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Rob_Hugo@PortNWI know that the heated debate between Taiwan and China has been going on for many years. I have always been pretty indifferent to the whole situation until recently my mom told me about what happened to her. My dad is from mainland China and my mom is from Taiwan through long descendant lines. Back thousands of years, apparently they were natives or something. My dad's father, my grandpa, upset my mom a lot by saying that she was corrupting the kids (me and my brothers) by infiltrating us with Taiwanese culture. My grandpa said "I'm from China, you're from Taiwan, you're supposed to follow the patriarchal lines." But what does he expect? My brothers and I all grew up in Taiwan for at least a couple years of our lives, and China and Taiwan obviously have different cultures. It doesn't mean my mom supports Taiwanese independence just because we eat Taiwanese food or something.
My mom's maiden name is Shen, and my grandpa even said to her, "Why don't you just change all your kids' last names to Shen rather than Li if you're going to teach them Taiwanese culture???" Isn't that horribly mean?? I mean that is completely uncalled for and people that act like that are just too proud and have too much pride. Why would my mom have even married my dad if she felt so "Taiwanese" or whatnot? My family is very non-political about the whole situation but my dad's side of the family is still very traditional and political. My grandpa was a diplomat for China...but I don't understand why he has to be so intense about it. My other grandpa, Grandpa Shen, was a diplomat too but he does not act that way at all. Grandpa Li doesn't let my mom visit her own parents for more than a couple days. My mom has to spend the majority of her time with my dad's side of the family. The reason she can't see her own family is because they are Taiwanese and they don't need to be associated with.
He told my mother, "You became a Li, you die as a Li." Chinese people, Taiwanese people, Japanese, Korean, yes we're different types of asians that speak different languages with different cultures...but does it make us any different as a person? It's like our own form of prejudice. Seriously...this is makes me afraid for my future in-laws.[Edit by="mli on May 20, 7:51:25 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousOh another thing that I wanted to add was the dilemma of being an ABC. So basically after that talk my mother had with my grandpa, he has a problem with us being too Taiwanese AND too American. There's no happy medium. So not only do we have to be more "Chinese", we have to be "Mainland Chinese."
AnonymousIt seems like every family has its own problems. In my family, my dad's side is "Taiwanese" and my mom's side is "Chinese." As it turns out, when my parents first got married, my grandma from my dad's side didn't show up to the dinner banquet because she didn't approve of her bride. Also, when my parents lived together with my grandparents, my grandma would my parents room without knocking and just have some pretty rude behaviors.
Interestingly enough, my grandma behaved the way she did simply because my mom is "Chinese" and she disliked having a "Chinese" bride. The religious differences probably also had an impact because my mom is buddhist and my grandparents are catholic. Supposedly, one time, on a Sunday morning, my grandma woke up my mom to go to church which ended up in another big fight in the family.
I agree with Michelle in that this is like our own form of prejudice and I disagree with what my grandma did too.
AnonymousUrm...this topic is like a landmine
Anyways, my family's from mainland so there's no argument which side my parents support. As for me, I just don't have a firm stance to get into the argument so might as well stay out of it. But the topic can get in the way of many things. For my mom, Taiwan and China issue is like the taboo topic at her work. Although people from both sides usually get along, whenever news reports the political tension gets high, my mom said there's alway a heavy atmosphere at her work. So although people don't say it outloud, it is always on their mind.