To the government of the People 's Republic of China (PRC), any negotiation with Taiwanese government was allowable expect the independence of Taiwan. One china, the idea that Taiwan was a territory rightfully belonging to China, served as the baseline attitude of the PRC. However, the concept of One China became continuously ambiguous in recent years especially when Taiwanese formed their own cultural, political system and understanding about Chinese nationalism. However, the PRC government still approved the idea of One China, and established the positive image of events or historical figures to support this idea. For instance, a television drama 沧海百年 (100 year History of a Heroic Family in Taiwan) was produced by China Central Television
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As a representative of Taiwan local strongmen in the 19th century, Lin’s family was often described as a heroic family because of their frequent involvements in ‘patriotic’ military activities due to their strong attachment of Chinese/Fujianese/Taiwanese identity. However, the actions of Lin’s family in the central Taiwan were primarily motivated for their family interests and often characterized as violent expansion and collaboration with the government. More importantly, the concepts such as Chinese/Taiwanese/Fujianese used in this drama were complicated in their definitions and connotations legally and politically. The use of these concepts to justify “One China” can be absurd to the majority of Taiwanese. This paper will argue that the local tyrant actions of the Lin family in the 19th century are inconsistent with the ‘Chinese patriotic identity’ advocated by the PRC government, which also used problematic concepts to justify the idea of One …show more content…
Chinese (zhongguoren) in the PRC definition is more like a legal term means that individuals with Chinese nationality issued by the PRC government. In fact, many Taiwanese had a sense of distinctiveness and reluctance to accept the Chinese identity especially with the PRC definition. Also, Fujianese was indeed the majority population in Taiwan, but they already formed a distinctive collective identity to against the former identity as Chinese. Because of the length of their migration, Fujianese often described themselves as Taiwan local people (benshengren) or Taiwanese rather than Chinese, and distinct themselves from migrants (mainlanders) settled in Taiwan after 1945. Taiwanese also had the special connotation to the majority of Taiwanese. Indeed, most Taiwanese wanted improved cross-strait relationship, but identified themselves with different nationalities to Chinese. These identity concepts are much more complicated than the description used in the drama 沧海百年, and always be used cautiously by politicians especially in Taiwan. Even if Lin’s family really had a strong attachment with their Chinese/Fujianese/Taiwanese in the 19th century, it does not mean that it had the same meaning to Taiwanese in the present era, especially to the majority of whom already formed their distinctive national, political, and collective identity distinct from
As a representative of Taiwan local strongmen in the 19th century, Lin’s family was often described as a heroic family because of their frequent involvements in ‘patriotic’ military activities due to their strong attachment of Chinese/Fujianese/Taiwanese identity. However, the actions of Lin’s family in the central Taiwan were primarily motivated for their family interests and often characterized as violent expansion and collaboration with the government. More importantly, the concepts such as Chinese/Taiwanese/Fujianese used in this drama were complicated in their definitions and connotations legally and politically. The use of these concepts to justify “One China” can be absurd to the majority of Taiwanese. This paper will argue that the local tyrant actions of the Lin family in the 19th century are inconsistent with the ‘Chinese patriotic identity’ advocated by the PRC government, which also used problematic concepts to justify the idea of One …show more content…
Chinese (zhongguoren) in the PRC definition is more like a legal term means that individuals with Chinese nationality issued by the PRC government. In fact, many Taiwanese had a sense of distinctiveness and reluctance to accept the Chinese identity especially with the PRC definition. Also, Fujianese was indeed the majority population in Taiwan, but they already formed a distinctive collective identity to against the former identity as Chinese. Because of the length of their migration, Fujianese often described themselves as Taiwan local people (benshengren) or Taiwanese rather than Chinese, and distinct themselves from migrants (mainlanders) settled in Taiwan after 1945. Taiwanese also had the special connotation to the majority of Taiwanese. Indeed, most Taiwanese wanted improved cross-strait relationship, but identified themselves with different nationalities to Chinese. These identity concepts are much more complicated than the description used in the drama 沧海百年, and always be used cautiously by politicians especially in Taiwan. Even if Lin’s family really had a strong attachment with their Chinese/Fujianese/Taiwanese in the 19th century, it does not mean that it had the same meaning to Taiwanese in the present era, especially to the majority of whom already formed their distinctive national, political, and collective identity distinct from