Blog Battle

So, for the last few days, I've been engaging in a blog-battle with this mainland blogger in the comments section of an American guy's blog. Richard--that's the host's name, I think--writes often in the main section of the blog about cross-straits relations, and problems with the Chinese government. Apparently he lived there for a while and had a bad impression of the place. So, as you can imagine, he himself leans towards Taiwan's position. But there is another blogger named bingfeng who claims Richard is irrationally anti-China, and that if Taiwan really opened its eyes, it would realize that China is not so bad, after all. Somehow, his comments just rubbed me the wrong way, so I started this back and forth with him that is starting to be JUST a little heated. Check out our exchange at the bottom of this comments link:

http://pekingduck.org/archives/002212.php

(Also, while you're at it, check out my latest op-ed in the Yale Herald. It's also about China, although not directly about Taiwan:

http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=4007)

PS: I'll post my latest comment from pekingduck below, because it's the strongest response I've written so far, I think. Please check out the link if you want to see what I'm referring to in the phrase "join or die." And please do check out the link in any case...the arguments are more complete there.

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That's exactly it. "Join or die" is the element of coercion that I'm talking about. I'm not making a direct comparison between the specific case of American revolutionaries and Taiwanese pro-independance politicians, but I AM saying that the Taiwanese politicians are identifying a threat, and for one reason or another, a lot of Taiwanese believe that there is a threat. That there is coercion.

If Taiwan and the Mainland got into a war, who do you think would win? Without outside help, of course Taiwan would be crushed. So what kind of a threat do you think the Taiwanese missiles are?

One assumption you are making is rubbing me the wrong way. Why is it that we must "forget about taiwan independance"? Why don't we "forget reunification," too--not just reunification through war, but reunification? What is intolerable to Chinese extremists is independance, and what is intolerable to Taiwan extremists is reunification. You are assuming a position closer to that of China's agenda.

You often comment that "outsiders," or foreigners, don't know what it's like within China. Well, I'm from within Taiwan. Are you saying that you know as much as I do what it's like to be Taiwanese? I'm telling you honestly how I feel. And what I feel is that, from the ground up, the mainstream of Taiwan BELIEVES in Taiwan as an entity. Even if it were to become a province of China, it would an individual entity with a specific, unique history. And within that history, there is a sense of victimization at the hands of Mainlanders--even if it WASN'T the CCP. Within living memory, the Mainland has been a source of oppression and threat, and it doesn't matter that it was the CCP during the KMT years. For better or worse, Taiwan has a postcolonial mentality.

So maybe those feelings are irrational. But can you deny that they exist? If you were to ignore them, you would be ignoring an important part of what is going on in Taiwanese identity politics. And then you will claim not to understand why Taiwan is being foolish, and irrational, and mad.

Let me ask one question: What kind of nationalism is rational? You say, "no intelligent and rational person who understand China well will believe that an independence of Taiwan without a war is possible." Well, isn't that because of "irrational" nationalism on the part of the Chinese people? Economically, not possessing Taiwan is not hurting China right now. Perhaps it's strategically valuable in some sense, but come on. China doesn't really NEED Taiwan. It just happens to WANT it. Because of specific historical reasons, China believes that Taiwan is Chinese. And because of OTHER specific historical reasons, Taiwan claims to be culturally, but not politically Chinese.

Look, national borders are random. The map of Europe in the 15th century is a far cry from what it is now, and China has changed even more since the original Qin dynasty. None of the reasons you have brought up are compelling enough to convince me, a Taiwanese, that Taiwan and China should be part of the same POLITICAL entity. I don't want a war. But neither do I appreciate the biased ground assumptions that are being made internationally, and within China.

So convince me.