Opinion: Why my Taiwanese American identity has become more complicated
After I was younger, I visited Taiwan each summer time. I spoke Taiwanese at residence, and we frequently ate Taiwanese meals at residence. My mother and father emphasised that they had been from Taiwan and that we had been a Taiwanese household with roots that prolonged a number of generations on the island, to earlier than Chiang Kai-shek fled there in 1949.
Certainly, my id as a toddler was very a lot as a Taiwanese American. Having a definite title of clearly Asian origin solely bolstered that. And whereas nobody in North Carolina (the place I used to be born and lived for the primary six years of my life) may pronounce my title, being Taiwanese American wasn’t so uncommon as soon as we moved to Rowland Heights, a suburb within the San Gabriel Valley, the place many may hint their heritage to Taiwan.
However as I bought older and went from center college to highschool, I grew to become much less wedded to my Taiwanese id. For ease, I even started to inform folks I used to be Chinese language, since some I encountered would confuse Taiwan with Thailand. I then went to varsity, met classmates who embraced their Asianness and was launched to pan-Asian ethnic affiliations and organizations. Whether or not I used to be Taiwanese or Chinese language didn’t appear to matter a lot. We had been all Asian Individuals who had been creating our personal identities separate and other than no matter our particular heritage or ethnicity was.
Over the previous couple of years, nevertheless, I’ve grow to be much more acutely aware of my id as a Taiwanese American. However not for a similar causes as once I was younger. As a substitute, it’s as a result of being perceived as Chinese language in America has grow to be a lot more difficult with the sharp enhance in geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China. Former President Trump then made issues worse by calling COVID-19 the “China virus” or the “kung flu” and maligning his personal secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao, due to her heritage. Sarcastically, although, many older Taiwanese Individuals supported Trump due to the skepticism he expressed towards China and the coverage steps he took to deliver the U.S. and Taiwan nearer.
The problem was heightened once I entered the general public enviornment final yr as a candidate for California state controller. Throughout that marketing campaign, I persistently self-identified as Taiwanese American and emphasised my destructive impressions of the Chinese language Communist Occasion, the way it governs China, and the fixed menace it poses to Taiwan. These have lengthy been my views, however my emphasis of them was definitely influenced by the atmosphere we discover ourselves in at this time.
Nonetheless, I’ve discovered it troublesome to look at how some Individuals of each Chinese language and Taiwanese descent have had their loyalties referred to as into query or been deemed in some way “un-American” due to enterprise, cultural or private ties to China. Whatever the vital contributions they’ve made to the communities they stay in, these colleagues and mates have been subjected to innuendo, assumptions and unsubstantiated narratives. In some circumstances, these assaults have are available in very public boards.
In fact, we must always not dismiss a number of the broader considerations concerning the Chinese language authorities’s efforts to ramp up its affect actions within the U.S. Sadly, no sector of American society — enterprise, academia, politics and past — is immune from the CCP’s efforts to form opinion right here.
Due to this, Individuals of Chinese language descent can really feel stress to show that they’re extra loyal to our nation. However the newest examples of such exercise haven’t even concerned folks of Chinese language descent. A former Harvard professor, Charles Lieber, was sentenced final week for making false statements to federal brokers and failing to declare cash he obtained as a part of a contract with a Chinese language college. And final week, former Fugees rapper Prakazrel Michel was convicted in a federal case that included accusations of making an attempt to affect U.S. officers on behalf of the Chinese language authorities. These latest circumstances present that ethnic id or heritage isn’t a proxy for patriotism.
As a Taiwanese American, I don’t consider the present Chinese language authorities is especially taken with enhancing relations with the USA. On the similar time, I take satisfaction within the robust friendships I’ve with Chinese language Individuals who don’t draw back from their heritage and connections to China as a society, not a authorities. I’ll proceed to take part in organizations and endeavors that honor and have a good time the various contributions that Individuals of Chinese language descent have made to making a extra good union.
I’ve come full circle on the subject of my very own Taiwanese id. And whereas there absolutely are variations between those that are Taiwanese and people who are Chinese language, one factor is for sure: As Individuals, we share one destiny, and we’re higher collectively than we’re aside.
Lanhee J. Chen is a fellow in American public coverage research on the Hoover Establishment and the director of home coverage research at Stanford College. He was a candidate for California state controller in 2022.
