Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Who You Callin' Foreigner?

Parking in Taiwan is brutal. If you leave your train in the wrong place, it gets keyed.

Kenneth McCauley had an awesome letter today in the Taipei Times. And by awesome, I mean a letter that everyone is sending me with a subject line that says: WTF? He writes in the opening lines:
In Taiwan, there is a lingering perception of Westerners as neo-colonialists with gel-induced hair waves instead of powdered wigs. Western men are seen as personifying a veni, vidi, vici mentality. That’s a bad way to think, not because it stereotypes white people — Come on, whites deserve some stereotypes — but because it depicts foreigners as Julius Caesars (minus the tunic but still rocking the sandals), thus rendering Taiwanese a conquered people. Taiwanese shouldn’t see themselves that way and we don’t deserve that august comparison.

But while we’re pretty ordinary plebs, we’re not on a mission of Falstaffs come to evangelize, engage in lechery, booze and sacrifice goals on the shrine of carpe diem.

Nonetheless, there seems to be growing dissatisfaction from both young and old, though perhaps for different reasons, about foreigners dating local girls. Even MC Hot Dog, of I Love TaiMei renown, has felt the need to vent his frustrations in a song called TU about how sick it makes him to see foreigners, specifically black ones, picking up Taiwanese girls and also ranting that all foreigners in Taiwan are teachers — 90 percent is still not “all”!

Foreigners do come here to teach, and yes, it is easy money. As a result, there’s some reasonable resentment towards this Asia-specific phenomenon, especially when the foreigner is arrogant about his no-skills-needed high salary — but in future when everyone in the US is paying big bucks to study Chinese, I’m sure we’ll see lots of flip-flop-clad Taiwanese turning karaoke Thursday into “Thursday: The Only Karaoke-Free Night.”
There's a lazy linguistic agreement that everyone falls into, including me, that basically uses the terms westerners and foreigners interchangeably. It is due, in part, to the Taiwanese practice of dividing the world into only two kinds of people, us and foreigners, as if Brazilians, Afghans, and Norwegians were all of a piece.

Let's lay a few things out here which we should all try to keep in mind.

(1) a significant lump of foreigners born overseas who come here ARE here to make money, they are foreign workers in Taiwan factories, and much of the sex they have is forced, through human trafficking. The allegedly oversexed overwhelmingly white male teaching population is small relative to them; a floating hothouse world that is only an echo of the real Taiwan;

(2) in the case of the US (and I bet figures are similar for Canada, Australia, and the UK), the majority of foreign nationals in Taiwan were born here, moved there, obtained citizenship, and then returned here. An official at AIT once told me that there were 60-70k US citizens on the island, but only a fraction, like a third or so, were people like me, born in the US and having only citizenship there, but living here. Further, a portion of that fraction of foreigners consists of people born to Taiwanese immigrant parents in the US but who have moved to Taiwan;

(3) a large number of "overseas Chinese" -- foreigners who take advantage of the KMT government's racial concept of citizenship to garner benefits denied foreigners with the wrong ancestry. The OCAC says there are roughly 40,000 of these in Taiwan as of Dec 2008. To put that in perspective, there are probably more US passport holders born in Taiwan, immigrated, returned, and now living here than "overseas Chinese" in Taiwan;

(4) overseas brides -- all foreigners, and outnumbering any other single category of foreigners, I believe; and

(5) there is a large miscellaneous population of non-factory, non-teacher foreigners doing all sorts of interesting things who get zero coverage. For example, there are several thousand Indians in Taiwan, almost all of whom are working in the technology industries or going to school. As far as I have seen, few books or publications that interview "foreigners" ever discuss this large population. There are probably many other foreign populations existing in Taiwan that I have never heard of.

In other words, 95 percent of foreigners aren't teachers. They belong to some other category.

We lack the vocabulary that sorts among all these catogories properly, and correctly labels them all foreigners, and is free of the kind of assumptive racism that conflates westerner (with its inherent labeling of white) with foreigner as opposed to the local ethnic Han population (are aborigines foreigners? But they drop out of local conversations when people get sorted into neat categories). People who discuss "the foreign experience in Taiwan" are too often talking about a tiny community of expats who are totally unrepresentative of all the foreigners in Taiwan. You could just as well argue that the real representative foreigners are the engineers in Hsinchu who were educated abroad and have citizenship there (with children birthed there), but work here. Or the Indonesian factory workers. Or the Indian computer industry workers. Or foreign brides. But teachers? We may get all the headlines, but we're a privileged, tiny minority.
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34 comments:

Anonymous said...

The oversimplification of "foreigner" is tied very closely to the rise of Chinese Nationalism and the social-darwinist/racialist program the early Chinese nationalists were constructing to suit their immediate political needs in delegitimizing the Manchu and appropriating former Qing acquired territories.

Sun Yat-sen has the following to say on the matter and this type of thinking has continued to pervade discussions of race and ethnicity in both the ROC and PRC:

"Considering the law of survival of ancient and modern races, if we want to save China and to preserve the Chinese race, we must certainly promote Nationalism. To make this principle luminous for China's salvation, we must first understand it clearly. The Chinese race totals four hundred million people; of mingled races there are only a few hundred million Mongols, a million or so Manchus, a few million Tibetans, and over a million Mohammedan Turks. These alien races do not number more than 10 million, so that, for the most part, the Chinese people are of the Han or Chinese race with common blood, common religion, and common customs-a single, pure race."

Sun Yat-sen in San Min Zhu Yi (1927)

Furthermore he attempts to give racialism validity in science:

"Mankind is divided first into five main races-white, black, red, yellow, brown. Dividing further, we have many sub-races, as the Asiatic races- Mongolian, Malay, Japanese, Manchurian and Chinese. The forces which developed these races were, in general, natural forces, but when we try to analyze them we find they are very complex. The greatest force is common blood. Chinese belong to the yellow race because they come from the blood stock of the yellow race. The blood of ancestors is transmitted by heredity down through the race, making blood kinship a powerful force."

Sage said...

"But while we’re pretty ordinary plebs, we’re not on a mission of Falstaffs come to evangelize, engage in lechery, booze and sacrifice goals on the shrine of carpe diem."

He should speak for himself, I'm for all the lechery and booze I can muster. I just can't muster like I used to.

Anonymous said...

The term "Foreigner" has really come to represent a defacto ethnic group in Taiwan in a similar manner to the Aboriginal identity. Both group identities arose from an unequal contact with the state, which applies special administrative caveats and legislation to both groups. This type of structural framework delineates the group's rights and limits to those rights in contrast with other residents of Taiwan. The result is the construct of an imagined commonality where there had perviously been none. Tsou, Bunun, Atayal and Amis could easily be replaced with English, Canadian, Vietnamese and South African. These are all unique and disparate cultures united through their special interaction with the ROC state on Taiwan. Much of this interaction with the state determines what types of opportunities and means for social mobility are accessible to these groups.

It is interesting to see how Chinese, as a new foreign group, are often NOT protected or limited based on the assumed "common blood" beliefs of the ROC and therefore there is no need to manage or delineate these groups from Taiwanese.

Ben Goren said...

My thoughts exactly. I will be raising some of the issues you mention in my presentation of expat political opinions in December. Taiwanese and visitors both contribute to lazy stereotypes based on wrong assumptions, often as you say because we lack awareness of the real figures of foreign residents and because we lack the language to accurately describe different peoples. And because Taiwanese language and culture is still infused with a
racism or chauvinism that can also be found in most other countries that have had limited and functional immigration (UK no exception here).

By the way, your blog header pic is both beautiful and makes me dizzy. Any chance to change the page background? ;) Give us a bell and I'll scoot on up to see if we can make it a little more aesthetically pleasing.

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, the good old...

"Don't you think we Taiwanese are SO NICE to you (people)?"

No, not REALLY, but its ok.

Michael Turton said...

y the way, your blog header pic is both beautiful and makes me dizzy. Any chance to change the page background? ;) Give us a bell and I'll scoot on up to see if we can make it a little more aesthetically pleasing.

Alright, I'll change the background. To straight black?

Jean said...

Very interesting article but their is something in the original article that I don't find very fair.

We're all agree that people are often talking about a tiny community of expats who are totally unrepresentative of all the foreigners in Taiwan but the author as no problem to label "french" (all?) as ultra arrogant...

Ben Goren said...

mmm .. black doesn't cut it so well methinks. How about light grey or a light blue?

Michael Turton said...

@anon -- I rejected your comment because Sage did not make the comment about plebs, the author of the piece did.

@jean, I think he was trying for humor there with the French. I hope, at least.

@ben -- here goes...

Michael Turton said...

BTW, ben we cannot have light blue on this blog.

Gridman said...

Should I not wear sandals next time I come to visit?

Anonymous said...

There is no conflation- they use foreigner at times referring specifically to Westerners, or foreigners referring specifically to non-ROC citizens.

Anonymous said...

Sadly, it is people like Sage who in his highminded, or is that lowminded, response to Monsieur McCauley's original letter, gives us all a bad name.

Sage quoted McCauley in the letter here:

"But while we’re pretty ordinary plebs, we’re not on a mission of
Falstaffs come to evangelize, engage in lechery, booze and sacrifice
goals on the shrine of carpe diem."

And then Sage muddies the waters, and besmirches what this is all about by trying to funny, NOT:

"He should speak for himself, I'm for all the lechery and booze I can
muster. I just can't muster like I used to."

Yuck, Sage. Get thee to a nunnery. It is peeps like you who mess this
island up for those who come here to do more than you came for. Ugh. Go
home, sire, before you wet your pants again.

Anonymous said...

Other Anon,

For sure!

Foreign men should not act like their native counterparts by boozing and womanizing and other misogynistic behavior... Foreigners should be held to a much, much higher standard. Though, it seems for foreigners don't treat Taiwanese women as whores, but instead go to Thailand for it.

Surely, it's these Foreigners who fall from their guilded towers and pervert Taiwan from its once pristine original condition.

It is he maid who seduced the dutiful husband (Elmer Feng).

It is the wily Filipino who ran out on his generous employer leaving him with a hefty fine.

Sage said...

Anonymous said...

"Sadly, it is people like Sage who in his highminded, or is that lowminded, response to Monsieur McCauley's original letter, gives us all a bad name."

***

Whoa!! We found someone without a sense of humor.

Funny thing is, I was probably on this island before this humorless anon pilgrim was born.

Through the years I've seen many "foreigners" on this island that take themselves far too seriously. Most are not hear for very long and some even have this misplaced missionary vision.

Lighten up pilgrim, nobody's trying to "mess" things up for you. Got a feeling you don't need any assistance.

But you'll excuse me now ... cause I've got some lecherous skirt chasing to do and "got's" to get myself some Lychee wine ... don't ya know.

See ya in the Ghetto!

Dave Hodgkinson said...

Well, apparently I'm one of those foreigners coming here to steal your women. Well, woman. But it wasn't intentional!

Aside from that...

I think the big issue here is Taiwanese identity: aside from the aboriginals, there really doesn't seem to be one. There's 500 years of sporadic Chinese immigration mainly from the South, a pause for the Japanese, then a wave from all over China with the nationalists.

Taiwan is only just emerging, blinking into the daylight of democracy and still has to find itself.

The bulk of the people I know here are irretrievably Chinese in culture and outlook. A few young people are trying to stake a claim to a Taiwanese identity but it's very difficult when there's so much apathy, or indeed longing for the homeland.

My girlfriend's father, a retired KMT general, spends many months each year back in his "home" province in China doing cultural and trade activities.

I dunno, if China could just get over the sovereignty (or more accurately, suzerainty) issue, stop pointing missiles, remove visa constraints for Taiwanese, they might find themselves with a few million affluent, well-educated middle-class on their books.

Oh, damn. That democracy thing.

Sorry, rambled a bit there.

Sage said...

Hey Dave ... there are many Taiwanese who are not confused about their identity, despite the KMT's best efforts.

My wife is Taiwanese and very proud of it. She and most of my "circle" of friends will be quick to tell you, they are NOT Chinese.

Depends who you hang with I guess.

Yep that Democracy thing is a word but freedom is something all together different.

Just say'n

Anonymous said...

Anon at 1:14:

No one else will say it -- I will

Get off your fucking high horse!

Anonymous said...

@Dave

I would like to respond to you since you seem to understand the meaning of "Chinese" and "Chinese culture". Before I respond, I need to know how you define these terms without including Chinese nationalist ideology. Could you expand on your definition before I respond?

Ah-Whitey said...

Whatever dude. The name "foreigner" may be flawed, but there is something very different about the way Americans or a subset of Western Europeans act and are treated in Taiwan. You're missing the whole point by your pseudo-linguistic analysis. The terminology is not precise, but neither is yours, which latches onto a legalistic definition of foreigner at the cost of any descriptive power of what people talk about and encounter in their daily lives in Taiwan.

Michael Turton said...

The terminology is not precise, but neither is yours, which latches onto a legalistic definition of foreigner at the cost of any descriptive power of what people talk about and encounter in their daily lives in Taiwan.

Ah-Whitey, a legal definition of foreigner is very precise. I picked it deliberately because it does counter what people run into in their daily lives, and does force you to think about the many inaccuracies of the letter and lapses in one's thinking, which all of us including me do. 90% of foreigners here are either foreign workers or foreign brides, not white teachers. I encounter those groups frequently in my daily life, sometimes without realizing it.

One of Taiwan's biggest problems is the racial definition of foreigner. We foreigners need to swat it down whenever we encounter it.

Dave Hodgkinson said...

To clarify my definition of "Chinese":

Culturally Chinese. Steeped in the history. Watching the epic historical and martial arts movies. Listening to music that sounds, to the Western ear, like cats being tortured. Mixing Dao-ist and Buddhist philosophies. Use of Traditional Chinese Medicine, massage, tai chi.

Many of my friends here are all about "Taiwanese Consciousness". Hanging out with Chthonic fans has that side-effect :)

China has a long history. It may turn out that the communist era turns out to have been a passing fad.

Anonymous said...

Whoever argues for a Taiwanese Identity misses the point of what post-modernity, liberalism and individuality is all about.

Why should Taiwan be independent from China? Because nobody (should) want to be screwed up ("administered") by a illegitimate/authoritarian government in Beijing... LOOK MOM, no identity problem here.

Anonymous said...

Idiot Anon 9:02

Learn what irony looks like!

Anonymous said...

I am sorry Dave. I thought when you declared Taiwanese to be culturally Chinese you were being serious and actually had a definition that excluded nationalism. Instead, you were just being a jerk.

Anonymous said...

Idiot Anon 9:02

Learn what irony looks like!


My bad. I meant the fucking high horse of Anon 11:52.

Sage said...

Anonymous said...8:56 AM

I am sorry Dave. I thought when you declared Taiwanese to be culturally Chinese you were being serious and actually had a definition that excluded nationalism. Instead, you were just being a jerk.

******

I wouldn't be too hard on Dave.

Considering he's sleeping with the general's daughter, kind of qualifies his statements and makes clear where his sentiment lies.

But as a fella who would appear to be fairly intelligent, and obviously owns a dictionary and maybe a thesaurus, I find it difficult to believe he doesn't own a history book.

Because a casual comment like "Communism might be just a passing fad in China", is really quite remarkable, if not naively insensitive.

That Communist"fad" has cost the lives of tens of millions of innocent Chinese, Tibetan and Uyghur people.

It sure has been one heck of a "fad".

Remember February 28th, 1947 when somewhere between 10,000-40,000 Taiwanese civilians were killed by the KMT army during their take over of the island and the repressive clampdown which followed for decades.

Remember 2-28 when tens of thousands were massacred by the KMT army, many of whom were young middle school students.

You gotta hope that "fad" doesn't come back into fashion.

Taiwanese must insure that it does not.

I guess it really doesn't matter what color your skin is in Taiwan to qualify you as a "foreigner".

Because there seems to be many who do not consider Taiwan their home, not to mention country.

Dave Hodgkinson said...

I was dead serious. And yes, I have a history book on Taiwan.

Look what happened to the Soviet Union. China could easily bust back into its provinces, each large enough to be a country in the world. This wasn't my suggestion, it was from a CIA guy speaking at a British government conference on the future of Taiwan I attended.

As for Taiwan, the Aborigines, the only "real" Taiwanese, have borne the brunt of it for six hundred years, then successive waves of immigrants have suffered whether from the Qing, the Japanese, and both Nationalist Chiang regimes.

And you still haven't rid your establishment of authoritarian KMT attitudes in government and police. Death penalty? Pff. Look at ECFA. Negotiated behind closed doors.

Nope, you've lost. People here really don't care that much. Make money, eat food, drink tea with friends.

Anonymous said...

I was once asked by a small child whether I was a foreigner or an American. When I replied "Both." he looked confused.

Anonymous said...

Wow, the gloves are off I guess. Only a Taiwanese "rapper" would be so out to lunch that he would bitch about black guys dating Taiwanese girls.

I guess since Hot Dog--the closest thing Taiwan can muster up to a "celebrity" musically (they're too lame and backwards and clueless to come even close to making listenable music)--he must be an expert.

Here's some unsolicited advice for Taiwanese guys if they want to lose less of their female population to those terrible westerners:

1. Get off of MSN long enough to actually go out in the world and meet a girl
2. When that rare occurance arises that you get off msn to be around a female, actually tell them how you feel instead of sitting around in a KTV with 20 of their girlfriends drinking lattes wishing you could be next to her.
3. Stop wearing tight pink abercrombie and fitch shirts with the collar up and teasing your hair up like a middle aged housewife.
4. How about actually getting a hobby or reading a book or something so you can, er, have something to talk about that makes you interesting.

I have to admit I'm terrified by Hot Dog's comments. I'm sure there will be thousands of vicious angry comments in Taiwanese chat rooms now under anonymous names about how bad those foreigners are for rogering their girls.

Well, untll they meet the foreigners they're bashing in person and start gushing all over them and asking where they're from and how long they've been in Taiwan.

Turton if you know ol' Hot Dog tell him to worry more about the fact that Taiwanese music sucks b*lls and less about who the 10 black guys on the island date.

Oh yeah, and that the music he poorly copies was created by black guys.

Dixteel said...

wow, I don't know what all the big fuss is about actually but for some reason now people are descriminating against Taiwanese guys?? I don't know what kind of places you go, anon, but not all Taiwanese guys are like that. Giving constructive tips is one thing, but I see many people somehow view Taiwanese guys as inferiors that are not worth any girls' time, that is just simple stereotyping and discriminating. Now Taiwanese men got discriminated in their own land? wow.

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.

Bros before girls, people. (This is not to descriminate against women, but it's just a good reminder for men because guys often ignore values of other things such as friendship when the hormone level went high).

Anonymous said...

@Dixteel

There's no need to discriminate against Taiwanese guys. They do it to themselves so well there's no need to.

I'll tell you what--once Taiwanese guys start to give a sh*t about their own personal pride and dignity then I'll start to care as well.

Until that time, tell MC Hot Dog he's just got himself and his own peeps to blame.

Cindy said...

As a Taiwanese American (born in the US), I appreciate your reminder that "foreigner" doesn't just mean white.

I'm disappointed, however, that you'd publish the last two anonymous comments without a response. I disagree with what MC Hot Dog says, but I don't think it makes sense to use that as an excuse to make sweeping indictments of Taiwanese men. I'm in an interracial relationship and it is hurtful to be labeled a whore because of my partner's race, but I resist the temptation to put down an entire group of people because some bottomfeeders hurt me.

Isn't that the kind of sloppy stereotyping that you so eloquently took down in this entry?

Michael Turton said...

Thanks for the kind words cindy. But I allow almost any comment here provided it is not legally actionable.