In light of the social confrontation following the presidential election, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (
Shen's remarks against the DPP have brought criticism not only from the party but also from former president Lee Teng-hui (
Shen's specious remarks have been interpreted as an attempt to curry favor with pro-blue voters in Taipei, so as to pave the way for a bid in the 2006 Taipei mayoral election. An even bigger mistake was the failure to see political realities and to wrongly link loving Taiwan to ethnicity. Who says that loving Taiwan is the preserve of any one ethnic group?
The DPP's traditional supporters are Hoklo -- descendants of immigrants from the southern region of China's Fujian Province, also known as Minnan. There is a clear distinction between the Hakka and the indigenous peoples here on the one hand and the Hoklo on the other, due to their historical conflicts in the early phase of Taiwan's development. Hence, Chinese leaders have always cooperated with the Hakka whenever the Hoklo started a rebellion. The Qing government even granted the title of "loyal citizens" to the Hakka who sacrificed themselves during fights with the Hoklo.
The reason why indigenous peoples feel they have been unfairly treated by the Hoklo is that throughout history, their land has been exploited by the Hoklo, Taiwan's largest ethnic group . This was well understood by the KMT government. When it moved to Taiwan in 1949 and was faced with the Hoklo group, which made up 70 percent of the local population, they made it their strategy to promote people of Hakka descent, secure the support of indigenuous peoples and isolate the Hoklo. The Hakka and the indigenuous peoples thus became part of the KMT's traditional support base.
Taiwanese politics are still troubled by the ethnicity issue. Fortunately, during the recent presidential election, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) nurtured an emerging but still weak Taiwanese national consciuousness in order to oppose China's missile deployment and pro-China politicians in Taiwan. He promoted love for Taiwan and broke down ethnic barriers, thereby gaining more support from the Hakka community.
If we want to thoroughly break the curse of ethnicity and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) strategy of isolating the Hoklo, we need an ethnicity-transcending political platform and mind-set. Only by uniting under the banner of national consciousness can we become one instead of fragmenting into different ethnic groups. The most powerful slogan for crossing the ethnic divide is "Love Taiwan."
But if we believe that loving Taiwan is the preserve of the DPP, which uses it to manipulate ethnic groups, doesn't that mean that no ethnic group but the Hoklo loves Taiwan? Shen is wrong. The Hoklo can indeed love Taiwan, but Mainlander descendants are of course also capable of loving Taiwan. And they should.
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