Nationalism in China, Taiwan, and the Indian Subcontinent

As we saw in class, the partition of India in 1947 caused an outbreak of religious and nationalist violence. Radical, violent Indian nationalists, Hindus and Muslims clashed in response to the announcement of partition. In the northwestern and eastern parts of the subcontinent, Hindus and Muslims clamored to be on the right side of the new, religious fault line. Today, ethnic, religious, and class tension still exist in India. As recently as 2002, violent riots between Muslims and Hindus broke out in Gujarat – ironically, Gandhi’s homeland.

Chinese nationalists, like their Indian counterparts, hope to reunite all of the former Chinese lands, including Taiwan. So far, they have been relatively successful, regaining Hong Kong and Macau. However, Taipei still is a chronic headache for the Chinese government and nationalists.

In last month’s Taiwanese parliamentary elections, the nationalist party, known as the Kuomintang (KMT), won a landslide victory, securing three-fourths of the seats. Surprisingly, given its name, the KMT hopes to ‘bridge’ the Taiwanese straight. Although they do not support reunification, the party hopes to improve economic and diplomatic relations with the mainland. The election outcomes greatly hurt the ruling Democratic People’s Party and their leader, Chen Shui-bian, who have pushed for greater economic and even titular separation from the People’s Republic. Taiwanese presidential elections are scheduled for next month, and it is likely that Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT will win.  Chen removed himself from the presidential race following his parties defeat in the parliamentary elections.

As David Lague, of the New York Times, argues, the election results show that most Taiwanese prefer the pragmatic platform of the KMT to the aggressive approach of the Chen’s party. This argument supports the idea from last week’s readings that nationalism is based or feeds on economic interests. With the rise of the Chinese economy and its overall influence in East Asia, the Taiwanese voters seem to realize that it is better to cooperate with, rather than antagonize, the People’s Republic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/world/asia/14taiwan.html?st=cse&sq=taiwan&scp=2

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/12/world/asia/12taiwan.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx5YgbOUa7A