Word: taiwan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...attitude is a major turnaround from that of Taiwan's outgoing President, Chen Shui-bian of the rival Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP. In 2000 Chen made history by becoming the first non-KMT President of Taiwan. He won by tapping into and championing a rising spirit of Taiwanese nationalism. Many people in Taiwan no longer consider their island a part of China; instead, they see Taiwan as a de facto independent state and desire an identity of their own. The search for Taiwan identity also had a sharp anti-KMT edge. The KMT has historically been the party...
...Today, school curriculums that had focused on Chinese history and geography center on Taiwan. Learning a local dialect such as Taiwanese, Hakka or aborigine - languages the KMT once banned in the classrooms - is now compulsory in elementary school. Today's youth and pop artists have also sparked a movement that embraces local culture. An ethnic slur, taike - which Taiwan's mainlanders used decades ago to describe the uncultured locals they found on the island - has become something cool. Taike now means a "Taiwanese character" (as in "that guy's a real character"). In his hit rap song I Love...
...Formally at least, Taiwan's independence has proven an impossible dream. Beijing, highly sensitive to any threat to its claims to the island, has successfully thwarted Taiwan's efforts to get international recognition. Taiwan isn't even a member of the U.N. Under Chen, issues of Taiwan sovereignty and identity rose to the forefront, and he pursued a series of policies aimed at bolstering Taiwan's sense of independence. For example, on the same day as the election, Chen's government has scheduled a controversial referendum that will ask the public whether the island should apply to join...
...strategy, however, has backfired. Chen's actions irked Beijing, and relations between the two have been more or less frozen for eight years. In early March, Chinese President Hu Jintao called Taiwan's independence efforts "the biggest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait." Chen also annoyed Washington, Taiwan's chief ally, which came to see him as a troublemaker bent on escalating tensions with China. At the same time, Chen brought Taiwan no closer to true independence. Instead, the island got further isolated within an Asia that is more tightly linked around an expanding China. "We tried...
...Does Separate Equal Free? Hsieh's thinking resonates among a significant portion of Taiwan's population. The DPP's political base - mainly the longtime Taiwanese residents of the island - completely rejects the idea that Taiwan has any connection to China. The party sees itself as the true champion of this spirit of independence, compared to the KMT, with its old ties to the mainland. The DPP is "much more committed to defending Taiwan's de facto independence and Taiwan's democracy," says Hsiao Bi-khim, the international-affairs director for Hsieh's campaign. "We are not at all willing...