Ask This Taiwanese: 2023 The Year of Democracy

Ask “This” Taiwanese is an advice column dedicated to pesky and uncomfortable questions about Taiwan or about being Taiwanese.

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Dear Ask This Taiwanese,

With 2022 behind us, what do you think is the biggest takeaway for Taiwanese and/or Taiwanese Americans from 2022 that we should reflect on as we head into 2023?

—From 2023 Hopeful

Dear 2023 Hopeful,

There has been a lot of worrying news for liberal democracies in 2022. Already, at the start of 2023, we witnessed the coup attempt in Brazil too, reminding us that threats to democracies are very much still alive in the new year.  But there is also lots of evidence that should keep us hopeful. Higher than expected turnout in the U.S. midterm elections just right before the Thanksgiving holidays is one to start. However you may feel about the results and whatever your perspective, it serves as a reminder that the basics of democracy about participation are still alive!

At Ask This Taiwanese, we also believe that progress will come, even when it may come too slowly to our taste sometimes. There are plenty of hopeful examples in history too, both American and Taiwanese!

Of course, we acknowledge that under circumstances where an authoritarian regime has fully consolidated power – like with China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea – change will take longer. But because the instincts of dictators are to hold on to power as hard as they can, we will have to match them in determination.

In a way, the authoritarian stubbornness to hold on to power is understandable because there is no concept of peaceful transfer of power for them. But ideas of freedom have outlasted any dictators, and hope is the core of the human spirit.

We do not want to give in to worry. Instead, we should hold on to our hope just as stubbornly. If we look at the Taiwanese struggle for democratic rule, it took a long time for that to take shape and become reality. There were cries for self-rule under the Japanese colonization that continued all throughout the brutal White Terror and martial law era. We think the best part of our Taiwanese heritage is our continued ability to keep hope alive!

We may need to adjust the timeline and expectations for positive change when it comes to authoritarian regimes, but never lose sight of what we believe and stand for. We continue to push and stay engaged for the next generation; after all, it is far harder work to build something than to take it down.

As we look at how dictators are throwing their weight around harder in 2022, we should resolve to stay more committed to our liberal democratic values for 2023!

Sometimes the best lessons in life are from contrasts: When China tries to use the Olympics to cover up the turmoil inside their borders, we now know what sportswashing is. When Russia pushed its invading forces further into Ukraine, we now know that international peace cannot be taken for granted. To name the two bigger events that Ask This Taiwanese also covered in the first half of 2022.

There are also truths we learned from within our domestic contexts as well: When a gunman opened fire on us this summer, we fought back. When China threatened our Speaker of the House against her travel to Taiwan, she did not back down either.

There are many lessons to learn from both the dictatorship and the dark times, but as the world is as flawed as the humans in it, we can also believe that as we overcome our flaws, we can always do better.

Here is to 2022 making us not only older but wiser too so we see plenty of hope for 2023 and beyond!

Yours truly,

Ask This Taiwanese