In troubled times, it is always useful to turn our heads toward the past for guidance. Not only does it teach us many lessons, but it can also serve as a reminder that while the present often looks bleak, hopeless even, other generations went through similar trials and prevailed. The past can therefore be a reflection of hope. It can also serve as a source of inspiration, especially the heroes who fought the darkness and helped improve our lot.
Taiwan’s history has many such heroes: leaders, survivors and those who gave their lives so that others could lead better, freer lives. One person in particular comes to mind for the present times, and that man is Deng Nylon (鄭南榕), or Deng Nan-jung, the editor-in-chief of Freedom Era Weekly (自由時代週刊), who on April 7, 1989, self-immolated at his office near my home for the cause of liberty.
What made Deng an extraordinarily powerful symbol was not simply that he fought for his ideals, or that he made the ultimate sacrifice as a spear to gut state repression. Heroic though such acts may have been, the true power of Deng as a man was his ability to transcend politics and ethnicity.
As he famously said: “I am a Chinese descendent. And I support Taiwan independence.”
His words, which he often repeated at rallies, sent a powerful — perhaps even undefeatable — message to those who would seek to enslave people in Taiwan and China that being Taiwanese had nothing to do with DNA, ethnicity or even place of birth. For Deng, being Taiwanese was far greater than that, and went well beyond the cynical use that politicians have made of Taiwanese independence in recent times: It was an inclusive force, pitting those who believe in liberty against those who would deny it to others for the sake of power and fortune.
As I type this, I am listening to a wonderful hip-hop album by the Taiwanese band Kou Chou Ching, some of whose members I have had the honor of meeting in recent weeks at various protests in Taipei. The reason I mention them is because their art epitomizes the essence of Taiwan; it blends modern sounds with traditional instruments, and mixes Mandarin, Hakka, Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese), Aborginal languages and English.
All those voices and the many guest artists who lent their talent to the project are united in telling Taiwan’s story to the world, and in the process they are helping define what it means to be Taiwanese in the 21st century. Other musical genres, and many movies, also successfully depict the rich amalgam of cultures and languages that makes Taiwan unique and precious.
Such inclusiveness is also what is most threatening to the forces across the Taiwan Strait — and here in Taiwan — that indefatigably endeavor to destroy Taiwan’s democracy and existence as a distinct society.
For years, the Chinese Communist Party and those within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) who seek “reunification” against the wishes of the majority of people in Taiwan, have benefited from the ethnic divide that has kept Taiwan disunited and fighting against itself. The only way Taiwan will succeed in defeating such predations is if its people manage to erase that artificial divide and unite as a force for freedom against that of repression.
Sadly, Deng is often forgotten, except on every April 7, when commemorative ceremonies are held (I strongly encourage readers to visit the museum that was created in his name, which is located in his former office on Freedom Lane; the charred remains are a moving sight).
However, his powerful spirit carries on, and I have seen it time and again in the young Taiwanese activists and those who support them against the orchestrated assault on their freedoms, liberties and the country they call home.
Increasingly, protesters are multi-ethnic, polyglot and are sacrificing their own welfare for the sake of others who, in the old days, would have been considered “the enemy” or “the occupation.”
I see it in “ethnic Taiwanese” who fight and risk arrest to defend the rights of an elderly “Mainlander.” I see it in Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), one of the student leaders and a Hakka, speaking Taiwanese by the roadside with an old female supporter. I see it in Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆), another leader, paying his respects to Deng on April 7, and the many, many others whose identity as a Taiwanese, in the purest and noblest sense of the word, is unassailable and indivisible.
The times call for an end to the fissiparous nature of Taiwanese politics, to the artificial divides created by politicians and the media that keep Taiwan on its knees.
The times call for unity, for everybody who calls Taiwan his or her home to shine a bright light into the gathering darkness that threatens to swallow their country.
J. Michael Cole is a deputy news editor at the Taipei Times.
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
Last week, 24 Republican representatives in the US Congress proposed a resolution calling for US President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon the US’ “one China” policy, calling it outdated, counterproductive and not reflective of reality, and to restore official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, enter bilateral free-trade agreement negotiations and support its entry into international organizations. That is an exciting and inspiring development. To help the US government and other nations further understand that Taiwan is not a part of China, that those “one China” policies are contrary to the fact that the two countries across the Taiwan Strait are independent and
RSS