Weekly Writing Prompt 11 (Quarter 3): Nationalism at Work
Prompt: Connect a current event to a historical event you have studied
The recent presidential election in Taiwan has garnered the world's attention, with the very first female president of Taiwan Tsai-Ing Wen inaugerated into office. However, on the same day, a Taiwanese pop star by the name Chou Tzu-Yu was caught on camera waving a Taiwanese flag in China; she has been an icon for the Taiwan's civic pride. Michael Huang, a taiwanese pop singer imbued pro-unification feels bashed Chou for performing in China by publishing the photo onto Sina Weibo, a Chinese website. The image was portrayed as an attempt of Taiwanese activism, and the young pop star was banned from any further perfomances in China. Taiwan has ruled independently and considered itself a soverign state since 1949, after Kuomintang fled the mainland for being defeated in a civil war with the Communist party of China, but China still considers Taiwan to be a province of the mainland.
Chou was forced by her manager (JYP Entertainment) to issue a public apology statement on tape, which was then uploaded onto Youtube. “There is only one China,” Chou says in the video. “The cross-straits territories are one in the same, and I am proud to consider myself thoroughly Chinese. As a Chinese person who performs abroad, [I say] to my employers and internet friends on both sides of the straits—I’m terribly sorry for the harm I have caused, and I feel ashamed.” (NYTimes.com) It has been common for Taiwanese stars to be penalized in China for expressing excessive nationalistic comments; however, for a perfomer at the mere age of 16, this incident has evoked state-wide sympathy for the young girl and anger towards China as well. It was speculated that nationalistic feelings for Taiwan's pro-Independence has fueled the presidential election, handing the presidential seat over to Tsai Ing-wen on election day. China may have robbed Taiwan of a seat on the United Nation's council; however, nationalism has been a prominent factor for Taiwan's ability to maintain independence over the past decades, and has continued to drive the opposition of uniting with China. In history class, we've learnt that nationalism played a significant role in the creation of new states, such as Yugoslavia after World War 1. This is an example of how nationalism is still an important existing factor in states which can influence many aspects of society.
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