Taiwan and Beyond: Chinese Settler Cultures - Essay Example

Taiwan and Beyond: Chinese Settler Cultures Student’s Name University Introduction The arms race in the East Asian world was triggered by two reasons: the Chinese irredentism, and the American lack of long time commitment as far as the relationship between China and Japan was concerned. These two countries could not be imagined as the only nations that could today threaten the U.S. national security. With American renewed interest in the cold war, clearly shown by their foreign policies, they have designed their policies in the East Asia, thus their intervention in the ongoing civil war in Taiwan. The fact is that the Taiwanese perception of the mainlanders and their military became negative ever since thousands of military entered Taiwan during the springs of 1949. Their reappearance after the Second World War led to several implications and conflicts as discussed in this paper. The conflict between the local Taiwan population and the incoming mainland forces just after World War II When it comes to war, the national pride and patriotism normally take the better of every citizen. The first and the second world wars left among the greatest historic impacts to almost all the nations in the world. Taiwan and so do China and Japan records their historic cases after the second world in a unique way that created severe conflict between the Taiwanese people and the mainland forces immediately after the Second World War. The problem between China and Taiwan began in 1949 after the Second World War when the Chinese Communist Party, led by Mao Tse-Tung, overthrew the nationalist government, ROC (Republic of China). The president, Chiang Kai-Sheck, of the ROC who was also the leader of the political party, Kuomintang (KMT), led an exodus, being forced to flee with soldiers as well as their loyal civilians to the Chinese island of Taiwan (Hillenbrand, 1976). They then established the Chinese nationalist government there. The problem began when, after the formation of government by the Chinese communist Party in 1950, known as the People’s Republic of China (PRC), they invaded Taiwan in bid to unify all of China under their rule. However, the U.S. involvement into the war made their plan to fail as the U.S. sent their naval forces and defended Taiwan successfully. The aftermath of the 1950 case has created a tense situation between the two countries to a situation of neither complete independence nor integration, with nothing like peace or war, and sometime a rising tension between them. However, sometimes, the tension between them cools down, at times when China relaxes their communism ideologies to embrace the western economic policies. Ideally, the truth is that regardless of the fluctuations in relations with China, Taiwan has developed into a democratic state with a high and independent economy. The two countries’ economies are linked to each other as they have mutual interest from economic perspectives, with many resources being invested in each other’s markets, even though the hostilities still remains. According to Edmondson (2002, p. 25-46), the first nationalist soldiers came to Taiwan’s Keelung on the northern section of Taiwan in 1945, just after the Second World War. However, their arrival in the Keelung created a mixture of reactions. The fact is that there was an expectation from the Taiwanese living on the island to be completely freed from the strict Japanese colonial imperative. In fact, even the Chinese themselves also wanted freedom from the Japanese exploitation as argued by Mendel (1997).However, they also gave a considerable respect for the efficiency of the over 200,000 police, very professional, as well as the military forces from Chinese mainland that had been deployed to keep the political order during the long Japanese imperative period. But when the time came, the 60,000 troops, according to Phillips (2003), embarking from the preparation for the Japanese to surrender in 1945, came into the island and provoked mixed reactions as they were grubby and indiscipline. It was their expectation as well as that of the Taiwanese people, that their stay (troops from the mainland) would be short. It was expected that way because their task was to accept the Japanese surrender, disarm the Japanese occupation forces, as well as ensuring that the Japanese forces left the island of Taiwan. In addition, as there were some raging civil wars in the mainland, it was expected they would return to the mainland as soon as their mission was accomplished. However, only 5000 troops returned to the mainland to fight the communists. To their disappointment, the troops (majority of them) that remained in Taiwan were so corrupt and indiscipline that led to eruption of several incidences between them and the residences of the local Taipei. The local residences of Taiwan, especially in Taipei took the mainlanders to be dirty, dishonest, and very backward from technological perspective (Chiou, 1993). The following points can be outlined as the reasons that led to the conflict between the local Taiwan population and the incoming mainland forces just after the Second World War: i. The first reason as argued above was the due to the unprecedented long period stay of the mainland forces that had come to ensure complete surrender and withdrawal from Taiwan of the Japanese forces that had strongly present in Taiwan. The fact is that China was under the colonialism of Japanese between 1895 and 1945. With the second world war ending with the U.S. inversion of Japan and defeating them, China, still considering Taiwan as part of China, sent its troops who were deemed strong, professional, and tasked to ensure the Japanese troops completely withdraws from the island. However, after the mission, more than half of the 60,000 troops remained in the island longer and their presence marked with indiscipline cases did not impress the Taiwanese. ii. The lawlessness and the unruly behaviors of the mainland Chinese troops provoked discomfort and created some conflicts involving the military and other forces with the islanders. As argued by Mendel (1997), the military stalemate between the people of the mainland China and the Taiwan people weakened the legal system of Taiwan. With the adjusted legal system, the Nationalist soldiers claimed ownership of houses and land based on forced occupation and these were considered stealing by the Taiwanese. With time, the eviction laws were weakened through these practices, and some other laws were changed while many were not enforced. iii. The troops were not prepared to keep internal order of Taiwan but continued breaking the order. The main issue was that the Nationalists believed that the Taiwanese took China as their ancestral home and source of culture. In this way, they thought that Taiwan’s residents would be anxious to return to Chinese rule and would not create any resistance. However, this was not the case as strong resistance erupted in 1947. iv. In 1947, as argued by Phillips (2003), violence that would mount to a hardened rivalry between China and Taiwan erupted after some killings by the police. In what was treated as pro-Communists rebellion saga by the authorities, a large contingent of Nationalist troops used heavy weapons against unarmed Taiwanese. Even though order was assumed to be restored afterwards, but by that time several thousand Taiwanese had been killed, including most of Taiwan’s local political leadership. The incident cemented the ethnic distrust that had been gaining momentum in Taipei. Ethnic rivalry continued to shape the city’s social and political climate for most of the Cold War period. The significant of the violent repression of Taiwanese protest to the long-term development of Taiwan in the post-War era Freedom and democracy result from the people’s struggle against fierce rules affecting the human and political liberations. Taiwan’s freedom and democracy are the examples of hard-won struggles from the legacy of abnormal conditions of rule by succession of what is considered as alien regimes. Having suffered from political repression and imposition of tuff military situation in what their call their land, Taiwan has been fighting for the development of collective Taiwanese identity that would empower its diverse ethnic groups. The fact is that the Republic of China (ROC) government has influenced the dramatic progress of the Taiwan development and hunger to become independent. The ROC government took over island of Taiwan in 1945 after the second world and decided to stay in Taiwan 1949 after defeat in the Chinese Civil War. However, the ROC regime has ever since become so inclined to recovering the mainland from the communist rebels into a democratically constituted defender of the rights and interests of the Taiwan’s people. In Taipei of Taiwan, the violent repression was stage-managed by residents since most importantly; the caliber of the Chinese mainlanders that came to the island did not have the required qualifications to take posts that Japanese had left vacant after their withdrawal (Hillenbrand, 1976). These scientific, technical, and administrative posts had direct effects on Taipei’s economy. The general assumption was that the mainland Chinese lacked skills and experience in the relevant activities that required replacement in management, businesses, and in government leadership that were required on building strong administrative and capital in Taiwan. At the eruption of the violent, Taiwanese created a strong argument that would lead to the long-term development of Taiwan in the post-War era. The violent repression of Taiwanese protest publicly opened the conflict inviting the United States’ involvement in the China-Taiwan conflict. At the United States’ involvement in the conflict, the issue became an issue of three parties. Even though the U.S. involvement in the Chinese and the Taiwanese affairs began long before the repression protest, the U.S. position was considered non-violent, but aimed at raising the economic standards of Taiwan (Hillenbrand, 1976). Even to date, the position of the U.S. in this currently nonviolent conflict is precarious; it is economically co-dependent with China and Taiwan to a slightly lesser extent since all three countries conduct billions of dollars-worth of trade with one another and are invested in each other’s economies. However, China and the U.S. are military adversaries and the U.S. vowed to defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion. Considering the current military and economic situations of the United States, with a war being fought on two fronts and in the midst of a severe economic crisis, the U.S. would greatly prefer that no disruptions to the state of relative peace between China and Taiwan occur. As far as the long-term development of Taiwan in the post-War era is concerned, the open rift and looming independence of Taiwan began after the violent repression in 1947. The point is that with the external protection, Taiwan found space to consider its own development agendas with other countries including China and the United States. The result of the violent repression of the Taiwanese protest The turning points of the assumption that Chinese mainland controlled Taiwan began in during this violent repression. As the resistance continued and became so severe, it became clear that Taiwan was tightly becoming under the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) leaders of the Republic of China rule. Even though opening the battleground for the two parties, the Communism and Nationalism parties, the Taiwanese resistance, (or violence repression) was the defining moment whose legacies persist into the present (Hillenbrand, 1976). Presently, reproach has reduced due to international involvement in the crisis, as the relation across the Taiwan Strait has improved substantially since 2008. However, reunification is just but a dream that is far from being a reality, as argued by Phillips (2003). This violent repression of the Taiwanese protest created only two options for the Chinese mainland: to give up completely on Taiwan or to use force in ensuring Taiwan become part of China. The second option is rather difficult considering the trade agreement and the international focus between the Chinese mainland and the Taiwanese people. In conclusion, towards the end of the 20th century, Taiwan has transformed from being predominantly agrarian economy to an intensely industrialized economy. The path to its current situation has been seen through the shift from agricultural to manufacturing region being assisted by the United States. Secondly, the ongoing sustainable development since 1980s has liberalize and internationalize Taiwanese economy. Thirdly, the reform for sustainable developments has open Taiwan to the world market, trading with nations including China and the United States. Even though the globalization, trade liberalization, and the rise of China pose a serious challenge to Taiwan, the fact remains that the conflict of 1947 between Taiwan and the mainland China led to the substantiation of the modern Taiwan known today. References Chiou, C.L. ‘The uprising of 28 February 1947 on Taiwan: the official 1992 investigation report’, China Information 7/4 (Spr 1993): 1-19. Edmondson, Robert “The February 28 Incident and national identity” in Stephane Corcuff, , ed. Memories of the future: national identity issues and the search for a new Taiwan. Armonk, N.Y.; London: M.E. Sharpe, 2002. 25-46. Hillenbrand, Margaret “Trauma and the politics of identity: form and function in narratives of the February 28th incident” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 17, no.2 (Fall 2005) 49-8. Kerr, George H. Formosa betrayed, New York: Da Capo Press, 1976, c1965.UniM Baill 951.24905 KERR. Lai, Tse-han; Ramon Hawley Myers and O. Wei. A tragic beginning: the Taiwan uprising of February 28, 1947, Stanford: Stanford UP, 1991. Mendel, Douglas Heusted. The politics of Formosan nationalism, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970.UniM Baill 320.951249 M537 Peng, Meng-min. ‘Political offences in Taiwan: laws and problems’, China Quarterly 47 (Jul/Sep 1971): 471-493. Peng, Ming-min. A Taste of Freedom: memoirs of a Formosan independ# [HOLT #] 1972UniM ERC B 951.249 P398. Phillips, Steven E. Between assimilation and independence: the Taiwanese encounter nationalist China, 1945-1950 Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2003.UniM Baill  951.24905 PHIL. Phillips, Steven. “Between Assimilation and Independence: Taiwanese Political Aspirations under Nationalist Chinese Rule, 1945-1948” in Murray A. Rubinstein (ed.) Taiwan: A New History Armonk, New York: M.E.Sharpe, 1999, p:275-319 UniM Bail High Use  951.24905 TAIW  OVERNIGHT LOAN. Read More