I find it peculiar that the Green Left piece breezes over Taiwan's indigenous population to analyze the politics of independence solely in terms of class.
It seems to me that any discussion of Taiwanese independence/sovereignty that doesn't take into account the settler-colonial nature of the state is sorely incomplete - no matter how "tiny" the Indigenous population (Indigenous people make up 2.38% of the Taiwanese population, vs 1% of the US's). Cheng argues that "the aspiration for national self-determination in Taiwan should be supported to the extent that this movement contributes to the elimination of the ultimate cause of such oppression — class oppression." A movement without a clear theory of class oppression is unlikely to contribute to its elimination, and in Taiwan's case I would think that means clarifying the ways that settler-colonialism serves capitalism. I've seen similar arguments made about Hong Kong – that the fight for "self-determination" (a vague term to begin with – who is included in that "self"?) ought to be supported insomuch as it contributes to or might create more room for a consciously anti-capitalist movement. I don't disagree but I think leftist support for the HK movement often implies that Chinese Hong Kongers are oppressed by China on the basis of nationhood, which in my opinion is ridiculous given Hong Kong's level of development, patterns of immigration, and reliance on migrant labour from mainland China, the Philippines, and Indonesia, which provides the base for racism and white supremacy within the city. Seems to me like there may be similar blindspots in discussions of Taiwanese sovereignty – a binary between Han Taiwanese people and the Mainland that leaves out Indigenous people and migrants. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#3643): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/3643 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/78308729/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
