong Kong,” he said, referring to the recent disappearances of five people linked to a Hong Kong bookseller and publisher and speculation they might have been abducted and detained by Chinese authorities. China has so far not commented on the fate of the men.

  “We do not want Taiwan to become a place without freedom of expression, where booksellers go missing. We do not want this kind of country to take over,” he said.
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