Running head: THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TAIWANESE NATIONALISM
The Negative Effects of Taiwanese Nationalism
Johanna Huang
Section B07
Fourth Writing Assignment: Final Draft
March 13, 2013
University of California, San Diego
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THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TAIWANESE NATIONALISM
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Abstract
During the late 20th to 21st century, the growing separation between the identity of Taiwan and
China became the main cause of tension between these two nations. Sometimes, the tension
worsens with U.S. intervention and unsuccessful diplomacy. In this essay, I will argue that
nationalism has an overall negative effect on Taiwan because it isolates Taiwan from the outside
world, disrupts cooperative relations, and threatens its global security. Using the works of Robert
S. Ross (2006) and Kenneth Lieberthal (2005), I provide background information on the history
of China as a military prowess which threatens Taiwan’s global security. Moreover, scholars
such as Scott L. Kastner (2007) and Hung-Mao Tien and Chen-Yuang Tung (2011) emphasize
China’s economic leverage on Taiwan’s political policies. Finally, the works of Shu Keng and
Gunter Schubert (2010), Yang Zhong and Chen-hua Shen (2008), and T. Y. Wang and G. Andy
Chang (2006) provide further support for my thesis. In addition, I have provided alternative
approaches to Taiwanese nationalism from the works of Yung-mei Tsai, Mei-lin Lee, Temu
Wang (2006) and Taiwan’s former pro-independence President, Lee Teng-hui (1999). By
exploring the reasons for tension in the Taiwan-strait relation, I seek to find alternative
approaches to foreign diplomacy that could cost Taiwan its potential to be recognized in the
global world.
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The Negative Effects of Taiwanese Nationalism
The tension between Taiwan, China, and the U.S. has sparked interest on the
international stage from the late 20th to early 21st century. The belief that Taiwan belongs to
China stemmed from a period during which the Kuomingtang (KMT)—China’s Nationalist
Party—colonized Taiwan. As time progressed, however, the colonies in Taiwan gradually
became more politically isolated from the authoritative mainland and eventually transitioned into
a young democracy that fostered Taiwan’s new identity. As Taiwan solidified its distinct identity,
China used its military prowess and economic leverage to prevent Taiwan from making steps
toward international recognition of sovereignty.
Although the U.S. played an advocate for democracy and temporarily protected Taiwan
from China’s pressures to reunify, the U.S. has yet to promote diplomatic policies that would
alleviate these tensions. The struggle between the U.S. and China to steer Taiwan’s future have
caused Taiwanese leaders to be uneasy about its place in the global world. Taiwanese leaders
have responded negatively to China’s pressures and, out of frustration, increased their
nationalistic tendencies which further strained China-U.S. relations. To make matters more
complex, Taiwan is also conflicted by domestic problems caused by its young, faction-ridden
democracy. The aforementioned facts have led me to ask: Does Taiwanese nationalism have a
positive or negative effect on its security in the global sphere? As a response to this question, I
will argue that nationalism has an overall negative effect on Taiwan because it isolates Taiwan
from the outside world, disrupts cooperative relations, and threatens its global security.
Before I present my supporting articles, some of my sources’ weaknesses must be
addressed to ensure full understanding that this topic is not as simplistic as it seems. Many
scholars disregard other, less obvious factors that come into play when examining the cause and
THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TAIWANESE NATIONALISM
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effect of Taiwan’s security in the global world. For example, the focus on China determining the
future of Taiwan’s international status ignores the fact that Taiwan’s half-century isolation has
fostered identities and governments that are separate from China’s. “Unification” will be a
difficult process between authoritative China and the young democratic Taiwan especially when
Taiwan already claimed to be a sovereign country. In former President Lee Tung-hui’s (1998)
essay “Understanding Taiwan: Bridging the Perception Gap”, Lee argued against the “OneChina policy” by recalling Taiwan’s historical events within the past century (p. 10). According
to Lee (1998), China had already been divided when its Nationalistic Party (KMT) escaped to
Taiwan for refuge after losing a revolutionary war against China’s Communist Party (p. 10).
After this escape, the KMT proclaimed its reign of Taiwan in 1949 and was recognized as a
separate entity from mainland regime (Lee, 1998, p. 10). Therefore, Lee (1998) concluded by
definition, Taiwan has been independent since 1949 and is completely capable of governing
itself without being an extension of authoritative China (p. 13).
In addition, existing sources rarely consider the negative domestic economic
consequences of globalization. According to Yung-mei Tsai, Mei-lin Lee, and Temu Wang
(2006) in their article, “The Personal Consequences of Globalization”, Taiwan has accelerated
the growth of its economy from fostering labor intensive industries to capital-intensive industries
(p. 275). The move towards capital-intensive industries allowed for more global visibility that
comes with international trade; however, Tsai et al. (2006) provided personal interviews with
workers whose industries were being driven out by increased foreign competition. Laborintensive textile industries no longer brought foreign currency into Taiwan; instead, capitalintensive electronic exporting industries drove up Taiwan’s standard of living and increased the
cost of labor (Tsai et al., 2006, p. 275). As Taiwan’s economy became more integrated into the
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globalization process, Taiwanese industrialists had to deal with the rising costs of domestic labor,
environmental constraints, and escalating land values (Tsai et al., 2006, p. 275). Eventually,
Taiwanese industrialists relocated their factories to places with cheaper labor, less environmental
costs, and affordable land values (Tsai et al., 2006, p. 275). The relocation of these laborintensive factories fostered high unemployment rates; it was too late for the older generation of
workers to enter into the technological industries of today (Tsai et al., 2006). Oyster fishermen,
flower farmers, and fruit farmers are now relying on imported goods, reducing Taiwan’s
sustainability (Tsai et al., 2006). In addition, uncertain market conditions for these farmer drives
out the need for such domestic industries (Tsai et al., 2006). As a result, Taiwan’s disparity
between the wealthy and the disappearance of labor-intensive jobs all pointed to the inevitability
of polarization and increased the number of domestic issues already at hand (Tsai et al., 2006).
These two points exemplify other approaches to Taiwan’s security in the global place and
demands attention on their own.
Although the perspectives mentioned above are equally as important to the study of
Taiwanese nationalism and its effects, I will focus on Taiwan-strait relation’s military, economic,
and political aspects. I argue that blind nationalism and global proclamation of independence will
draw negative effects on Taiwan’s international security, and China’s status as a global
superpower should not be undermined because of its military and economic hold on Taiwan. In
addition, domestic cooperation between Taiwan’s faction-ridden polities must come to a
consensus in dealing with foreign policies in order to build a successful democracy in the long
run.
First, China’s military threats against Taiwan’s independence are imminent and
unavoidable. In “Taiwan’s Fading Independence Movement”, Robert S. Ross (2006) described
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an incident in 1995 during which China threatened Taiwan under Chinese suspicion of U.S.Taiwan alliance (p. 142). Former Taiwanese president Lee Tung-hui was invited to speak as an
advocate for Taiwan’s independency at Cornell University in the U.S. in mid-1990’s, to which
China responded immediately by “testing” missiles on the waters surrounding Taiwan (Ross,
2006, 142). In addition, Kenneth Lieberthal (2005) stated in his article “Preventing a War Over
Taiwan” that the likelihood of previous military threats have increased since China passed an
Anti-Secession Law that justified its reasons for using military force on Taiwan (p. 57). This
Anti-Secession Law removed Taiwan’s doubts on China’s use of force and demonstrated
Chinese President Hu Jintao’s hostile response to Taiwan’s movement towards sovereignty
(Lieberthal, 2005, p. 58). All of the aforementioned facts display China’s military prowess and
determination to acquiesce Taiwan into unification, which makes the need for an alternative
solution towards eventual independency more reasonable than hostilities created by blind
nationalism.
Second, economic leverage on Taiwan allows China to send costly signs that warn
Taiwan against its declaration of independency. Scott L. Kastner (2007) demonstrated the
significance of these economic signals in his article, “When Do Conflicting Political Relations
Affect International Trade”. According to Kastner (2007), the large amount of Taiwanese
investments in China makes Taiwan vulnerable to China’s sanctions because China can easily
closer borders and enact embargoes to enhance their economic leverage (p. 668). China was
Taiwan’s largest exporting partner, which resulted in an accumulation of Taiwanese investments
that exceeded US $100 billion during 2006 (Kastner, 2007, p. 669). Moreover, China’s exclusion
of Taiwan from Free-Trade-Agreements (FTA) in Asia caused foreign corporations to move their
businesses to the mainland as a result of the rising costs of doing business in the strait (Lieberthal,
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2005, p. 55). Thus, it is evident that China’s ability to resolve political tensions via economic
sanctions threatens Taiwan’s economic security.
Despite China’s isolationist economic policies, Taiwanese political leaders have taken
steps toward more liberating economic policies that can benefit both Taiwan and China. HungMao Tien and Chen-Yuang Tung’s (2011) described Taiwan’s attempt to cooperate with China
in their article, “Taiwan in 2010” during which President Ma Ying-jeou initiated the signing of
the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) (p. 81).The ECFA increased trade
activities between Taiwan and China because of negotiations about tariff-free products,
commodity trades, service trades, investments, and dispute settlements (Tien & Tung, 20011, p.
81). However, Tien & Tung (2011) agreed that the ECFA is not equivalent to an actual FTA;
ECFA was only the first step toward economic cooperation because Taiwan required the consent
of China prior to FTAs with other countries (p. 81). Therefore, the ECFA perpetuated China’s
economic hold on Taiwan and posed a great threat to Taiwan’s economic prosperity. In this
situation, nationalistic tendencies could cause China to implement economic sanctions that will
ruin the opportunity to expand Taiwan’s own economy through formal FTAs.
Furthermore, political cooperation between China and Taiwan would add value to having
a positive relationship between these two nations. Shu Keng and Gunter Schubert’s (2010) report,
“Agents of Taiwan-China Unification”, described the importance of taishang—or Taiwanese
business people—in shaping the economic policies of the Taiwan-strait relations. According to
Keng and Schubert’s (2010) study, Taiwanese attitudes toward the mainland depend on one’s
ethnic identity, his or her position on unification, and most importantly, economic interest (p.
293). Those for pro-unification policies tend to be more optimistic about economic opportunities
offered abroad (Keng & Schubert, 2010, p. 294). It is evident that the majority of unification
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advocates will be the taishang, especially when Taiwan is the second-largest investor in China
after Hong Kong (Keng & Schubert, 2010, p. 300). As a tactical means against Taiwanese
nationalism, China could demonstrate its economic leverage on Taiwan by harming business
aboard through selective sanctions for the taishang. These sanctions would have dire domestic
consequences in Taiwan, especially when six of twenty foreign currency-generating export
companies in China were invested by the taishang (Keng & Schubert, 2010, p. 299). The
taishang’s large investments supplemented the economic developments of China, thereby adding
value to having less political distrust with Taiwan. Therefore, nationalism and pro-independence
sentiments will only decrease the value China sees in their cooperation with Taiwan (Keng &
Schubert, 2010, p. 306).
Finally, nationalism will jeopardize political policies that safeguard the global security of
Taiwan. According to “Reading China: How Do America’s China Scholars View U.S. Relations
and China’s Future”, scholars Yang Zhong and Chen-hua Shen (2008) asked Chinese-American
scholars: “Whom do you think if most responsible for the current tensions between mainland
China and Taiwan?” (p. 361). A 41% plurality majority of correspondents in the study agreed
that Taiwanese leader’s nationalistic attitudes and poor political decisions were at fault for
current tensions (Zhong & Shen, 2008, p. 361). For example, former President Chen Shui-bian
pushed for a change in the status quo—defined as neither unification nor formal independence—
and abolished the Unification Council and Unification Guidelines that led Taiwan towards
independency (Zhong & Shen, 2008, p. 361). Chinese-American scholars also believed the sharp
downturn in Cross-Taiwan relations were caused by Lee Teng-Hui’s appeal to the U.S. for
immediate sovereign recognition (Zhong & Shen, 2008, p. 361). Overall, Zhong and Shen’s
(2008) study provided insight on the thoughts of Chinese-American scholars who understood
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that the hardening of Taiwan’s identity and political figures’ nationalistic policies will only
intensify the political distrust between Taiwan and China.
As China continues to be unyielding, Taiwan must find other alternatives to rash,
demands of sovereignty that will jeopardize Taiwan’s global security in the long-run. Based on
the essay “Taiwan in 2010”, authors Tien and Tung (2011) provided evidence of China’s
objectification towards Taiwan’s participation in U.N. affiliated bodies (p. 83). China has
prevented Taiwan to join the International civil Aviation Organization and the U.N. Framework
Convention on Climate Change (Tien & Tung, 2011, p. 83). Moreover, China’s delegation
demanded that Taiwanese delegation use “Chinese Taipei” as its title during the non-political
event of Tokyo International Film Festival (Tien & Tung, 2011, p. 80). The demand provoked
the minister of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, Lai Shin-yuan to publically retaliate against
China’s use of force against Taiwan’s attempt at international participation (Tien & Tung, 2011,
p. 80). In response, China’s minister of Defense Liang Guanglie explicitly stated: “China’s
military build-up is focused on the Taiwan issue” to Japan’s visiting delegation (Tien & Tung,
2011, p. 80). Tien and Tung further demonstrated the unfavorable result of a blatant demand on
the relationship between China and Taiwan and cautioned against nationalistic attitudes.
Taiwanese foreign policies based on nationalistic sentiments are ill-advised especially
during a time of foreign and domestic political instability. In addition to China’s foreign
pressures, domestic tension between KMT and DPP are harmful to the prospects of a successful
democracy in the long run. T. Y. Wang and G. Andy Chang (2006) analyzed the political
tolerance of young democracies in their article, “External Threats and Political Tolerance in
Taiwan”. According to Wang and Chang (2006), political tolerance is specifically defined as the
consent of one polity to extend citizenship to another even in the presence of divisive issues (p.
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377). Taiwan’s political elites who used phrases such as “betraying Taiwan” or “selling out
Taiwan” to label their opponents decreases political toleration and widens the political cleavage
(Wang & Chang, 2006, p. 386). In the words of Wang and Chang (2006), this action will
“…deepen threat perceptions and animosity between rival groups, which in turn may lead to
intolerant political behaviors” (p. 386). The polarization between advocates and adversaries of
“unification” policies will not help Taiwanese citizens understand the realistic outcomes of
intense nationalism. Intolerant political behaviors will be problematic during a time when
Taiwanese political factions must come to a consensus in dealing with China instead of being
blinded by the nationalistic sentiments of Taiwanese political leaders.
The significance of my essay is to advocate against nationalistic tendencies that could
cost Taiwan its potential to be an active participant in the global world. Although the U.S. has
proven to be a good diplomatic leader in mediating the tense relationship between Taiwan and
China, it has yet to provide a solution to do-away this tension. Therefore, Taiwan should not rely
solely on the protection of U.S. military protection because this dependency will not resolve the
imminent threat of an all-out war. Most importantly, Taiwan should contain its passions for
nationalism if the country wants to be acknowledged on the international stage. Cooperation with
China will create more value in having a positive relationship with Taiwan and help maintain the
status quo that allows Taiwan to maintain their democratic government. In conclusion, leaders
for pro-independence need to consider alternatives to brash demands that provoke China’s
military tactics & economic sanctions; the people of Taiwan must allow political tolerance in
their democracy’s polities; and future diplomacy should be based on cooperative policies, not
nationalistic tendencies which will endanger Taiwanese economic and political security in the
global place.
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