After 1949, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Mainlanders who emigrated from China to Taiwan ruled over the Taiwanese majority. The party maintained power by uniting Mainlanders and isolating them from the Taiwanese who already lived here, separating them into an official class.
This segregation policy adopted by the KMT aimed to divide the Taiwanese people based on a good-bad dichotomy: Those who opposed the KMT were labeled villains, Taiwanese independence activists or even followers of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), while those who chose to cooperate with the KMT were treated as their servants.
The most important tools for implementing this segregation policy were the educational system and the media, which were used to teach the Taiwanese obedience and smear the images of those who opposed the KMT.
With the passage of time, and as a result of social changes, the Mainlanders living in Taiwan have become divided into two groups, "Taiwanese Main-landers" who identify with Taiwan, and "Chinese living in Taiwan" who do not identify with Taiwan. The longstanding policy to create an official class of Mainlanders produced a cultural and political phenomenon unique to the group of Chinese living in Taiwan.
Many people from this group believe they are the natural ruling class of Taiwan. They feel that they are wiser than the Taiwanese people, are an enlightened official class and are the teachers that should reform the Taiwanese people, who naturally should be obedient to their rule.
When former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) passed away, this group of Chinese living in Taiwan lost their ruling position, but having internalized the culture of the official class, they felt a sense of crisis and were unable to adapt to the changes brought by democracy. Unable to maintain face and keep up the false dignity of the official class, they turned to organized cultural villainy.
Through their own privileged media outlets, they have resorted to reporting using double standards, insults and prejudice. While they only spent a few days reporting on the source of Ma's fortune, worth NT$80 million (US$2.45 million), they are offering around-the-clock coverage of the scandal surrounding President Chen Shui-bian's (
When Ma goes jogging every morning he becomes an advocate for exercise for everyman, while Chen's inspection tours of southern Taiwan are construed as dereliction of duty.
Examples of how Taiwanese are insulted and discriminated against in the media abound. This is not enough, however, and they have announced that they will join hands with their old enemy the CCP to speed up the exodus of Taiwanese capital to China and hollow out Taiwan. They are even promoting Taiwanese agricultural exports to China to erode the DPP's stronghold in southern Taiwan.
Their goal is to help China annex Taiwan, whether they are in power or not. To them, Taiwan's democracy is but a symbol of their shameful loss of power. They cannot understand what democracy means to the Chinese people who live under the rule of the CCP. The official class cannot bear that its servants have stood up and wrested power from them. This also explains why pro-China media outlets led by the group of Chinese living in Taiwan are acting with the deadly frenzy of a pack of crazed dogs.
Chang Cheng-shuh is a former deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Association of University Professors.
Translated by Daniel Cheng
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to