STORY: As Taiwan prepares to vote in the presidential and parliamentary elections next month, polls reveal deep divisions between generations towards its relationship with China.
At this government-run veterans’ care home in northern Taiwan, this former soldier’s chest tattoo of the island’s flag carries the complexities of those ties.
Wang Chih-chuan, who is 93, joined the Chinese army when he was only 13 and holds tragic memories of war.
“I still dare not watch the news when I watch TV. War is cruel and cold. When I started serving as a soldier, people were forced to enlist during the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. When they couldn’t catch adults, they would catch children.”
Defeated in the Chinese civil war, the nationalist Kuomintang government fled to Taiwan seven-odd decades ago – but no peace treaty was ever signed to end the war.
China’s communist government has since been pushing for what it calls “re-unification” with Taiwan.
And has ramped up its military pressure against the island in the past few years, stoking fears of a war that could drag in the United States.
Those tensions are dominating election campaigns in the run up to Taiwan’s January 13 ballot.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party champions the island’s separate identity from China.
But, despite moving to Taiwan and later fighting for its island of Kinmen, Wang’s sense of identity remains tied to China.
“Taiwan is part of China, it has been since the Qing and Ming dynasties.”
It’s a view shared by many from his generation, like fellow care home resident Sun Kuo-hsi.
The 110-year-old veteran believes his current government is being provocative.
He warns that if a conflict breaks out, the island would be no match for China.
Yet their views conflict with mainstream Taiwan, who overwhelmingly view themselves as Taiwanese and not Chinese, according to polls.
Here’s political scientist Sung Wen-ti:
“There is certainly a generational shift, the older generation was a little more likely to be for unification and the younger generation a lot less likely. They tend to… the younger people tend to have a separate, almost distinct, Taiwanese national identity as opposed to a more Chinese national identity. So, in that sense, the trendlines on support for unification is a downward one… less and less support for unification over time.”
The main opposition party, the pro-China KMT, has cast the election as a choice between war and peace – a line Beijing has echoed.
But as campaigning heats up, some in Taiwan are hoping to mend rifts rather than further the divide.
As this 22-year-old says, “We can only try our best to understand the others and learn why they might have certain ideas.”
“Even if we can’t agree with each other, as humans we should still be able to talk normally.”
