Taiwan: The country that does not exist
I recently went to Taiwan for my friend’s wedding. I have been fascinated with Taiwan for at least last 5 years. It is, however, not due to the beauty of the island, the impressive mountains, the great rocks, or the delicious food Taiwan is so famous for.
(Don’t get me wrong, I love these things about Taiwan. This article is just not the Taiwan travel guide.)
It’s been because the story of Taiwanese people always challenged my (and I believe that also the world’s) liberal views. There is probably not a more controversial place in the world. It’s a country which doesn’t really exist…
It’s also this alternate history for the Chinese under a very different regime which pulls me.
But let me begin with a story of A Little Green Island:
Once upon a time, in the far far east, there was A Little Green Island. People of this island were living happily in harmony with nature, we shall call them Tawa. One day, big white stinky men came on a huge ship. Tawa welcomed them and hosted them generously, almost like gods. But these big white men were greedy and wanted to rule this beautiful island, be it by force. After a few decades of suffering, locals had just enough. They really hated the smelly white men. They allied with a Chinese pirate named Koxinga to oust the stupid smelly white men. It was a contract with a devil.
This is how Tawa first tasted a bittersweet victory by getting rid of one oppressor and getting another; this was not the last time. But the pirate did not require much — Tawa just had to swear allegiance to the Chinese emperor and let a couple of his people come to the island. Well, after 200 years for each single Tawa there was 12 Chinese. Life was hard but still good, Tawa kept their style of living with the nature in the mountains and on the plains they were living side by side with the Chinese.
Chinese emperor had to surrender the little green island to the Japanese emperor. Tawa had no say in this. Little green island became a strategic place in the eastern seas. After a period of oppression, the island was industrialized and developed. It was the end to the harmonious life but also beginning to a more comfortable life, at least for some. Some Tawa actually became avid supporters of the Japanese emperor. So much so that they fought fearlessly shoulder to shoulder with Japanese soldiers later in the Big War.
This lasted half century after which the Japanese emperor was crushed in the Big War and had to surrender the island. Once again the Little Green Island changed the hands.
The last Chinese emperor was long overthrown at the time and two man with two very different ideas were contesting who should rule China and The Little Green Island. Let’s call them Bao and Cheque. They had two different believes but their actions were not very different. And they hated each other. Western world was betting on Cheque but Bao had the backing of the people. The Green Little Island was thrown into this mess.
Tawa were celebrating vigorously shoulder to shoulder with local Chinese when Cheque came with his army. Time for the old harmonious life they thought.
Yet, that was not to come. Chinese hated the Japanese manners of locals as much as they hated Japanese. They treated Tawa like monkeys, they treated the island as a conquered enemy territory. Cheque came with his army to plunder all that could be used against Bao. When Tawa and local Chinese protested, many were killed including students.
The Little Green island proved again its strategic location in the Eastern seas. Cheque turned out to be the bad bet of the West. After Bao pushed him into check mate position, Cheque flew together with his supporters and some of the China’s greatest riches to The Little Green Island. Bao could never reach Cheque there. Or that’s what he thought.
But noone cared what Tawa thought about this. Again. Who would care, there is fifty Chinese for one Tawa now.
Bao and Cheque stayed avid enemies until their deaths. Cheque believed until the very end that he is the righteous ruler of the all Chinese people. Under his rule, Little Green Island became quickly a prosperous country open to foreign trade. After his death, people living on The Green Little Island established democracy. But they did not live happily together forever.
Bao meanwhile created The Party which also believes it is the righteous leader of all Chinese around the world, including those on The Green Little Island.
World refused to listen to Bao for very long time. Until the world realized that he represents 1 billion people and you can sell many things to these people. The Party got their seat in the UN. It was also a good reason enough to erase Taiwan from the world’s political maps.
Great dilemma is now bothering the people of The Green Little Island. Should they give up their “freedom”? Give up their believes?
Do they even have a choice? And what about the Tawa?
A story usually needs an ending. The story of The Green Little Island is still being written, it’s being written right now vigorously. This seems like a pretty horrible story in the modern liberal eyes. Who is the bad guy?
I cannot honestly tell.
We expect hope from the stories. The underdogs are often perceived as the good guys and expected to win. The happy ending would be the Tawa kicking the hell out of Chinese, Japanese, and Whites(any resemblance to Avatar?). I came to accept this part of the story — the injustice towards Tawas.
There is a flaw my liberal believes that people have a sacred right to the land which they call home. It happened for centuries that stronger countries just took over their weaker neighbor. Only the last 50 years, the world map has not been redrawn significantly. Yet, at some point in the past, The Little Green Island was uninhabited flourishing place full of life, and people moving in probably killed many native species thriving there for hundreds of thousands years when they arrived.
The Tawa were actually flexible enough to survive. They adjusted for this Chinese situation well enough that instead of disappearing as thousands of other tribes and cultures, they live side by side with the Chinese and their culture lives on. If Chinese instead came and killed all Tawa in the 17th century, we probably would not even remember them now. In fact, Taiwan is now a pretty well-functioning place where most people seem to have a decent life; that’s what’s actually bothering me about the second, unfinished, part of the story.
Does PRC have any right to rule the people of Taiwan? Do they have the right to act on this claim that Taiwan was always Chinese in the past? Even if the claim it was actually true, that some day in the past Taiwan was actually Chinese, China today is not what China was in the past. This arrangement would have to benefit both sides..
Alternate China
I love “what if” reflections. What if Hitler was killed in 1933. What if Germans developed atomic bomb first. What if Cuban Missile Crisis was not resolved? It’s just fascinating to see how the world would be, how the people would live, if these big moments turned the other way. But here we have a living example of “What if China opened more to the world and was democratic?”
I went to Mainland China a couple of times before. I was really curious how Taiwan developed differently with all that happened in the past century: How Chinese living in a democratic state are different from those in the Communist China? (that said, it was only during short part of that century that way in Taiwan)
Mainland China started to adopt the capitalist measures 20–30 years later than Taiwan and given the size generally things take much longer in China. Taiwan was open to the world and developed much earlier than China. Also with lower population and size, the benefits of modernization could reach the people earlier. For roughly the last 30 years, people can also choose their government.
In many ways, things are the same or very similar. For example the cities. If I was dropped in the middle of Taipei or Shanghai, I might take time to realize where I am. People are hard working and usually, go around their business. They have very little leave. People sit in the parks. They seem to care for their family very much. There is a very good train system like in PRC.
But in Tawain:
- I have not seen the square dances and all the quirky Chinese past time activities. Kids are playing baseball and basketball instead.
- People get around on gas scooters. Meanwhile, they are banned in PRC. This is actually a very interesting difference as PRC has the power to ban all the gas scooters from one day to other which is clearly better for all the people. Meanwhile, democratic ROC parties would upset many voters.
- I noticed the difference in the way of thinking. People are definitely more open-minded and open to political but also philosophical discussions.
- People are exceptionally nice! That said, I was also very well treated by most Mainland Chinese. I felt the repressed curiosity in the white stranger of some of the Mainlanders. The language is an understandably higher barrier in PRC.
- Arts seem to flourish all over Taiwan.
- People use Line for communication. Some use WeChat (which I could not believe!).
- People care much more of nature. They spend more time in nature.
- ???? MORE
From the top of Yushan
When you climb up Yushan — the highest mountain of Taiwan reaching up to almost 4000m — on a bright day you can look in any direction to see the horizon filled with water. Taiwan is that tiny! What you won’t see is the other China — that one which calls itself People’s Republic of China (PRC) and makes claim to all Chinese in the world. The PRC’s coast is 250km away, just behind the horizon.
It is impossible to foresee whether Taiwan can resist the growing pressures of swelling and hungry China in the future. PRC literally managed to erase Taiwan from the map in the past 30 years. The current world political situation, particularly in the US, gives PRC even more space to starve and bully Taiwan. Particularly as a democracy, Taiwan is more vulnerable to the external pressures. And decisions come and go with election promises.
Yet, it might be that PRC is not always going to grow. It might happen soon that this heavy Chinese bull will run into a concrete wall.
So it is worth to try!
This would be wrong time to fold it’s hand for Taiwan, better cards could come later… It is very hard to navigate the international waters but given the strategic importance of Taiwan, there is enough reason other countries in the region (South Korea, Japan, Vietnam) but also in the world (US, Europe) to give enough international support not to get completely bullied by the big neighbor.
