Two recent studies on Taiwan also argue for this view of the uniqueness of Taiwanese characteristics, with their two authors each providing a careful balance of detailed research and writing clarity. The two books differ in a couple of surprising ways, however.
For one thing, Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan by Jonathan Manthorpe, a Canadian journalist with long experience in Asia, is published as a traditional hardcover book, while A Brief History of Taiwan--A Sparrow Transformed into a Phoenix by Huang Fu-san, a history professor at National Taiwan University, was published as an e-book, available at the Web site of the Government Information Office, the agency which publishes this newspaper. Each of the book's ten chapters can be separately accessed, read online, or copied for later reference.
Both books offer historical accounts surveying the societal growth and transformation on the island, beginning with a brief mention of its pre-history and early history. Their primary focus is from the 15th century--a time at which Taiwan began being a commercial hub and base for fishermen, traders and pirates from the mainland, and then a colony for explorers and colonizers from further abroad--to the present day.
Both point out that over the past four centuries the island--formerly known overseas by the Portuguese name Formosa--has been colonized by a succession of foreign powers. These included the Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, Han-Chinese, Japanese, and Kuomintang-led Republic of China. Each author approaches the topic from a different perspective, however: Manthorpe goes to considerable effort to place Taiwan's history within the events taking place on the Chinese mainland, while Huang is more focused on detailing the events within and impact upon Taiwanese society.
In his most original section, Manthorpe argues that the handover of Taiwan after the end of the Second World War to the KMT, led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, was in essence illegal, and that "China's claim to own Taiwan and its citizens is based on historically frail arguments and outdated legal concepts." Unfortunately, Manthorpe only briefly surveys the period of authoritarian KMT rule, from the flight of its regime and armed forces to Taiwan in 1949 to the lifting of marital law in 1987, a period known on the island as the White Terror. At this point, readers would benefit from reading Huang's sections on "The ROC's Transformation of Taiwan" and "Unprecedented Establishment of a Democracy in the Chinese World," which provide more detail on the political, social and security situation during these four decades.
Huang describes the hard-fought struggle for democracy and free speech by the Taiwanese as a democratization process that peaked in March 1996--when the first direct presidential election in the island's history was held--and again in March 2000--when Chen, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate won, bringing about Taiwan's first peaceful transfer of political power.
Similarly, both authors attempt in a brief space to explain Taiwan's volatile relationship with the People's Republic of China under its communist government, and both are sympathetic to Taiwan's difficult situation of being a recognized democracy with a strong cultural history and identity, while at the same time being threatened with military confrontation from China if it declares itself to be a de jure sovereign state.
While international relations in the global community may prevent Taiwan from declaring its sovereign status, its cultural identity and democratic structures will continue to grow. In 2008, Taiwan citizens will once more go to the polling stations to directly elect the presidential candidate of their choice. Their voting will provide a continuing example of the democratic roots to Taiwan's contemporary identity and its place in the global community. International observers interested in learning more about the island's continuing democratic and cultural growth would benefit from reading both studies, though some readers might prefer to choose between the traditional book in the hand to an ever-accessible e-book over the Internet.
--Robert Henderson is an international consultant with the R+E+A Group, Ottawa, Canada