You will NEVER be Chinese! Comment

Ray Chang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2_L71lFItk&lc=z12typxpbrekcxp4u04cg5tb0ziax134yck

Oh WOW I have so much to say about this video.  First of all, I think that given the topic and situation you kept this video much more positive than I would have if I were in your shoes.  I've never been to China, but I imagine it would be an awkward trump card to say "I'm Taiwanese.  If you say I'm not Chinese then you're admitting that Taiwan is a foreign country."  (Which reminds me:  What kind of statement are you trying to make with your helmet?)  I've voted for the President of Taiwan three times already.  Every time I queue up with my pink half-A4-sheet, ID card, and stamp, I get to the desk to the big ledger where I sign my name, vote, and leave.  Nobody says anything.  In 20 years, Taiwan has gotten much better about accepting me as being Taiwanese.  When our office has visitors, my manager always brags that I'm really Taiwanese.  Once in a while I'll meet someone who says "Oh, you're Taiwanese.  It's great to hear a foreigner speak such good Chinese and Taiwanese."  Then it's like "You just admitted that I'm Taiwanese and now you're calling me a foreigner again?"  This kind of event is becoming much more rare and only comes from people older than I am.  (46).  It's at the point now where I can say to early university students and younger:  "I've lived in Taiwan longer than you have."

"Chinese" as an ethnic identity:
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (hang in there, the history part isn't long), China's trading ships kept getting attacked by pirates near Indonesia and the emporer couldn't father a child.  They believed that foreign involvement was the problem and that's why they started a nearly 600-year lockdown (鎖國政策).  After that, the emporer had a child and logically taught Chinese that that must have been the problem.  I think that's why China (and Taiwan, to a degree) still have that "We are the middle kingdom and everything else is foreign" thinking deeply ingrained in the culture and explains a lot of things.

Food as a linguistical example:
Take a step back and look at food, for example.  Burrito in English is "burrito" because that's its name.  "Pepperoni pizza" in Russia is exactly that, only written with their alphabet, etc.  "Facebook" in Thailand sounds like Facebook (I know that's not food).  Burrito in Taiwan is called "Mexico roll", bratwurst is "Germany sausage", spaghetti is "Italy noodles", and kimchi is "Korea pickled vegetables".  The emphasis is on the foreign nature of these things.  That's "Korea's" pickled vegetables, not "our" pickled vegetables.  Taiwanese learn English in school starting from kindergarten or at least first grade.  They can't have a conversation about much, however, because countries/cities (travel), celebrities (current events), foods, movies, etc., all have Chinese-language nicknames that often don't sound anything like the real name.  As if "we don't care because we are the middle kingdom."

Neighbor story:
My neighbor married a USA guy and lives there now (for about the last 10 years).  She and her husband come back for Lunar New Year every year.  Her Dad was a soldier who came from China in 1949 (外省人) and I think she has stronger Chinese thinking than most Taiwanese do.  She wanted a child and calls me selfish for never having a child.  This argument came up every year, except early this year we were able to skip it.  Last time, she said that she wants a child to show her Dad in a kind-of filial piety way, I guess.  Then she said (cautiously) "You may have a Taiwan passport and everything but you're still not completely ..... Chinese."  I boldly said "I never said I was.  I don't even want to be."  Before I could say any more, she looked to the side and said "Oh, ok" (giving up).  It's as if there's a built-in assumption that foreigners' goal is to be as Chinese as possible.  She actually thought I might be hurt by that.  HAHAHA!  A good trump card for this:  "What about aboriginals?  They're Taiwanese and not Chinese.  I'm just like them.  They came here 5700 years ago, so they're the real Taiwanese if anybody is."

Sports guy:
In the USA, there is a sports guy named Jeremy Lin (?) whose parents immigrated from Taiwan.  He was born there, but Taiwanese are still proud of him.  I asked a good friend why and he said that a small part of that is the "Chinese" ethnicity idea, but mostly because Taiwan is often ignored on the world stage so we're always looking for anything to be proud of.  I think that was a good answer.

Dumb foreigner thinking:
Once in a while, older people (or people who don't know me well) will start sentences with "你們美國人....." or "我們臺灣人....." ("You Americans...."; "Us Taiwanese....")  I think "What are you, some fricking ARMCHAIR ANTHROPOLOGIST?"  I've chosen not to buy a house in Taiwan.  They're too expensive and I don't want to take two decades of salary to buy a house and then die and give it to the government eventually (since I don't have children).  People always say "It's our Chinese culture to want to have a house."  I say "No, it's the whole world's culture to want to have a house."  "But you just said....."  And then "I'm not an American anymore."  Tell them the Ming Dynasty story and then say that's where your Taiwanese stops and your "Chinese" begins.  (SHOCK--we hate to be called "Chinese")  They totally went into that conversation thinking they had the authority to explain me to myself, but then I turned the tables and explain them to themselves.