EDITORIAL: Let a
thousand flags bloom
For a few days it proudly flew, nudged between Syria and Tajikistan, amid rows
of national flags festooning London¡¦s Regent Street as the city prepares for the
Olympics. Suddenly, for reasons unknown, but easily guessed at, it was pulled
down, leaving a sad gap in the otherwise festive display of global fraternity.
Granted, the Republic of China (ROC) flag is for many people not a national flag
but rather a symbol of a regime that imposed itself on Taiwan after World War
II, one that, furthermore, unleashed decades of repression on its people. And
yet, despite all the hardships, it now stands as the most readily recognizable
symbol of nationhood for all Taiwanese.
Yes, it was first woven as the symbol of a political party in China; and yes, it
officially stands for the ROC, but over the years, through the long process of
democratization and national consolidation, both the ROC and the Chinese
Nationalist Party (KMT) have become part of the fabric that makes Taiwan what it
is today. For people outside Asia who know little about this region¡¦s convoluted
history, nothing more immediately distinguishes Taiwan from the People¡¦s
Republic of China (PRC) than the ROC flag.
The reaction among Taiwanese worldwide to the removal of the flag on Regent
Street testifies to the strength of that symbol. Hours after it was taken down,
online social networks and blogs exploded with ¡§before and after¡¨ pictures of
the street, accompanied by expressions of anger and indignation. Thousands of
people ¡X mostly young Taiwanese ¡X mobilized, providing contact information about
the civic organization that is responsible for the site, writing letters and
visiting the location to take pictures of themselves holding the flag.
With very few exceptions, all referred to the flag as standing for Taiwan, not
the KMT or the ROC, and reaffirmed their pride in being Taiwanese, which
confirms the view that the once-exogenous flag has been rehabilitated into an
indigenous one. Though it took over Taiwan, the ROC has since been absorbed by
it, resulting in a symbiotic relationship that continually redefines itself and
gives Taiwan its identity.
The strong reaction among Taiwanese, though prompted by disheartening political
realities, is encouraging. For one, it debunks the claim that young Taiwanese
today are apolitical and cannot be bothered with the future of their homeland.
It shows us that on fundamental issues of justice, young Taiwanese will not sit
idly by. It also tells us that despite their busy lives (several of those who
mobilized are graduate students scattered all over the world), they know who
they are and will not countenance anyone telling them otherwise.
One young Taiwanese living in the US could not have put it more bluntly, saying:
¡§Fuck that de facto shit,¡¨ referring to Taiwan¡¦s sovereign status.
Another offshoot of this incident is that it demonstrates yet again that despite
currently stable relations in the Taiwan Strait, the 23 million Taiwanese
continue to live under a shadow that prevents them from exercising their rights
as citizens of the world. China¡¦s ¡§goodwill¡¨ and ¡§peaceful¡¨ cross-strait
relations remain contingent on Beijing seeing no true expression of Taiwanese
statehood, irrespective of the venue. It has since been confirmed that the flag
incident on Regent Street was the result of complaints by Chinese
representatives, accentuating China¡¦s refusal to acknowledge the existence of
Taiwanese as a people.
With the world¡¦s eyes turned on London over the next few weeks, this is the
perfect occasion for Taiwanese and their supporters to express who they are and
to demonstrate that the so-called ¡§peace¡¨ has rotten foundations. As one flag is
ignominiously taken down, hundreds, thousands more should bloom all over London.
For the next two weeks, London will be the world¡¦s stage. This is an opportunity
not to be missed.
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