Tai Wan Ren De Bei Ai

Tai Wan Ren De Bei Ai
China Post Editorial
by Bevin Chu
July 20, 2009

Godfather of Taiwan Independence Lee Teng-hui often spoke of "tai wan ren de bei ai," or "the sorrow of being born Taiwanese." What Lee meant was that "Native Taiwanese," i.e. Han Chinese who settled on Taiwan as early as the Ming Dynasty but no later than 1945, were long-suffering victims of colonialist oppression.

Leave aside these Han Chinese settlers' own colonialist oppression against Taiwan's Aborigines, the real "Native Taiwanese." The fact remains Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, French, and Japanese colonialists did indeed oppress Han Chinese on Taiwan.

But have Lee and other champions of Taiwan independence ever directed their justifiable resentment of colonialist oppression against Taiwan's Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, French, and Japanese colonizers?

No, they have not.

Instead, in defiance of all reason, they have redirected all their pent-up frustrations against other Han Chinese who arrived on Taiwan after 1945, and against other Han Chinese who have never even been to Taiwan, but who live on the Chinese mainland.

The "sorrow of being born Taiwanese" is indeed an historical tragedy. But Godfather of Taiwan Independence to the contrary notwithstanding, "the sorrow of being born Taiwanese" is not about either KMT incompetence or CCP intimidation.

Rather, the "sorrow of being born Taiwanese" is about self-hatred and self-abnegation. Worst of all, the "sorrow of being born Taiwanese" is an ongoing historical tragedy.

According to a public opinion poll released last week, mainland China remains at the top of a list of countries [sic] that younger people consider "unfriendly toward Taiwan."

The poll, conducted in June, solicited the views of senior high and university students. When asked to identify "countries unfriendly toward Taiwan," 82.9% of the respondents mentioned mainland China.

The Cold War between the KMT and CCP ended only four years ago, with KMT Chairman Lien Chan's historic "Journey of Peace." Therefore a lingering suspicion of Beijing is understandable.

But how does one account for the fact that 33.3% of all respondents chose to name the Republic of Korea (South Korea) as the second most unfriendly country to Taiwan in the world?

How does one account for the fact that 44.4% of all respondents put Japan at the very top of the list of countries "most friendly toward Taiwan?"

A clue to these young peoples' obliviousness can be found in one of the poll questions. Although 22% of the students polled said they paid attention to international affairs, they admitted that the "international affairs" they paid attention to were sports and entertainment.

Dismiss the 50,000 to 100,000 Taiwanese murdered by the Japanese between 1895 and 1945 as "ancient history," as "bygones." What about the aggression being committed by Japan against Taiwanese this very minute?

The young people polled apparently have no idea that Japan has annexed the Taiwanese island of Diaoyutai, and expanded its Exclusive Economic Zone to include waters a mere 37 km off the coast of Ilan and Hualien counties. Japanese Coast Guard vessels have intercepted Taiwanese fishing vessels found in "Japanese waters." Japanese Coast Guard personnel have arrested Taiwanese fishermen, forced them to kneel before their captors, slapped them in the face, spit on them, and screamed racial epithets in their ears.

The Taiwanese island of Diaoyutai has vast natural gas and petroleum reserves, including 100 billion barrels of crude oil and 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas -- enough to supply Japan’s needs for the next century. Their total value is estimated at 2,300 trillion NT.

Nothing is wrong with Taiwanese, i.e., Chinese people on Taiwan wanting to stand tall, walk out into the sunlight, and enjoy respect. This is a perfectly laudable, completely understandable, highly desirable goal.

But respect entails self-respect. Before others will respect you, one must first respect oneself. Self-respect in turn, entails self-affirmation. If one respects oneself, one will have no hesitation affirming who one is.

A reluctance to affirm who one is, a determination to pretend one is something one is not, is symptomatic of a deep-seated lack of self-respect. If one is reluctant to affirm who one is, if one is determined to pretend one is something one is not, one has already invalidated oneself at one's very core. Nothing one can do subsequently will ever make up for this initial act of self-invalidation.

The reluctance of champions of Taiwan independence to affirm that they are Chinese, their stubborn insistence that they are "Taiwanese, not Chinese," rather than "Taiwanese and Chinese," their pathetic attempts to ingratiate themselves with their Japanese victimizers, are all symptoms of a profound lack of self-respect. Champions of Taiwan independence who refuse to affirm who they are, who insist on pretending they are something they are not, have already invalidated themselves at their very core. Nothing they can do subsequently will ever make up for this initial act of self-invalidation.

This is the real meaning of "tai wan ren de bei ai."