Policing in Taiwan

In Taiwan, there is a long history of colonization and a very multicultural society where people represent various identities. There is a long history of power struggles and violence. There is a long debate about the current position of Taiwanese national identity. There is a long history surrounding political freedoms in Taiwan. Not until recently were Taiwanese citizens given the chance to freely voice their political opinions.

The police force has also been in Taiwan for a long time. Starting with the Japanese police force during early Japanese colonization, the initial role was to assist in the colonial project. Today, the Taiwanese police act mainly as peacekeepers. They politely go about their “beats” and hope to resolve conflicts with limited confrontation. They concern themselves more officially when the work that they are doing can be followed more officially (i.e. a call that went through police radio can be followed-up on). The police also accept bribes and use the money collected to secure promotions.

The police do not wish to engage in largely confrontational relationships in part due to the history. They do not expect to be viewed well if they go about trying to exercise authority. The article leaves one with the impression that the Taiwanese police are not perceived as having a lot of authority. What was really striking was the description of the police officer temporarily shutting down the illegal street businesses. Yes it was a very sudden show of force and as mentioned in the article, people did not know that they were doing something illegal, they just thought that the police coming through to tear-down there businesses once every few months was a routine occurrence. It seemed so strange, the business owners did not rebel or protest, they just fought them to get there items inside of the store as quickly as possible.

The police officer did not care about what happened afterwards. All that he wanted was for the street to be clear long enough to take a picture to file in the official records. Infact, by the time he had reached the end of the street the restaurant owners were re-setting-up to serve lunch.

What was even more strange to read about was the group of women who were assisting them in clearing out the street. They did not seem to care about the end results from the description and that the restaurant owners still continued to serve food in the streets afterwards. They were there to assist the police in a cause that they cared about passionately and they did not seem to make a fuss when there day’s efforts became pointless in the end. 

It was said that the business owners did not know that there actions were illegal. It seems so strange that there is no loud fuss to this type of action. There is no uproar to what appears to be an abuse of power to the vendors who do not understand that there businesses are illegal and there is no uproar from a citizenry who have ineffective policing. These actions show that the Taiwanese citizenry still do not actively have a large voice in democracy in Taiwan. 

Religion and Nationalism in Taiwan and Jinmen

What is the role of the local village temples in national discourses?

Local village temples in Taiwan and Jinmen have strong symbolic importance for practitioners of Chinese folk religion. This is where local control can be established and many local matters (such as land usage) can be decided upon.

The selection process to the board of the temple runs with a lot of risks and does not necessarily mean that it will be reflective of the local population. Only those with money can really put their names forth for consideration. The throwing of the divination stones comes down to a matter of faith. A God may decide who will be on the temple board as many will believe or whoever will sit on the board of the temple is selected by chance.

Stephan Feuchtwang believes that this is democracy. It is not, only those with money can really apply (not to say that the systems in many western countries do not have similar issues). There is also a huge risk that the person selected will not be the person that the village really would want to fulfill that role. There are checks and balances within the system, but it is not very similar to democracy. Yes this is a local level of representation, coming from two countries where the people did not have much of a voice.

What was interesting to see was how this played out in Jinmen and local beliefs about Wang Yulan reflected political changes in Jinmen. Before there was democracy in Taiwan Wang Yulan was a worshipped Ghost with heavy state support from the ROC. She was violently murdered by the PRC and was considered an ideal woman due to her virginity. It was also important that she was unmarried, this made her purer and more independent, if she was married than she would be considered a member of her husband’s family. The ROC was also sending the message that they were the true protectors of traditional Chinese religion since the PRC soldiers would murder a woman who could become holy.

Afterwards when there was more freedom in the ROC, many instead believed that she was a lot grander than she was initially believed to be. The narrative has changed since the politics in Taiwan have now changed. It is now believed that she was an upper-class woman since ROC and PRC conflicts are less important in the ROC and conflicts with China would be very disadvantageous for the island of Jinmen.

The temples and the changes that occur over time are writing political narratives on the local levels. The temples are also sites of local power, though not local democratic power. 

Nationalism and Identity in Taiwan

Nationalism is a narrative that we tell ourselves. The four articles for this week’s readings all reflected on that. In Taiwan constructions of identity are often used to assist in nation building. This is especially pertinent when you consider the unique limb that the Taiwanese state is in and the tool that nationalism has become in that struggle. It is also very interesting to see how the constructions of identity of traditionally marginalized groups in Taiwan has contributed to the causes of counter cultural protesting of state oppression.

The Hakka identity in urban spaces was in many ways constructed to re-legitimize Taiwanese identity in urban spaces by highlighting those Chinese who came before the KMT takeovers. Discussions of a Taiwanese identity needed to be re-oriented as multicultural to protect the national interests of Taiwan. In the Waishgren article the Mainlander identity is discussed. The exile from China of the KMT supporters is highlighted. It also notes how difficult it was for many to migrate to Taiwan after the Communist takeover for fears of influxes of communist supporters entering Taiwan. It was also intresting to note that the Taiwanese born mothers and children would take-on the identity of the mainlander father when they married, though not surprising when you consider Taiwanese beliefs about patrilineal family membership.

It is also interesting to read of immigrant women from South East Asian countries like the Philippine’s or Vietnam in Taiwan who have a lot of political and social barriers to integration in Taiwanese society. For all the talk of a multicultural Taiwan they are expected to become members of the Taiwanese family through marriage and help to produce many children. Language skills are considered very important if they want to stay without being married. They are viewed as “the lowest of the low” in Taiwanese society and these women are often marrying men who otherwise may not be able to find a wife. They are often subject to abuse or domestic violence in their relationships. If they divorce and do not have custody of the children they may have to leave the country. Despite their contributions to the nation through raising Taiwanese children their contributions to the country are not held in very high regard.

In Queering Taiwan a counter culture is explored. Homosexuality did not become visible in Taiwan until the 90s. In the article Queer culture is viewed as a contradiction to nationalism and the nation building of Taiwan and a protest against nationalism. A vocal queer community in Taiwan has emerged and there is advocacy for a type of Taiwanese queer culture that does not support nation building initiatives and brings in an anti-colonial discourse to discuss the history and position of Taiwan.

Large recent pushes to form a Taiwanese national identity to help resolve the Taiwanese national identity has resulted in a lot of hasty work which has marginalized many people. The articles discussed this week prove that the sort of Taiwanese identity that might be pushed on a page or by a government can be vastly different from the realities of the people.