People, not politics, shape the Taiwan-China divide

I had the opportunity to visit Taiwan last year and, while there, inquired about the commonalities and differences the residents of Taiwan have with their counterparts from the mainland China.

Coming from South Africa, where blacks were deprived of the luxury of travelling due to economic conditions that were designed by the apartheid system to favour the minority whites at the expense of the black majority, you get curious when you visit any foreign country.

As kids, we knew China as the home of kung fu movie legends like Bruce Lee. But as adults, with new-found opportunities to travel and discover, we came to know China as also the birth place of the famous tech guru and electrical engineer Morris Chang.

It is a significant irony that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated Chinese tech entrepreneur was born in China, but founded the semiconductors that made Taiwan a leading exporter of the renowned chips.

It struck me that Taiwan is prevented from exporting the same chips to China because big brother US instructed them not to send Chang’s semiconductors to his land of birth. Not that Taipei was unwilling to take US orders.

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But in Taiwan, I was more interested in the cultural aspects of the Taiwan people versus their Chinese counterparts from the mainland. Politicians had told me enough about the politics and tension between the mainland and the island. My mind was fixated on observing and hearing it from the perspective of the ordinary people and learning about their culture.

Chinese people, regardless of their origin, are known for feeding up their guests. In both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, you eat, eat and eat until you drop – so to speak. To me this symbolises that these people are one.

While the US is often trying to hype up tensions between Taiwan and mainland China, recent people-to-people interactions suggest a different narrative. A delegation of 40 students and faculty members from seven mainland universities recently visited six universities, a high school, and cultural sites in Taiwan, offering a refreshing perspective on cross-Strait relations.

Invited by the Taiwan-based Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation, the participants described the nine-day visit as an “unforgettable journey of hope.” They praised the warmth of their Taiwanese counterparts and highlighted the seamless communication due to shared language and cultural traditions.

Such exchanges are echoed in other recent initiatives, such as a Taiwan youth delegation visiting the mainland, emphasising a shared desire among young people to foster closer ties.

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From an observer’s perspective, these interactions raise an important question: how do these scenes of mutual understanding and friendship reconcile with the narratives of impending conflict often promoted by Western politicians and media?

It goes without saying that the aim of US game in the region is to preserve Washington’s hegemony worldwide. In a recent interview, US expert Jeffrey Sachs warned that Washington is using certain countries against its rival powers to pursue its hegemonic geopolitical agenda.

Similarly, the tension between China and Taiwan people, as stoked by the US, is unnecessary as they are one people. The tension is fomented by the US in an effort to block China’s growth which threatens the US dominance of the world’s economy.

As English historian, Adam Tooze, a professor at Columbia University, pointed out: “Europeans, as well as those in Japan and South Korea, may be used to paying this price for the benefit of America’s security umbrella.”

People in mainland China and Taiwan should rather live in harmony with one another as Chinese, without any foreign interference to determine their common destiny.

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