The Taiwanese don't think of their nation as an island nation at all, Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu's brainchild, the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU), aspires to build a common culture -- she calls it a "blue civilization" -- among the 26 democratic countries adjacent to the Pacific Ocean. Seagoing culture, commerce, and security are central to the DPU's mission. She can start at home by reinvigorating Taiwan's own maritime culture.
Taiwan often seems to be a land-based society, but it sits about 160km off the Chinese landmass, at the midpoint of the "first island chain." Its Aboriginal tribes excelled at nautical pursuits such as fishing. Well-known seafarers such as the explorer Zheng He (
Traders operated from its coasts, flouting the Confucian injunction against profit-making. Pirates set up shop on the island, harrying shipping that, then as now, took the convenient route through the Taiwan Strait to Chinese seaports. Dissident Chinese intellectuals made the island a haven, a buffer against imperial oppression.
Over the centuries, however, emigration from the mainland eclipsed Taiwan's nautical culture. The Ming dynasty outlawed seagoing commerce in the 1500s, dismantling China's formidable navy. In the 1600s and 1700s, after the ban was lifted, settlers poured across the Strait in search of economic prosperity, bringing with them a culture that regarded China as the "Middle Kingdom," the epicenter of civilization.
To call China a land-based culture understates matters. Settlers from China superimposed their own culture, which placed enormous weight on ties to the ancestral homeland, on Taiwan's indigenous seafaring culture. The sea had little place in the worldview of the island's dominant group.
In the late 1940s, after battling vainly against Mao Zedong's (毛澤東) Red Army, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) led his army across the Strait, re-establishing his nationalist government in Taipei. This new influx of Mainlanders imprinted their own China-centric view on Taiwan's culture. Followers of Chiang thought of Taiwan as little more than a base from which to "recapture the mainland."
Official dogma backed by martial law perpetuated the land-based view. Although Taipei has quietly abandoned its claim to rule all of China, the traditional attitude persists among older Taiwanese, especially those born in China, who tend to regard Taiwan not as an island nation in its own right but as a temporary outpost. Rejuvenating oceanic thinking will not be easy.
In part because of the land-oriented view, Taiwan's leadership has let the nation's maritime defenses slip at a time when China's naval power is surging, and the US military, the island's long-time protector, is tied down elsewhere.
Lu and like-minded maritime enthusiasts need to help others appreciate the dangers and opportunities emanating from the sea. Reaching out to young Taiwanese who harbor no illusions about "taking back the mainland" would be a good start. Celebrating the island's maritime heritage would also help. Interest in Taiwan's Aboriginal seafaring culture is on the rise, while the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's voyages is fast approaching. And the DPU's efforts to nurture a common Pacific culture could pay off in the long-term. Taiwan must look seaward.
James Holmes is a senior research associate at the University of Georgia's Center for International Trade and Security and a former US naval officer.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS