Eric's Beijing Diary

Xiamen, formerly known to the world as Amoy, has a deep, natural harbor, so it was always destined to be a trade center. The interesting thing about Xiamen is that it has had that character for hundreds of years through several dynasties, geopolitical changes, and cultural upheavals. It was a major trading center through all the time that China was turning up it's nose at western trade.

I'm sitting here in my hotel on Gulang Yu, a small island situated in Xiamen Bay right off the coast of Xiamen. It's kinda confusing at first, because if you go to Google Earth and take a glance from the air, you can see that Xiamen itself is an island, connected to the mainland by a causeway. But it's quite a bit bigger than Gulang Yu. Gulang Yu is the old foreign concession. It is becoming more Chinese now, but there is still quite a remnant of colonial architecture.

I wasn't going to come, because I really don't have as much time to spend here as I would like, but I didn't have class this evening, and the weather is really nice, so I decided to take the bus down from Fuzhou and go back in the morning. When I got to the long distance bus station in Xiamen, I took a cab to the harbor and rode the ferry across the bay to Gulang Yu. I went to the first hotel I saw and asked for a room with a view of the bay. They took me to one of the suites with a view--660 RMB. I thought that was pretty high, but I was tired, and it was getting on toward late afternoon, so I offered them 400, and they took it. Fifty bucks. That's still a lot, but there aren't any youth hostels in this area that I know of, and besides, once in awhile it is kinda nice to have a room of your own, especially if you have work to do. I have my laptop with me, and I wouldn't get much done in a youth hostel.

This afternoon, as soon as I got my room and started walking around the island, a kid met me and offered to be my tour guide. I told him I just wanted to get something to eat, so he started leading me through a bunch of alleys. I kept asking him if he could tell me a good place to eat, and he kept telling me that it was right ahead of us. I was about to tell him that I didn't need his help anymore, when he showed me an obscure restaurant. I don't know why he chose this place--could be he was getting some sort of kickback from the proprietor to lead tourists there. Gulang Yu has many of these places. They all have various kinds of exotic species of sea creatures swimming around in tubs at the front of the establishment.

It's interesting, but a bit expensive. I went round and round with this lady trying to negotiate something that would give me a meal for a price that wasn't too outlandish. A guy I met later told me that he had been advised not to eat on the island because of the prices. I don't blame him. I don't know...I guess I would do it once, but I don't know if I would do it again. The problem is that in the time I have lived in China, I have had lots and lots of very good food for a lot less than what these guys are charging. Tourists from America might go for these prices, because sea food in America is usually frozen for shipment, so fresh fish would be a rare treat for an American. But fresh fish is the standard in China. And I am used to eating with students who have become quite adept at finding very good food for a very good price. In other words, I'm spoiled rotten.

After the seafood thing, I told the kid that if he would take me to Sunlight rock, I would pay him the 10 kuai he was asking as a fee. I don't think he makes most of his money from the fee he charges, I think he makes most of his money from the shops he kept leading me through on the way to Sunlight Rock. Don't know how it works, but I'm sure he's is getting some sort of kickback for every shop he took me to. We finally got there, and the kid said he was leaving. I climbed to the 100 meter platform and had an experience that is quite unusual in China. I was absolutely alone. Moments like that don't come often in this country, and they pass quickly, so I took the opportunity to spend a little time with the Lord. The view was really remarkable. The sky was a clear blue and visibility was good. I thought I could see Jinmen Island in the distance, but I couldn't be sure, since this is my first time to the area.

Very shortly, a bunch of tourists showed up. One of them, a friendly young lady, wanted her picture taken with me. After the photo shoot was done, she asked me, very politely, if she could touch my beard. I asked another one of the tourists, a local guy, to point to Jinmen Island, and he pointed in the direction I had been looking, so maybe I had it right. Maybe next time I will take a boat tour of the harbor and see it up close. Jinmen Island is part of an island group that used to be known as "Quemoy." Quemoy consists of Jinmen, Xiao Jinmen (Little Jinmen), and a few other islets in the cluster. After he became president, Eisenhower removed the blockade around Taiwan that had been imposed by Truman. Chiang Kai-shek promptly moved thousands of troops to Quemoy and Matsu (several hundred kilometers to the north).

Understandably, this precipitated a conflict, which was only "resolved" after Eisenhower threatened to use nuclear weapons against China. Some would say that he should have taken a stronger stand against Chiang Kai-shek, whose actions in placing troops on Quemoy and Matsu were clearly provocative. But how could Eisenhower rebuke him? What could he do? Tell Chiang Kai-shek to give the islands back to China? Remember, according to official U.S. foreign policy at the time, Taiwan was China. That's why Taiwan was a member of the Security Council. Certainly a tiny island like Taiwan would never have been given a permanent seat on the Security Council. Taiwan was given that seat because the Taipei government was recognized as the "legitimate" government of the Chinese people. As ludicrous as that may appear now, it did seem to make sense at the time, because Chiang Kai-shek was, in fact, the leader of China. He was not from Taiwan.

So how does this relate to the geopolitical situation today? Recently Lee, the former president (significantly the first democratically elected president) of Taiwan has been visiting the United States. In his speeches, he says that Taiwan already is an independent country, and that the only thing left is for this independence to be formalized. Spoken like a true native, but it is a bit simplistic. If Taiwan, which has always claimed that it is part of the mainland (or that the mainland is part of it), is now going to resign itself to being separate, and give up on "retaking the mainland," what is the point of continuing to occupy Quemoy and Matsu. Putting troops on those islands makes sense if your objective is to retake the mainland. But if Taiwan wants to be independent, she has no business on those islands. Look for yourself--those are clearly not defensive positions.

Well, Beijing, of course, detests Lee, but I like him. I respect his sentiments as a native of the island, but I also believe that his position is not realistic. You cannot have an independent country if you cannot defend yourself. That is, unless someone else has taken the responsibility, as in the case of Japan after World War II. The Americans are sworn to defend Taiwan in the event of an attack, but not in an independence move. It's complicated, and in a way, it doesn't make sense, because anyone with any level of integrity would have to acknowledge that Taiwan already has a sort of "defacto" independence, and has been practicing it for many years. But the problem is that Taiwan did not get interested in being "independent" until very recently. Today we talk about how Chen Shui-bian is an irritation to Beijing. But he was also an irritation to the KMT. They put him in prison. So, while many in the West are used to thinking of Taiwan as a separate entity, the move toward independence actually has a relatively short history.