A number of signs have arisen from the Conference on Sustaining Taiwan's Economic Development that took place on July 27 and 28. These signs highlighted the ongoing loss of national identity in Taiwan today. At a symposium of the conference's cross-strait task force, a representative of China-based Taiwanese businesspeople slammed the government, and referred to Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) as "Comrade Hu Jintao."
Although he, in embarrassment, corrected his slip of the tongue, the episode highlights that China-based Taiwanese businesspeople have accepted and integrated China's political dogma into their lives and thinking. The longer they live in China, the more assimilated they become. This is just human nature and there is nothing strange about it.
The problem is that there is a huge difference in population, territory, and political power between Taiwan and China. China therefore normally holds the upper hand in the process of cross-strait integration, while China-based Taiwanese businesspeople are just a disadvantaged group being subjugated by China.
China, of course, has made good use of this advantage. Several years ago, it systematically organized Taiwanese businesspeople and helped them establish associations in various Chinese cities. This lies at the very heart of China's strategy to apply political pressure through business to help achieve its goal of unification.
The phrase "Comrade Hu Jintao" that was unintentionally repeated in Taipei is a standard expression among Taiwanese businesspeople in China. As long as the government continues to push for opening up toward China, it won't be many years before the phrase is no longer considered a slip-up in Taiwan, but rather becomes necessary for Taiwanese businesspeople when expressing their loyalty to Beijing.
During the Period of Communist Rebellion, investing in China was equated with funding the enemy and was punishable by death, but just a dozen or so years later, everything has changed. Today, these Taiwanese businesspeople can come back to Taiwan to participate in the Conference on Sustaining Taiwan's Economic Development, and ask in public, "Who doesn't love Taiwan?"
This national identity crisis also appeared in another meeting related to the Conference on Sustaining Taiwan's Economic Development. In order to placate Chinese tourists who visit Taiwan, the National Association of Travel Agents requested that the government accept the yuan as "semi-official national currency" and allow free New Taiwan dollar-Chinese yuan exchanges.
Later, the association said that the request was simply a typo, but that does not sound very persuasive. In fact, this was not the first time Taiwan's tourist industry has trampled on national dignity.
Last year, 4.1 million Taiwanese tourists visited China, but the Taiwanese flag never flew at the hotels where they stayed. A few days ago, however, TV reports showed Chinese tourists cruising on Sun Moon Lake (
But there are a thousand ways to promote one's business, and there is no need for Taiwanese to attract business by belittling themselves as if they were Chinese slaves. Now that we've seen Chinese flags flying on Taiwan's soil, it is not surprising to hear talk of the yuan becoming semi-official national currency.
The only difference is that the former is simply a matter of commercial hype, while the latter involves damaging national identity. The idea of treating the yuan as semi-official national currency is no different from endorsing the belief that China is an ally or even our motherland.
Of course, we can regard this thinking as a "temporary delusion," but this could well be the beginning of a permanent delusion. If it gets worse, it could be the prelude to the nation's ruin.
Will Taiwan perish? Don't underestimate the severity of the deeper crisis that lies behind the thinking that would request the yuan be considered a semi-official national currency, or the choice of a phrase like "Comrade Hu Jintao." If the government doesn't change its policies of "active opening," "effective opening," or "confident opening," the confusion regarding national identity will deepen as cross-strait economic integration continues.
When the delusion that China is our motherland becomes normal, and the normalcy -- that Taiwan is the motherland -- is regarded as delusion, that will be when Taiwan perishes.
Don't discard this warning as nonsense or simply trying to raise a fuss. The crisis is near at hand.
Take this conference as an example: While it should discuss sustainable economic development for Taiwan and while Taiwan's dependence on China is already unbelievably high -- 71 percent of Taiwan's foreign investment goes there, accumulated Taiwanese investment in China has reached US$300 billion, and the production value of Taiwanese businesses in China last year equaled Taiwan's GDP -- the cross-strait task force only discussed how to further open up Taiwan to China.
If the government's lack of understanding of the facts is not an example of confusion, then what is?
Huang Tien-lin is a former national policy adviser to the president.
Translated by Lin Ya-ti
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS