Seeking Kinfolk a Mystery and Wrong Political Signal

  Seeking Kinfolk a Mystery and Wrong Political Signal

China Times

November 11, 2017

Translation of an Excerpt

President Tsai Ing-wen's South Pacific tour of three diplomatic partners just ended a couple of days ago; how we assess the results and cost-effectiveness of this trip depends on each individual’s perspective. This trip originally should have been appropriate and normal chief of state diplomacy; however, in timing, it “so happened” following the Mainland’s 19th National People’s Congress and before U.S. President Trump’s Summit witjh Xi Jinping. The timing was delicate and even sensitive, so much so it was hardly possible to avoid speculations vis-à-vis cross-Strait relations. What is even more contentious is that Tsai Ing-wen's trip was defined as a so-called “tour of seeking kinfolk on South Pacific islands,” this left people confused and difficult to understand. Therefore, we must solemnly face this and proceed to analyze it.

According to official data of October 2017, Taiwan’s population stands at 23,563,218, the majority of whom are overwhelmingly Han Chinese, representing approximately accounting 97% of the total population; 2% are 16 tribes of aborigines, and the other 1% are ethnic minorities, including those coming from Mainland China and spouses from the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao who have been allowed to set up domicile in Taiwan (also called Taiwan's new residents.) Among the Han Chinese, we can subdivide them into three big communal groups, i.e., Minnan (Hoklo approximately 70%), Hakka (approximately 15%), and people from other provinces moving to Taiwan after the civil war (approximately 13%).

In fact, even those with basic knowledge are all very clear that the overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, viewed from the facets of race, consanguinity, language, and culture, all migrated from the Chinese Mainland to Taiwan, generations of descendents of Emperors Yen and Huang of China. Today, the two sides of the Strait may, because of the divergences in political and economic systems and values concepts, be divided, but these historical facts and cultural heritage must not be allowed to be twisted or denied. Tsai Ing-wen might call this trip as a tour to seek kinfolk or roots for Taiwan’s aborigines; nevertheless, it should not be deliberately expanded, misleading the public by calling it a tour to seek kinfolk for all Taiwanese.

On the 30^th anniversary of cross-Strait opening up for visiting relatives, Mainland national President Xi Jinping called for "the two sides of the Strait are one family," strongly advocating "the great renaissance of the Chinese nation," and Tsai Ing-wen also hoped to develop a "new model" of relationship with the Mainland. Yet, she traveled thousands of miles across the ocean, seeking those distant kinfolk out of proportion; it is not only illusory and mysterious, but also sends a wrong signal.

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