Reifying the Chinese claim on Taiwan

Those who have paid close attention to Taiwanese politics since the change in ruling parties in 2008 may have noticed a change in nomenclature. This change has primarily taken the form of downplaying 'Taiwan' as a cultural and political node and re-emphasising 'China' or more specifically 'Chinese culture'. Thus, we see President Ma and his administration rarely using the word 'Taiwan' in the context of 'the nation' or 'national identity'. Instead, this administration has emphasised the primacy of the 'Republic of China', the still official name of the country as codified in the 1946 Constitution, implemented to legitimise Chinese rule of Taiwan. As evidenced by the Act Governing Relations between the Mainland Area and the Taiwan Area, Taiwan is to be regarded as simply 'a region' in the R.O.C. and NOT as a national territory in its own right.

The reasons?

1. Validating the legitimacy of the R.O.C to encompass and administer Taiwan is the bedrock of KMT legitimacy in the country. Without the R.O.C, the necessity of having a Chinese Nationalist Party becomes redundant and illogical.

2. It is the primary means by which unification between R.O.C and P.R.C can be facilitated. If Taiwan is the nation, that would mean officially recognising two countries on either side of the strait - something unacceptable to both KMT and CCP.

3. In order for the public to accept unification (annexation), the Taiwan consciousness that was built under Presidents Lee and Chen must be rolled back. Taiwanese need to be 're-educated' in the fact that they are Chinese, both culturally and politically. Once they accept their Chinese identity, it is thought that they will have no problems with being part of China, whether as an SAR of the PRC or otherwise.

4. It is a means to pacify the P.R.C. Beijing can unofficially accept Taiwan as R.O.C since that entails it remaining within the Chinese diaspora and sphere of influence. Without the R.O.C, PRC claims to Taiwan are patently absurd.

5. Downgrading Taiwan as a region of the R.O.C is a way to shift the 'status-quo' away from Taiwan as 'de facto independent' and towards Taiwan as 'de facto China'. Since the majority of Taiwanese have come to desire permanent retention of the status quo of Taiwan as de facto independent, it is much easier to change the meaning of 'status-quo' rather than change the perceptions and desires of Taiwanese. This is a complex word game. E.G Most people like oranges but the Government wants them to like apples. So you change the meaning of the word 'oranges' to indicate apples and, voila!, most people now like apples.

Evidence?

A recent news item demonstrates how the KMT wishes to end the debate over Taiwan's status once and for all and reify the R.O.C's legitimacy on Taiwan:

... the government plans to put historical documents concerning Taiwan on exhibition next year to mark the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China (ROC), a source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Among international treaties to be displayed are those signed by the Qing imperial government and the ROC with other countries, such as the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

The exhibition will travel across the country to show that Taiwan’s sovereignty undoubtedly belongs to the ROC, the source said.

But there are problems with this thinly veiled move:

Honorary professor at National Taipei University and historian Chen Ching-jen (鄭欽仁) criticized the planned exhibition as move by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government to “Sinicize Taiwan.”

Cheng said the occupation of Taiwan by KMT troops at the end of World War II did not mean that Taiwan’s sovereignty was transferred to the ROC.

He said that in both the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1952 and the Treaty of Taipei, Japan only agreed to cede its rights and claim over Taiwan, but did not mention to whom.

The true spirit of the San Francisco Peace Treaty then, Cheng said, was to return the sovereignty of Taiwan to Taiwanese.

He also said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) stressed during the presidential campaign that the sovereignty of Taiwan belongs to the public, and that the public would have the final say about the future of Taiwan.

“Ma should remember his promise,” Cheng said, adding that the government’s plan to prove that Taiwan belongs to the ROC only shows that the KMT still has the mentality of a foreign regime, despite the fact that it had lost power once and only returned to power through elections.

One last issue is national sovereignty as embodied in direct elections within Taiwan for the Taiwan President. This was the DPP's main goal of constitutional reform and it is the single most concrete obstacle blocking annexation. If one directly elects ones own President then that infers political sovereignty and independence. The only way to reverse this would be to either a) rename the President as Chief Executive or b) allow Chinese (PRC) citizens to vote in the Taiwan Presidential election, neither of which would at this time be acceptable to most Taiwanese.

I suspect the Government intends to quietly shift the goal posts so that officially, Taiwan is a part of China (PRC & ROC in a new unified polity) without making changes that would officially indicate Taiwanese have lost their sovereignty. First step? “Sinicize Taiwan” as if the last 14 years had never happened.

Finally, how does one celebrate the 100th year of a polity without a majority of citizens really caring for that polity in name or substance? Well, you need to build public enthusiasm but you also need to be careful not to specifically mention the ROC too much or the celebrations will be largely ignored or scorned as being a self-aggrandising waste of money. To whit, see how the following article avoids mentioning ROC or 'Chinese':

The government will ask the public for ideas on how the nation should celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China, said Emile Chih-jen Sheng, minister of the Council for Cultural Affairs.

Details will be released by the end of January, Sheng said, adding that the theme of the centennial celebrations will be “Let the world see Taiwan, and let Taiwan envisage its future.” (This is clever. It appears as if the Government is Taiwan-centric as it actually goes about planning a celebration of China, and of a polity that was imported lock, stock and barrel in 1949)

The minister made his remarks during a wide-ranging television interview broadcast Jan. 24. “This anniversary is the business of all our citizens. The celebration will be a platform to show the world Taiwan’s cultural achievements.” (Again, an appropriation of 'Taiwan's culture' - the subtext being that 'Taiwan's culture' is 'Chinese culture'.)

During the interview, Sheng also spoke on the recently passed Cultural Creativity Act. The act will try to promote the local cultural industry by offering “cultural experience tickets,” which will enable students to watch cultural productions, and providing ticket discounts to the general public. These tickets and discounts will be limited to performances put on by Taiwanese groups.

Upon being asked exactly how much money the government would provide for these shows, Sheng did not give definitive answers, but replied, “The Cultural Creativity Act is applicable to 16 forms of arts and performances, and we will gradually apply the law to these 16 art forms.

“A draft proposal of complementary measures will be completed in the next two to three months at the latest, and after receiving input from the public, it will be finalized within six months.”

“In France, master chefs who have received star ratings spend one month in a year preparing meals in elementary schools, so that the students get to know what French cuisine is like. The fees are paid for by the schools,” Sheng noted.

“That’s how you pass down cultural heritage,” he continued. “Culture is not something for a few. If Taiwan wants to cultivate a cultured public, it has to start from the young.” (Which is exactly what the Japanese and the KMT did during their respective colonisations of Taiwan - indoctrinate the young to love either the Emperor or CKS / Sun Yat-sen / R.O.C)

Sheng also spoke on the Creative Cultural Institute, which the act calls on the government to establish. “Taiwan has an Institute for Information Industry and a Commerce Development Research Institute, both of which gather information on current trends throughout the world. But up until now we have lacked an institute that would do something similar for culture.”

“The job of the institute will be to provide annual reports, help those in the creative industry find information, assist them with obtaining loans, or lead them on overseas tours. It will not be a research institute, but an executive one.”

Asked to respond to criticisms that the act not only will not help raise cultural awareness, but will popularize and hence cheapen culture, the minister said that the creativity sector and maintaining a high level of culture are two different things, and not at all in conflict.

“What we are after is increasing the number of participants in cultural events. If the number of those with an interest in culture increases, the level of culture will rise as well.”

The goal? Through culture and education, Taiwanese are to be retaught to identify with China or 'Chinese culture' and think of themselves as part of China's historical arc of development. As one prominent lawyer said to me recently, Ma and hard-line KMT members still regard themselves as the legitimate inheritors and successors of the Qing dynasty and the history of the Chinese nation. They see themselves as the guardians of the line of succession against the upstart P.R.C. The Taiwanese? My guess is they want to be left alone to run their own country if it weren't for the threat from the PRC to invade and the attempts of the quisling KMT to hold onto power and relevance at any cost.