ASIA PROGRAM SPECIAL REPORT NO. 114 AUGUST 2003 INSIDE The Evolution of a Taiwanese JUNE TEUFEL DREYER Taiwan’s Evolving National Identity Identity page 4 ABSTRACT: This Special Report explores the growth of a Taiwanese national identity from THOMAS B. GOLD historical, cultural, demographic, economic and political perspectives, factoring in Taiwan’s his- tory, ethnic divide, and domestic politics. June Teufel Dreyer of the University of Miami argues Identity and Symbolic that a sense of identity apart from that of mainland China has existed in Taiwan for more than Power in Taiwan a century,and its specific definition now incorporates those residents coming from the mainland page 11 in the late 1940s as well as their offspring. Thomas B. Gold of the University of California at Berkeley contends that the Taiwanese quest for identity has risen from below, reflecting the SHELLEY RIGGER weakened capacity of the KMT state to impose its official identity over society. Shelley Rigger Disaggregating the of Davidson College disaggregates the concept of national identity into four distinct issues— Concept of National provincial origin, nationality, citizenship and policy preference—and points out that the com- Identity plexity of the identity issue resists easy analysis.While the three essays agree on the roots of a Taiwanese national identity, they differ on the direction of its evolution, as well as its implica- page 17 tions for cross–Taiwan Strait relations. Introduction What are the main reasons for the growth Gang Lin of a Taiwanese identity? What has been the impact of the “February 28 incident” in 1947 aiwan’s political democratization has on ethnic conflict in Taiwan? Is the growth of released a growing consciousness of a separate Taiwanese national identity T national identity on the island over inevitable in the years to come? What about the last decade. Culturally, an ethnic division ten years from now, when Taiwan’s population between native Taiwanese and those who is completely dominated by native Taiwanese? came from the mainland during the 1940s has The following three essays examine these and arisen because of their different historical related issues from various perspectives. experiences and even their languages In the first essay, June Teufel Dreyer of the (Mandarin vs.Taiwanese). Politically, the two University of Miami argues that a sense of ethnic groups tend to have different ideas identity apart from that of mainland China has about the future relationship (unification vs. existed in Taiwan for more than a century. independence) between Taiwan and mainland While 50 years of Japanese colonial rule China. In recent years, the growth of a new (1895-1945) contributed to the development and inclusive Taiwanese identity, as well as of distinct habits and attitudes of the Taiwanese ASIA PROGRAM education and intermarriages, has helped people, the arrival of the Nationalist (KMT) reduce cultural cleavage between ethnic government and its ill-disciplined soldiers groups. Many Taiwanese people now define from the mainland quickly disillusioned native themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese. Taiwanese. The traumatic February 28 inci- However, a growing number of people on the dent, when thousands of Taiwanese were island call themselves Taiwanese but not slaughtered by the KMT military, left searing Chinese. memories in the consciousness of native resi- Gang Lin is program associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Asia Program. ASIA PROGRAM SPECIAL REPORT dents, and became the first marker in the develop- to impose its official identity over society. In the ment of a modern Taiwanese identity,Dreyer main- early days, the KMT state arrogated substantial tains. Despite KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek’s efforts amounts of all forms of power to itself, rendering at culturally redefining Taiwan’s inhabitants as society disorganized and powerless. It implemented Chinese, a spontaneous movement of literary martial law, maintained power to distribute scarce nativization by a group of indigenous writers capital and resources, denied autonomy to social emerged in the 1960s. According to Dreyer, the organizations, defined Taiwan as a province of the 1979 Kaohsiung incident, resulting from a mass Republic of China (ROC), and made Mandarin demonstration and KMT crackdown, was another Chinese the national language in schools, govern- marker in the evolution of a Taiwanese identity. mental offices, and the media. Beginning in the late Taiwan’s democratization in 1986 has accelerated 1970s, however, the initiative in Taiwanese life shift- the development of a new and more inclusive ed away from the authoritarian party-state to socie- national identity on the island, Dreyer continues. ty in the form of social movements. As Gold 2 Under the leadership of Taiwanese President Lee observes, non-KMT politicians began to call for Teng-hui,a memorial to the victims of the February self-determination and push for the termination of 28 incident was built in Taipei, and a “new martial law. At the same time, social activism Taiwanese” identity began to incorporate those resi- addressing nearly every realm of life exploded vari- dents coming from the mainland in the late 1940s as ously. Within the KMT, President Lee Teng-hui well as their offspring.While a separate Taiwanese turned out to be the most unexpected political identity has continued to develop under the Chen entrepreneur in pursuing a Taiwan-first line. Shui-bian administration, Dreyer argues that its spe- Over this period, structural shifts have opened up cific definition might be changed in the future. spaces for action by dissenters against the previously More than half a million Taiwan citizens now work official definition of a Taiwanese identity,Gold con- and live in the mainland.What effect this will have tinues.The expansion of the private sector trans- on their self-identification remains to be seen, ferred substantial resources and social prestige to Dreyer concludes. entrepreneurs, most of whom were Taiwanese. As a The second essay, by Thomas B. Gold of the result of Taiwan’s democratization, formerly forbid- University of California at Berkeley, explores a den topics became debatable. Eventually, the propo- Taiwanese national identity from the perspective of nents of Taiwan as a province of China became state-society relations. According to Gold, the increasingly isolated. Gold concludes that a separate Taiwanese quest for identity arose from below, identity is very real to many people in Taiwan, and reflecting the weakened capacity of the KMT state that Beijing must find ways to understand its origins and implications in the island’s cultural and political life. THE ASIA PROGRAM In the third essay, Shelley Rigger of Davidson College argues that the discussion of a Taiwanese The Wilson Center’s Asia Program is dedicated to the proposition that only those with a sound scholarly grounding can begin to national identity often suffers from a lack of clarity understand contemporary events. One of the Center’s oldest about concepts and definitions. Disaggregating the regional programs, the Asia Program seeks to bring historical and concept of national identity, Rigger raises four dis- cultural sensitivity to the discussion of Asia in the nation’s capital. tinct issues that are crucial to the discussion, includ- In seminars, workshops, briefings, and conferences, prominent ing 1) provincial origin, 2) nationality,3) citizenship scholars of Asia interact with one another and with policy practi- tioners to further understanding of the peoples, traditions, and and 4) policy preference. behaviors of the world’s most populous continent. As Rigger elaborates, provincial origin (ethnic identity) is the most politically significant demo- Asia Program Staff: graphic division in Taiwan’s society.The island’s resi- Robert M. Hathaway, Director Gang Lin, Program Associate dents were divided, legally and socially, between Amy McCreedy, Program Associate native Taiwanese whose families came to the island Wilson Lee, Program Assistant before 1895 and “mainlanders” whose families Timothy R. Hildebrandt, Program Assistant arrived between 1945 and 1950.While ethnicity was THE EVOLUTION OF A TAIWANESE NATIONAL IDENTITY an ever-present component of political discourse in ty of the identity issue resists easy analysis, Rigger the early and mid-1990s, the intensity and frequen- emphasizes. cy of ethnic politicking have diminished over the In his commentary on these three essays when past several years, Rigger notes. Nationality (cultural they were first presented at a July 17, 2003 seminar identity) is the subject of heated debate, because sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Asia “Chinese” and “Taiwanese” are not mutually exclu- Program, John J. Tkacik Jr. of the Heritage sive identities. By contrast, citizenship (political Foundation argued that preference for independ- identity) is already a settled issue, as residents of ence or unification is inextricably intertwined with Taiwan believe that they are citizens of a unique one’s ethnic identity. For example, when asked who state different from the People’s Republic of China. had the right to determine the future of Taiwan, Rigger argues that policy preference for Taiwan only 11 percent of respondents said that residents of independence or Chinese unification is the most mainland China should also be included.According complicated issue related to a Taiwanese identity.A to Tkacik, this figure perfectly reflects the percent- “Taiwanese” identity does