By: Ray Lee
If you asked a Chinese person if they felt that a Taiwanese person was Chinese, they would most likely respond that they were. However, if I knew someone was Taiwanese, I would never dare ask them if they felt they were Chinese. It would be a catalyst for a debate that would go on forever. I was told that if a non-Asian asked them if they were Chinese, they may or may not answer “yes” depending on whether they wished to explain the difference between Taiwanese and Chinese.
I never really understood why someone who in my opinion was ethnically Chinese felt that they weren’t. Even though not all people from Taiwan are from the Han race (ethnically Chinese), most are. A very small percentage of the people can trace their ancestry back to the ancient aborigines of Taiwan. There were settlements during the Ming Dynasty (1386-1644), but they didn’t develop until the 16th century and the settlements weren’t Chinese. They were European—Dutch to be exact. Since then, there was a slow, but steady migration of Chinese workers who settled there.
The only way for the Chinese workers to settle there was by marrying the female aborigines and buying land. Though there wasn’t a huge population, the Manchu rulers of China who took over a couple of decades after the Dutch, tried to prevent mass migration to the island. The Chinese then governed the island for another two hundred years before losing it to the Japanese in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). After the war, Taiwan was freed of Japanese rule. This is where the lines are hazy and confusing. As of now, the debate is that we cannot determine whether Taiwan or the Republic of China is legitimately a country as they claimed or in fact, a province in rebellion as China claims.
The Republic of China (ROC) was created in 1912 after the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. In 1949 when the Communists won the Civil War against the Kuomingtang (KMT) or the Nationalist Party, the whole ROC government fled to Taiwan and established the capital in Taipei. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) now claims that Taiwan is in fact part of the mainland and that the ROC is a group of rebels. No real fighting has occurred between the two governments, but China recently enacted a law stating that it is illegal for Taiwan to declare independence and military forces would be mobilized to “stop the rebellion.”
Who is right? It’s hard to say. It is one of those controversial issues that plague world peace. The answer varies depending on the person you ask. In my opinion, both are wrong and at the same time, both are right. I look at it like this; if a bunch of robbers were to rob you and take away your money, they may claim ownership of the money, but whatever they have not taken away is still yours. The Communist may have driven out the ROC (or Kuomingtang for those who are more/less PC), but the ROC has secured themselves in their own property, which is present day Taiwan. Until this piece of property is taken away as well, this property STILL belongs to the ROC.
Another way to look at the situation is by comparing it to other instances of history, like the situation in America pre-Revolutionary War. The Americans were British and they were legitimately British citizens. The Taiwanese are in fact ethnically Chinese as the Americans were ethnically British. However, once the Americans declared their independence from Britain, they were Americans and no longer recognized themselves as British. It is the same situation as the Taiwanese. They no longer recognize themselves as being Chinese because these identifiers are not race or ethnicity related, but nationality related.
The Communist Party labels the Taiwanese government as rebels who are guilty of rebelling against the PRC by legitimatizing their sovereign rule over the island of Taiwan and some of the neighboring islands. If we logically analyze the whole situation, we can conclude that the Taiwanese aren’t the rebels, the Communists are. They were the ones who rebelled against the established ROC. It is the Communists who are the rebels and since they did not completely wipe out the ROC and forced them to recognize their sovereignty, the complete takeover should not be legitimate.
Currently, there are many people in Taiwan who feel that they should permanently become part of China. Though great in number, they are believed to be an overwhelmingly small percentage of the population. Like Revolutionary America, Taiwan is split on opinions for its future. In America, there were substantial amounts (approximately a third) of colonists who were loyal to King George III of England and supported the British troops when they landed. This is not to say the Taiwanese who feel that Taiwan should become a part of China once again are loyal to the Communist government, but they feel that they are Chinese and that it is the only peaceful way of approaching the matter.
Like Revolutionary America, there exists another group—the group that is neutral, neither for nor against the cause of permanent independence. These people do not really care about who is in government as long as they are left in peace. During the Revolutionary War, they just sat back to see who was winning, neither contributing nor taking sides. Some would eventually take a side when they were harassed by troops from the opposing side. Taiwan has a significantly large population of these people. They recognize themselves as either Taiwanese or Chinese, but to them, it doesn’t really matter. They just wish to live in peace and hope that whatever happens, doesn’t affect them or their way of life.
Regardless of the first two groups, many believe in their existence of freedom from China. Though China has proposed a “one country, two system” policy like their special regions of Macau and Hong Kong, many do not want to accept it. The policy will allow Taiwan to have their own system of government like Hong Kong and Macau, but will ultimately belong to China. Officials in China often try to demonstrate the success of these two special regions. However, many are not fooled. Though Macau does seem to be successful under this new system, Hong Kong is far from it. With an economy in recession for the past seven years and low wages, Hong Kong has been struggling to pick itself back up.
The Communist Party chose Tung Chi-hwa as their Chief Executive to oversee the affairs of Hong Kong, but he has been proven unsuccessful with a very low approval rating from the population. He has been labeled a puppet leader and that is precisely what Taiwan is afraid of. They are afraid of falling into a trap set by the PRC. Once China gets hold of Taiwan, there will be no letting go and it will be too late for regrets.
As of today, there has been constant debate within Taiwan. However, many who believe that Taiwan should be independent do not feel they need any other reason other than that they are legitimately free. Most of the Taiwanese people I know are very offended to be called Chinese. Many become defensive and will debate till the very end. Some go as far as to claim that all Taiwanese are ethnically Taiwanese. The entity of being Taiwanese is already a set point of view for many and it is what they truly view themselves as.
Most, if not all the Chinese people I know believe that Taiwanese people are Chinese and that they are going through some sort of identity crisis. I used to take that view as well. However, now I believe that we all have the right to identify ourselves the way we want. If someone tells me they are Taiwanese, I am not going to think otherwise. The British colonists in America denounced their British roots and became Americans. I do not see why the Taiwanese cannot do the same about their Chinese roots. 
Ray Lee is the Halfway Production Manager
September 2nd, 2005 at 1:40 pm
hopefully this article will help everyone understand further about us no matter which side you stand. excellent job ray, i knew you would blow me away with this!
September 18th, 2005 at 3:50 pm
It’s interesting to read such a lengthy article that yet makes no mention of the differences in perspective between the taiwanese-speaking and mandarin-speaking populations living in Taiwan. These are significant, especially among the older generation. Plenty of those who trace their roots in Taiwan back several generations are not merely suspicious of the Communist government in China, but still harbor resentment towards the KMT government and their forcible takeover and rule of the island. After a century of rule by outsiders, it’s no wonder that plenty of Taiwanese want Taiwan to have its own identity. Most “mainland chinese” I’ve met don’t get this at all, unfortunately.
September 19th, 2005 at 11:47 pm
Doug: There are many reasons of why I didn’t make mention of it. The main reason would be that I don’t know for sure. I have interviewed many Taiwanese people in regards to this article, but none have expressed that opinion to me. Being that I am not Taiwanese and the only access to sources are from interviews of Taiwanese immigrants and their children, I cannot possibly cover every aspect of the differences and persepectives.
However, I do appreciate your insight and opinion. Understanding this topic is never ending, for those of us who aren’t Taiwanese and even those who are. Thank you for your comment.
-ray lee
September 25th, 2005 at 12:20 am
Few Taiwanese will openly discuss the ethnic divide, partly because they themselves do not know how to articulate to themselves or others. In conversation a Taiwanese might describe themselves as Chinese in any number of ways, since Chinese can refer to a region (= West), a nationality (= Canadian), a culture, and so on. They have been taught to think very stereotypically about their national identity, so it is often hard for them to discuss it with outsiders.
The Chinese then governed the island for another two hundred years before losing it to the Japanese in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895).
The Manchus were not Chinese.
The Taiwanese are not denouncing their roots but embracing them. All of the pre-1945 population has aboriginal genetic markers, thanks to intermarriage. “ethnically” chinese is simply a political construction; Taiwanese are ethnically Taiwanese, but this identity was suppressed by the KMT when they occupied the island in 1945, and especially after 1949 when they lost mainland and retreated to taiwan. An idealized and stereotyped Chinese culture was substituted for the local one, and thus the Taiwanese were made into Chinese.
Michael
October 4th, 2005 at 6:49 pm
I see that you have compared the Taiwan-China situation to the America-UK situation. but there is one huge difference you have neglected to recognize, it’s that the land now known as the US was actually a new piece of land discovered by Christopher Columbus. whereas, the land Taiwan has been there all the time. it was first noticed, during the Han Dynasty, which was thousands of years ago, around the 10th Century, there are no official records of Taiwan, though, until the Ming Dynasty, which was in the 15th Century. in fact, ever since China discovered the existance of Taiwan, they have automatically assumed that it was a land of theirs, and of course, at that time the population of Taiwan consisted of mainly Aboriginies, whose language was primarily Austronesian. these people are at least remotely (if not directly) related to the Malaysians.
regarding the language comment by Doug, most of the Chinese that came to Taiwan whether during the Han, Ming, or Chi’ing Dynasty, come from Fujian, which is the coast side province closest to Taiwan. these people speak the Hokkien dialect (kinda like how the Hong Kong people speak the Canton dialect of GuangDong), which is now what we generally refer to as “Taiwanese”. this has been used by the Democracy Progression Party (our current ruling party) as a source of identity that we are Taiwanese and we should therefore speak the Taiwanese language as an official language. which is completely misleading, since it is a Chinese dialect of Fujian anyway. just to be clear, almost every single province in China has a dialect of their own. In fact, in different cities of the provinces, the dialects also sound different to each other. Just as Taiwanese may sound slightly different in pronounciation of some words to the Hokkien Dialect, but it’s still based on the same dialect. The SiChuan people speak SiChuan dialects, the ShangHai people speak ShangHainese, there are also Hunan Dailects, and even the BeiJingers have ther own dialect, which is a very strong Beijing accented dialect, not to mention the well known Cantonese, which is in fact, a Chinese Dialect as well.
however, after the war in 1945, and the KMT (ROC) government fled to Taiwan, they forced the people to speak Mandarin under all circumstances, making it our primary language now. it is similar in most areas of China (apart from maybe Hong Kong), as the official language on TV, Radio, News, etc is also Mandarin; but people mostly speak their dialects at home.
I personally consider my roots Chinese, as I speak, read, write, and sometimes think in that language. I’m also very proud of my roots, and I admire the Chinese culture and history. however, when asked about my nationality, I definitely would answer that come from Taiwan. this is firstly because I am not completely Chinese, as there has been a lot of intermarriage, etc. secondly, Taiwan was where I was born and raised, and I definitely do not deny that it is my home.
I would also not be very happy if Taiwan was a colony or part of China, only because of the Communist ruling, how the people are repressed, and the media and government system controlled too much - I am basically against that. and we know how the road down the “one country two systems” policy ends. we would just have that name of having two different systems, but still remotely (if not directly) controlled and manipulated by the Communist government anyway. everyone knows that the biggest mafia in China is in fact the Communist party.
if the government of China had been different, I probably would not mind being part of a country so large and diverse, and with so much potential of well development. although I am also proud of being from Taiwan.
it is a shame that the international community refuses to acknowledge the existance of Taiwan as a country, (even though some may argue that Taiwan never was a country). and even though it is internationally known that China is controlled way too much by the Communist party, they would still rather stand on the side of China when dealing with the TW-CN issue, since China is so large (both in population and land), and the economic market is so big, and a large development potential, etc. even though Taiwan’s economy seemed well before, it is obviously not developing as well as other Asian countries recently, such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia, etc, especially after the DPP/Chen Hsui-Bian government overtook Taiwan. and when compared to China, the market potential in Taiwan is just nothing.
and it’s not our fault, or maybe it is. if we developed enough reputation internationally, things would not be this way, even though we are just a small island. HK and Singapore are relatively small (even compared to Taiwan), and yet they are doing fine with international recognition.
that’s also why I stand against Taiwan declaring independence, although sometimes I even wonder, “what from?” obviously Taiwan is not part of China now, so why do we need to declare anything? and even if we declare independence, it is just going to show how small Taiwan stands in the international community.
and I always laugh when people say that they are going to war with China, because what the hell? China could easily smash Taiwan underneath their feet, but they don’t even have to do that by going to war. all they have to do is economically lock out Taiwan - “if you do business with TW, I don’t do business with you” - Taiwan would lose everything. everything would be gone.
why don’t the Taiwanese just be happy with what we already have, look up and learn from other well-developed countries, and work hard on developing our own international reputation first, before we even try to “declare independence” or whatever? and along that path, recognizing our Chinese roots wouldn’t hurt so much, either. there’s nothing wrong with being partly Chinese, it helps build who we are, what we are, and it is what makes us special, what makes us different from the Chinese themselves.
October 4th, 2005 at 7:23 pm
[…] 4th, 2005 the Taiwan-China situation after reading an article from Halfway Mag, titled “ […]
October 13th, 2005 at 8:21 am
I totally agree with Yvonne’s opinions that you can never be too quick to judge someone base on their appearance or extended culture.
I’m personally half-canadian and half-taiwanese,but when most westerners or foreigners approach me,they would normally ask if I’m either japanese or korean based on common stereotypes about Asains.In the beginning,it seems kinda of fun because Japan and South Korean are in many ways more civilized than Taiwan.But when everytime people meets you and asks if your Japanese,it eventually gets very irritating!
I mean,you would’t want people to mistake your identity everytime they meet you,it’s like facing a terrible identity crisis!It’s like you had no identity at all!
I think it’s totally up to the person if they want to admit that they’re chinese or taiwanese?!But we as actual human beings should learn to respect that person’s identity and how he chooses to identify himself!!!Even the Japanese and koereans originally came from China,just like the Canadians and Americans are originally from England!!!If you were ever to study the history of China!!!It dates way back before World War I.Saying that a Taiwanese is Chinese,tends to be too broad in circumstances to culture.I mean,there is actually at least 5-6 different culture and countries that emerged from that common stereotyping culture “Chinese”,such as the vietnamnese, Hong Kongers,Taiwanese,Singaporean, Malaysian and China,who exactly are you referring to.These are actually countries that have formed a greater impact and higher economic status than that of China,and should be treated equally as worth respected as the people from mainland china.So most people prefer to be called according to their nationality,which is out of mutual respect.I mean,if you were an American,you weren’t like it if someone called you British or Athen,even though you were originally from England.But you are an individual,so you eventually develops your own ideas and concepts of what it is to become an American,and that’s what makes a person unique!!!I’ve heard of a China person who have called himself an American,or an American identifing himself as filiphino!!!I mean it might sound hilarous to some people,but you never know that person,how would you know if they’ve grew up in a multi-cultural background and have experienced terrible identity crisis while growing up.It’s just like the Scotish may claim that they’re not from England but Scotland alone.We all know the tragical war history between the British and the Scotish.Well,at least I know,so it’s easier for me to stand in the other person’s shoes and consider why that person choose to identity themselves this way!!!It’s all a matter of respect,learning to respect the other person’s identity and culture,no matter how they choose to identity themselves!After all,your not the ones that have raised and educated them,you don’t even know that person,which doesn’t give you the right and proragitivity to judge others crucially!!!
October 13th, 2005 at 11:21 pm
Lisa7128:
I’m confused. I’m not sure if you are directing those comments at me or to people in general. Because if they are at me, I think you haven’t read my article too clearly.
-ray lee
March 6th, 2006 at 1:10 am
I have the same feeling too…..Nice Job Ray. I wish more people can see this articale.
May 22nd, 2007 at 4:14 am
ummm…ROC was founded in 1911 not 1912…but i like the essay as a whole.
May 22nd, 2007 at 4:15 am
2007 = year 96 in Taiwan….96 + 1911 = 2007
May 22nd, 2007 at 4:51 am
You are half right Allen. The ROC was thought up and created in 1911, but it didn’t officially come into power till 1912–which is considered as “the first year of the ROC.” If you count 1912 as #1, you will end up with 2007 as year #96.
-ray lee