wfn.org | TCN Editorial: October in Taiwan

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3006 Edition

>October 5~11, 2009

>Editorial: October in Taiwan

>Translated by Lydia Ma

October 1 was China’s national day and marked the  People’s Republic of

China’s 60th anniversary. A huge army parade took place on  that day and the

world got a taste of China’s military might and its supreme  control over its people

through an elaborate display of highly-coordinated performances.

On that day, media from across the world covering the celebrations  reviewed

China’s history in the past 60 years and mostly mentioned the  impressive military

display in passing. However, many Taiwanese media did the total  opposite when

they glossed over China’s political and human rights record  and provided instead

live coverage of spectacular performances. It was evident that  Taiwanese media

were awestruck by what they were witnessing and also relished in  Chinese

people’s joy and pride as though they were taking part in  China’s celebration

>themselves.

To ensure that celebrations would run seamlessly, the Chinese  government

tightened its grip on its people and the underlying threatening  tone of these

celebrations was evident. Amid the fanfare, Chinese leaders had  not forgotten

their ambition of creating a “Greater China” which would  invariably threaten

>Taiwan’s existence.

When some Taiwanese media promote China’s national day, they  not only

become willing instruments for China to further flout its power,  but also make us

wonder whether they could possibly be nostalgic of an earlier  period in

Taiwanese history when a few elites exerted absolute power over  the entire

>nation.

After the Republic of China came to Taiwan, October became the  month with the

most national holidays in the year. October 10 became Republic of  China’s

National Day, October 25 became Retrocession Day (to mark the end  of

Japanese rule over Taiwan), and October 31 marked the birthday of  Chiang Kai-

shek. In the past, there would be huge military parades, rallies,  and evening galas

throughout Taiwan during those holidays and every performance  would be

elaborately designed to highlight order and artistry so as to  exhibit national unity

>and strength.

It is through these holidays and performances that the government  ingrained into

the consciousness of Taiwanese citizens that they must be willing  to become like

small screws – always at the disposal of the government,  willing to offer up

themselves for the glory of their country, and ready to sacrifice  themselves for

>their national leader.

This quasi-fascist political ideology slowly unraveled and faded  from Taiwanese

society in the past decade or so with the emergence of democracy  as we began

to embrace individual freedoms and human rights. Most people  nowadays

cannot tolerate such a rigid form of governance or management.

When a country begins to democratize, national day celebrations  focused on

showing off hard power are slowly replaced by multicultural  festivities. In some

cases, a country’s national day becomes just another date in  the calendar for

average citizens and whether or not to hold huge festivities  becomes a trivial

>matter.

Besides democratization and increased freedoms, the birth of  Taiwanese

national consciousness is a major factor explaining why these  national holidays

are no longer as significant. When Taiwanese people came to  realize that

“Republic of China” was in essence a regime imposed by a  foreign colonizer and

Chiang Kai-shek was merely a dictator who had massacred countless  innocent

Taiwanese, these holidays became not only irrelevant, but  reminders of

>oppression and conquest by foreign rulers.

It is only by exposing lies that the truth can emerge. After  tearing down fairytales

concocted by foreign colonizers, Taiwanese society began building  a country

where power would rest in the hands of the people rather than in  the hands of

oppressive governments. The human rights and freedoms we possess  today in

Taiwan are the envy of many citizens living under oppressive and  dictatorial

>regimes.

However, we must remember that these freedoms didn’t come by  without a

heavy price and they mustn’t be taken for granted. Democratic  countries may

regress into authoritarian regimes and there’s no guarantee  that our present

freedoms will never be compromised in the future. The way  Taiwanese media

covered China’s national day celebrations this year and the  way some people in

Taiwan still long for those “good old days” or look on  enviously at celebrations

across the Taiwan Strait should serve as a wake-up call for us  all.

Taiwanese people must encourage each other to be patriotic in the  month of

October. However, patriotism shouldn’t be based on empty  illusions about

national glory, but rather, fueled by determination to protect our  lifestyles and

>hard-earned democratic freedoms.

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