At the Government Information Office in Taipei a man told me that Taiwan is not internationally recognized by the world as a separate country. He said that it has to do with trade. China says if anyone does business with Taiwan that China will not do business with that country. So, since China is larger and richer in resources, countries choose trade with China over trade with Taiwan.
I also don’t understand this because Taiwan does tons of business all over the world. For example the company ASUS that makes EEEPC is a Taiwanese company, and you can buy these computers all over the world. I do not understand economics. I do not understand the China Taiwan relationship.
For more pictures from China Visit my Travel Photos blog at travelerphotos.blogspot.com
Taiwanese people, I am finding, really do not like China. This is hard for me to grasp. I like China. I spent 5 months in China. To me, Taiwan is very similar to China in a lot of ways, food, culture, language, stores, products, music, etc. Since I am familiar with China I want to compare Taiwan to China. This is coming out in my conversations with Taiwanese people, and I don’t know how they are receiving it.
I was talking to three Taiwanese boys and I was a little shocked how they reacted when I spoke about China, and how they thought of China and Chinese people. The boys asked me if I liked Chinese food and if I had ever tried stinky tofu. I said that I liked the food in China. I told them I had stinky tofu in China and it wasn’t very good, so I want to try it again in Taiwan. They all kind of snickered.
They replied, “We think food in China is dirty.”
Then they told me that they all wanted to study in the USA and asked if there were a lot of Chinese students in the USA. I told them that there were, and I also described China town. I really love China town in Philadelphia. I thought the idea that there are communities of Chinese people from all of greater “China” (Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, etc.) would comfort them. I thought they would like the idea that there were places in America where they would feel at home. I was wrong.
They replied, “But we do not like Chinese people.” They do not want to talk to Chinese people, even in America.
Then we discussed their plans for after college. I was wondering what schools in America they would like to go to, or what they would like to study, or what career they would do after they graduated. They told me first they must do mandatory military service. I replied, “It is a good thing Taiwan is not at war with anyone.”
They said, “Yes, but Taiwan has lots of problems with China.”
Does Taiwan still fight with China? Is there a war going on somewhere between them that I do not know about?
Their anti-Chinese attitude was very startling to me. In America we are raised to be anti-racist, and most people will not make such brutal statements about the people of other countries. Maybe with the war, now people openly make these statements about Iraqis and Muslims, but still for the most part Americans are taught not to express hate. I want to talk to more Taiwanese about this issue. And I guess I need another history lesson.
7 comments:
Tell them that their comments are VERY Chinese. They are.
They should love you for that.
Tell them that the Chinese say the exact same things about them. You should video your conversations.
Good work.
Wade
This has to do with the fall of imperial rule over a hundred years ago and the rise of nationalist and communist factions in china . They fought each other in the 1940s and basically the nationalists (under Chiang Kai-Shek) lost and fled to Taiwan, setting up their own country, and the communists won and took over mainland China.
Thats the essence of it. Mainland China keeps threatening to invade Taiwan to 'unify' the country. I suppose Taiwanese don't want to be ruled by their old enemies of the mainland communist party.
But it wouldn't really be racist (they're each Chinese), more nationalism (as you'de expect from nationalists).
Maybe there's something lost in translation. I think the government man was trying to say that if foreign countries, for example the US, vote in the UN that Taiwan should be recognized as an independent nation, then China has said they will not trade with such countries. Most countries see China as a great business opportunity. So it all boils down to money and what's best for their own country.
China has also passed a law that if Taiwan itself declares independence then China will use force against Taiwan. In the past China has fired test missiles close to the island to send a message. If you ask anyone from China, they will say Taiwan was always a part of China. It's like saying the US was always a part of Great Britain. It may have started out that way, but it isn't any longer. There was just no war that "officially" declared it. Like you said....completely different governments. Imagine if Great Britain was a Communist country and wanted the US to join back together with them again. Wouldn't that be a little odd and scary?
I think, not just Taiwan but, Asian countries like Japan and people from Hong Kong try to stay away from products made in China due to it's track record. You must have heard of the tainted pet food in the US that traced its ingredients back to China as the cause of sickness and death in pets. Baby formula and most recently baby milk and milk products such as ice-cream and yogurt from China containing melamine causing sickness and death in babies. Also there were cases of vitamins from China that do not contain what it says being sold in the US. Besides these cases that we've heard of in the US, there have been numerous other things that have happened in Asia that we have not heard of that may cause some frustration, apprehension, and fear among people there. Perhaps the little boys didn't express it properly, maybe there's a language barrier causing misunderstanding, maybe they're just being honest and saying how they feel. I would rather hear what's honest and true to people rather than someone smiling to my face and pretending everything's wonderful when it's not. The enemy you know is better than the enemy you don't know. (Not saying they're enemies! Just rather know than not know.) =)
What I've written is just a little bit of the whole picture. Hope this may help give you a different perspective on the matter.
Not everyone in Taiwan dislikes China. Many want to unify. The previous President was pro separation. The newly elected President is not. (in very simple terms)
Enjoy your time there. I wish I was there now! I think we'll visit again in early summer.
Tom
Hi Mira,
I am a Taiwanness. I speak Chinese too. But I hate China government. Taiwan is an independent country like any country all over the world. We have national flag, money, government. We elect our own president. We use passport visit other country all over the world except visit China, because they claim we are part of them. We join the Olympic game use a name called 'Chinese Taipei' instead of 'Taiwan' because we are not a country as they thought. We can not claim we are an independent country otherwise they we use their missile againest us. That is why people in Taiwan hate China. Have you ever visit other place other than Taipei? We are not a country called 'Taipei'. Taipei is just one of the city in Taiwan. Why should we be called as Taipei? Why can't we show our national flag on the world athletics? That is beacuse China government. We like peace, furthermore, we like doing our own way but China don't like. How can thay do this to us? Why? We like treat people as a friend. As you may find, most people in Taiwan are friendly. But we really don't like people said we are 'part of them'. Can you understand?
Obviously this is a very complex subject. Maybe there is no real way I can understand the matter since I am not a Taiwanese citizen.
Thanks so much for your opinions and insight! I really appreciate this.
Mira
Mira,
This is an extremely complex issue. While some people would chalk it up to nationalism, I think it's a little deeper than that. I'm not sure you'll get a straight answer from anyone in Taiwan or China about this subject.
I'm American but I was born in Taiwan. I still have family on the island but consider myself Californian. I've heard this issue from family, studied it in international relations classes in college, and worked it while I was on Capitol Hill.
While both sides are ethnically Chinese, history really separated the two peoples. Taiwan has been a Dutch colony (sometime long ago when men still shot at each other with the blunderbuss), a Japanese colony (1895 – 1945), and now is its own de facto country (but not de jure according to international law). Since 1895 the island has only been ruled from China for 3 years (1945-48).
Most Taiwanese can trace their heritage back to the pre-war days (I think around the high 80s%). But a significant percentage of them came to Taiwan after the Chinese Nationalists lost their civil war with the Chinese Communists in 1948. The pre-1948 Taiwanese had nothing to do with the Chinese civil war because many of them were still shocked at not being a part of the Japanese Empire (for example my granny considered Japanese her first language).
If one wants to generalize, Taiwanese who can trace their ancestry to the pre-war days generally lean independence while Taiwanese whose family immigrated to the island after 1948 generally want to re-unite with China (but not the People's Republic of China). Take my family for example – they’ve been on the island for as long as anyone can remember. They don’t have any relatives in China so they don’t care to be a part of China. As they see it, calling Taiwanese Chinese just because they share a language/culture is like calling Americans English just because we use Shakespeare’s language.
But it goes deeper than that. As you pointed out, aside from politics, there are both cultural and economic ties as well as differences. Many Taiwanese businesses actually manufacture in China. Many Chinese workers depend on Taiwanese firms for jobs. They share the same language but despise each other’s accent and habits. Bad Chinese pet food and powder milk don’t help. What’s that we say about English being the only thing separating the British from the Americans?
As for those boys and for many Taiwanese and Chinese, nationalism does rear its ugly head. I just thank cooler heads on both sides for avoiding a shooting war for the last 60 years. The world would be a pretty bad place if 1.2 billion Chinese go to war with any country.
I think I’ll stop for now. I have spent a lot of time on this question and it can drive one mad. But I’m happy to exchange thoughts on this issue should you want to explore.
Ted
Post a Comment