A question either for the Taiwanese-born or the expats who decided to settle in Taiwan.
By discrimination I mean any sort of double standards that was applied to you because of your Taiwanese links, kind of like being Russian now in Georgia (and other places):
People still carry bitter memories of Putin’s invasion in 2008.
A QR code at the bar’s entrance redirects Russian visitors to a website, where they are asked to complete a “visa form” designed specifically for them. They won’t be allowed in for a drink unless they confirm that, among other things, they didn’t vote for Putin, that Russia occupied Georgian territories, that Crimea is Ukrainian, and that they wish glory to Ukraine.
Also a few other situations, such as someone with Chinese/Russian ties trying to get a Western security clearance, or someone from Israel trying to visit/do business with certain countries/BDS supporters and vice versa. Apolitical ones like being an American having difficulty opening a foreign bank account due to FATCA red tape.
Purpose of the question is because if China continues to expand (Belt & Road, buying out Africa, etc) and the West continues to shrink or build walls literally/figuratively/politically (e.g. Trump’s Wall, Brexit), any associated nationalism about the China/Taiwan issue would grow both in severity and prevalence.
If Taiwanese related people/entities experience discrimination now in the Mainland, we may suppose that we could see more of it in the future, both as Chinese nationalism/indoctrination and influence probably both respectively grow. Unless China does something dumb like invade Taiwan and become the world’s pariah like Russia now, or the 1958-1960 Great Leap Forward resulting in the Great Chinese Famine.
The discrimination usually happens the other way around. Taiwanese people often discriminate against the Chinese, but not vice versa. Chinese people usually consider Taiwanese people their own, and they are usually happy when they see Taiwanese people trying to build good relations with them.
I doubt this is a thing. Most non-Taiwanese are also very ignorant and have never even heard of Taiwan. If there’s any discrimination it’s because of being Asian, not because of being Taiwanese.
True to a point. my few experiences were precisely because of being Taiwansee. Not being foreign. it becomes political obviously in places like china and singapore (neither get the respect of capital letters until further efforts are expressed ). The experiences we ( me and my family) have recieved in thailand, Malaysia and china were explicitly due to being taiwanese . they are the same race(in a couple of instances), so it wasnt racial. it was overtly political. And shame on them for that because it was as innocent as family travel, not political in any sense. I can make that comparison because even though Itravelled from taiwan I was on canadian passport. All those cases I had to go back through customs, reversed direction, to "gather"my family. in thailand had to get actual angry . All because canadian passport was better than taiwnaese? I have no time for those types of cheap sell out c*nts that are sheepish enough to follow orders blindly rather than use a few brain cells.
Discussed this a few times with friends today and yesterday, and they described problems in Thailand as well. Almost exclusively with visa on arrival, they were just assholes.
This also reminds me of a time in Japan they were dicks as well and wouldnt let us through, right when Taiwan.passport design changed. At least they were dicks equally as they told me to fuck off as well once we said we cant be separated. It was solved in the end, but took hours.
Another reminder. god damn, starting to get flash backs. Peace arch in canada. we made a wrong turn and crossed the border line (one way road). 12 hours there. the US customs were forgiving, the guys wife was from kaohsiung…so that helped. but they wouldnt let us turn around without customs BS. after their interrogation, 3 hours but respectful, we spent half a day listening to a very passive aggressive douche bag getting into canada. searching and checking while yelling at us. crying wife just wanting.to go back to our osoyoos hotel. the works. the issue was her being Taiwanese as well.
as a canadian I used to find US customs a pain in the ass (rude). after being.in a taiwnaese family and travelling to more places, the US treats us the best. Canada gives us the biggest troubles, usually just passive aggressive bullshit about following directions but the next step isnt. they need to get their shit together.
It has been a couple years (covid) since I have had to go to singapore. but it used to be anyways they wouldnt even show the flag at currency exchanges in the airports. I have asked them a few times if they could exchange taiwanese dollars and that I didn’t notice it on their sign boards,only to get rude reactions back. I am quite respectful and smile in person, so it wasnt rude. Especially in singapore where the ultra egotistical guys with big guns threaten you.
I really dislike Singapore, which is problematic as we have such good friends there. Eventually I decided it’s just better to stay in Johor…on every level except dealing with Singapore’s customs. but the bridge is easier than the airport.
I’m surprised to hear about Singapore giving ill treatment to Taiwanese.
Historically, didn’t the Singaporeans also historically experience racism when part of the Malaysian Federation? Them being majority Chinese and Malaya being majority Malay.
Also Singapore was a small fry surrounded by bigger fish.
Furthermore some Singaporeans I know are also fretting about an undercover CCP invasion of their island with migrant workers from China.
For these reasons I thought Singapore would be more sympathetic to Taiwan…
Nah, they can be real assholes. I am talking more about officially though. the average folk are different. although I have found our friends, business relations and their families are very much “ignorant” and/or pro china. But the officials there can be real assholes. have yet to have a pleasant experience there with officials.
I have yet to find much to complement Singapore about either. It is great if people care more about money than freedom and human rights. But not the other way around. Not my cup of tea… They really are kind of like a China that isnt a threat and has standards. Plus fewer people just straight disappear. they prefer lesser punishments and remain public. China Lvl’d up. They are multicultural no doubt, but still racist in many ways. So is Malaysia. The Han-chinese are still treated as lesser in Malaysia by the government. It is all I hear about when we are there. but in similar ways as foreigners in Taiwan are treated as lesser, not really violently oppressed like in China proper. Asia is no less racist than the west. it is a human stupidity that hasnt been expelled from our breeding programs yet.eIf anything, it seems to be encouraged
We really should be bragging about how we treat others and our environment more than how we treat our stock markets and GDP. But that type of talk falls on deaf ears and we get called hippies. or caned. or jailed. for such “far out” ideas
). The experiences we ( me and my family) have recieved in thailand, Malaysia and china were explicitly due to being taiwanese . they are the same race(in a couple of instances), so it wasnt racial. it was overtly political. And shame on them for that because it was as innocent as family travel, not political in any sense. I can make that comparison because even though Itravelled from taiwan I was on canadian passport. All those cases I had to go back through customs, reversed direction, to "gather"my family. in thailand had to get actual angry . All because canadian passport was better than taiwnaese? I have no time for those types of cheap sell out c*nts that are sheepish enough to follow orders blindly rather than use a few brain cells.
