A Taiwanese identity emerges
In this week鈥檚 cover story, our Beijing Bureau Chief Ann Scott Tyson files a dispatch from Taiwan, where she explores how residents are coming to understand themselves as, specifically, a Taiwanese people.
They emphatically prefer peace, Ann tells us. The strong sense of a Taiwanese identity has come hand in hand with the flourishing of democracy, she says.
The feeling has only grown as China continues to pressure Taiwan with frequent shows of its military and economic might.
It hasn鈥檛 always been this way. Taiwan still officially calls itself the Republic of China. The vast majority of its residents are ethnically Han Chinese. And until the late 1980s, the government was a repressive dictatorship, insisting it was the sole legitimate ruler of all of China.
Today, Taiwan remains in a kind of diplomatic limbo. Since the 1970s, the United Nations, the United States, and many other countries have switched their diplomatic recognition from the Republic of China to the People鈥檚 Republic of China. The U.S. acknowledges Beijing鈥檚 鈥淥ne China鈥� policy, while also continuing to provide Taiwan with military assistance.
Media outlets often define the island of 23 million people simply in relation to the interests of the superpowers. Ann鈥檚 story explores the aspirations of the Taiwanese 鈥� how they view themselves, how they want to live and be treated. Many stressed that they value the freedom and democracy they鈥檝e built on Taiwan, and believe China should respect that.
Many younger, outward-looking Taiwanese are proud of their identity, and say they feel particularly irked by China鈥檚 efforts to exclude them from formal diplomatic spaces.
鈥淎 lot of being Taiwanese is figuring out how to be Taiwanese in the world when you have the China factor,鈥� the American-educated podcaster Emily Wu, co-founder of Ghost Island Media, tells Ann. Ms. Wu is annoyed at constantly finding Taiwan listed as a 鈥減rovince of China.鈥�
鈥淭hey are equivalent to microaggressions. Some seem tiny, but they matter a lot,鈥� she says at her startup鈥檚 Taipei office. 鈥淚n the long term, we want to have space and a say and standing internationally.鈥�
China continues to insist that Taiwan is a breakaway province from 鈥淥ne China,鈥� and threatens to reunify by force, if necessary. The Taiwanese people, now part of a vibrant and prosperous democracy, hope for a peaceful resolution to this long-standing state of limbo. But mostly, they want to preserve the kind of life they鈥檝e worked so hard to build.
