[quote=“almondbiscuit”]
with the removal of the CKS statues (hooray!) i think it’s about getting rid of the propaganda of Taiwan’s 光復 (“glorious return”), and hence, related to the ideology thing again - that we should have neutral naming and public spaces as much as possible. or at least, names that truly reflect the current political status of Taiwan - obviously, like mr boogie said, the pro localisation gov - i.e. a govt that was voted into office by the people - is going to do as fits their party platform. but really, taiwan is very neutral in terms of naming. it’s not zhong hua or republic of china (leading to confusion as well as being a name derived from on the KMT’s propaganda) or republic of Taiwan. the last name is something to aspire to, though.
there is also a second dimension to this when it comes to CKS’s name and image - the fact that CKS was a murderer and dictator and the fact that it’s now okay to openly criticise him and his regime, and the fact that Taiwanese are opening to rectification of their KMT-cooked version of CKS’s legacy is part of getting to the reality of the past too.
as for CSB’s mother in law, i think you’re wrong about the greens having a Japanese-superiority thing. for example, abian himself does not have it and certainly never had it. the greens are pro-taiwan specifically, and it tends to be the older generation who experienced both the japanese and KMT colonialisation periods who may be nostalgic about the era of japanese rule. pro-formal-independence/normalisation by definition cancels out any aspirations to being colonised in any form, including cultural, whether by japanese or any other country.
do some of them use it as a means of differentiating themselves from china and leveraging a TI sentiment in themselves? i think some might. but just from observation, it is a tiny portion and really tends to be the older generation who experienced both colonial periods for themselves. it’s very rare that you have greens talk about any admiration for japan in a way that suggests they actually want to be part of japan or want taiwan to follow japan culturally at the expense of Taiwanese self-identity or actually feel they have a hybrid japanese-Taiwanese identity to a significant degree and feel “superior” because of it.
again, this is a different sentiment to simple Taiwanese admiration for japan - i think the modern japanese lifestyle (bc higher living standards) and japan has been voted by the Taiwanese population to be the most admired/aspired to, followed by the USA’s…but this is different to wanting to be japanese or being colonised by japan altogether…[/quote]
I can see you are happy both at CKS statues being removed and the name changes, I am sure a lot of people are. The point I am making is, that the reason for name changes (China to Taiwan), is to reflect reality and so there is no confusion, like I said fair enough. But removing CKS statue in no way helps people distinguish between Taiwan and China. Therefore if one concludes that they are part of the same process, then the motivation is something more than that which is being offered.
I never actually said the Greens had a Japanese-superiority thing, it would be a gross generalization and I dont think fitting. But would you deny that Chen shui Bians mother in law doesn’t have a Japanese-superiority thing? That there is an obvious hatred for the Chinese, and that this hatred has more than likely been passed down from one generation to the next?