tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post4660646114021167780..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: Shelly Rigger strikes again...Michael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-65214148819434669742009-02-08T09:04:00.000+08:002009-02-08T09:04:00.000+08:00However, Sun is unquestionably an important figure...However, Sun is unquestionably an important figure in Chinese history, and an inspiration for people who still believe in the Republic of China.<BR/><BR/>His ideas and hopes and dreams still have tremendous force for people, especially those in Overseas Chinese communities ... (could we think of Taiwan as the largest concentration of Overseas Chinese??)<BR/><BR/>And at least at present, Taiwan is still part of the ROC -- if not *the* ROC. So if ROC officials and historians and teachers and judges are animated by Dr. Sun's principles, then at least he should be honored appropriately.<BR/><BR/>We can have a separate question on Taiwan's relationship to the ROC, but that doesn't diminish Sun's importance to Chinese history and the inspiration of Republican China beginning in 1912.<BR/><BR/>At the very least, it is something we can point toward the PRC as a mirror -- just as the KMT on Taiwan was profoundly undemocratic and oppressive. The unfortunate thing is that the Three People's Principles were twisted to support dictatorship instead of carried out to fruition.<BR/><BR/>Finally, if Taiwan's democratic system reflects SYS's early political thought, then in a way he is still Father of the Country in terms of ideas about government, separation of powers (five-powered Constitution), and the importance of popular participation and representation.<BR/><BR/>Would an appropriate analogy be something like "John Locke" to the United States rather than "George Washington"? (Although there is some strange mix of these, because there was much more over political formulation from Sun.<BR/><BR/>The later Constitution from the 1940s may not hold the same force though, and could potentially be revised or replaced by an even more perfected or appropriate form.<BR/><BR/>(This is very different for an American where our Constitution has been in existence since its adoption since 1787, and though amended, has kept its original spirit and structure.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-51094348498918056672007-04-11T11:14:00.000+08:002007-04-11T11:14:00.000+08:00I disagree with the above comment. Dr. Rigger's sc...I disagree with the above comment. Dr. Rigger's scholarship on Taiwan is really second to none. Her contributions to the questions of the political ramifications of the developing "Taiwanese identity" are invaluable. Furthermore, even if one were to disagree with four line comment by an academic, that certainly does not justify disregarding the scholar all together. Where is the nuance?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-47812068801267115362007-02-20T20:06:00.000+08:002007-02-20T20:06:00.000+08:00Shelley Rigger has been spending too much time in ...Shelley Rigger has been spending too much time in China. <BR/><BR/>Taiwan's unfortunately not visible enough in the US these days (aka China related fields been a huge vacuum sucking up talent) to attract higher caliber academics to turn their attention towards it. Damn shame, but hey, there are really good political academics in Taiwan, they just aren't always so read in the US.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com