Taiwan should resist being used as a pawn, and the world must stay on guard against the linked issues of “Taiwan independence” separatism and Japanese neo-militarism.
I do agree that Taiwanese people need to be on guard about Japanese neo militarism and American imperalism, I know most Taiwanese youth are critical of the military powers/history of colonialism of Japan. I think if we were all to acknowledge the history of Taiwan, we would be uplifting Indigenous sovereignty of the tribes in Taiwan (the Paiwan people, Tsou, Sediq, etc.) instead of reinforcing colonialist narratives where Taiwan was always apart of China and has always been Chinese.
You’ve essentially, whether intentionally or not, adopted common rhetoric of the DPP (as “proof” that “Taiwan is not China”) which is itself overwhelmingly non-indigenous.
The spread of Huaxia culture is not the same as Atlanticist colonialism, and some of the Han Chinese in Taiwan are actually assimilated plains area aborigines. While there were strifes between Han and indigenous throughout history, there were also disagreements within different Han groups and indigenous groups (the idea of monolithic cultures is entirely a Western fantasy).
As far as I am aware, much of this wasn’t even seen as an issue until the Japanese entered and nationalized much of the land for resources.
Also, I can’t speak for their youth, but I know that Taiwan residents in general have a much more favourable view of Japan compared to the mainland or Korea, hence the article.
I do agree that Taiwanese people need to be on guard about Japanese neo militarism and American imperalism, I know most Taiwanese youth are critical of the military powers/history of colonialism of Japan. I think if we were all to acknowledge the history of Taiwan, we would be uplifting Indigenous sovereignty of the tribes in Taiwan (the Paiwan people, Tsou, Sediq, etc.) instead of reinforcing colonialist narratives where Taiwan was always apart of China and has always been Chinese.
You’ve essentially, whether intentionally or not, adopted common rhetoric of the DPP (as “proof” that “Taiwan is not China”) which is itself overwhelmingly non-indigenous.
The spread of Huaxia culture is not the same as Atlanticist colonialism, and some of the Han Chinese in Taiwan are actually assimilated plains area aborigines. While there were strifes between Han and indigenous throughout history, there were also disagreements within different Han groups and indigenous groups (the idea of monolithic cultures is entirely a Western fantasy).
As far as I am aware, much of this wasn’t even seen as an issue until the Japanese entered and nationalized much of the land for resources.
Also, I can’t speak for their youth, but I know that Taiwan residents in general have a much more favourable view of Japan compared to the mainland or Korea, hence the article.