Little has changed since my last post - Authorized Departure has been extended until the middle of June, and it won't be until July at the earliest that we will unlikely be allowed to return to Addis Ababa አዲስ አበባ. So in the meantime life continues with its teleworking and daily walks, though Virginia (like many states) is in the risky process of "reopening". Sadly, we've had to face reality and cancel our trip this summer to Taiwan and Japan. I was especially looking forward to taking Amber around the Chūbu region 中部地方 of the latter, but with almost 315,000 deaths worldwide and the fact that we can reschedule for next summer, I'm not whinging.
A brush with history while walking in Rosslyn
But that's not the reason for blogging. Instead, I'd like to touch on the issue of identity (and a few other things). I'll begin with the time back in the mid-oughts when I was managing a small English language school in Yokkaichi city 四日市市, in Mie Prefecture 三重県, Japan. The school's owner was an Englishman named David, who ran the operation with his Japanese wife, Tomoko (? Actually, I don't remember her name, other than it ended with a 子). One day David was bragging about how it was his turn to head his neighborhood association, and how that made him an accepted part of the community. In reality, the only reason he had a turn was because of his marriage to Tomoko (were he a single gaijin 外人 it was unlikely he would've even been considered), and while his neighbors probably had nothing against him personally, I'm pretty sure they didn't think of him as one of "them". Instead, they probably referred to David amongst themselves as "that foreigner". But David was happy to believe otherwise, and seeing as he was my boss, I didn't say anything (in retrospect, I probably should've, seeing as David had issues with following Japanese labor laws, but that's another tale).
Fast forward to now, and Facebook, where one of my FB friends has recently taken to sharing articles touting Taiwan's successes in the fight to contain COVID-19 (as have I). The interesting thing here is that A (as I shall call him) has been taking credit in the sense of referring to himself as "we", as in "we can only help if the world wants to listen" (italics mine). The "we", of course, means "to be Taiwanese", as in "I am one". To which I replied "We?", and which most definitely touched a nerve with A, leading to a long, somewhat unhinged diatribe that included the following:
"... (C)itizenship didn’t stop YOU (collective) from accepting MY (personal) donations of surgical masks that I sent from MY account that I get with MY national health system account."*
The heroic personal sacrifice he's referring to is the government of Taiwan's donations of surgical masks and other virus-fighting equipment to various countries, including the U.S. For the record, we (meaning my family and I) are using Made in Taiwan masks here at home in Virginia, but those were bought by my wife last year when she went back to Taiwan from Ethiopia to visit her family, well before the virus broke out in Wuhan. Anyway...
Potomac Overlook Park. The overlook had grown over a long time ago, rendering the park's name obsolete
I should pause here to point out that A is a white guy from Washington state, teaching English at a high school in Taichung 台中 (or he was when I was still living there), as Caucasian as yours truly, though I arguably tan better. Like me, he has a Taiwanese spouse and child. I should also stop here to try and define "identity".
There is "identity" in the legal sense. A isn't Taiwanese in that he hasn't obtained Republic of China 中華民國 nationality. Doing so in Taiwan is a complicated and potentially risky process; while many countries require their newly-naturalized citizens to renounce any prior citizenship claims to other states, the ROC government demands proof of such abandonment before even considering a citizenship application. This means that if your request is rejected, you become "stateless" (the government does make exceptions for foreigners who have made "outstanding contributions to Taiwanese society", but this usually doesn't include teaching English to small children at cram schools, like I used to do). On the other hand, permanent residency in Taiwan is comparatively easy to obtain. I don't know if A has done so, but if I had been in the country as long as he has, I certainly would've gotten my Alien Permanent Residence Certificate by now.
Fly like an eagle (see below)
A makes the argument that he pays taxes and so is a member of the community, and he's right...sort of. Except that no matter how much he contributes to society, even were he to become a full-fledged ROC citizen, very few of his Taiwanese acquaintances, friends and neighbors would ever consider him as such. In immigrant-built countries like Australia, Canada and the United States, you can get naturalized and most Australians, Canadians and Americans (though not all, including certain racist relatives of mine) would accept you as part of the team. Not in Taiwan (nor in Japan for that matter) - you might be liked and well-treated by the community, but in most peoples' eyes you will forever remain "A, that foreigner" or "A, that American guy". And that's a nerve that I seemd to have rubbed raw in A.
See above
For which I apologize, but at the same time say "Too fucking bad. That's reality, deal with it." Because for myself, it's an issue that hits home in that I have a daughter who has held ROC nationality from birth, but is still treated like an outsider (or at times like a freak of nature) by many of her compatriots when she's back in Taiwan. Granted, she has yet to face anything overtly hostile or malicious, but she's old enough now to be aware that she isn't truly considered one of "them" (and least not completely), and to feel frustrated at times by the ignorant ways other Taiwanese sometimes react to her. And so I remind her that she is just as Taiwanese as anyone else, to never forget that and to tell people to fuck off (well, not that last part, not until she turns 18).
Watching the rain fall from twenty-one floors up
I also appear to have touched another nerve with A with an FB post from a day ago. In an article on how people in Taiwan increasingly consider themselves to be "Taiwanese" (as opposed to "Chinese"), I shared it by writing the following:
"There are plenty of Caucasian English teachers in Taiwan happy to debate the topic of Taiwanese identity with their fellow 外國人, not to mention helpfully explain to locals what it means to be Taiwanese..."
At the time I thought I was being charmingly snarky, but the more I think about it, I realize it goes deeper than that. A and his fellow white boys and girls frequently debate online amongst themselves what it means to be Taiwanese. It might seem harmless enough at first (and some of it is unintentionally funny, especially the extremes to which some of them go to convince themselves and others that most Taiwanese are not, in fact, of Han ethincity, but that's a topic for another time if I can be bothered) - after all, these are mostly English teachers we're talking about, not academics. But there is a disturbing undercurrent at play.
A memorial to police officers killed in the line of duty
That undercurrent is the sometimes fierce competition to be the white guy (or gal) who gets to explain Taiwan and the Taiwanese to their friends and acquaintances (and perfect strangers) online. In order to do, the people of Taiwan have to be reduced to unique Others, living unique lives, and not as normal human beings trying to get by in life, like everyone else the world over. After all, considering Taiwanese as you would your own countrymen and women doesn't make them worth arguing or debating over. You live and work in Taiwan, you speak Mandarin, you've read a lot of books and no one is going to be allowed to question your reduction of a people to easily managed ethnographic models. The ultimate goal, of course, is to become one of the "we" (at least in your mind), because once you become one of them, no one can challenge your assertions or observations, and all must bow to your hard-won knowledge and wisdom.
A colorful office building
Or like Dracula, as a friend suggested
I'll finish this with a probably irrelevant recollection. Back in the days when I worked in the HR department of a major English language school chain in Japan, there was an applicant from North Carolina (complete with a thick drawl) who so much wanted to be Japanese that he had legally changed his name to "Isao Fujimoto" (or something similar; it was a long time ago), even though he hadn't taken out Japanese citizenship. He didn't get the job, though it had nothing to do with his new name (lots of people just didn't have the skills to teach English in a classroom, especially applicants with education degrees!). Now, I don't think A would ever go to the extremes of Fujimoto-san, but if A is going to publicly claim to be part of the team and thus take credit for things he's had little or nothing to do with, it's going to be hard to resist the temptation to point out that at best he's just leading the cheers from the stands.
Nerves can be very tempting at times...
*I was living and working (and paying taxes) in Taiwan in March 2011 when the Great East Japan Earthquake 東北地方太平洋沖地震 occurred in Japan's Tōhoku region. Like many Taiwanese, in response I (a non-Taiwanese, a waiguroen) made a not-insignificant (considering my financial situation at that time) monetary donation to a relief fund for Japanese tsunami victims. When the Japanese government later thanked the people of Taiwan for their help, I didn't feel the need to proclaim to anyone who would listen that I also was or should've been included.
No comments:
Post a Comment