General Education Centre Department of Political Science, NCCU, Spring 2014
National Identity What is a nation? What is national identity? Does national identity matter? State identity = party identity = cultural identity??? Source: http://lettersfromtaiwan.tw
Qu est-ce qu une nation? Ernest Renan, la Sorbonne, 1882. In Prof. June Teufel Dreyer s article, what has Peng Ming-min read from Renan? A nation does not refer to a specific race or a particular language. A nation is built upon common identity, and meanwhile, exclusion; Who are we? Who are NOT we? A nation is a soul, a spiritual principle. Two things, which in truth are but one, constitute this soul or spiritual principle. One lies in the past, one in the present. One is the possession in common of a rich legacy of memories; the other is present- day consent, the desire to live together, the will to perpetuate the value of the heritage that one has received in an undivided form. English translation from: Renan, Ernest. "What is a Nation?" in Eley and Suny (ed.), Becoming National: A Reader. New York and Oxford: OUP, 1996, pp. 41-55..
Nation? State? Nation State? STATE: Inside: State is an organized political community Outside: State is a sovereign political entity in public international law, exercising exclusive jurisdiction over a territory. NATION STATE: Nation => State, the right to national selfdetermination ; One nation, one State? In the reality, there are nations within a State! Picture: tacp.gov.tw
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, 1651.
Taiwan national identity Not typical case of anti-colonisation : Dutch colonsation ended up by an kingdom of piracy originally based in China; Japanese colonsation accepted by Taiwanese through the Kominka (Japanisation) policy before another originally Chinabased government settlement. KMT s authoritarian regime? Democratisation of Taiwan in the 1990s: KMT still strong, and the Republic of China as well, what s different now? A movement against the political oppression or/and against a colonial power? The birth of Taiwan nation after being denied of nationhood?
Taros v. Yams Was it purely a question of communities? Becoming Chinese under Chiang Kai-shek s regime: creation of a common destiny and a new national identity based upon cultural identity; denegation of any native identity; consolidation of the regime s legitimacy. Anti-communist campaign and restoration of mainland. Once the communication channel opened across the Taiwan Strait: Anti-communist or anti- China? The communist China as the one and the only? Free China not recognised anymore; oppression of the Taros similar to a colonisation? Chinese becoming a confusing identification
Imagining a Taiwan Nation Nativisation ( ): A Formosan identity based on Holo cultural pattern? A new cultural hegemony? Who s boss? An inclusive integration: Multiculturalism; e.g. Taros and Yams are all Taiwanese Who should we exclude? What community you belong to? Foreigners No idea Hakkas Continentals Aborigines Holos Source: www.pollster.com.tw/
Imagining a Taiwan Nation Desinicisation ( )? Which elements of China to be excluded? Isn t China somehow internalised in the native culture? Dilemma? Power struggle? Picture: www.libertytimes.com.tw
Identities and identification: State, Nation, Culture and Political Party Taiwan State identification = national identification = political party identification? Ref.: Frank C. S. Liu, When Taiwan Identifiers Embrace the ROC: The Complexity of State Identification in Taiwan, 48(2) Issues & Studies 1 (2012). Official name of Taiwan: Republic of China
Identities and identification: State, Nation, Culture and Political Party Taiwan State identification = national identification = political party identification? Ref.: Frank C. S. Liu, When Taiwan Identifiers Embrace the ROC: The Complexity of State Identification in Taiwan, 48(2) Issues & Studies 1 (2012). Official name of Taiwan: Republic of China Photo: www.ocac.gov.tw
Table 1 National/ethnic Identification Problems in Taiwan (Frank C. S. Liu, 2012: 8) Ethnic Criteria A proper name? Myth of common anc estry? Shared historical memories? A common culture defined by language? A link with a geographic homeland? Facts More than one: Its official name is Republic of China (ROC), but the commonly used national name is Taiwan, Taiwan (ROC), or the one used in WTO: The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. Mixed: Chinese-based, also some Taiwanese stories Diversified: both Chinese history and Ta iwanese history are taught in schools Mixed: Ma ndarin Chinese is the official language, while "Minnan Hua" (Taiwa nese) is also commonly used in daily life. Diversified: Constitutionally acknowledged home land includes ma inland China, but in practice the homeland refers to the area including the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.
Figure 3 (Frank C. S. Liu, 2012: 25) Contrasting National Identification with State Identification National/Ethnic Identity Both Taiwanese TW State Identity ROC N/A N/A Chinese Pearson residuals: 6.57 4.00 2.00 0.00-2.00-4.00-5.59 p-value = < 2.22e-16
Taiwan or ROC in the international community? The ROC is considered to be ended up by the PRC; Resolution 2758 of the UNGA: EXPULSION of the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek and PRC s LAWFUL representation of China; Under the «One China» doctrine, internationally recognised today, Taiwan is officially a rebellious province of China.
Taiwan or ROC in the international community? Taiwan is not the official name of Taiwan; ROC is not fully accepted by Taiwanese; Chinese Taipei, ROC in Taiwan or ROC (Taiwan) are merely ways to describe the de facto independent political entity; Do we have the right to choose their common name? Photo: ndaip.sinica.edu.tw