Reflections on the Taiwan Independence Movement from a Post-colonial Perspective.

Post-colonialism may be understood as a status of political oppression, economic dependence, and cultural subaltern even after a nation has obtained its formal independence. Alternatively, post-colonialism stands for disillusions over the above neocolonialism after the departure of the past colonist. Finally, post-colonialism represents a commitment to forge a new national identity while endeavoring to get rid of structural and cultural violence inherited by the native elites. After a brief recapitulating of the development of the Taiwan Independence Movement after the War, we will construct a conceptual framework of settersÂ’ society to understand the triple task of undoing the internal colonialism waged on the Austronesian indigenous peoples by the Han settlers, reconciling historical cleavages between the natives and the Mainlanders, and resisting irredentism from its fatherland, China. We argue that this is a three-pronged mission at the same time: while making all efforts to secure state-making in the international society, both nation-building and state-building are actively pursued. As a result, we shall first look into how the Taiwanese are withstanding military threats and economic attractions from China. Secondly, we shall examine how the native government is ready to make its way to replacing the regime of the Republic of China implanted by the Nationalist Chinese. Thirdly, we shall inquiry into how an inclusive national identity is imagined out of competing ethnic representations. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]