For those who have been asking about the rando posts about Taiwan on my wall, Ive decided to write a summary in laymans terms so that the issue can be more accessible to the uninvolved reader. Friends, please read on if you want to know why Im so upset, I promise its super interesting. To begin with, Taiwan is not a country. Some of the Taiwanese people would like it to be, and some would not. Its in an awkward position where its government runs independently from Chinas, but China considers it a province. One can see that this is at the root of the problems, and that politics are naturally extremely polarized. Skipping a bunch of historical details, the Taiwanese government only started to democratize itself in the mid 80s, which is when I was born. It was also around this same time that Taiwan experienced an economic miracle - high demand from the US created manufacturing opportunities, resulting in everything to be Made in Taiwan for some time. Since the 90s, Chinas economic reform has allowed it to consistently outperform Taiwan. As a result, the Taiwanese economy has suffered and many businesses have moved to China, leaving high unemployment rates and low wages. The part of Taiwan who identifies itself as Chinese (including the current majority party and the president) are pushing to fast-track a trade agreement with China to boost growth. The House-of-Cards-style execution was extremely shady, with the majority party bypassing itemized review of the bill. Two weeks ago, 200+ students in opposition of the bill broke into Congress and have been occupying it ever since. They demand that the bill be revoked, brought back into congress and reviewed. This sparked other events, including a forceful removal of students from another building, and a citizens march yesterday with half a million protesters in Taipei. The truth is - the trade agreement will without a doubt bring economic growth. No other country has as much demand for Taiwanese products as China. But at the same time there is no faster way for Taiwan to be reabsorbed by China than to start eating out of its hand. The sacrifice is: democracy. For an American-educated Taiwanese like myself who was spoon fed Freedom Propaganda, the choice is ridiculously simple. How can anyone give up their liberty and justice for.. money? How is anyone okay with their government turning from democratic to communist??? China censors everything, Google, Facebook, Twitter are all blocked. Not to mention they literally BURNED their entire culture in the 60s during the Cultural Revolution and prosecuted MILLIONS of educated people for READING. Chinese corporations and government are extremely corrupt - inequality is masked by nationalism, consumers have no trust in their products. Hong Kong, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia are all recent victims of Chinas control - why is Taiwan willingly standing next in line? Thats all - my home is on the brink of losing its democracy - a freedom thats so basic for those of us living in the US, only threatened in batman movies. The only solace is that there are young Taiwanese students in hipster glasses leading the protest and making lots of noise. Everyone in Taiwan is in a heated debate and doing lots of reading and thinking over the issue. My dad went to the protest yesterday and said that it was the most meaningful and purposeful thing he has done in in a long time. Thanks for caring! Like this and Ill bring you some Taiwanese treats next time I go home. TL;DR: I R SAD, TAIWAN EATEN BY CHINA OM NOM NOM.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:11:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015