Global News Post: Taiwan

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">By Ralph Jennings from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Taipei</st1:place></st1:city><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><span>  </span><span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Taiwan</span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">’s ruling Nationalist Party and the Republic of China that it created celebrate their 100-year anniversary this week. Some of the celebratory events were designed to remind Taiwanese people that the party, better known as the KMT, was born in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> and still has roots there.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Despite the common ethnicity, most of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:country-region>’s public says it no longer identifies with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A military parade in <st1:city w:st="on">Taipei</st1:city> marks the day, October 11, when the KMT overthrew <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s Qing Dynasty to establish the republic, 100 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The party under strongman Chiang Kai-shek first came here in the 1940s after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s Communists. After arriving on the island, Chiang squelched use of the Taiwanese dialect and tried to sinofy the island’s aborigines.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Although many Taiwanese still follow traditional Chinese values dating back hundreds of years, many more are turning away from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Taiwanese say they are embracing a unique local identity shaped in part by a blending of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s generations and ethnic groups.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“To me that sort of racial or ethnic distinction has fallen to the wayside more and more with the younger generation, and what has replaced it is a sort of commonality in culture and style and sort of lifestyle,” said Jay Lin, a 38-year-old managing director of a Taiwanese television content distributor.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Beijing</span></st1:city><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> still claims sovereignty of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:country-region>, lobbies against its efforts to be recognized as a country and tries to limit <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s role in international organizations, such as the United Nations. Lin says the tense ties are a part of the new local identity.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“I think a lot of Taiwanese have grown to sort of accept and absorb that as part of who they are," said Lin. "They’re not recognized by every single country in the world diplomatically, but life goes on. Work goes on. And relationships go on.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">This year a survey by the non-governmental Taiwan Thinktank reported that just 5.7 percent of the island’s 23 million people see <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> as home. Those who followed Chiang Kai-shek to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:country-region> from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> are aging, while their juniors eagerly absorb the languages and cultural quirks of longstanding local populations including Taiwanese aborigine tribes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Tung Chen-Yuan, a professor of development studies <st1:placename w:st="on">National</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Chengchi</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Taipei</st1:place></st1:city>, says the shift began at least 20 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“I think people in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:country-region> gradually see differences between <st1:country-region w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>, particularly in value differences such as freedom, human rights and democracy," said Tung. "In addition they also see a difference of lifestyle between <st1:country-region w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. So gradually they keep some distance in their identity from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">In 1992, Tung’s university reported 26 percent of Taiwanese citizens identified themselves as Chinese. Last year, the figure had dropped to just four percent.<span>  </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Even the Nationalist party has changed its stance on Taiwanese identity. This week’s ceremonies included aborigine dancing. <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s President Ma Ying-jeou made remarks in the Taiwanese dialect.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Parliament speaker Wang Jin-pyng of the KMT says the duality is clear.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He says most common people on the island are beyond a doubt both Taiwanese and part of the Republic of China. Those include people who came from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> itself, those born on the island to Chinese heritage, citizens of aboriginal ancestry and foreign immigrants.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> is not just part of the KMT past.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The president used Monday’s anniversary speech to advocate that <st1:country-region w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:country-region> not formally break away from <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region> and instead work on improving trade ties with <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Beijing</st1:city></st1:place> to seek gains from its huge economy. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Taiwanese Embrace Own Identity as China-Born Ruling Party Celebrates Centennial

By Ralph Jennings from Taipei Taiwan ’s ruling Nationalist Party and the Republic of China that it created celebrate their 100-year ann...