In the Name of Legitimacy: Taiwan and Overseas Chinese during the Cold War Era

Joan S. H. Wang

《The China Review An Interdisciplinary Journal on Greater China》 11卷2期 (2011/11) Pp. 65-90

摘要

Population movement contains crucial implications to political entities. Remote areas, including overseas Chinese settlements, became sovereign shelters whenever political turmoil arose. Located peripherally, however, these regimes or political parties pursued legitimacy in a variety of ways. This article examines the use of collective memory by the Taiwan's government under the Kuomintang (KMT, i.e., Nationalist Party) to link overseas Chinese communities during the Cold War era. Meanings and interpretations of the past were negotiated. The KMT regime redefined ＂Chineseness＂ by including along with it a tone of anti-communism, weaving it into the collective memory of overseas Chinese communities. The study examines various efforts made by the ROC government, including holiday celebrations, language and educational programs, baseball games, and overseas Chinese right of franchise. Nationalism, now without challenge, emerged as the central motif in the efforts of the ROC government. The clash between the overseas Chinese on one side, and the ＂motherland＂ in Taiwan on the other, was combined with a dynamic, interest-concerned model of creation of memory. In this model, forms of expression reflected official interests, expanding or defending cultural and political spaces.