Editorial: Rejecting colonialism and carving our own path
Translated by Lydia Ma
October 25, 1945, nowadays known as “Retrocession Day”, is a historic moment for Taiwan to remember, but not for the same reasons this day has traditionally been presented to us. On that day Taiwanese people, especially those who embraced Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People, welcomed Chiang Kai-shek and his army to Taiwan, they were no doubt optimistic about the prospects of being reunited with their “compatriots”.
Alas, Taiwanese people’s hopes and dreams were shattered a little over a year later when they discovered their “compatriots” were only interested in expropriating and stealing from them. Taiwanese peasants soon found out these “compatriots” were worse than their previous colonizers, the Japanese. The KMT government at the time set its sight on the “motherland” even if it came at the expense of Taiwanese people’s livelihoods.
It was against this backdrop that Taiwanese nationalism was born and Taiwanese people finally grasped the need to take action to prevent being colonized or trampled once again. Though this sense of identity or nationalism was awakened about 60 years ago, it wasn’t until much later that democracy and nationalism in Taiwan really took flight.
Sadly, there’s still a remnant of people in Taiwan today who don’t want Taiwanese people to have a distinct Taiwanese identity. Much like the Israelites who longed for the life and food they had in Egypt, these people still live in the past and still see themselves as colonizers and treat Taiwanese people as second-class citizens. Their view of Taiwan as a mere colony seems frozen in time though everything in Taiwan has changed and people have moved on.
As the KMT gets ready to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the “Republic of China” (R.O.C.) next year, we, the Taiwanese people, must ask ourselves if this anniversary has anything to do with Taiwan. When the KMT celebrated the birth of R.O.C. in 1912, Taiwan wasn’t under its jurisdiction and Taiwanese people in Taiwan didn’t speak Mandarin. Living under Japanese rule at the time, they spoke Japanese and used a Japanese calendar instead.
So, if KMT party wants to make a big deal out of the 100th anniversary of R.O.C., it shouldn’t act so haughty, but take on a spirit of humility instead and identify with Taiwan and Taiwanese people. Instead of resorting to bribery and expropriation of the national treasury as its modus operandi, it should identify with this land and its people, return money belonging to taxpayers to the national treasury, and help Taiwan become a full-fledged member of the international community.
Unfortunately, KMT leaders today continue to view and rule Taiwan as a colony and haven’t shown any signs of wanting to be in solidarity with Taiwanese people. From reconstruction efforts following Typhoon Morakot last year to the recent Taipei International Flora Expo, we’ve seen too many instances of government behaving like colonizer.
Despite these challenges, we’ve also witnessed Taiwanese people rising above circumstances through creativity and determination, including purposely removing the term “Province of Taiwan” from high school history textbooks and sponsoring a contest at a local church for those interested in designing a new national flag that’d be more representative of Taiwan.
Though the journey may be long and the road may be hard, as long as we love Taiwan and believe in justice and love and continue to do our best as we move forward, we’ll discover that where there’s a will, there’s a way as well.
