Ma Ying-jeou

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Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)

馬英九2008總統大選政治廣告

Ma (馬) is one of the most common Chinese family names. As of 2006, it ranks as the 14th most popular Chinese surname in Mainland China and the most popular surname within the Chinese Muslim community. This surname literally means "horse" in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Surnames generally used by the Muslim (Hui, Salar) ethnic groups in China :

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) (born July 13, 1950 in Hong Kong with family roots in Xiangtan (湘潭), Hunan (湖南) or Hengshan, Hunan) is the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), a former Justice Minister, former Mayor of Taipei, and the former Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 2005 to 2007.

Ma was elected Mayor of Taipei in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. He was elected Chairman of the Kuomintang by party members on July 16, 2005. He announced his resignation on February 13, 2007 after being indicted by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of misuse of Mayoral funds during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei - he was found not guilty in the first and second trials, but the case was appealed to the Supreme Court. Ma subsequently won the presidency in the ROC presidential election of 2008.

Teflon-Man

Ma has expressed mild support for Chinese reunification and opposition to Taiwan independence. He opposed the 2004 referendum, which had been widely criticized by the U.S. and PRC. Nevertheless, his opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China (while other leaders of his party remained silent on the issue) led him to be banned from visiting Hong Kong to make a public speaking tour in 2005. He also criticized the PRC for the Tian'anmen crackdown.

Ma's cross-political following has led some to note him as a rare example of relative civility in the notoriously rough and tumble world of Taiwanese politics. Ma has generally avoided being accused of using the vitriolic and sometimes offensive rhetoric common in Taiwanese political debate. His academic background and bearing have helped cultivate the image of Ma as an honest, dispassionate technocrat. Despite this reputation, and his wooden speaking style and shy demeanor, Ma is also considered a charismatic figure and is popular among women and youth. On the other hand, Ma's critics claim that Ma, overeager to appear unbiased and/or neutral, is overly indecisive and lacks bold vision. Ma is often accused of avoiding being out in front on some of the more vigorous or controversial criticisms of President Chen or opposing parties, or involving himself in intra-party disputes. Among these critics, Ma has been referred to as a "non-stick pan" or "Teflon-man." Recently there has also been some criticism of his stumping for election candidates suspected of and later indicted for corruption charges. Many in the Pan-Green Coalition expressed opinions that Ma misled voters by lending his clean charismatic image to unscrupulous candidates in his own party.

In recent years, Ma has increasingly employed Taiwanese (Hoklo) in public speaking, perhaps to avoid backlash for his parents' mainland origin, and he has called himself a "child of Bangka (Wanhua)," identifying himself with the historic district of Taipei where he grew up. Others claim that Ma's mainland Chinese ancestry will further alienate members of the KMT who are "light-blue" vs. the pro-unification "deep-blue." However, Ma seems less polarizing in this sense than Lien Chan or other older KMT figures who did not grow up in Taiwan and are regarded by some as elitist about their ancestry.

Political Positions

View on Taiwan Independence

In February 2006, while visiting Europe, Ma said that although he and the KMT favor eventual reunification, the KMT respects the opinions of Taiwanese people, and independence is a choice for the people of Taiwan. This caused widespread criticism within the party and from the mainland. In a December 2005 Newsweek International interview when asked about unification, Ma stated that "for our party, the eventual goal is reunification, but we don't have a timetable," explaining that he meant it was a choice for Taiwan but a choice for the Chinese KMT. Perhaps to deflect heavy criticism from the Pan-Green Coalition the KMT later made an advertisement in the Liberty Times recognizing that independence is an option for the Taiwanese people. Wang Jin-pyng praised Ma for the policy shift since Wang himself made a similar statement during the 2004 election, but James Soong said he was "shocked" and Lien Chan said he was never consulted. This event actually won some welcome voices from Southern Taiwan where voters customarily favor the Pan-Green Coalition. One top KMT official said "we might as well let the measles out now so that we will be immune to it when election year comes close, because reunification or independence can be a hot topic by then."

Ma clarified later that the current KMT policy of retaining the status quo has not changed and has reiterated this position several times; further he also has reiterated his party's support of the one-China policy. Ma has defined the status quo as the "Five No's." During a visit to the United States in March 2006, he proposed a "proactive" approach to cross-strait relations which he called the "Five Do's."

On March 17, 2008, Ma threatened to boycott the Beijing Olympics if elected should the 2008 unrest in Tibet spiral out of control.

Position on Cross-Strait Relations

Ma Ying-jeou told March 23, 2008, one day after his success in Taiwan's presidential election, 2008, he had no immediate plans to visit mainland China and would work to fulfill his campaign pledge to improve relations with the mainland, starting direct flights, allowing more mainland tourists to visit and helping the island's financial industry go to the mainland.

Scandals and Criticism

Mayoral Scandals

While often nicknamed as “Teflon pot” for his extreme preservation of personal image, Ma was nonetheless caught in some political controversies despite the preferential treatment he enjoys with the local press. A series of mishaps during his tenure as the Mayor of Taipei, including the administration problems that enlarged the extent of the Typhoon Nari (納莉風災), the Shutdown of Hoping Hospital (和平封院事件), the Phosgene Incident (捷運光氣事件), the Scalping Incident (捷運扯頭皮事件) and the Human Ball Scandal (邱小妹人球事件), impaired Ma’s reputation. However, Ma maneuvered through these incidents relatively unscathed.

One of his latest case is the Beitou Cable Car Link. According to Taiwan Laws, Taipei Municipal Government is the sole sponsor of this disputed BOT. However, the local press kept closing up on the detention of Yen Wan-chin, the allegedly bribed deputy Minister of Interior who staged a hunger strike for his innocence, for a few days, and played it down as independent critics began to put up their findings about wrongdoings of Taipei Municipal Government and question Ma’s responsibility as the Mayor.

One of Ma's most satisfactory mayoral construction was the Maokong Gondola. However, the frequent breakdown of the gondola caused the residents' distaste of the new transportation system. Only 14% of the Taipei City residents were satisfied with it. It even led to protests. The Taiwan Environmental Information Center (台灣環境資訊協會) states that the choice to use the gondola used in the temperate zone in the tropical zone shows the failure of the Taipei City government led by Ma.

Special Expenses Scandal

On November 14, 2006, Ma was questioned by prosecutors over his alleged misuse of a special expenses account as Taipei mayor. This occurred after Chen Shui-Bian was being investigated for corruption, and many KMT supporters believed that this prosecution was politically motivated.

At the same time, rumors surfaced that former party chairman Lien Chen would run in the presidential election of 2008. The incident may have affected the clean image of Ma and his political future. On the next day, Ma admitted one of his aides forged receipts to claim Ma's expenses as Taipei mayor, and apologized for the latest political scandal. However, Ma argued that he, like most other government officials, regarded the special expense account as a supplement to salary to pay for personal expenses undertaken in the course of official duties, and that his use of this account was not illegal.

On February 13, 2007, Ma was indicted by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of allegedly embezzling approximately NT$11 million (US$339,000), regarding the issue of "special expenses" while he was mayor of Taipei. The prosecutor's office said that Ma had allegedly used government funds for personal use, such as paying for one of his daughter's living expenses while studying abroad and paying for his household utilities. Before that, Ma had admitted personal usage and claims that the special funds were simply a part of his salary but had used all funds for public use or public benefit (charity donations).

Shortly after the indictment, he submitted his resignation as chairman of the Kuomintang in accordance with party rules which prohibit an indicted person from serving as KMT chairman. The resignation was initially rejected but then accepted by the party's Central Standing Committee before amending a clause that barred members from running for office if charged with a crime. Shortly after the resignation, however, Ma announced his presidential candidacy.

On August 14, 2007, the Taipei District Count found Ma not guilty of corruption, and cleared his name of all charges stating that "Special Expenses" is essentially "Special allowance" which was originally designed to compensate for mayor's "social spending" without actually raising salary. On December 28, 2007, the Taiwan High Court again found Ma not guilty of graft charges

US Green Card Issue

Democratic Progressive Party candidate Frank Hsieh questioned Ma for his possession of a United States Permanent Resident Card. Ma denied having one and publicly expressed that no members of his family had one. However, the fact that Ma and his wife had applied for green cards and that his sisters and his older daughter Lesley Ma are United States citizens caused controversy as the DPP continued to question Ma's loyalty to the country. In response to the DPP attack on the US citizenship of his sisters, Ma expressed that having a US passport or green card did not mean that someone was not loyal to Taiwan.

A week before the presidential election, incumbent President Chen Shui-bian vowed to quit if Ma could provide legal documents of the invalidation of his green card. The DPP presidential candidate also said that he was willing to withdraw from the race if Ma could prove that his green card was invalidated twenty years ago. Ma responded the next day to the president that he should work on improving Taiwan's economy instead of caring about the election so much, and Ma did not say anything about his green card.

Environmental Criticism

Ma has been criticized by many environmental groups. His mayoral construction of the Maokong Gondola was criticized by the Taiwan Environmental Information Center. The construction of the Taipei Arena also drew negative reactions from these groups. The Society of Wilderness (SOW; 荒野保護協會) pointed out that of the three hundred and eighty-four trees that were moved for the construction, more than a hundred already died. The city government said that the ages of the trees are unknown, therefore they are not protected by law. The SOW then responded that according to pictures taken by the United States Air Force in 1947 and 1948, these trees were present already during the Japanese rule era.

During his presidential campaign, Ma participated in one of the debates that discussed many topics, including environmental protection. The Taiwan Academy of Ecology evaluated the policies of both candidates Hsieh and Ma, and the secretary of its workstation in Taipei said that both candidates failed their expectations, but Hsieh has more hope than Ma because Ma's environmental concepts lack considerations of the reality. In February 2008, several environmental groups created a list of commitments for the two candidates to sign. DPP candidate Frank Hsieh agreed on all the items on the list and signed it in March. Ma did not, and emailed the group instead. The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) criticized Ma for ignoring the important issue and not having guts to sign the commitments.

After Ma was elected president on March 22, 2008, the Green Party Taiwan expressed its fear that president-elect Ma focuses too much on improving the economy, that he has ignored many critical environmental issues. The head of the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation also emphasized the importance of environmental protection as one of the factors of economic development.

Hunan (湖南) is a province of China, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting (洞庭湖; hence the name Hunan, meaning "south of the lake"). Dongting Lake is famous in Chinese culture as the place of origin of Dragon boat racing. Dragon boat racing is said to have begun on the eastern shores of Dongting Lake as a search for the body of Qu Yuan (屈原), the Chu poet (340-278 BC), and a dragon-king is said to live at the bottom of the lake.

Hunan borders Hubei in the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong to the south, Guangxi to the southwest, Guizhou to the west, and Chongqing to the northwest. The capital is Changsha.

Hunan entered the written history of China around 350 BC, when under the kings of the Zhou dynasty it became part of the State of Chu. Until then Hunan was a land of primeval forests, occupied by the ancestors of the modern Miao, Tujia, Dong and Yao peoples, but starting at this time and for hundreds of years thereafter it was a magnet for migration of Han Chinese from the north, who cleared most of the forests and began farming rice in the valleys and plains. To this day, many of the small villages in Hunan are named after the Han families which originally settled there. Migration from the north was especially prevalent during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties Periods, when nomadic invaders overran the north.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, Hunan was home to its own independent regime, Ma Chu.

Hunan, was, together with Hubei, a part of the province of Huguang (湖廣) till the Qing dynasty.

Hunan became an important communications center from its position on the Yangzi River (Changjiang) and on the Imperial Highway constructed between northern and southern China. Its land produced grain so abundantly that it fed many parts of China with its surpluses. The population continued to climb until, by the nineteenth century, Hunan was overcrowded and prone to peasant uprisings.

The Taiping Rebellion which began to the south in Guangxi Province in 1850 spread into Hunan and then further eastward along the Yangzi River valley, but ultimately it was a Hunanese army under Zeng Guofan which marched to Nanjing and put down the uprising in 1864.

Fellow Hunanese, Mao Zedong

Hunan was relatively quiet until 1910 when there were uprisings against the crumbling Qing dynasty, which were followed by the Communist's Autumn Harvest Uprising of 1927 led by Hunanese native Mao Zedong, which established a short-lived Hunan Soviet in 1927. The Communists maintained a guerilla army in the mountains along the Hunan-Jiangxi border until 1934, when under pressure from the Nationalist (Kuomintang, KMT) forces they began the famous Long March to bases in Shaanxi Province. After the departure of the Communists, the KMT army fought against the Japanese in the second Sino-Japanese war, defending the capital Changsha until it fell in 1944, when Japan launched Operation Ichigo to control the railroad from Wuchang to Guangzhou (Yuehan Railway). Hunan was relatively unscathed by the civil war that followed the defeat of the Japanese in 1945, and in 1949 the Communists returned once more as the Nationalists retreated southward.

Being Mao Zedong's home province, Hunan supported the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976, and was slower than most provinces in adopting the reforms implemented by Deng Xiaoping in the years that followed Mao's death in 1976.

According to the census, 89.79% (57,825,400) of the Hunanese identified themselves as Han people, 10.21% (6,575,300) as minority groups. The minority groups are Tujia (土家族), Miao (苗族), Dong (侗族), Yao (瑤族), Hui (回族), Bai (白族), Zhuang (壯族), Uyghurs (維吾爾) and so on.

Xiangtan (湘潭) is a city located in the center of Hunan province, China. Famous people from Xiangtan: Mao Zedong, Peng Dehuai, Jiang Wan, Qi Baishi, Zeng Guofan, James Soong (宋楚瑜), Ma Ho-ling (馬鶴凌).

Ma Ho-ling (馬鶴凌) was a high official of Kuomintang and the Republic of China. He was the father of Ma Ying-jeou, the President of the Republic of China. Ma Ho-ling had a strong influence on his son Ma Ying-jeou. In an interview in 2004, he said that he wanted his son to run for president. But in 2005 he strongly opposed his son to run for Kuomintang's Chairmanship and even threaten to commit suicide if Ma Ying-jeou would not give up his candidacy.

Ma Ho-ling died of a heart attack in 2005. The inscription on his urn said: "Replace independence with gradual unification, strengthen China and work towards unification." When this inscription was disclosed, President Chen Shui-bian took advantage of it as evidence that Ma Ying-jeou did not love Taiwan

"I see you as humans and as citizens of this city. I'm going to educate you well and do a good job of providing you with opportunities. That's the place from which the attitude of aborigines needs to be adjusted ... now that you've come here, you need to play by the rules here ..."

Ma Ying-jeou

* Ma Ying-jeou Tells Aborigines that He Sees Them as Humans by Taiwan Matters! (video)

Han chauvinism (大漢族主義) is a term which is used in mainland China and Taiwan. Referring to people carrying ethnocentric viewpoints that favor the Han Chinese majority ethnic group in China at the expense of the other minority ethnic groups, often under the assumption of cultural superiority. Han chauvinists in the People's Republic of China often invent enemies of Manchus, Tibetans, Mongols and members of the Han nationality that oppose a monolithic view of the nationality. Han chauvinism is also sometimes manifest as nostalgia in the expansionist exploits by past Chinese dynasties, especially those identified with the Han Dynasty, but in some contexts also including the Qing Dynasty, a Manchu dynasty. Actions and speech that constitute the ethnocentric and ideological aspects of Han chauvinism (such as hate speech against minorities) are illegal in the People's Republic of China and are either banned or censored.

Those espousing chauvinistic attitudes often revive ancient pejorative and anachronistic terms to refer to other ethnic groups as "barbarians". In ancient times, the following terms were used by various peoples of the Zhongyuan (North China Plain) to refer to those peoples not under the political control or cultural influence of the main Chinese dynasty. (hence the below terms as used historically were geographic and cultural labels, rather than racial in the modern sense).

• "Nanman" (南蠻) – literally barbarians of the South - typically referring to southern ethnic groups in present-day South China, Southwestern China and Indo-China. Most of what were considered Nanman then are now Han Chinese (for example, the inhabitants of the province of Nanyue were originally labeled as Nanman, and today represent the Cantonese and various other subgroups of Han Chinese).
• "Xirong" (西戎) – originally an ancient ethnic group (Rong), this term was later used to refer to all non-Han ethnic groups in today's Northwestern China, who were mostly nomadic horsemen,
• "Beidi" (北狄) – originally an ancient ethnic group (Di), this term was later used to refer to all non-Han ethnic groups in today's Northern China, Mongolia, and Siberia, especially those who lived beyond the Great Wall.
• "Dongyi" (東夷) – literally barbarians (or archers) of the East, referring to ancient ethnic groups who lived in today's eastern China along the coast, including groups which have now been assimilated into the Han nationality.

In Taiwan, Han chauvinism is also used to refer to a preference for the culture and languages of Mainland Chinese over the local cultures of Taiwan, both Han Chinese and non-Han. It is most often used by pro-independence groups to attack pro-reunification groups and the KMT who came from the mainland after their defeat to Communist Party of China in 1949.

Sinocentrism is any ethnocentric perspective that regards China to be central or unique relative to other countries. In pre-modern times, this took the form of viewing China as the only civilization in the world, and foreign nations or ethnic groups as "barbarians". In modern times, this can take the form of according China significance or supremacy at the cost of other nations

While China has renounced claims to superiority over other nations, some claim that China never really completely abandoned Sinocentrism and that a sinocentric view of history lies behind many modern Chinese constructs of history and self-identity.

While the Republic of China (ROC) was too weak to do so after the Second Sino-Japanese War, the People's Republic of China (PRC), after its establishment in 1949, quickly claimed and incorporated territories which it considered to have historically been a part of China, such as the areas of Tibet and Xinjiang, but which had become de facto independent, into Chinese national territory. Attempts to persuade the Soviet Union to accept the incorporation of Mongolia failed as Mikoyan declared that this should be decided by the Mongolian people.

Some claim elements of Sinocentrism have been identified in China's recent relations with Korea. In 2004, Chinese scholars of the Northeast Project identified the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo, which included the area of southern Manchuria and northern Korea, should be regarded as a part of the history of China when its capital was in modern-day Manchuria (Northeast China), and a part of the history of Korea when its capital was in modern-day Korea. This caused an outcry among Korean nationalists who claimed Goguryeo as part of Korea's history.

Waishengren (mainlanders) are descended from the people who followed Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan after the Kuomintang (KMT) lost the Chinese Civil War in 1949. These people included KMT officials, soldiers, merchants, bankers, executives, scientists, various other intellectuals, and anyone else who sensed that the Communist regime would ultimately be worse, and had the connections and money to escape mainland China. Until the 1970s, these people controlled the political systems of Taiwan; this, along with the looting and corruption that occurred under Chen Yi's (228 Incident) military government immediately following the Japanese surrender in 1945, generated resentment among benshengren and was one of the main causes of the Taiwan independence movement.

Starting in the 1970s, nationalist dominance of the government began to recede. This was due to a lack of a political or social theory that would justify continued nationalist dominance, meritocratic policies which allowed local Taiwanese to move up in the political establishment, and economic prosperity which allowed for social mobility for those outside of the political establishment.

Intermarriage and a new generation raised under the same environment has largely blurred the distinction between waishengren and benshengren.

In the late 1990s, the concept of "The New Taiwanese" became popular both among supporters of Taiwan independence and Chinese reunification in order to advocate a more tolerant proposition that waishengren, who sided with the Allies against the reluctant Japanese colony in Taiwan during World War II, are no less Taiwanese than benshengren. However it quickly became apparent that the notion of New Taiwanese meant different things to supporters of independence and unification. To supporters of independence, the concept of New Taiwanese implied that waishengren should assimilate into a Taiwanese identity which was separate from the Chinese one. By contrast, the supporters of Chinese reunification seemed to believe that all Taiwanese (not just waishengren) should restore a previously marginalized Taiwanese identity without antagonizing a larger pan-Chinese identity.

The term "New Taiwanese" (新台灣人) was coined by former President of the Republic of China, Lee Teng-hui in 1995 to bridge the ethnic cleavage which formed following the February 28 Incident in 1947 and characterized the frigid relations between waishengren and native Taiwanese during forty years of martial law. Although the "xin Taiwan guan" (新臺灣觀; New Taiwanese Concept) or "xin Taiwan lun" (新台灣論; The debate on the new Taiwanese identity) was originally aimed at the successive generations of Taiwanese with mainlander ancestry, it has been further articulated by Lee and other political and social leaders to refer to any person who loves Taiwan and is committed to calling Taiwan home. Although critics have called the "New Taiwanese Concept" a political ploy to win votes from native Taiwanese who regarded the KMT as an alien regime, it has remained an important factor in the dialectic between ethnic identities in Taiwan. Despite being adopted early on by former Provincial Governor James Soong (1997) and later by, then Taipei mayoral candidate Ma Ying-jeou (1999), the term has since been dropped from contemporary political rhetoric.

As of the early 21st century, more and more waishengren see themselves as Taiwanese and as socially distinct from current residents of Mainland China. Unlike those belonging to groups such as the Hoklo, Hakka or Taiwanese aboriginals, waishengren are not encouraged to find their root, and their relationship with anti-China organizations suffers further as a result. Most of them, especially those of the younger generation, make extensive efforts to establish themselves as Taiwanese, sometimes by manifesting good interest in Hokkien Taiwanese culture. At the same time, right-wing discourse alleging that pro-unification waishengren are a fifth column for the People's Republic of China agonizes those mainlanders who regard Taiwan as their new homeland.

Chinese nationalism (中國民族主義), sometimes synonymous with Chinese patriotism (愛國主義) refers to cultural, historiographical, and political theories, movements and beliefs that assert the idea of a cohesive, unified Chinese people and culture under a unified country known as China. One difficulty in this definition is the wide variation and ambiguities in the definition of the term "Chinese."

In the late 19th century, Chinese nationalism identified Han with Chinese and argued for the overthrow of the Manchus who were considered outside the realm of the Chinese nation. This led to many rebellions by Han Chinese. Sun Yat-sen once declared: "In order to restore our national independence, we must first restore the Chinese nation. In order to restore the Chinese nation, we must drive the barbarian Manchus back to the Changbai Mountains. In order to get rid of the barbarians, we must first overthrow the present tyrannical, dictatorial, ugly, and corrupt Qing government. Fellow countrymen, a revolution is the only means to overthrow the Qing government!"

After the 1911 Revolution, the official definition of "Chinese" was expanded to include non-Han ethnicities as part of a comprehensive Chinese nation (Zhonghua Minzu), although some historians argue that this was due mainly to the realization that a narrow definition of "Chinese" would result in a loss of Chinese territory, and that the Manchus were too sinicized to be considered an outside group.

The official Chinese nationalistic view in the 1920s and 1930s was heavily influenced by social Darwinism, and included advocacy of the cultural assimilation of ethnic groups dominated by the Han state into the "culturally advanced" Han state, to become in name as well as in fact members of the Chinese nation. Furthermore, it was also influenced by the fate of multi-ethnic states such as Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

Over the next decades Chinese nationalism was influenced strongly by Russian ethnographic thinking, and the official ideology of the PRC asserts that China is a multi-ethnic state, and Han Chinese are one of many ethnic groups of China, each of whose culture and language should be respected. However, many critics argue that despite this official view, assimilationist attitudes remain deeply entrenched, and popular views and actual power relationships create a situation in which Chinese nationalism has in practice meant Han dominance of minority areas and peoples and assimilation of those groups.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Chinese nationalism within mainland China became mixed with the rhetoric of Marxism, and nationalistic rhetoric become in large part subsumed into internationalist rhetoric. On the other hand, Chinese nationalism in Taiwan was primarily about preserving the ideals and lineage of Sun Yat-sen, the party he founded, the Kuomintang (KMT), and anti-Communism. While the definition of Chinese nationalism differed in ROC and PRC, both were adamant in claiming Chinese territories such as Diaoyutai Islands.

In the 1990s, rising economic standards, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the lack of any other legitimizing ideology has led to what most observers see as a resurgence of nationalism within China.

One common goal of current Chinese nationalists is the reunification of mainland China and Taiwan. While this was the common stated goal of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China before 1991, both sides differed sharply on the form of reunification.

After 1991, the ROC unofficially moved away from supporting eventual reunification to a more ambiguous position. One reason is that the ROC itself remains split between supporters of Chinese nationalism, who support eventual reunification, supporters of the status quo who believe Taiwan should preserve independence as the ROC, and supporters of Taiwan independence, who believe that Taiwan should declare independence as a republic separate from either the ROC or the PRC. Another reason for the ambiguity is the stated threat that the PRC will take military action if a "Republic of Taiwan" is declared.

Much of the dispute in Taiwan has been muted because there is a general consensus to temporarily support the status quo. Despite this, the relationship between Chinese nationalism and Taiwan remains controversial, involving symbolic issues such as the use of "The Republic of China" as the official name of the government on Taiwan and the use of "China" as the name of government owned corporations. Broadly speaking, there is little support on Taiwan for immediate reunification or independence; the argument is over culture and how Taiwanese should see themselves. The pan-blue coalition views mainland China as an economic and cultural opportunity, seeks greater links between Taiwan and mainland China, and believes in a common Chinese identity. The pan-green coalition sees Taiwan as an independent nation and desires to formalize that independence.

In addition to the Taiwan independence movement, there are a number of ideologies which exist in opposition to Chinese nationalism.

Some opponents have asserted that Chinese nationalism is inherently backward and dictatorial and is therefore incompatible with a modern state. Others have asserted that Chinese nationalism is fundamentally an imperialist and racist ideology which in practice has led to oppression of minority groups such as Tibetans and Uyghurs. The extent to which Chinese nationalism is actually a manifestation of beliefs in Han Chinese ethnic superiority has been hotly debated. While opponents have argued that reactionary nationalism is evidence of Chinese insecurity or immaturity and that it both unnecessary and embarrassing to a powerful nation, Chinese nationalists assert that Chinese nationalism was in many ways a result of Western imperialism and is fundamental to the founding of a modern Chinese state that is free from foreign domination.

Angry Youth (愤怒青年)

During the 1990s, Chinese intellectuals have vigorously debated the political meaning and significance of the rising nationalism in China. From their debates has emerged a multifarious populist nationalism which argues that anti-imperialist nationalism in China has provided a valuable public space for popular participation outside the country's political institutions and that nationalist sentiments under the postcolonial condition represent a democratic form of civic activity. Advocates of this theory promote nationalism as an ideal of populist politics and as an embodiment of the democratic legitimacy that resides in the will of the people.

Detractors, however, disparage populist nationalism in China today, especially that expressed on the Internet, as a "hooligan culture" in which "Internet Red Guards" hurl obscenities not only against foreign "devils," but also against moderates and liberals who warn of the excesses and dangers that nationalism could pose to China's modernization. Chinese nationalism has recently found an outlet in anti-Japanese sentiment.

Fenqing (憤青), or "FQ" (abbreviation), which is itself an abbreviation for Fennu Qingnian (憤怒青年;), means literally "angry youth". It mainly refers to youth who display a high level of Chinese nationalism. This term first appeared in Hong Kong in the 1970s, referring to those young people who were not satisfied with Chinese society and sought reform. It has now evolved into a term used predominantly in Internet slang. Whether fenqing is derogatory or not usually depends on the person. Critics describe them with negative terms including "粪青" (lit. "shit-youth" or "idiotic youth", same pronunciation), which can be changed further to "fenfen" (粪粪) as a derogatory nickname.

Most view Taiwan as a part of China, and believe that Taiwan independence should be prevented by any means necessary. Many fenqing tend to consider war to be feasible, if not immediately necessary. A few may favor the use of nuclear weapons against Taiwan.

They generally view American or Western attention to issues such as human rights, Falun Gong, Tibet, etc. as attempts to undermine the rise of China. Most support the ideal of democracy, but view Western attempts to spread democracy as self-serving, subversive propaganda. However, only a few truly believe in communism.

Some have the view that the Chinese government is invincible and justified at all cases. They may unconditionally defend all action by the Communist Party of China.

Some are very passionate about irredentist claims. In addition to the official claims made by the People's Republic of China, such as Taiwan, Arunachal Pradesh, the Senkaku Islands, and the South China Sea Islands, some fenqing also make irredentist claims to Outer Mongolia, Tuva, Outer Manchuria, the Hukawng Valley of northern Myanmar, parts of Central Asia east of Lake Balkhash, Bhutan, Ladakh, and Sikkim.