81 MARTINDALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE least 241 and wounding more than 7000. After the massacre, the Chinese government’s official stance was to play down its significance and criminalize the protestors by calling them “counterrevolutionaries.” According to the U.S. Department of State (2021), in glaring contrast to Taiwan’s system of democracy and freedoms: The [PRC], guided by a totalitarian ideology under the absolute rule of the [CCP], deprives citizens of their rights on a sweeping scale and systematically curtails freedoms as a way to retain power. People in China cannot practice the religion or belief of their choice. They cannot express their opinions openly or form or join groups of their choosing without fear of harassment, arrest, or retribution. Members of minority groups are subject to mass arbitrary detention, Orwellian-style surveillance, political indoctrination, torture, forced abortions and sterilization, and state-sponsored forced labor. Taiwan’s turbulent history has inspired a bottom-up approach to governance, with citizens claiming control of their politics separate from mainland China. Powerful movements fighting for rights have bloomed, solidifying pride in the Taiwanese identity and strengthening Taiwan’s young democracy. With a revitalized identity and relatively new democracy, the people shape the direction of their government, crafting one that truly represents their values, aspirations, and unique cultural heritage. That government and its political leaders, in a feedback-loop fashion, directly aim to foster identity top-down, by policies, laws, symbols, and institutions. A wide range of policies advocated by the politically popular Democratic Progressive Party focuses on Taiwanization—from de-Sinicification in education curricula, to promoting removing “China” or “Chinese” from company names, to even changing the calendar system to Western years from years based on the founding of the Republic of China (e.g., 2025 rather than the 114th year of the Republic of China) (Chang, 2004; Hsiao, 2024b). Taiwanization and de-Sinicization initiatives have strengthened values about independent consciousness and forging one’s own path. The “movement to rectify Taiwan’s name” seeks to change the island’s name from the Republic of China to Taiwan when applying for membership to the UN. This referendum is about more than just a name; it celebrates distinct ethnic and cultural identities. The removal of Chinese unification symbols in front of the presidential palace demonstrates this determination (Chiu & Chiang, 2012). Identity enables progressive social justice policies Taiwan’s quest for greater autonomy extends beyond politics. It affects the lives of individuals, protecting and promoting human rights, self-expression, and social justice under Taiwan’s democracy. The civil society organization Outreach for Taiwan argues that civil movements are embedded in Taiwan’s culture, from cultural activism approaches picked up during the Japanese colonial era to modern protests that often incorporate song and art as expression rather than physical fights (Civil movements, 2018). Successive attempts to impose external cultural frameworks strengthened the foundations of what would become Taiwan’s distinctive social policies. The Japanese colonial period's aggressive assimilation policies paradoxically strengthened Taiwanese rights consciousness through shared experiences of cultural suppression. When authorities banned local dialects and enforced Japanese customs, they planted early seeds of a unique political identity, one that would later drive democratic development. Similarly, the KMT’s subsequent re-Sinicification campaign, rather than erasing this emergent identity, sparked a new phase of civic and cultural consciousness, early movements for local autonomy and individual rights, and patterns of civic resistance that would later define Taiwan’s democratic character. Today, a significant marker of Taiwan’s commitment to human rights is its progressive stance on LGBTQIA+ issues. Rights to self-expression of identity are protected in Taiwan’s legal framework. In 2019, Taiwan became the first legal system in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage. Taiwan also allows transgender people to change their legal gender without undergoing gender reassignment surgery. Every August, Taiwan hosts Asia’s largest gay pride parade as a celebration of diversity and inclusivity. In contrast, China offers no protections against LGBTQIA+ discrimination, in employment, donating blood, and other activities (LGBT rights in China, n.d.). Taiwan’s laws safeguard the rights of its LGBTQIA+ community, at the same time demonstrating a broader commitment to social justice, fostering trust and physical security among its citizens. The steady rise of Taiwanese-only self-identification (see Fig. 1) mirrors the expansion of civil liberties and minority protections. This correlation is not coincidental: The more citizens view themselves as Taiwanese rather than Chinese, the stronger their support for democratic institutions and human rights. The generational shift toward exclusive Taiwanese identity correlates with increased
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