Taiwan or the Republic of China? Island grapples with question of identity as Double Tenth celebrations play down nationalism
- Flag-waving displays of nationalism and military parades are a thing of the past as the island prepares to celebrate the 108th anniversary of the republic that gives it its official name
- Many younger islanders are turning away from association with the mainland in favour of a specifically Taiwanese identity
Taiwan celebrates its 108th birthday as the Republic of China on Thursday, but the scale of both the festivities and displays of nationalism have dwindled over the years as the island struggles to stop itself from becoming isolated from the rest of the world while its people increasingly cast doubts over their official identity.
While all the necessary ornaments to decorate the 100-year-old Presidential Office are already in place, the seas of Republic of China flags that used to fly all over Taiwan to mark the “Double Tenth” are largely missing.
Since Friday, an eight-minute light show has been projected onto the Presidential Office six times a night.
It depicts Taiwan’s development over the past decades and features the island’s once-boasted baseball success stories, the launch of the Formosa-7 satellite and the recent completion of a prototype of its indigenous trainer jet Brave Eagle.
Conspicuously missing from the colourful show, however, is the history of the Republic of China – a title used by the island’s authorities since Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist, or Kuomintang, forces retreated to the island in 1949 and set up an interim government following their defeat in the civil war.
“I remember when I was young, countless ROC national flags depicting the white sun and blue sky on a crimson red were flying everywhere during the Double Tenth national day [October 10], while huge arches with the national emblem and symbols were erected in major thoroughfares,” said 55-year-old bank executive Yang Yi-kuang.
Yang, who grew up in a community for military dependents in Tainan on the south of the island, said he remembered celebrations of the national day before 2000 were characterised by a nationalistic mood, as patriotic anthems were played and grand military reviews held.