Tag Archives: Politics in Taiwan

New Wikileaks cables highlight PRC v. ROC “No-Consensus Consensus”

8 Sep

To-may-to. To-mah-to. If you enjoying reading infuriatingly obfuscated political speak, you need to be following this Wikileaks/’92 Consensus story:

While President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has reiterated that the so-called “1992 consensus” was reached by Taiwan and China in 1992 to the effect that each side recognizes “one China, with each side having its own interpretation,” US cables recently released by WikiLeaks show that Chinese officials and academics clearly have a different understanding on what constitutes the “consensus.”

So, here’s how I see this– and I could be totally wrong. If I am, feel free to set me straight. But it goes something like this…

Way back in 1992, the PRC and ROC got together for a cross-strait chat. Both sides made their points, and it ended in the PRC basically telling the ROC to go fly a kite.

The KMT came out of this, hoping not to lose face politically, twisting it into a half-win. “Hey guys, no, don’t worry, we got this. Yeah, they’re cool, ya know, we just said, ‘Yeah, you got your story. We’ve got ours,’ but everything is cool.”

This lunacy was further wrenched, wringing out the obvious truth, into a nice, dry political buzz word: “the 1992 Consensus”– a.k.a. “The No-Consensus Consensus.”

Because, as far as China is concerned, then and now, there is nothing to discuss: There is one China. It is controlled and governed by the PRC. Taiwan is a province of that country. The PRC is allowing a local government of that province to play some meaningless game of political charades before it all ends in an ultimate unification.

Taiwan is the little grandchild tugging on Grandpa China’s pantleg. Sort of annoying, but he’s just letting it slide because, hey, it’s family, and he’s got a lot invested in it carrying on the bloodline.

That’s how China sees it. There is no agree-to-disagree here. It’s a “disagree-to-agree-to-disagree.” See how that works?

President Ma and the KMT keep hammering this “1992 Consensus” line like a whack-a-mole game, and I just don’t get it. First of all, how has this been spun as consensus? Or an accomplishment? Or a legit policy stance?

Do I think either party in Taiwan has a much stronger leg to stand on? Eh, not really. But this whole “consensus” mumbojumbo is for the birds.

Yeah, the PRC kind of has the ROC by the balls here. But hey, that’s what happens when you lose a civil war in a continent-sized country and retreat to a tiny little island. The window to announce independence probably closed in the early 1970s.

What can be done now? Well, hopefully something a little more creative and constructive than basing the most important policy you have on agreeing to disagree, and not even really at that.

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Are Taiwanese “Chinese”?

9 Aug

 

Was this built by Chinese? I don't think so, bro. -Photo c/o Nick Colony

A while back I mentioned how the DPP and local media had started in on how President Ma Ying-jeou chooses to term his nationality. Well, it’s made the headlines again in a recent Taipei Times op-ed, “To be or not to be Taiwanese or Chinese.”

 

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is in full electioneering mode…

One can imagine his soul shrieking as he uttered ["I am Taiwanese"], but when he said it in English he chose not to use the word “Formosan” or the word that came into common usage in the 1960s, “Taiwanese.”

Instead he declared himself to be an “R.O.C.er,” an invented phrase that is neither here nor there, a play on Republic of China (ROC), which could also be pronounced like “rocker.”

So besides the witty wordplay, there is some substance to the semantics. The author is as obviously anti-Ma as they come, but he brings up some interesting points.

The real question is where the small minority who consider themselves to be “Chinese” get off accusing people who say they are Taiwanese of “mincing words over ethnicity.”

There are people out there who think they are really smart, who believe that this distinction is not really all that important, imagining themselves to be something in-between, or simultaneously Chinese and Taiwanese.

This is simply not the case. Whether you call yourself Chinese or Taiwanese is of huge significance in an international sense.

Now, to impart my 五毛 on this, I have found national identity much more difficult to label since returning from China to Taiwan.

It may come from my time working in the Shanghai media, where a simple cross-strait slip of the tongue could end your career.

It may come from my intimate knowledge of the two judicial systems vis-a-vis immigration.

It may come from my friendships with both Chinese and Taiwanese, who I consider to be equally fantastic but intrinsically different people.

Either way, my reluctance to mislabel someone has caused me to start saying things like “ABT” (American-born Taiwanese) instead of “ABC.”

It’s made me more disinclined to utter “the mainland” in conversation.

It’s made me cringe when fellow foreign teachers talk about their “Chinese co-teachers.”

It’s made me realize 国语 (guoyu) and 普通话 (putonghua) are neither one in the same, nor should anyone ever say they speak “Chinese.”

So, in many ways, I agree with the author here. There is international significance and certain ramifications when defining oneself as Taiwanese, or vice versa.

I wouldn’t base my campaign on it, but it makes for an interesting trip to the water cooler.

 

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President Ma addresses nationality

14 Jul

(Decided to go with this pic, since Hasselhoff's bday is coming up) Question is: Should Ma make this his campaign image? I mean, at least he apparently knows how to swim. Wait, that makes him less Taiwanese.

Interesting to see President Ma addressing his nationality on Tuesday. It reminded me in some ways of the politicization of President Obama’s ethnicity and the laughable “birther” cult. According to the Taipei Times,

The issue of identity re-entered the presidential campaign yesterday after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) defined himself as “Taiwanese” in response to a campaign slogan introduced by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) last week that highlights her intention to enhance her public identification as Taiwanese.

Ma already hears it from the crowd for holding a US passport. His politically close(r) relationship with China has pushed others far enough to question his loyalty to the country. Once again, the idea is that a president is not Country X-enough to run the ship. As much as I support the struggle for Taiwanese identity, I do believe Ma thinks he is doing what is best for the country. It’ll be interesting to see how this theme plays out in the election.

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Tsai Responds to Sexuality Allegations

18 Apr

Tsai Ing-wen addresses the press, Saturday April 16. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) has failed to lure 2012 presidential hopeful Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) into a moral mud-slinging contest.

Tsai released a brief statement yesterday saying she would not dignify Shih’s demand for clarity on her sexual orientation with a response. The Taipei Times quoted her,

“There is nothing wrong with any gender, sexual orientation or marital status. Nobody has the right to question another [on this],” Tsai said in a short -300-word public statement.

Tsai said she would use the opportunity presented by the furor to promote awareness about discrimination, suggesting that an individual’s right to privacy concerning their sexual orientation was akin to a human rights issue. She said she would work to “eliminate gender discrimination in Taiwan.”

The fact that Shih brought up Tsai’s sexuality as somehow indicative of her ability to lead is puzzling. I am not sure what kind of effect it will have on the telephone polls leading up to the primaries, but it would shock me if it hurt her chances.

Taiwan is an increasingly open society. It is home to by far the most out gay community I have ever encountered. Being gay is still often an issue within the family, but those who cling to traditional beliefs are often more on the social fringe than those they try to stigmatize.

Taiwan’s gay community is expanding as more and more people feel confident coming out. The percentage of openly gay individuals id going to only continue to rise here.

Why? Not exactly sure. But it probably has something to do with not all females wanting to be pale-skinned, squeaky-voice, cutesy-dolls and males who don’t want to be traditional power-hungry chauvinists.

Taiwan, like much of Asia, is experiencing a rapid recasting of traditional gender roles. Less people are getting married, less couples are having children. The entire dating dynamic is shifting, particularly moving away from family connections as the Internet provides the ability to meet more people more easily. Young people’s personal lives are becoming more personal.

Tsai seems much more in tune with her populace. I’d say she handled this insult very presidentially.

P.S.  I’ve pretty much lost all respect for Shih at this point. Four years ago, he had me fooled. As the outspoken leader of the campaign to take down Chen Shui-bian, he portrayed himself as a non-partisan reformer set on rooting out corruption. But as the movement’s momentum begin to wane and new cases of political corruption came to light, he went into seclusion. It’s pretty clear he’s a hack, and he’s intent on splitting the DPP camp.

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