TAIWAN Islanders have their own identity

China has responded to Taiwan's social changes with hostility.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
BEIPU, Taiwan -- Taiwan remains firmly anchored off the coast of China, but the independently governed island is steadily drifting away from the mainland in its identity and outlook.
This social transformation -- in which more islanders view themselves as Taiwanese, not Chinese -- is changing how Taiwanese view themselves, how they see their island's future and even what they eat, study in school and watch on television. The changes leave many on the island and the mainland uncertain how to deal with Beijing's longstanding claim on Taiwan. Amid this uncertainty, Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian is promoting the island's separate identity.
'Different societies'
"There are two very different societies now, on the mainland and in Taiwan, and that is why Beijing is very concerned," said political scientist Lo Chih-cheng.
As Taiwan shifts, China has responded with hostility, including aiming some 500 missiles at the island. The moves have alienated some Taiwanese further.
Other factors -- including generational change and greater democracy -- are spurring interest among islanders in Taiwan's history, literature and food. New cultural centers promote local traditions. Dance troupes perform with native themes, bookstore shelves sag with best-selling works by Taiwanese novelists and essayists, and pop stars croon and rap in Taiwanese dialects.
Dialects
TV stations broadcast talk shows and dramas not only in Mandarin Chinese, but also in Minannese and Hakka, the dialects spoken by a majority of Taiwan's 23 million people. Taiwanese learn Mandarin, but generally use their own dialects among themselves.
Many Taiwanese, especially younger ones, see themselves simply as citizens of a sovereign nation.
"Taiwan is a country," Duan Jyh-ming said with a shrug, a 16-year-old doing yo-yo tricks along a Taipei sidewalk, dismissing the wrangling with China over Taiwan's status.
Taiwan, about the size of Maryland, has been buffeted since the 17th century, when Dutch and Spanish colonizers tussled for a foothold. China claimed it 1683 but lost control to Japan between 1895 and 1945.
Civil split
When communists seized mainland China in 1949, the toppled Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, retreated to Taiwan, bringing several million people.
For decades, the Kuomintang ruled with a nostalgic fervor for China, fining those speaking anything but Mandarin Chinese. Martial law allowed them to suppress local traditions. Teachers force-fed students the history and literature of China, ignoring centuries-old Taiwanese culture.
"While I was in school, teachers told us that one day we would return to China," Culture Minister Tchen Yu-chiou recalled. "We learned about the Yellow River and the Yangtze very well. But we didn't learn about the Keelung and Danshui," she said, referring to major Taiwan rivers.
Changes began
The Kuomintang lifted martial law in 1987, and ushered in a gradual return to democracy in the 1990s. The party lost power in 2000 when Chen captured the presidency on a pro-sovereignty platform. His rise coincided with a broader rejection of nostalgia for China.
Chen began promoting bilingual education in 2001. History textbooks are being rewritten to de-emphasize Chinese history. The Chen administration also has published 150 books on indigenous culture.
During the recent presidential campaign, candidates rushed to polish their Minnanese and Hakka to woo voters in dialect. At one event, the Kuomintang candidate, Lien Chan, bent down and kissed the ground to demonstrate his love for the island.
"Beijing is getting more and more concerned about this 'independence train,'" said Andrew Yang, a political scientist at the Chinese Council for Advanced Policy Studies in Taipei.