National Identity and National Security in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Lu Hua-Wei, 呂華維
• Other Authors: 王高成
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2002
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/88282065915152043457

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 國際事務與戰略研究所 === 90 === The state-centered point of view in realism not only has great influence on the international politics field but also lead the thought of the national security. But when we use state as the main focus while talking about national security, the threats caused by non- state actors are usually ignored. In Taiwan, the gap between the cross strait military makes the military threats from Mainland China to be the core issue of traditional national security discussion. However since the Taiwan’s democratization began from the middle of 1980s, controversy about provincialism, conflicts among ethnic groups, and the problems of national identity become the most controversial and influential issues in Taiwan’s society. And these issues often have powerful explosive forces with political mobilization. They can result in both the serious opposing and confronting positions among ethnic groups and the threats of the stability of our political system, and can even furthermore lead in the strangled threats that Mainland China has to Taiwan. Since 1980s, the scholars and researchers try to discuss traditional security with a wider aspect. This article is going to discuss about national security from the three perspectives─referent, core value and threats, and approach of security, and the four structural levels─world, area, nation, internal. Then it will also considering the internal factors, including present ethnic conflicts and the divisions of national identity, to discuss the national security of Taiwan The conflict of provincialism and ethnic problems are formed with history reasons, and today’s concrete contradictions can been seen from the divisions of different ethnic national identities. Besides aborigines, most of the Taiwan people only have limited differences in their ethnic ancestries, cultures, and origins since most of themselves or their ancestors are from Mainland China. But we have to admit that because of the different immigrant times of different ethnic groups, peoples are diverse owing to their historical memories and life experiences. The 228 Event and the White Terror when the KMT evacuated from Mainland China to Taiwan especially cause the contradictions among today’s ethnic groups and are the important reasons for divisions of national identities for at that time the unequal rights and obligations are offered to different ethnic groups. As for the discussion about national identity, this article is tried to begin the discussion with the two trains and thought─the liberalism, identification of constitutional government and ethnic identity out of nationalism. With the hypothesis of admitting today’s differences in diverse ethnic groups in Taiwan, neither the exclusively Grand China Nationalism nor the Taiwan Nationalism is suggested. Each citizen shall have equal rights and obligations offered by democratic system and with respect toward different ethnic groups and their historical memories and life experiences. Though there are differences among diverse ethnic groups, the identity objective shall be set under citizen identification and democratic system to strengthen the sense of national identification.