Not long after I arrived in Taiwan back in 1987 I was talking with a friend. He was a Korean-born overseas Chinese that moved with his family to Taiwan. I forget what the main thrust of the conversation was but I must have asked a slightly political or weighty question because he started getting very quiet and pensive. He said to me in a an almost whisper,”Mark, some things it’s enough to know about but you don’t need to mention them,especially in public because you never know who is listening.” Well this struck me as very odd and slightly startled me. I had never been the least bit paranoid to discuss any topic anywhere before. The irony of this and the timing was the fact that Taiwanese society was already becoming increasingly open and democratic with many locally born people speaking out even in loud voices with no thought of who might be listening whether praising the DPP opposition or critiquing the KMT ruling party.
Maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t from here so he felt less secure as an”outsider?” Maybe it stemmed from the politically repressive environment of the South Korea of his youth? I’m not sure. I do know it was extremely exciting to see this democratic birth and infancy taking place and the people feeling good about it. The benefits of that openness are multiple. From everything I’ve seen and heard the architect of that openness and probably the greatest leader the Taiwanese have ever had is Chinese -born Chiang Ching-kuo. I was amazed that the day after his death many taiwanese were weeping and sharing their feelings of loss. Even to this day many Taiwanese friends mention mention CCK with deep respect and admiration. I am not a political person but a businessman and artist (music,photography,writer). Nothing wrong with politics if that’s your bag(in fact I was a political science major at one point) there are many blogs in Greater China that talk nothing but politics. I hope to address more of the cultural, business and artistic issues from here in Greater China. If these appeal to you, please let me know. If you have any questions or comments on them, please feel free to make them here on the blog or to me via e-mail or @bbluesman on twitter.
