CHAPTER 2: Literature Review
2.64. South Korea – North Korea: Border Disputes &
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
2.64. South Korea – North Korea: Border Disputes & Unification
This section will analyze South Korea‘s on border disputes with her neighbor North Korea. If roughly 2/3 of Taiwanese people are distracted by Japan‘s hegemony because of a Mainland Chinese hegemony, then I have to explain why the same does not occur with South Korean people in light of the North Korea threat. It is because of the difference in how many people in South Korea, despite their military conflicts with the North, actually want unification with them. Less Koreans also view the DPRK as a military threat than Taiwanese do with PRC. The following article titled ―South Korean Attitudes toward North Korea and Reunification‖ by Kang Chung Ku, Lee Eui Cheol, Karl Friedhoff, and Kim Jyoon, was an Asan Report research project through the Public Opinion Studies Program, where they are all program officers or Research Fellows.
While this study traces the differing trends of ROK citizen attitudes towards reunification over the last several years, it shows that more than 80% of South Koreans in 2014 still want some form of reunification, which is strikingly different than what data shows for Taiwanese toward China. Since South Korean people are still much more tolerant of North Korea than Taiwanese people are of China, they do not have a reason to want or need Japan as a military ally. Through this research paper, such data will be inspected, confirmed, and then re-confirmed through my own self-conducted surveys that ask very specific questions about South Korea and Taiwanese people‘s opinions toward reunification.
‧
3.1. Post-War Taiwan: The Japanese surrender, the KMT Takeover
This section will further explore and emphasize the feelings of Taiwanese after Japan surrendered and the Kuomintang Chinese began to invade. The feelings and events during this four-year period are crucial to how Taiwanese of then and now view such a history.
Such history, in fact, has been especially debated as of late. While This chapter will touch upon Taiwanese people who were affected by the post-war period, it is also the younger generation of ROC citizens whose public opinion toward Japan is correlated to mid-twentieth century history on the island. It is not merely because of what their parents experienced, but what many feel is a growing level de-Taiwanization, soon to be replaced by a Chinese-favored culture at large.
Just this past summer, for instance, we saw over 30 ROC citizens, many of them in twenties or teens, arrested for barricading the Ministry of Education (MOE). This was in response to recent alterations that had been made to history textbooks, allegedly understating the aggressive role that was played by the KMT during their reign of White Terror. It is exactly this style of historical debate, which marks the divide between Taiwanese people who are more neutral or favorable to Japan, and those who are resentful. Due to rising number of young ROC citizens like these, the former feeling tends to be more popular. (Cole, 2015)
In order to fully understand this contemporary debate, and how it relates to Taiwanese public opinion toward Japan, the history itself must be understood and well analyzed. This has to take place before looking into any perception that ROC
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
such reasons, the next several sections will thoroughly examine the historical events that took place in Taiwan after the Japanese surrendered, and then look at it from different ROC citizens‘ perspectives.
3.11. February 28, 1947 : The 2/28 Incident
―In Japan, seven decades after the end of World War II, the prime minister is under fire from neighboring countries, which say he is playing down Japan‘s wartime atrocities, including its use of sex slaves.
Taiwan is different. Here, the most painful event in the island‘s modern history is on display in two museums and a park in Taipei devoted to what is called ‗the 228 Incident.‘ They are named, as are so many historical events in the Chinese language, by the month and day it took place.‖ (Forsythe, 2015)
This tragic 2/28 incident may very well prove to be a key reason why Taiwanese do not look at Japan as negatively, since it happened just two years after her surrender. This incident, which marked the true beginning of the Kuomintang‘s White Terror Period, was and continues to be a very politically and historically divisive factor among Taiwanese people of the benshengren (本省人) and waishengren 外省人. The entire purpose of this research paper is to prove that the difference between Taiwanese and Korean public opinions toward Japan is based on a very adhesive combination of historical and political differences.
Because this sensitive issue affects Taiwan on both a historical and contemporary political scale, it is of the utmost importance to dissect it thoroughly and see how it relates to the public opinions that ROC citizens have toward Japan. (Yuan, 2015)
‧
International Relations professor Dr. Yuan I of National Chengchi University. Dr.Yuan, like me, is an alumni of the University of Wisconsin – Madison. As he specializes in cross-strait relations, his opinion towards the Taiwan – China – Japan triangle is of an inestimable value. Dr. Yuan strongly feels that what occurred between the waishengren and baishengren on February 28, 1947 is a clear motivating factor for why many Taiwanese people of today have more neutral or positive feelings toward Japan. He curiously asks the question ―If there was no such 2/28 Incident, would the narrative be different?‖
He is of course asking how different Taiwanese people‘s views toward Japan may be if this massacre had not taken place two years after their surrender and forced departure. It is an answer we will never know for certain, but if one thing is certain, this incident certainly makes many Taiwanese people feel that what happened after the Japanese left was far worse than what happened while they were still in control. (Yuan, 2015)
―What has happened in February 1947 here also created something different that is a great psychological feeling of the local population. They always use this event to stage a comparison –Taiwan under Japanese versus Taiwan under Kuomintang as the way to portray their inclination more toward the Japanese rule. This is important.‖ (Yuan, 2015)
The self-conducted surveys that I distributed throughout the island of Taiwan are extremely consistent with the statements that Dr. Yuan made regarding the relationship of the 2/28 Incident to Taiwanese people‘s opinions toward Japan.
While 83.3% of survey respondents said that they 2/28 incident incited feeling of sorrow or anger, only 20.56% said the same about the Tapani Incident which
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
happened under Japanese rule. This indicates that Taiwanese people, in the grand scheme of political history, remember and regard the more recent violent incident in 1947 as having been much more detrimental. This says quite a lot about ROC citizens‘ opinion towards Taiwanese resistance to Japanese colonial rule in comparison to that of the Nationalist Chinese authoritarian rule.
Figure 3: Historical Incidents in Taiwan
Furthermore, my self-conducted surveys showed that an overwhelming 95.33% of the ROC respondents who answered that 2/28 incites feelings of sorrow or anger also answered that they have either neutral or positive opinions toward Japan. To be specific, 49.33% of these ROC respondents answered that they have ―neutral‖ feelings towards Japan, and 46% answered that they have
―like‖ her. Only 4.67% of these respondents answered that they have a negative opinion toward Japan. This paints a rather clear picture of a direct correlation to historical importance behind Taiwanese people‘s public opinions toward Japan.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 3.1: 2/28-based Opinions Toward Japan
3.2.The History of Ethnic Cleavage: Waishengren & benshengren
While the deeper roots of ethnic cleavage in Taiwan will be examined in Chapter 6, it is important to have a clear idea on its historical background. In very broad terms, the Han Chinese of Taiwan are split into two different groups – those who came before the end of the Pacific War, and those came after. Those who came before are often referred to as benshengren 本省人, while those came after are often referred to as waishengren 外省人. There are of course many sub ethnic groups within the Han Chinese ethnic group, including the Hakka 客家人, who make up roughly 15% of the Taiwanese population, and the Fulao, who make up most of the people who claim to be native Taiwanese. (Chuang, 2013)
Nonetheless, the main divide when it comes to ethnic cleavage in contemporary Taiwan is in relation to the post-1945 migrations of waishengren 外
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
benshengren 本省人. The term Chinese term ―ben‖ 本 means original, while
―wai‖ 外 translates to outside. (Chuang, 2013) As the post-war Chinese came over with Chiang Kai-shek, they did not experience Japanese rule over Taiwan, but rather the Japanese invasions of Mainland China, most notably in Nanjing. It is because of this that the waishengren 外省人 and their offspring tend to hold more animosity toward Japan. Ironically, the descendants of benshengren 本省人 are more likely to be more favorable to Japan, as they believe that their parents or grandparents were in better condition before the Japanese left were replaced by Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT. Because of this, the two different Han Chinese migration groups, amongst many other topics, are often on the contrary to the issue of opinions toward Japan. (Jia-ge, 2016)
In the very beginning of this year, I had the most interesting pleasure of meeting a prime example of a benshengren 本省人 who feels more favorable toward Japan. At the age of 70, born the same year that the Japanese left Taiwan, this individual asked to only be identified as Mr. Lai.
Mr. Lai explained to me that during the wave of waishengren who came with Chiang Kai-shek in the late 1940s, there was a clash between them and the benshengren, who had been living under Japanese rule for the past 50 years. Mr.
Lai claims that because they had been under Japanese rule, they were more modernized, and had a difficult time accepting the more traditional Chinese methods of the Kuomintang (KMT).
‧
Taiwanese‖ who had been inhabiting the island before the arrival of the KMT. In a quite dumbfounded manner, Mr. Lai turned to me and asked, ―How [could] the Chinese try to rule Taiwan?‖(Lai, 2016)
Wu Xuan-Liang 吳宣亮, the head of a camera equipment sales company, and an avid volunteer for the DPP, is also heavily influenced by what he feels was a dangerous mid-twentieth century transfer of power from Japanese colonizers to the authoritative, National Chinese government. As he is 60 years old, his narrative of the KMT first arriving in Taiwan is clearly more from that of his parents‘ generation, but it has nonetheless played a large role in his political preference for his part identification, and opinions toward both China and Japan.
The referenced quotation certainly once again touches upon the issues of ethnic cleavage, with the benshengren pitted against the waishengren. This identity battle, though, was the beginning of the four-decade period of martial law in Taiwan. Mr. Wu spent his first 20 years of life under the authoritative Chiang Kai-shek regime, and recalls very distinctly that during the suffocating White Terror Period, he was often warned by his parents ―to think, but not to talk.‖
(Wu, 2016)
There are many Taiwanese people on the other side of the political fence who would argue that Mr. Wu‘s perception of Taiwanese history is flawed and exaggerated. They may also argue, in fact, that what occurred under Japanese rule was far worse than anything that Mr. Wu thinks happened at the hands of the White Terror KMT. Nonetheless, the opinions of people such as Mr. Wu are alive
‧
and well on this island, and as shown through my sample of respondents, cause ROC citizens to have a more neutral or positive feeling toward their former imperial colonizer.
While pro-independence views such as Mr. Wu‘s and Mr. Lai‘s may be on the rise, it is hardly fair to say that it generalizes the ROC population. To create a strong, consistent and balanced Thesis, I also interviewed an individual who has a perspective on Taiwanese politics and history that is completely asymmetrical to that of Mr. Lai. For more than three years, I have had the very convenient fortune of living across the street from a Northern Chinese, or Bei-fang 北方 restaurant.
I have eaten at this fine establishment more times than I could possibly count, and have over the years become more and more close to the family owners. While I never got involved in any political discussions with them, I remember seeing a gigantic endorsement for New Taipei City KMT politician Guo Lin-Chwen 國林 春hanging above the front entrance during the local election in the Fall of 2014.
It was for this reason that I chose to interview the boss of the restaurant, as I figured that he would be a very fair choice to outweigh the extremely pro-Japan, pro-independence opinions that I have referred to in this Thesis Paper. The only way that I can get a true grasp on the historical and geopolitical factors that affect Taiwanese people‘s opinions toward Japan is by reading about and interviewing ROC citizens from different backgrounds and perspectives. For this reason, my friendly, locally famous neighborhood restaurant seemed like an excellent choice for an interview.
The boss of the restaurant prefers to be called Jia-ge 賈哥. a combination of his family name ―Jia‖, and the term of endearment ―ge‖, which means older brother. It is very important to establish the familial history of Jia-ge before I explain his political views towards Taiwan, China, and of course, Japan.
‧
While his mother is Taiwanese, his father is from Mainland China. He served in Chiang Kai-shek‘s Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) Army, and arrived in Taiwan in 1949 after being overthrown by the Chinese Communist Party. The father of Jia-ge, therefore, was a waishengren, making him the first-generation Taiwanese on his paternal side. Jia-ge says that his father, like many other Mainland Chinese, despised Japan. (Jia-ge, 2016) Both Sino – Japanese wars account for this, and the infamous Nanjing Massacre, or Rape of Nanjing (1937) is perhaps the most brutally noted incident; hundreds of thousands of Chinese were said to have been killed by the Imperial Japanese army, and anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 Chinese women were sexually assaulted. (Nanjing Massacre, 2016)
Jia-ge was very clear and quick to admit that his paternal linkage and narrative is responsible for his own geopolitical views. He also recognizes the reason why more Taiwanese people whose bloodline has inhabited the island for much longer are more favorable toward Japan. He agreed that the Japanese ruling and that of the KMT were quite different.
Just like Jia-ge has grown up with the negative narrative of Japanese aggression from his father, he says that many descendants of benshengren grew up with the narrative from their parents that security was far better when the Japanese government was in charge. Tales of not having to lock the doors were said to have disappeared when the KMT came into power. To break down the political and historical stances, descendants of waishengren tend to dislike Japan more, because their families were in Mainland China during the height of Japanese aggression.
Descendants of benshengren tend to be more neutral or positive to Japan, because families were in Taiwan during what many feel were positive attributes of the colonial period. (Jia-ge, 2016)
‧
makes perfect sense that those Taiwanese people whose families suffered from Japanese violence in Mainland China would have more negative views toward Japan, it seems illogical that those Taiwanese people whose families were suppressed under Japanese colonial rule would not have similar feelings.Advantages or not, Japanese colonial rule was still responsible for floods of violence and discrimination throughout the island. Jia-ge also explained the reasons behind such seemingly ironic viewpoints, and those reasons will be touched upon in later sections. (Jia-ge, 2016)
3.3. The Korean War and Martial Law
This period of time is crucial to look at to understand how life was after the Japanese surrendered and left Korea at the end of the Pacific War. What began as celebratory bonfires, ―tears and laughter, guns and flags, confusion and hope‖
(Kang, 2001) soon turned into a whirlwind of political instability. In one of the books that I refer to in my literature review, Under the Black Umbrella: Voices from Colonial Korea, Kang Sanguk, a physicist from North P‘yongan Province, who was only ten at the time, explains his experience:
―In the north part of the country, when the Japanese packed up to leave, no one really knew how to rule in their place. People tried to police themselves and in some areas it worked better than others. Where we lived, in Chongju, it was calm and orderly. Much later I learned that terrible things happened in some places, especially in Hamgyong Province to the northeast near the Russian border.
Anti-Japanese nationalists let out all their frustrations, and also the Korean communists, who had been biding their time, became militant. Cruel guerilla
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
attacks made everyone nervous. Nobody really knew who was in charge.‖
(Kang, 2001)
Such reflections only sum up the mere beginning of a trying time for Koreans to bounce back from the 35 years of Japanese occupation. It is important to remind readers that while anecdotes such as Kang Sanguk‘s are from the northern half of the Korean peninsula, many people like him ended up fleeing to the South, so such negative history undoubtedly made its way to Republic of Korea that we know today. Such history worsens, of course, with the growing civil war between the communists and anti-communists.
The mid-late 1940s were so similar in so many ways in both Korea and the Republic of China. It is for this reason that I have to explore not only the Korean War of 1950 – 1953, but also the days that led up to it. Since I am using the element of post-war anti-communist infused KMT authoritarianism to create a causal effect of Taiwanese people‘s opinions toward China affecting their opinions toward Japan, I also have to question why Korean people of today do not have one from what happened in their country. Just like the Taiwanese were brought under the iron fist of Chiang Kai-shek after Japan surrendered, Korea was soon controlled by Synghman Rhee, a man who then ruled for over a decade and earned an infamous legacy, to say the least. In this next section, I compare the Korean feelings toward Ree with those of the Taiwanese and their feelings toward Chiang. I will then get to the bottom of why it does not play a role in ROK citizens‘ opinions towards Japan in the same way that it does for ROC citizens.
‧
Synghman Ree was a Korean man. He was the first president of the Republic of
Synghman Ree was a Korean man. He was the first president of the Republic of