Taiwanese Domestic Politics: Is the Ideological Crowding out the Practical?

When talking about Taiwanese politics, China is the elephant in the room.  These words from Western media should not and indeed really do not face disagreement even here in Taiwan.  Certainly, for an island where 40% of exports head to China and 10% of citizens live in China, to speak of political issues in a Sino-centric fashion would not be at all excessive or exaggerating.  And looking at events of the past across the Strait and potential repercussions for the future, the fixation of local politicians and common people with China is very well justified.

Yet, this fixation with China has what the author would consider a rather weird side effect.  Aside from intentionally polarize Taiwanese society on the issue of the island's relationship with China (in ways that more or less force a person to take extreme opinions if when there weren't any initially), attention-hogging discussions on Taiwan's future with respect to China manage to complete dominate the political scene and make other relevant issues disappear.  This, the author has come to see, maybe a cause for disappointment and indifference with politics in general among the public.  

Sure, China may be a "threat" or an "opportunity," "land of our lost brethren" or "land of our enemies," but its ideological presence in the Taiwanese psyche is not at all matched by its practical presence.  The Taiwanese may continue to argue whether the island is part of China or independent, but the really on the ground is that it is a fully sovereign entity with de facto independence.  Its various institution, from the educational to the socio-political, is completely separate from anything on the mainland, and are 100% controlled from the government in Taipei.

Knowing that, it is a wonder why no straight talk from politicians of all political convictions on how to improve these institutions to, say, raise stagnant wages among the youth, improve welfare benefits for the needy, and most of all, develop a coherent vision for its continued future as an independent economy.  In other words, the author simply does not understand why China has to even feature in conversation about these topics, or worse, why other conversations pertaining to China have to be prioritized over these issues that seem to be collectively suppressed.

The author observes a trend of further permeation of this irrational obsession with China.  Politicians and the media seem to be focused on how to differentiate themselves with policies toward the mainland, but forgot to even utter their stances on how to sort out the not-so-optimistic economic situations at home.  The not-so-little stories of domestic travesty, ranging from unauthorized land grabs to fatalities from natural disasters, are nowhere to be seen in the most respected print media despite their far-reaching implications of what it means for morals and legality in Taiwanese society.

Instead, these stories of heartbroken "little people" are told in various Internet forums, operated by what seems to be an academically elite but demographically insignificant class of "intellectually disenfranchised."  They seem to lament the uncaring attitude of political stakeholders and their senseless pursuit of self-grandeur in narrow bickering, all at the expense of increasing distance from the grassroots.  Yet, for all the lamentation, they feel helpless to counteract what they see.  They feel disappointment, but they know little they can do to promote change.

The author is a bit helplessly disappointed with this helpless disappointment.  He does appreciate understanding the truth, but he does hope the truth is one laced with, well, hope.  He does not feel that here, at least among educated youth who ought to be leading any charge in pressurizing the political establishment.  Instead, he is seeing a society moving toward a bipolarity: a mixture of feel-good mental insularity like in Japan, and a rapid brain-drain of the most capable like in Malaysia.  Neither helps Taiwan to hold its own as a society requiring further opening up for economic survival.

From the Chinese government's perspective, this may all be positive, just not in the way it expected.  Economic integration did not bring a feeling of emotional or nationalist solidarity with the people here, but is creating a significant existential toll on local politics.  A focus on China forcing greater insularity may create a further dependence on China as the only chance to counteract the insularity.  The only way to break the cycle is for the political parties to "think outside the box" on what is really politically important for the Taiwanese people.  Unfortunately no sight of such realization is forthcoming.