In her book, "My Fight for a New Taiwan: One Woman's Journey from Prison to Power", Lu Hsiu-lien details a long history of Taiwan, one that is primarily dominated by Chinese Empire. She states that much of Taiwan's history was developed in the shadow of its large neighbor to the northwest, China. In her book, she paints a picture of present-day Taiwan as well and maps a course for the future of the small island nation.
Taiwan's traditions are rooted in Confucianism, a type of philosophy that can trace its origins to China about three millennia ago, a philosophy promulgated by Confucius which underlies much of the social behaviors in the context of everyday Oriental interactions. Confucianism is dogmatic in the sense that it emphasizes strict familial and social roles such as a woman's appropriate place in the home as well as an unbending moral compass that guides every aspect of conduct in traditional China. Hsiu-lien writes about a Taiwan that is firmly rooted in Chinese influence both socioculturally and politically, a country which has a history at least as long as China's history. She also mentions that Chinese history stretches back about 5,000 years.
While China can boast independence for much of its lengthy history, this is not the case with Taiwan. Much of Taiwan's identity was forged by its close ties (both geographically and socio-politically) with China. (Hsiu-lien & Esarey, 2014).
However, in 1895, Taiwan was abandoned by the Chinese Qing Dynasty to the Japanese. For more than half a century, the Japanese ruled Taiwan and forced the Taiwanese to adopt the Japanese language and customs. During World War II, the Taiwanese were essentially forced to fight against the Allies by Emperor Hirohito's forces. In 1945, the Chinese ruler, Chiang Kai-shek, and his representatives accepted Taiwan's surrender. Taiwan's identity problems only worsened as the Chinese Nationalists took the reins of power in Taiwan. In 1947, things came to head as a violent clash between Taiwanese protesters and the Chinese Nationalists resulted in a bloodbath. The incident came to be called the "February 28 Incident". This incident contributed to a widening divide between so-called Chinese "mainlanders" and native Taiwanese. It also gave more impetus to a global movement which supported Taiwan's independence.
Eventually, Chiang Kai-shek and his Chinese Nationalists lost the Civil War against the Chinese Communists on China's mainland. In 1949, Chiang Kai-shek fled China and set up a new government in Taiwan, one that relied on propaganda, cultural suppression, and political oppression as methods to control the Taiwanese, denying them equal rights and democratic participation in their political processes.
Hsiu-lien was just a small child when the "February 28 Incident" occurred but arguably it played the most formative event of her life, later strengthening her resolve to stay the course, endure prison time, and run for election to become Taiwan's most-powerful woman. Doubtless, her childhood informed the activism of her adulthood as she worked towards a peaceful, democratic "People's Taiwan".
Ostensibly, Hsiu-lien perceived the China of the past and its actions as those of an oppressive, occupying nation, one that would not allow "native-born" Taiwanese to have their own customs, their own culture, their own language, and their own self-governance. China's actions were murderous and vile, according to Hsiu-lien, and history bears out this truth. As Hsiu-Lien discovered through her friendships with expatriate Taiwanese loyalists during her stays in Europe, the Chinese Nationalists had more blood on their hands than she previously knew (Hsiu-lien & Esarey, 2014).
In fact, the Nationalists had carried out secret pogroms to torture and kill Taiwanese dissidents throughout the 1950s and 1960s during The White Terror. The media propaganda machine kept the native Taiwanese from being aware of the atrocities that the Chinag Kai-shek and the Nationalist dictatorship committed, Hsiu-Lien relays in her book. A country that had been occupied by the Dutch, Manchus, Japanese, and finally, the Chinese, still struggled valiantly, and usually secretively -- unbeknownst to the powers-that-be -- to maintain its cultural heritage and identity.
Taiwan, China, and Japan attracted center stage in the international community, Hsiu-Lien relates, over the conflict of "ownership" of a group of islands called the Diaoyutai by the Taiwanese and called the Senkaku by the Japanese. Regarded as traditional fishing grounds by the native Taiwanese, the ruling Nationalists of Taiwan, according to Hsiu-lien, only "half-heartedly" pushed for Taiwan's possession of the revered territory. Relations were already stressed with Japan, a nation that had killed many Chinese (and Taiwanese) during World War II. The controversy served to ignite the patriotic fervor of Taiwanese all over the globe. Chinag Kai-Shek and his administration had seen their heyday as the push for a united Taiwan ruled by the people grew in momentum (Hsiu-lien & Esarey, 2014).
However, Chiang Kai-shek's martial law was still in effect in 1972, and his spies were omnipresent, making it a dangerous enterprise for Taiwanese dissidents such as Hsiu-lien. Even despite what some saw as an attempt on her life, Hsiu-lien fought the Chinese Nationalists for a democratic Taiwan. Taiwan's relations with China were more strained than ever as the American-backed Chinese re-asserted their control as the United States dropped its diplomatic relations with Taiwan. It was a complex maelstrom as the Nationalist Party accused the Dangwai (a growing group of pro-democracy Taiwan) as being Communists or "Communist sympathizers" because of their opposition to the Nationalist-run State. It seemed that a unified Taiwan was further than ever as the populace of the small nation grew more divided along party lines. Ultimately, as a result of her opposition to the Chinese mainlanders (many who had ruled since 1947), Hsiu-lien was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but served only five of those years. Taiwan's identity was in utter turmoil and its past national crises of identity -- due primarily to Chinese and Japanese rule -- appeared that they would never be resolved, that the Taiwanese people would never have a voice in their own governance.
As Hsiu-lien fast-forwards to the identity crisis of present-day Taiwan, she notes several issues which confuse nations throughout the global community. Even though Hsiu-lien and her Presidential running mate, Chen Shui-lian, won the first legitimate, unrigged democratic election in Taiwan in the year 2000 (largely due to her political activism and rallying), Taiwan still suffered badly from its affiliation and de jure rule by communist-run China. In other words, it still had a national identity crisis that was not so easily resolved at the ballot boxes, despite the ardent work of Hsiu-lien and her political supporters.
As Hsiu-lien recounts, modern Taiwan is still under the yoke of China. Taiwan is still officially referred to as the Republic of China. China utilized its propaganda machine to discredit President Lee Teng-hui but he insisted that Taiwan become a model for global democracy. He also insisted that genuine reunification of China and Taiwan would only occur when China itself became a democracy. Thus, Lee Teng-hui was accused of trying to split the "motherland", i.e. China. (Hsiu-lien & Esarey, 2014).
As late as the 1990s, Taiwan was still answering to the Superpower to the north and still desperately trying to define its national identity. The United Nations offered Taiwan a "quasi-membership" to its body but this was contingent upon its relations with China. After all of her activism and efforts to unite Taiwan under the banner of democracy, Hsiu-lien's frustrations only grew. She wanted official recognition as a sovereignty by the United Nations. Disappointment, as it had done so many times, before only fanned the flames of the fire that propelled Hsiu-lien to global prominence as an advocate for democracy.
Hsiu-lien relates that the future for Taiwan lies in its exclusion of outside influences in its capability of self-governance. She points out that the Taiwanese Nationalists, by insisting they represented all of China, jeopardized and lost Taiwan's seat in the United Nations. Hsiu-lien's vision for the future, as she writes, includes gender equality, an end to hostilities between the Nationalist and Communist Parties. She comments that lasting peace can only occur when the Nationalists are removed from power. She adds that the tensions between the two powers are relics of China's Civil War. She also visualizes Taiwan as being on an equal diplomatic footing with China (Hsiu-Lien & Esarey, 2014).
Indeed, Hsiu-lien's vision for Taiwan helps forge its own distinct identity, one that is democratic and uncorrupted by political malfeasance. Hsiu-lien visualizes a 21st-century, progressive Taiwan where the infrastructure is modernized and the Chinese recognize themselves and Taiwan as "distant relatives and close neighbors" (Hsiu-lien & Esarey, 2014). Ultimately, her future for Taiwan lays out a blueprint of a sovereign nation built on democratic principles as well as one that honors its unique heritage and its self-identity.
Works Cited
Hsui-lien, L. & Esarey, A. (2014). My fight for a new Taiwan: one woman's journey from prison to power. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press.
