Taiwan Going Nationalist Too

In Taiwan, the DPP is a left-wing party under standard political measures of the past 50 years, but in the new world of identity politics, they are far-right nationalists poised to win a landslide victory on January 16.

Toronto Star: China warns of ‘complex changes’ with Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election

China on Thursday warned of a serious disruption of ties with Taiwan as the island’s voters appear set to elect a new president with a far more skeptical view of dealings with Beijing.

The underlying shift is caused by Taiwanese nationalist education. Just as China began indoctrinating students with nationalism in the 1990s, Taiwan began replacing Chinese history and identity with Taiwan history and identity in the 2000s. A whole generation raised under the new identity is beginning to vote.

The Diplomat: Taiwanese Students Occupy Education Ministry Over Textbook Controversy

Dozens of Taiwanese students briefly occupied the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taipei last night to protest a series of “minor” adjustments (課綱微調) to school textbooks which activists and academics claim are Sino-centric and whitewash the authoritarian period in Taiwan’s history.

Taiwanese politics are more subtle for obvious reasons, but the underlying shift in Taiwan is not fundamentally different than in Germany or Holland or the United States. Facts on the ground vary, but the political shift is in many ways similar. Identity is the core issue in politics now.