3. Chapter 3 - The first three political generations in Taiwan
3.2 The 2nd political Generation of Taiwanese: Taiwan's withdrawal from UN
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
39
In 1949, Mao Zedong declared the birth of People's Republic of China, accelerating the defeat of Nationalist forces, which finally settled in Taiwan. However, the great deal of mainlander refugees that moved to Taiwan, generated new social and economic challenges for the KMT government, including fierce competition between Mainlanders and islanders for resources.
The retreat of Nationalist party occurred when the first generation of Taiwanese, was 18 years old, and going through their formative years. Therefore, the first political generation of Taiwanese experienced the Japanese rule and its forms of government and later on, the arrival of Mainlanders and KMT's authoritarian rule. All these life experiences shaped their perspectives about political issues and in particular their identity as a group.
3.1.2 1st Generation of Taiwanese- Mainlanders
The 1st political generation of mainlanders that moved to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War and the KMT's surrender, was formed by people from different provinces of China. It was comprised of peasants, scholars, civil servants and militaries who were loyal to the Nationalist government. One of the main differences between them and the islanders is that some of the mainlanders never experienced the Japanese rule.
Therefore, they were educated according to the Confucian tradition and the Chinese educational system. In addition, they experienced a state of chaos as a result of the Chinese Civil War. However, when they moved to Taiwan, they were into their formative years.
3.2 The 2nd political Generation of Taiwanese: Taiwan's withdrawal from UN This generation of Taiwanese was born between 1931 and 1953, and entered the formative years between 1949 and 1971. It also generated two generational units. This political generation was characterised by social tensions between both mainlanders and islanders and the commotion of Taiwan's withdrawal from the UN in 1971.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
40
3.2.1 The 2nd Generation of Taiwanese: Islanders
This generation lived under KMT's authoritarian regime that ruled with an iron fist.
Restrictions were imposed on civil and political rights through a Martial Law. The KMT state's nation building was characterised by the conflict between its collectivistic civic and ethnic nationalism. On the one hand, the state tried to enforce Chinese nationalism, but on the other hand, having seen the consequences of the 2-28 uprising it yielded some ground to political participation by the local Taiwanese67. In that time, the main political goal of the KMT was mobilising the population to restore the government of the Republic of China in the mainland. The 1950s and 1960s, was a period of high social mobilisation, rigid conformity to political norms and indoctrination. Taiwanese had to be loyal to the new government and subsequently to China. They had to assimilate Chinese cultural values and language, leaving behind their Japanese past.
KMT's administration improved Taiwanese economy, and subsequently the living standards of the population.
One of the characteristics of this political generation of islanders was its polarisation into two main generation units. The first generation unit was compounded of young islanders who were impressed by the rise in living standards that were a result of the KMT's economic policies. Despite some perceived unfair aspects of the government, they accepted the rule of the KMT, and consequently, some of them ended up joining the KMT's party.
The members of the other generation unit did not forget the events of the incident of 28th of February, and they still resented the KMT administration. In 1950s and 1960s, dissidents living in exile in the United States and Japan organised a movement to throw off the KMT by declaring Taiwan an independent republic68.In 1970s, Taiwanese students abroad established the movement called The World United Formosans for
67 Zhidong Hao, Whiter Taiwan and Mainland China, National identity, the state, and intellectual, (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010), 38.
68 Shelley Rigger, "Taiwan's rising rationalism: generations, politics, and "Taiwanese Nationalism," Policy Studies 26 (2006): 40.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
41
Independence (Taiwandulijianguolianmeng, 臺灣獨立建國聯盟)69. These individuals formed the core of the opposition movement that surfaced in 1970s. One of the characteristics of this generation unit is that they believed that the KMT's regime had diluted Taiwanese culture and forced them to adopt the culture of the new mainlanders.
A clear example of this, can be found in the following exert taken from an interview in the book Taiwan; National Identity and democratisation.
"Under KMT indoctrination, we not only don't know much about Taiwan...we learn[ed]
to despise Taiwaneseness, Taiwanese language. They said Taiwan has no language, no culture. Taiwanese history started from the day the KMT arrived in Taiwan. Taiwan has no purpose in itself. The purpose of Taiwan is to be a stepping stone to go back to China. It is a transition. It is like a hotel. So, the only hope for Taiwanese is mainland.
The ultimate goal is in the mainland. Everything here is so small. Mountains are small, rivers are so short. There are volcanoes and earthquakes, "So, how can we stay here?"
[Mainlanders asked] The KMT brought that kind of philosophy, that kind of view to Taiwan and imposed that...view on Taiwanese. So we feel humiliated...downgraded. We have no hope because we are too small. We have no culture".70
3.2.2 The 2nd Generation of Taiwanese- Mainlanders.
This political generation was more integrated than the first, however, it still found some problems with the islanders due to the language barrier and existing segregation.
This political generation had a close relationship with the state due to the fact that their parents moved to Taiwan with the Chinese elite. In that time, the KMT encouraged mainlanders to hold onto their faith that they would soon return home. This generation of mainlanders stuck together and their political attitudes remained homogenous71. For them, Taiwan's withdrawal from the UN was a turning point, they experienced how the political project that the KMT was developing fell apart. The promise of returning to
69 Zhidong Hao, Whiter Taiwan and Mainland China, National identity, the state, and intellectual, (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010), 45.
70 Alan M. Wachman. Taiwan, National Identity and democratization. (Armonk: M.E Sharpe 1994). 111.
71 Shelley Rigger, "Taiwan's rising rationalism: generations, politics, and "Taiwanese Nationalism," Policy Studies 26 (2006): 44.
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
42
mainland China was broken and the legitimacy of the government was lost in the international community. A clear example of the 2nd Generation of mainlanders's perspective on staying in Taiwan is portrayed in the interview to Kao-Hui-Yu that was published in the book entitled Taiwan; National Identity and democratisation.
One second-generation Mainlander spoke of her father's attitude toward Taiwan:
"He still thought we were going back there [to the mainland], so we didn't buy anything.
We didn't buy a house, we didn't buy anything. We were poor...but we still could have managed to have some real estate, but he didn't do that [buy any]. And that made us...relatively poor compared with other Mainlanders, [not to mention] with indigenous people because they owned land, they owned houses, they [had] been here many, many generations. So my dad was...very disillusioned when he knew that he was going to settle down here and organise his family here probably all his life...[He said] "I planned not to stay here very long, but now I'm doomed to stay here the rest of my life, even my children will probably stay here the rest of their lives"72
3.3 The 3rd political Generation of Taiwanese: The rise of opposition movements