The CCP Propaganda on Taiwan has violent consequences
The mass shooting at Geneva Presbyterian Church has roots in nationalistic rhetoric; it is time the media recognises such
Thanks to Daniel C. for fact checking and editorial assistance.
On Sunday morning, David Chou, a Taiwanese immigrant to the United States living in Las Vegas, joined in a potluck at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California. He then locked the doors, shutting the congregation inside, and opened fire. Dr. John Cheng, a church member attending with his mother, rushed at the terrorist tackling him with a chair, but was shot in the process. Other congregation members apprehended the shooter. Dr. Cheng later died. His heroism saved countless other lives, as Chou carried two 9-mm handguns, four molotov cocktails, extra ammunition, and incendiary devices. Five others suffered gunshot wounds.
The shooting is tragic and horrifying. The act of terror also has roots within deep ultra-nationalism embedded within CCP and unification circles. I wish the story could focus on Dr. Cheng’s heroism at this moment, and overall his commitment and service to the Laguna Woods community. Yet, the media’s lack of willingness to acknowledge Chou’s ultra-nationalism and its roots in the CCP’s violent rhetoric against pan-democratic Taiwanese1 has long-term consequences that betrays the fact that, despite this tragedy occurring on U.S. soil, the roots lie within the cross-strait conflict.
Chou’s parents moved to Taiwan in 1952, three years after the Communist victory in China. 1952 Taiwan was a much different place than modern, democratic Taiwan. Chiang Kai-Shek (蔣中正), President of the Republic of China, moved his government to Taiwan, halting the communists at the Kinmen (金門) Islands. His government proceeded to institute a White Terror against anyone who opposed the one-party Kuomintang (國民黨) government. Chiang never gave up the idea that the Republic of China would one day race across the strait, and re-take the mainland from the communists. He also never gave up the presidency until his death in 1975. His son, Chiang Ching-Kuo (蔣經國) served as head of the secret-police, and then president from 1978 until his own death in 1988. Chiang Ching-Kuo relaxed some of the state oppression during his presidency, and in 1986 the Democratic Progressive Party (民主進步黨) formed as the first opposition party, although candidates still primarily operated under the the Tangwai (outside the party, or 黨外) Movement. After a series of additional movements, the first open-election in Taiwan occurred in 1996, electing President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to another term. Taiwan has made efforts to democratise ever since, and has moved closer to a Taiwanese identity over identifying with the ‘Republic of China’.
The long-term democratisation of Taiwan is much messier than the previous paragraph allows time to understand. The terror under Chiang Kai-shek was also much more horrific than described herein. The Martial Law years invoked fear, control, and manipulation with secret-police, banned books, and strict education. Notably the Kuomintang banned use of Hokkien Taiwanese, among other languages, in schools and forced students to speak only in Mandarin. Chou grew up in this atmosphere.
The Taiwanese Presbyterian Church rose in prominence during Japanese colonisation. Their advocacy for human rights and a Taiwanese identity continued during the R.O.C. government moving to Taiwan following the Chinese Civil War, becoming monitored by the secret-police while Taiwan was under Martial Law. Taiwanese churches in diaspora communities use Hokkien and remain connected to the congregation in Taiwan. Today the church remains a strong institution advocating for democracy and justice.
Since democratisation, the Kuomintang has ‘transitioned’ to a complex, nationalistic party, composed chiefly of older members, opportunists, and KMT radicals. The smallest KMT ‘faction’ advocates for a nationalism in the form of Republic of China taking the mainland from the communists.2 While all members of the KMT adhere to Sun Yat-Sen’s (孫中山) Three Principles of The People (三民主義), these adherents believe adamantly in Sun’s Republican vision. These believers bleed into pro-democratic, but pan-blue party members who do not want to let go of the R.O.C. identity. However, the more adamant Sun adherents believe in 三民主義一中國,One China Under the Three Principles.3 This group holds to a narrow window of nationalism and definition of who can identify as the ‘true Chinese’ under the distinct purviews of ‘One China’. While no KMT member is socialist, these nationalists do believe the CCP is the lesser evil compared to the DPP and those who identify with the “Taiwanese” concept of an independent nation. Those who are ‘Han Chinese’ but adhere to a democratic vision of a ‘Taiwan’ betray the concept of being 華人 (Ethnic Chinese) according to the ultra-nationalist in the KMT.
The leading politicians in the KMT fall in the ‘pan-blue’ camp of opportunism. The current Kuomintang party chairman (and defeated 2016 KMT Presidential Candidate) Eric Chu (朱立倫) represents this camp of opportunists. These politicians play into the nationalism which calls for closer relations to the PRC and use Han-Chinese nationalistic rhetoric in their communiques. For example, Chu’s fall 2021 letter exchange with President of the P.R.C., Xi Jinping, he blamed the DPP for being anti-Chinese (反中) and the source of rising tensions. He then proceeded to use the rhetoric that, “Both people across the strait descend from the Yellow Emperor” (兩岸人民同為炎黃子孫), a signal that the ‘true’ Chinese in Taiwan and Mainland China are ‘Han Chinese’; the Yellow Emperor referring to a mythical ancient emperor. Slightly akin to the Hong Kong opportunistic pan-blues, these politicians opine for better relations to the P.R.C. and would welcome a ‘peaceful’ unification under One-Country-Two-Systems. This expedites political influence, ‘investment’ into good relations with the P.R.C. for both future political influence campaigns and business opportunities across the strait.
The other opportunists are more ‘red’, and instead of opting for 1C2S, opt for direct unification. Chang Ya-Chung (張亞中), runner-up in the 2021 KMT chair elections, is the vocal and academic voice of this philosophy. Chang Ya-Chung, however, is purely an academic and advocates for unifying under the P.R.C. under 一中三憲 (One China, Three Constitutions). There are ‘true’ reds in Taiwan, although this is a minority. Politically, Chang was the most opportunistic at expediting their fantasy of unification.
Notably, the Taiwanese identity of justice and democracy — of which the Geneva Presbyterian Church is a part of — condemns these nationalistic philosophical camps. The younger demographic (under age 40) in Taiwan belongs to the DPP or independents. For the ultranationalist KMT adherents, the DPP and ‘independents’ are a direct threat to their vision of an ethnically unified 華人中國 (Ethnically Chinese, China). Thus, they align themselves closer to the CCP, as the communists engage in the same form of ethnocentrism. Opportunist politicians, such as Eric Chu, Chang Ya-Chung, and Han Kuo-Yu, regardless of their substantive personal beliefs, whistle to this ultranationalism for business and political benefit.
Away from the ‘clean’4 presentation of this at the political level, at a grass root level, there are diaspora and Chinese Mainlanders who fantasise about violence towards the independent Taiwanese. And this is where the CCP rhetoric against Taiwanese comes in as such a strong influence to ethnocentric KMT and mainlanders; again, regardless of the ‘true’ believers support of socialism.
The terrorist, David Chou, was a member of the Las Vegas “American-Chinese Peaceful Reunification Alliance” ((美國)中國和平統一促進會) in 2019. According to Vice, Chou’s politics represented an even more radical brand of unification, and he was asked not to come back to the group’s meetings after 2019. In pictures, he stands at one of the alliance’s meetings, holding a mic and endorsing then KMT presidential candidate Han Kuo-Yu (韓國瑜); a politician prone to rhetoric and antics so nationalistic and verbose, he is known as the Taiwanese Trump. In Chou’s car, police found notes of hatred against Taiwanese people. Police are investigating the shooting as a hate crime.
The historical and political context presented above is important leading to this point. While Chou himself, or authorities, have yet to disclose the circles of information Chou ran in online, his rhetoric, beliefs, and messaging point towards an intense belief in a brand of vile ethnic-nationalist CCP-backed propaganda.
Netizens in China created horrific images of the PLA invading and conquering Taiwan. Certain online groups fantasise about ‘winning’ (raping) Taiwanese girls and speculate that Taiwan’s best property lies in Taichung (台中). A popular song appeared in Chinese media titled, “Visiting Taiwan in 2035,” weirdly showcasing families singing about travelling to Taiwan via a proposed car-and-train bridge, post-unification. Occasional videos from retired PLA commanders appear on Weibo, featuring fantasies of nuking Taiwan and killing Taiwanese. Late last year, a post once again appeared on Weibo stating that the DPP and Taiwanese who advocate for independence are half-blood Japanese, and ought to be exterminated. This is a vile and racists internet ‘rumour’ which persists even in English-speaking circles. This rhetoric is only part of the ultranationalism, which denies Taiwan’s separate identity as ‘Taiwanese’ and (wrongly) refers to Taiwan as an ancestral home of ‘Han Chinese’. This is the reason the ultra-nationalism of the CCP’s propaganda on Taiwan, as ancestors of ‘Yellow Emperor’, is so dangerous and violent.
With a rising wave of propaganda outlets on CCP payroll staged as ‘independent’ outlets and influencers, the CCP is attempting to normalise and legitimise its erasure of the Taiwanese identity. The propaganda ranges from the sick and grotesque, to ahistorical fomenting aimed at English-Speaking audiences. With the terrorism and hate inflicted upon the Geneva Presbyterian Church by an ultra-nationalist, ‘western’ media ought to begin recognising and widely reporting the dangers of this rhetoric from the CCP. The vocalisations from the CCP do not differ too much from Russia’s ultranationalist claims towards Ukraine; claims which radicalised an entire military to commit horrific war-crimes. The most haunting spectre over Taiwan would be those same, genocidal crimes occurring across Taiwan at the hands of the PLA while the international audience fails to understand what fomented such actions.
The CCP propaganda on Taiwan encourages hate and ethnic-nationalism, and tragically took a life this weekend. The radicalisation at the behest of such propaganda will only continue.
More directly the violent rhetoric is against ‘pro-independence’ Taiwanese. Not all pan-democrats in Taiwan are pro-independence, notably current President Tsai Ing-wen whose policy takes an ambivalent understanding of independence that would move towards de-facto independence as the international order includes Taiwan into its structure overtime. However, in the CCP propaganda world, all Taiwanese pan-democrats, and even the ‘Republic of China’ pan-blues, are ‘pro immediate-independence’.
I am not so sure re-taking the mainland is a serious position held by many, but a few vocally support this idea.
Notably, both the P.R.C. and R.O.C. revere Sun Yat-sen for their own reasons. His own biography is extremely complicated as, while he was a Republican, he also had ties with Soviet Russia. His views constantly changed around the ‘form’ of 三民主義, and he died right as he began exploring more socialist ideas. Conveniently, he is the father of the R.O.C. after ‘leading’ the 辛亥革命 (Xinhai Revolution) in 1911 which overthrew the Qing Dynasty. He, however, also had ideas (notably rejuvenate China) which the communists would retcon following their winning the Chinese Civil War. A portrait of Sun permanently hangs in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, while a portrait often appears in the P.R.C. politburo chambers. Notably, KMT members disavow socialism and, with historical justification, distance themselves from Sun’s socialist ideas. He died before ever completing his thoughts on socialism or communism, and thus KMT adherents make a decent argument that the world never understood what he actually thought about socialism. Based on the length of this footnote already, Sun’s legacy is indeed quite complex and I did not even begin to touch the surface with this summary.
Politics carry a ‘clean’ presentation, although I hardly think 兩岸人民同為炎黃子孫 is anything besides gross ethnocentrism.