Book Description

He masterminded "localized education," cultivation of a "sense of national identity," and desertion of the island's long self-claimed identity as the "Republic of China." He is behind attempts to change the names of the local currency units as well as the island's representative offices overseas, as well as attempts to bestow on a local dialect the status of a "national language" and moves to dele. [...] The only result, Tang said, would be "to affect the rational allocation of resources on both sides of the Strait, affect Taiwan enterprises' competitiveness in the world market, and affect the interests of Taiwan consumers who hope to benefit from the import of good and cheap mainland products." 22 Tang's remarks suggest that the PRC hopes it can use integration to cultivate a class of Taiwanese d. [...] If Taiwan authorities really care for the people's well-being, they should immediately reverse from the path of hostility and unwiseness.49 The transparent purpose of such commentaries is to go over the head of the DPP and appeal directly to the Taiwan people to act on their economic interest and not worry about the political and cultural implications of deepened integration. [...] In the end, the government relented on the issue of controlling the flow of talented personnel-and thereby yielded yet another step in the direction of "one country, two systems." Originally the government had hoped to restrict the movement of people with general expertise in semiconductor wafer research, design, and fabrication, as well as military aviation, shipbuilding, and anesthetics. [...] On May 11th, 2002, an estimated 10,000 Taiwanese took to the streets of Taipei to advocate changing the name of the nation to the "Republic of Taiwan." The march was organized by the Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan, an umbrella group of more than 70 civil society organizations aligned with the TSU.