Still missing: expat humility
Were it not for continued US military protection over the past six decades, Taiwan would likely have been forcefully absorbed by China long ago. Given these circumstances, it is unrealistic to suggest policymakers and academics abroad should not have any direct role in determining Taiwan’s future (“More expatriate humility, please,” Sept. 29, page 8).
Taiwan’s ambiguous political status has far-reaching geopolitical implications, many of which are beyond the preferences of the Taiwanese.
I wholeheartedly agree that, in a perfect world, “the battle for Taiwan’s future [would belong] to one people and one people alone: the Taiwanese,” but the reality is more complex than J. Michael Cole implies. There are indeed many non-Taiwanese policymakers and thinkers — particularly in Beijing and Washington — who have an important role to play in maintaining peace and stability across the Strait, while working toward a permanent solution.
It is through the trilateral relationship between Taipei, Beijing and Washington that the future of Taiwan will likely be decided.
Alex Jeffers
Taipei
With all due respect Mr Cole, it is you who needs to learn some humility. I am shocked and disappointed that a fellow Canadian would espouse such a pontificating stance. Your editorial was no doubt directed, not at those who don’t really care about this country, but those who do so deeply. Does the fact that we weren’t born here or don’t have citizenship preclude us from having an opinion? You seem to suggest the cross-strait situation is far too nuanced for us — except you, evidently — ignorant foreigners to fully understand. We long-term residents have just as much a right to voice our opinions as any citizen. Many of us have studied the situation and hold opinions that reflect our values and backgrounds.
In fact, many of our views have developed because of the Taipei Times itself. Not a day goes by without an editorial to the left or a cartoon above your very letter that voices outrage at the denigration to Taiwan’s dignity by the forces of appeasement. Maybe more Taiwanese would be more vocal about the outrages the People’s Republic of China continues to perpetrate against Taiwan if they knew there was more support for a homegrown constitution.
You mention the Spanish Civil War; as an educated Canadian, I’m sure you’re aware that 721 Canadians fought and died serving in the MackenziePapineau Battalion, not because they were Spanish, but because they loved liberty and democracy, as do those who speak of their love for Taiwan now.
Would you suggest non-Canadian residents of Canada not voice their opinions about Canadian matters that affect them? From my point of view, it is you who is being arrogant to suggest I keep my mouth shut. Sometimes, just sometimes, people need to be outraged.
Iain Palmer
Greater Taichung
This probably fits the “Did I miss something” department, but it was with surprise that I read Cole’s recent op-ed piece. Granted that as a deputy news editor at the Taipei Times, Cole has a fairly secure pulpit from which to lecture the expatriate community, but I am left wondering at what occasioned his recent outburst. It reads like the “Confessions of a high-road addict.”
Other questions also arise: Is it necessary to bring in local writer Wendell Minnick to support his view? Does the reference to “Japan expert” John Dower’s critique of [Ernest] Hemingway mean that one should only express a comment if it will make a difference in history? One can certainly grant that Hemingway promoted his own “macho” image, but an alternative viewpoint could be that while he may not have directly impacted the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway did write a great novel about it (For Whom the Bell Tolls) and he did make many outside Spain aware of the many nuances in the conflict as well as the conflict itself.
I would venture that there may be a tinge of jealousy in Dower that Hemingway’s work is more famous than Dower’s Cultures of War. As I said, I may be missing the back story to Cole’s piece, but it does seem he is crossing the line in using his position to promote what he feels people can or cannot express their opinions on.
Jerome Keating
Taipei
J. Michael Cole responds:
I invite readers who claim that I was telling expatriates and migrants that they cannot voice any opinion and should “shut up” because they are not Taiwanese to re-read my article. What I suggest is simply more humility when we do so, whether we’re English teachers passing through for a couple of years, some “expert” at a reputable think tank, or a migrant who has made Taiwan his or her home.
As a journalist and columnist, I believe I owe it to my readers to demonstrate that I will not shy away from revisiting my assumptions, even when doing so proves that I have been wrong in the past. I would much rather sound contradictory than show signs of a stagnant mind.
The exercise of journalism is a learning experience and its practitioners, those who take the profession seriously at least, will inevitably be changed by it. The op-ed was part and reflective of my ongoing effort — and yes, struggle — to get closer to the “truth,” without any pretension of ownership.
In no way was this an attempt to “appease” the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) following their attack on my person last month, or the leadership in Beijing, or to insult fellow expatriates. Rather, it is part of my endeavor to find the best voice possible to communicate with those whose identity and survival is at stake.
We all have a right to voice our opinions, but if we decide to become “involved” in Taiwanese politics, I contend that we should pause for a second and think about how our prescriptions are construed and digested, or whether they are even welcome, by Taiwanese.
Over the years I have had the honor of interacting with a great many Taiwanese military officials, politicians, academics and ordinary citizens, and during that time I have paid close attention to how they interact with expatriates. It has become evident to me that in many instances expatriates and Taiwanese were talking past each other when the former believed that we can “help” Taiwanese make policy decisions, decide who to vote for, or define their identity. Either expatriates were “right” and Taiwanese are always wrong, or there’s something we in the first category didn’t get.
If we’re seriously committed to participating in the Taiwan experiment, I think we owe it to ourselves — and to the principal subjects, the Taiwanese themselves — to question our assumptions and not immediately take it as a personal insult when we are told that we might be getting it wrong.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in recent days was the focus of the media due to his role in arranging a Chinese “student” group to visit Taiwan. While his team defends the visit as friendly, civilized and apolitical, the general impression is that it was a political stunt orchestrated as part of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda, as its members were mainly young communists or university graduates who speak of a future of a unified country. While Ma lived in Taiwan almost his entire life — except during his early childhood in Hong Kong and student years in the US —
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers on Monday unilaterally passed a preliminary review of proposed amendments to the Public Officers Election and Recall Act (公職人員選罷法) in just one minute, while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, government officials and the media were locked out. The hasty and discourteous move — the doors of the Internal Administration Committee chamber were locked and sealed with plastic wrap before the preliminary review meeting began — was a great setback for Taiwan’s democracy. Without any legislative discussion or public witnesses, KMT Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), the committee’s convener, began the meeting at 9am and announced passage of the
Prior to marrying a Taiwanese and moving to Taiwan, a Chinese woman, surnamed Zhang (張), used her elder sister’s identity to deceive Chinese officials and obtain a resident identity card in China. After marrying a Taiwanese, surnamed Chen (陳) and applying to move to Taiwan, Zhang continued to impersonate her sister to obtain a Republic of China ID card. She used the false identity in Taiwan for 18 years. However, a judge ruled that her case does not constitute forgery and acquitted her. Does this mean that — as long as a sibling agrees — people can impersonate others to alter, forge
In response to a failure to understand the “good intentions” behind the use of the term “motherland,” a professor from China’s Fudan University recklessly claimed that Taiwan used to be a colony, so all it needs is a “good beating.” Such logic is risible. The Central Plains people in China were once colonized by the Mongolians, the Manchus and other foreign peoples — does that mean they also deserve a “good beating?” According to the professor, having been ruled by the Cheng Dynasty — named after its founder, Ming-loyalist Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功, also known as Koxinga) — as the Kingdom of Tungning,
RSS