6 replies to this topic

[Hou Yi]

Controversial topic. Ever since Jeremy Lin become sensation, we have all the all these political-minded Taiwanese nationalists people flooding the cyber-world, as if Jeremy is the new spokesperson of the "Taiwanese not Chinese" movement. However, it seems to me Jeremy Lin does not think it that way.

@1.10
Jeremy Lin:I'm really proud of being Chinese.....


Jeremy Lin: I'm Chinese



Is Jeremy Lin ethnic Chinese holding America nationality or ethnic Taiwanese holding American nationality?

Edited by Hou Yi, 13 July 2012 - 01:31 PM.

[mohistManiac]

How is this being nationalist? He's just saying he's Chinese and his parents are from Taiwan. How are other people being nationalist when they repeat the same thing? In any case I don't think it's expected of him to be analytical about ethnicity and be very specific about it to the public because otherwise it could hurt his image.

Edited by mohistManiac, 13 July 2012 - 01:28 PM.

[Dragonemperor]

PRC asserts itself to be the sole legal representation of China and actively claims Taiwan to be under its sovereignty, denying the status and existence of ROC as a sovereign state. It has not renounced the use of force as a response to any formal declaration of Taiwanese independence. Quote taken from Wikipedia at Wikipedia Taiwan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan

The issue for me is the way mainland china views Taiwan and also provinces like Tibet. China sees Taiwan as being apart of china but also they see them as a province that would rather be on there own (It's simple just watch Taiwanese TV and you will see they believe they have there own culture completely separate from mainland china) the fact is a lot of Taiwanese see themselves as native Taiwanese before Chinese. I know what your thinking same thing well let me explain. (1. Jeremy never stated he was a main lander which sparks confusion for a lot of fans in mainland china. (2. Taiwan acts on it's own a lot giving the impression sometimes to Beijing that they believe there not Chinese. ( 3. Mainland China (mainland Chinese included) don't have much respect for so called Taiwanese people in there believe in nationalistic rule over the Chinese island Beijing only can laugh if Taiwan where to try to gain complete independence over the island). Chinese fans in china believe Jeremy only want's to associate with his Taiwanese roots in not the mainland. With all that said I'm pro mainland but i do enjoy watching Jeremy (linsanity) play it's nice to see an Asian have an impact on a sports game as big as basketball.

A lot of people might wonder why mainland china doesn't just end the feud and takeover Taiwan. Easy Taiwan usually plays nice and it is also used by the mainland to commercialize china to America. Americans can watch there Taiwanese tv all they want feeling they got there dose of china for the day without having to irritate Beijing by sticking there noses in mainland china.

Edited by Dragonemperor, 15 July 2012 - 03:37 AM.

[redstick426]

Controversial topic. Ever since Jeremy Lin become sensation, we have all the all these political-minded Taiwanese nationalists people flooding the cyber-world, as if Jeremy is the new spokesperson of the "Taiwanese not Chinese" movement. However, it seems to me Jeremy Lin does not think it that way.

@1.10
Jeremy Lin:I'm really proud of being Chinese.....


Jeremy Lin: I'm Chinese



Is Jeremy Lin ethnic Chinese holding America nationality or ethnic Taiwanese holding American nationality?

You can call yourself "ethnic Taiwanese"only if you are Taiwanese aborigine. Even radical pro Taiwanese Independence like Chen Shui Bien and Annette Lu are not opposed of being called "Hua" people or "ethnic Chinese". What they oppose are Chinese in a national term or "Zhong Guo Ren" as PRC is monopolizing the term "China" and "Chinese". Being called "Zhong Guo Ren" or "Chinese" could be misread that you are from PRC, which most Taiwanese do not want to associate with.


I think the term "Hua" should be used in English for ethnicity instead of Chinese, to signify people who have roots in historical China but are born outside of PRC domain. Much like "Hispanic", "Latino" to represent people who come from or descend from Latin America regardless of the nation.

[mohistManiac]

You can call yourself "ethnic Taiwanese"only if you are Taiwanese aborigine. Even radical pro Taiwanese Independence like Chen Shui Bien and Annette Lu are not opposed of being called "Hua" people or "ethnic Chinese". What they oppose are Chinese in a national term or "Zhong Guo Ren" as PRC is monopolizing the term "China" and "Chinese". Being called "Zhong Guo Ren" or "Chinese" could be misread that you are from PRC, which most Taiwanese do not want to associate with.


I think the term "Hua" should be used in English for ethnicity instead of Chinese, to signify people who have roots in historical China but are born outside of PRC domain. Much like "Hispanic", "Latino" to represent people who come from or descend from Latin America regardless of the nation.

The thing is there may not be that many pure Taiwanese aborigine to hold the identity. Notice how a comparison can be made to Latin America or Amerindian as there were before the modern period distinctions of mestizo which make the identities into more or less a personal thing. Taiwanese can identify with either Taiwan aborigine or Chinese or Hua as associations with mixed blood quantum allow one to be part of the group he or she chooses but Taiwan is also a piece of land much like any smaller piece of land might develop its own sense of cultural worth apart from the mainstream.

Edited by mohistManiac, 18 July 2012 - 10:32 PM.

[Dragonemperor]

I would like to answer such a complicated question or shall I say sensitive with a non intelligent pattern of thinking such as the majority of people in the world are not Chinese historians so would rather not use "Hua" in reference to "Ethnic Chinese" also Taiwanese to most people "Also in reference To None Chinese Historians" is not considered Chinese. The way we have to see it is Jeremy was talking to the American public so yeah saying he was Taiwanese is just that he is Taiwanese. As far as the Latin America and the Hispanic reference it's hard to say if that reference is fitting I'm not Hispanic nor do I come from Latin America so it would be hard to analyze the question at hand in reference to their different countries.

With all that said I don't like the question it's bad for Jeremy's image as it also raises the question which is under debate. As far as I see it Jeremy feels he's Chinese but for the simple fact that he's in America would rather say he is or at least feels more Taiwanese to appease the American public.

If I were to make a reference to a culture and or people I would choose the Spanish colonization over the Philippines which caused the country to ultimately lose it's identity and a lot of their culture.

Edited by Dragonemperor, 21 July 2012 - 07:02 PM.

[General_Zhaoyun]

His parents originated from Taiwan and he is an American citizen. So effectively, he should be an overseas Taiwanese (otherwise also known as Taiwanese American). However, there are also many Taiwanese who also embrace Chinese culture (notably hua-ren/zhonghua), so they will also call themselves Chinese (not Zhonguoren to prevent being labelled a PRC national) in the sense of "huaren" while there are others who would embrace Taiwanese nationalism (to be distinctive from Taiwan independence/Chinese nationalism) and simply call themselves Taiwanese. People who embrace Taiwanese nationalism noted that the country's name Taiwan needs not necessarily change to "Republic of Taiwan" (unlike Taiwan independence) but can remain the status quo to be "Republic of China" (ROC), but tends to view Taiwan as a separate nation from mainland China (PRC). There is a sizeable portion of light blue/light green supporters in Taiwan supporting this movement. Though blue-supporters tend to support Zhonghua (Chinese identity) while green-supporters tend to support Taiwanese identity (distinctive from mainland China).