The formation of Taiwanese democracy is the result of resisting martial law under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). However, the consolidation of democracy is still unfinished because of a lack of self-criticism and a half-formed national subjectivity.
It would seem as if the problem rests solely with those who came and dominated us, placing responsibility for this domination solely at the feet of the KMT.
However, rule by a minority was allowed to form, and colonial syndrome enabled them to carry out oppression to their heart’s content. Despite Taiwan’s history, we should ask ourselves: Does every single Taiwanese — especially those living with post-colonial syndrome — not have any responsibility or agency in this?
South Korea, which was also colonized by Japan, after gaining independence after World War II, and despite the division of the Korean Peninsula into North and South Korea after the Korean War, has a continuous history of criticism and self-rectification. In South Korean culture, people continue to reckon with their history and examine themselves.
After Taiwan cast off the yoke of Japanese colonialism, it faced a new but similar colonial rule of the so-called Chinese “motherland.” Plenty of Taiwanese were willing to help the KMT during the 228 Massacre. The hushed metaphor that the “dogs [Japanese] have left and the pigs [Chinese] have arrived” allows Taiwan’s criticism of foreign rule to overlook some of Imperial-era Japan’s treatment and point to China. Taiwan’s unresolved history is accumulating in the shadow of time.
From Japanese colonialism to the Republic of China’s post-World War II quasi-colonialism to a democratized Republic of China on Taiwan, the buildup of historic silt and grime exists in the gaps of these transitions of power, where these historic remains are stuck and left uncleaned.
Taiwanese poet Chin Lien (錦連) expressed in his poem Him (他) the kind of fickle and untrustworthy fortune-chasing person who altered course at the slightest change in the political winds, who teamed up with dark-hearted powers that came to Taiwan.
“He is sensitive to history / he flies the flag of whoever is in the ascendance.
“He will take the awe-inspiring banners of those in power / and those whose flags are most striking.
“Whichever slogans and cheers are the loudest and most piercing, he will cheer them too.
“Forgive him, I would advise you / my voice full of dismay and sorrow,
“I advise you, forgive him / just as I would forgive you.”
The themes of this poem are resistance, and even more so, self-criticism. Chin Lien was a Taiwanese poet who wrote his works in Japanese and Chinese. During his youth, he lived through the 228 Incident and the massacres that ensued — events whose political stains and shadows cannot be erased.
After World War II, Taiwanese, mired in confusion and bewilderment, did not get to choose an independent and sovereign national direction. The beginning of the nation’s tragedy has only extended our nation’s road of hardships, and to this day, we are entangled in the mirage of the Chinese Communist Party, spawned from a KMT political Gordian Knot.
Taiwan’s road to democracy has not been a smooth one. Materialism is sometimes viewed more favorably than our national spirit. Economic accomplishment is emphasized over cultural development, creating a shining spotlight on production and consumerism, yet our national conditions are not sufficient and there is internal strife. This reflects the social pathology of colonial syndrome or postcolonial syndrome.
The Kaohsiung Incident in 1979 shone a light on the power of Taiwanese resistance — a point of honor and pride for the nation’s democracy, and yet, the democracy movement lacks a spirit of self-criticism.
There exists in Taiwan a force that blocks nation-building: A few political opportunists and trendsetters block Taiwan’s road to normal national development through grandstanding and by fishing in troubled waters.
One by one, the “him” in Chin Lien’s poem forms new dirt on the unresolved history.
Besides resistance, Taiwanese must also be able to self-criticize, as our experience is also one of participating in dominating structures under colonialism and quasi-colonialism, reaping undue benefits.
In post-democratization Taiwanese, the power to rebuild or destroy comes from within.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Tim Smith
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
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
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
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS