By Johan Nylander

Febie, a woman in her late 20s, nods towards a group of diners in her small café in central Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, and acknowledges that customers like them have been good for business over the past few years.

They are just a few of those tourists from Mainland China who have been visiting Taiwan in growing numbers.

But for Febie, the increase in customers comes tinged with fears about the future. She is concerned about what will happen to the island’s de facto independence when more and more Mainlanders keep flooding in and the economy becomes increasingly dependent on Mainland China’s business interests.

“I’m not very happy about all these Mainland Chinese tourists coming here,” she said, glancing across at the holidaymakers.

“Many people in Taiwan want independence.”

Like most other citizens living in Taiwan, Febie brands herself “Taiwanese” rather than “Chinese”.

A new poll by think tank the Taiwan Braintrust, shows that nearly 90 percent of the population in Taiwan — officially the Republic of China — would identify themselves as “Taiwanese” rather than “Chinese” if they were to choose between the two. Just 6 percent said they consider themselves Chinese.

The trend is strongest among the younger generations, with only 2.4% of those aged 20-29 identifying themselves as Chinese.

Taiwan and China have had a strained relationship ever since they split in 1949 at the end of a civil war. Beijing still regards the self-ruled island as part of its territory awaiting reunification – by force if necessary.

A clear majority (65.2%) of those polled — 1,079 valid samples from 20 cities and counties – preferred to maintain today’s political status quo of de facto independence. However, when only given “independence” or “unification” as the options, 68.9 percent would support independence, while 17.1 percent said they would support unification with China.

Again, the support for independence was highest among young people.

The number of people who support immediate or eventual reunification has declined consistently over the years, other studies show. Annual polls by Taiwan’s National Chengchi University shows a clear trend: During the last two decades, the number of people who would identify themselves as Chinese has dropped year by year, while the number of people calling themselves Taiwanese has more than tripled. Also those who identify themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese is falling.

The dispute made it to the shores of the US recently, when participants of a Chinese delegation at the Harvard Model United Nations Conference in Boston were ejected after reacting angrily to Taiwan being listed as an independent country in the official handbook.

The incident, which was brought to light on social media by a Chinese university student who was removed, created thousands of comments online.

China’s state-controlled newspaper, the Global Times, wrote that “the young organizers acted in a rude and insolent manner in front of their mistakes” and that the “blunder shouldn’t be brushed off”.

Online, meanwhile, there was a mixed reaction.

“I’m not surprised,” wrote Grace D under my article about the event. “We have MUN in our school (American school in Shanghai) and as a rule we aren’t allowed to talk about the ‘3 T’s’- Taiwan, Tibet, and a certain event I won’t name that happened at Tiananmen Square”.

As for Febie at the coffee shop in Taipei, the number of Mainland tourists is not expected to slow down. More than 20 cooperative agreements have recently been signed between Taipei and Beijing, boosting business and tourism. Seven years ago no direct flights existed between the island and the mainland; today there are hundreds of flight a week.

Good for business, but the question over national identity remains a hot issue.

Source: www.forbes.com/sites/jnylander/2015/02/14/strong-support-for-independence-in-taiwan/


- Ngườihiệuđính: dchph vào ngày Feb.15.2015, 08:20 am

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