Week 2: Taiwanese Democracy
A week of witnessing Taiwan's admirable democratic process
Election week in Taipei has been very busy, and extremely informative. My trip here was really about learning as much as possible about Taiwan, and immersing myself in an election was probably the best way to go about it. During the week the three largest political parties held press conferences for the foreign press, which I attended. And the foreign minister also held a press conference that was on the broader international implications on the election. And in particular China’s attempts to interfere.
After attending some party rallies during the week, on election night I was in the Democratic Progressive Party’s media room. Which was the place to be given that their candidate for president was victorious. Although the party lost control of the legislature, with no party gaining a majority (and their primary rival the Kuomintang (KMT) hold one more seat than them).
It has been great to see just how well Taiwan conducts its elections, particularly with the threat to democracies emerging worldwide. They take it very seriously – given their autocratic neighbour – with a high turnout despite the hurdles that people need to jump to vote (for security reasons). The votes are counted in a transparent manner and people trust the results (no disgruntled behaviour on the streets). The two losing presidential candidates conceded gracefully and congratulated the victor, Lai Ching-te. All three candidates expressed how proud they were of the system.
During the week I wrote a piece on the implications for Australia from the election, and I have another piece in the works on normalising Taiwan within international structures.
Taiwan’s status as a country that other countries refuse to call a country is odd. When most of the world began to formally recognise the People’s Republic of China in the 1970s, Taiwan (officially the Republic of China) lost its diplomatic status. Countries like Australia, the United States and European countries developed their own “One China policies” as a result. These policies were designed to acknowledge that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) believes Taiwan is part of its territory without necessarily agreeing.
Essentially these policies were designed to prevent a violent tantrum (although the CCP still throws smaller ones). So Taiwan is not afforded full status as a country because of the CCP’s emotional immaturity. It’s rather pathetic that the world feels it needs to placate them in this way, although it has been able to keep the peace. However speaking to Taiwanese people they are rather sick of the CCP’s obsessive harassment of them. Living next door to an entitled stalker is exhausting, but the Taiwanese – through their democracy and resilience – carry it well.
National Palace Museum
During the week I got the time to pay a quick visit to the National Palace Museum. Arguably the preeminent institution for Chinese art in the world. The museum itself has a fascinating history that is as intriguing as the artefacts themselves.
As the Kuomintang (KMT) forces were retreating to Taiwan in 1949 after being overwhelmed by the Communists, they displayed remarkable foresight in realising the threat to Chinese art that would come from the takeover of the mainland. So with great cunning and skill they managed to smuggle a significant number of the most prestigious works across the Taiwan Strait. These works are on display at the museum.
Although the Chinese Communist Party now claims to be the inheritor and true guardian of the entirety of Chinese history, this wasn’t always the case. As the Cultural Revolution sought to create a Year Zero in China, Mao targeted The Four Olds - Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Customs, and Old Habits – resulting in the destruction of a vast number of Chinese antiques and artworks. As well as many historically significant buildings.
This makes the National Palace Museum an odd institution. It is museum that has preserved much of the great historical art from China, yet it exists within a country that has moved away from China and forged its own unique Taiwanese identity over the past 70-odd years. Yet the value of the art is so great that it is an important cultural attraction for Taiwan, and despite the CCP’s current romanticisation of the past, the Taiwanese authorities still cannot trust that future ideological shifts within the CCP won’t threaten the existence of these works.
It’s been a busy week, so unfortunately there is no reading this week. But I return to Melbourne tomorrow and regular service should resume in forthcoming weeks.