The Protection of Cultural Heritage - Article Example

School: BLOG POST FOR PUBLISHING Lecturer: Blog Post The People’s Republic of China and Canada each have something to learn from the other in terms of the protection of cultural heritage and the approach being used to achieve that. Both Canada and the PRC are territories with separatist tendencies. For Canada, Quebec appears to be a potential secessionist whereas for the PRC, Taiwan retains a separate de facto status. The Quebecois have long debated secession from Canada, yet they remain a province in that sovereign state. On the other hand, the Taiwanese govern themselves and hence, enjoy complete independence from China. With both cases, it is the US that plays a security role. Currently, one issue that is taking center stage in the discussion on Taiwan and Quebec is talks of possible reunification. China deems to reunite with Taiwan, as Canada wishes Quebec remains intact in the Canadian territory. Between Canada and China however, what is different is the approach that each country is using to achieve the goal of reunification. Most aspects of the differences in approach are seen from a bilingualism and multiculturalism perspective. From the position of China, there is much absence of support for reunification with Taiwan. This notwithstanding, China wants to make the reunification happen. In the light of this, China’s approach is seen by many as a mere invasion of Taiwan. As support for reunification continues to decline and the PRC moves to reclaim Taiwan, Taiwan looks to the US for protection against an invasion by the PRC. The US continues its arms sales to Taiwan as a deterrent to force China to come to a peaceful resolution with Taiwan. Canada’s approach is quite different and so nothing like invasion is suspected. In the context of Quebec’s secession, much of the issue that Canada is troubled with deals with identity, language and culture. While China remains threatened by the US militarily, Canada is threatened in terms of identity, language and culture. This is because should Quebec secede, there is the threat that part of Anglophone Canada may choose to unite with the US as well. Once this happens, the national identity of the people of Quebec will be totally deferred from Canada to America. The French section of Canada will also be excessively strengthened as against the English. What is more, there will be a cultural diversion towards America. From this sense, there is something that Canada can also learn from China when it comes to the defense of its cultural heritage. In the case of China, the country sees the dominance of its cultural heritage within the Asian block as an important determining factor in gaining worldwide recognition in the new world order. It is for this that China wants the numbers from Taiwan at all cost. This is however not the case with Canada as it has continuously viewed the dying away of its integrated culture towards the American culture without nothing drastic done to protect this. In the sense of protection of cultural heritage therefore, Canada also has to learn from Canada. But in all fairness, Canada has showed tolerance in its approach than China. This difference in approach suggests that China is not very tolerant to issues of national rivalry, especially when such rivalry borders on culture and identity. This is because once Taiwan becomes recognized among the League of Nations and becomes totally autonomous. The country is going to promote its own culture and national identity that is different from what has been inherited from China in all these years. Taiwan is entirely self-governed, has its own forces and maintains formal diplomatic ties with numerous states. What makes the issue more complicated is the possible international alliance that Taiwan would eventually have for the U.S., who is not considered a modern ally of China. For now, the only thing missing is international recognition, which is why Taiwan became a democratic polity. Democracy was a new form of self-determination according to the U.S order. Meanwhile, democracy was something rejected by the PRC who derived its sovereign claims on territorial bounds. The separatist movement in Quebec is based on the preservation of the francophone culture and language, which is in danger of extinction by the English culture. On the other hand, though the Taiwanese share ethnic similarity to the mainland, they are still as motivated as the Quebecois to maintain their separatist status. It is for this reason that some analysts believe that the root of independence struggle in Taiwan is one of cultural independence, which betrays its roots in Chinese culture1. China both lacks a commitment to democracy and self-determination. As such, they view Taiwan as an object to be exploited for a greater China. China should learn from Canada. With neither side willing to give in, both Taiwan and China are at a stalemate unable to solve the volatility in the strait. Like Canada’s tolerance to a potential secession, China too, should become tolerant to a separate Taiwan. At the very minimum, a carved solution would require China’s control of Taiwan in a way in which the Taiwanese remained unaffected. Indeed, the whole world has to be concerned about this shared learning moment between China and Canada, especially in terms of the need to eschew violence in this discourse as violence affects world peace and other global determinants of economic success. The world cannot afford a sea of grief that result from an escalation of violence between China and Taiwan. At the same time, the world cannot ignore the fact that success is a sense of achievement and not an illegitimate child. For this reason, Canada cannot choose to offer America cultural dominance that was not worked for in any way. Background Notes World Order The blog was prepared based on an understanding of world order from the perspective of international relations and the effect that international relations has on individual countries. International relations have been explained to be a multi-variant phenomenon that encompasses the relationships among countries, as well as the roles that various stakeholders of national development such as inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations play2. Every important, it would be noted that there is currently a world order that focuses on the support that various countries derive from each other as part of their international relations. Because of this, countries are very careful in the selection of their allies. In the selection process, care is taken to ensure that a particular country can make the most of their allies. One disturbing factor however has to do with the fact that there are some countries that are seen to be enemies or at least disagree on various political ideologies. In the selection of allies, an independent country may suffer a situation whereby aligning with a particular country may cause enmity among non-allies or enemies. The issue of China and Taiwan on one side and Canada and Quebec on the other side is one case. In the case of China and Taiwan, China thinks an independent Taiwan will mean a new ally for U.S, who does not have the same political philosophies as China. It is for this reason that there seem to be so much struggle on the part of China to claim Taiwan by force to ensure that Taiwan does not fall to an enemy3. On the part of Canada and Quebec, both will eventually be allies of U.S and so the level of tolerance for the secession of Quebec by Canada. Key concepts The blog post was prepared based on four major concepts, which are culture, language, national identity and alliance. The concept of national identity was inspired by understanding from Morganthau Hans, who is the author of “Politics among Nations”. From the understanding from the author, national identity will be explained to be a feeling of belonging that a person has for a particular country. National identity therefore encompasses the issue of commitment to a particular country. Inspiration on the concept of alliance was on the other hand taken from Janet Boles and Diane Long Hoeveler who wrote extensively about international alliance from a feminism perspective4. Alliance on the other hand will be understood to be an allegiance between two countries, based on which the countries share common benefits in terms of socio-political and economic support5. The concept of language was inspired from understanding from Jewel Huang, who wrote extensively about the Taiwan identity. From the perspective of Walter Taylor6, inspiration was taken on the theme of culture as culture is understood to be a set of values that are shared among a group of people. Language is seen as part of culture but in the context of the blog post, language is seen as an independent determining factor that can cause a group of people to be independent from their existing country7. Typical of this is what is being experienced in Canada about Quebec. Evidence The blog post was prepared based on the use of both primary and secondary evidence. Primary evidence was gathered from two major sources, which were newspaper report and electronic news bulletin. Recent news report about the U.S intervention for Taiwan has been widespread on cable networks as the media sees China as taking undue advantage of Taiwan8. as reflected in the blog, China seem to have a personal agenda, directly related to the need to gaining cultural dominance, a reason it wants to use all means available to get Taiwan to its side. Secondary evidence also included sources taken from two major mediums, which were books and journals. Based on secondary sources such as those that have been outlined, the approach of Walter Taylor, the approach being used by Canada has been criticized as having its own weaknesses and strengths. The strengths have to do with the general recognition for peace, while the weakness has to do with an unjustified urge to protect the culture of the nation, which seem to be shifting towards the American side. Limitations As justifiable as it is possible to debate for the arguments that were made in the blog as to what China has to learn from Canada and what Canada has to learn from China, there are major limitations to the argument that can be pointed out in the research done. For example, the continuous resistance by China for America to have her way could be limited from a perspective where a perpetual allowance for America to always have her way could lead to a state of world order where on the singular argument of promotion of peace, some nations referring to themselves as super power in world politics will always have their say. A similar case can be made against the discussion made for Canada because despite the fact that Canada is being generally peaceful in her approach, she may only be making way for America to be the only voice that the world listens to. Cited Works Hsiao, Frank. "The Chinese Communist Party and the Status of Taiwan, 1928-1943". Pacific Affairs 52, no. 3 (2009): 446–467. Huang, Jewel. “Analysis: Name changes reflect increasing Taiwan identity” Taipei Times (Taiwan) Feb 12, 2007. Moody, Peter. Opposition and dissent in contemporary China. London: Hoover Press, 1977. Morganthau, Hans. Politics among Nations: The struggle for Power and Peace. New York: Ultimate Press Limited, 1978. Tucker, Nançy. Patterns in the dust: Chinese-American relations and the recognition controversy, 1949-1950. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 2003. Yoonmi, Lee. Modern Education, Textbooks, and the Image of the Nation: Politics and Modernization and Nationalism in Korean Education: 1880-1910. New York: Routledge, 2012. Taylor, Walter. A Study of Archeology. Memoir 69, American Anthropological Association. Carbondale IL: Southern Illinois University Press 2008 Boles, Janet and Diane Long Hoeveler Historical Dictionary of Feminism. New York: Scarecrow Press, 2004, p. 23 Taylor Jay. The Generalissimos son: Chiang Ching-kuo and the revolutions in China and Taiwan. Harvard University Press, 2013 Read More