A friend named William studying abroad in America saw my conversation with a foreign friend on Facebook and called me on LINE, telling me a real story about his experience.
William told me that before studying in America, he was a super pro-Taiwan independence person (wow, I didn’t even know!), but he had a similar experience while studying in America. William once had a discussion with an American professor about “Taiwan’s international positioning” (wow, that’s so profound—could it be simpler?), and the professor’s words opened his eyes.
The Professor’s Conversation with William
Professor: What passport are you using to study in America?
William: Taiwan’s.
Professor: Is the Taiwan you’re talking about a country? If I’m not mistaken, it’s called the Republic of China, right?
William: Yes.
Professor: You’re using your country’s documents to come to America and can study here too. So why do you think “people won’t recognize us”???
William: Then why don’t you let us into the United Nations? Why don’t you dare openly support our recognition?
Professor: Do you think international relations can be handled with emotions? (Internal Taiwan note: That’s loving Taiwan, apparently—ed.) It’s not just the mainland-Taiwan problem. There’s Central and South America, Vietnam, North Korea, European economy and Asian economy. You Taiwanese only see yourselves but can’t see other countries’ efforts and support. Many countries provide enormous help behind the scenes to maintain Taiwan’s Republic of China.
William: So why can’t Taiwan be independent? Don’t you say you support us?
Professor: Actually, we find it very laughable when you Taiwanese argue about independence. You can’t just say you want to change your country’s name whenever someone dislikes you or you face diplomatic pressure. That’s a big joke. The country already exists—we all admire Taiwan’s democratic system.
Let me ask you: what’s your name?
He replied: William
Professor: Good, William. Now I hate you. Our families are sworn enemies. Tomorrow you change your name to Phillip—will I not recognize you anymore? Will we no longer be enemies? Will you no longer be yourself?
William: (Speechless…)… What do you think Taiwan should do, Professor?
Professor: It’s not just Taiwan—the law of survival in the world is the same everywhere. If the other side is stronger than you, don’t provoke them when you’re still weak. You can find a balance point and first reach a peaceful consensus with the other side. Then you must unite. Consolidate your resources, expand your relationships, and keep growing until you can match the other side’s strength—that’s when you have real bargaining power. And your international perspective and worldview need to be broader to see further. There are countless countries in the world with many different economic structures. One move affects everything. Taiwan is always too slow, always far behind mainland China. That’s not something other countries can help you with—you need to improve yourselves and stop getting trapped in that name-changing game.
William’s Awakening
William said that only after truly going out to see the world and hearing what international society says did he realize that loving Taiwan and doing good for Taiwan isn’t about promoting Taiwan independence. Because Taiwan changing its name doesn’t help anyway, and we’re already a country. Even without diplomatic ties, we have representative offices, our passports work everywhere, and we rarely face setbacks. The Republic of China truly has always existed. We really need to unite without distinguishing between “us” and “them,” provincial origins, unification or independence, let alone distinctions between Taiwanese, Penghu people, Kinmen people, Matsu people, or Orchid Island people. Because Taiwan isn’t strong enough right now—shouting about those things is pointless.
Original author: Jian Shen-xiu