As world leaders gather at the G-20 summit, Taiwan has become the focus of international media attention. Leaders were asked if they supported maintaining the status quo while analysts were busy assessing the likelihood of a military annexation of Taiwan.
All, except for the Taiwanese population, were asked for their opinion.
I have been in Taiwan for the past few weeks, and during this time my frustration at the disregard for the right to self-determination of Taiwanese and Hong Kongers has reached unprecedented levels.
In conversations with members of the Taiwanese government and meeting Taiwanese friends, I realized that the people of Taiwan have their own ideas about what Taiwan should look like. And also how the country can make a different contribution and offer the world more than just manufacturing semiconductors.
But so far no one has been interested in that. My impression is that the Taiwanese are denied any form of self-determination. If there is one perspective through which to view and understand much of Hong Kong and Taiwan’s modern history, this is it.
Self-determination or agency describes the opportunity to speak and decide for oneself – and to take responsibility for it. But the voices of Hong Kongers have been suppressed by various occupation regimes – again and again. We were first silenced by British rule and now violently by the brutality of Hong Kong CCP puppets.
And Taiwan, for its part, has been neglected by the international community for decades. The country only got attention when it suddenly became “useful” during the pandemic through the production of semiconductors or as a pawn in international politics.
Too many of us are uncomfortable claiming our right to have a say. Too many of us feel that expressing the needs of our homeland might be disrespectful to other countries. We feel like temporary visitors in a strange house.
It’s almost as if many generations of submission and neglect have taught us that we don’t deserve a say. We fight for our voice. Above all, we fight to be heard – and not just to be able to speak for ourselves. Will you and the world respect us and finally allow us to speak out and be heard?
