PAST IDENTIFICATION
Past:
During the Japanese colonial period, Taiwan was considered part of Japan's empire, but not directly identified as part of the nation. Japan promoted an equal rights and treatment as part of Wilson's self-determinism plan, which allowed Taiwanese culture to flourish and develop on its own. Thus, Taiwan identified as Taiwan and not Japanese, even though there was no conflict that spurred the distinction. However, when the KMT invaded Taiwan, people were torn between native-Taiwanese and mainland identification, despite Chiang Kai Shek's push to establish a common nationalism and identity (unique from communist China); the KMT's imposed martial law and strict regulation was degrading and humiliating for the native Taiwanese (which made up 85 percent of the population at the time), thus there was a conflict in identification. The "new" Taiwanese, structured by the KMT, instead of uniting Taiwan with similarities, enforced a rigid policy that established a mainland pride, which degraded native Taiwanese culture. Much of the individualism, globalization aspects of Taiwanese culture gained from the Japanese era remained dormant under the KMT rule; it was not until the restructuring of Taiwanese politics that enabled this culture to reappear. Along with the cultural movement, which sparked individualism and a shift away from politics (specifically KMT), Taiwan's denial as an independent nation triggered a unification in terms of identity. In a political aspect, new reformation-pro leaders such as Lee-Teng Hui called for a new, unified Taiwan which included native Taiwanese, KMT Taiwanese, and future immigrants. With the cultural Westernization movement, this further extended the singularity of Taiwan as a separate, westernized nation, apart from communist China. Taiwan's final acceptance as an sovereign nation furthered Taiwan's self-identification; people saw themselves more as Taiwanese rather than Chinese or Chinese and Taiwanese. This signaled a major point in the formation of Taiwanese identity, as people began to associate themselves as one body, instead of a collective, layered mix of different people in Taiwan.
During the Japanese colonial period, Taiwan was considered part of Japan's empire, but not directly identified as part of the nation. Japan promoted an equal rights and treatment as part of Wilson's self-determinism plan, which allowed Taiwanese culture to flourish and develop on its own. Thus, Taiwan identified as Taiwan and not Japanese, even though there was no conflict that spurred the distinction. However, when the KMT invaded Taiwan, people were torn between native-Taiwanese and mainland identification, despite Chiang Kai Shek's push to establish a common nationalism and identity (unique from communist China); the KMT's imposed martial law and strict regulation was degrading and humiliating for the native Taiwanese (which made up 85 percent of the population at the time), thus there was a conflict in identification. The "new" Taiwanese, structured by the KMT, instead of uniting Taiwan with similarities, enforced a rigid policy that established a mainland pride, which degraded native Taiwanese culture. Much of the individualism, globalization aspects of Taiwanese culture gained from the Japanese era remained dormant under the KMT rule; it was not until the restructuring of Taiwanese politics that enabled this culture to reappear. Along with the cultural movement, which sparked individualism and a shift away from politics (specifically KMT), Taiwan's denial as an independent nation triggered a unification in terms of identity. In a political aspect, new reformation-pro leaders such as Lee-Teng Hui called for a new, unified Taiwan which included native Taiwanese, KMT Taiwanese, and future immigrants. With the cultural Westernization movement, this further extended the singularity of Taiwan as a separate, westernized nation, apart from communist China. Taiwan's final acceptance as an sovereign nation furthered Taiwan's self-identification; people saw themselves more as Taiwanese rather than Chinese or Chinese and Taiwanese. This signaled a major point in the formation of Taiwanese identity, as people began to associate themselves as one body, instead of a collective, layered mix of different people in Taiwan.