By Scott Simon, University of Ottawa

Anthropological attention to semiotics and ritual provides valuable insights into the meanings of the human relations that hide behind the media headlines. One area where anthropological perspectives are especially useful is in the Taiwan Strait, where media attention to defence and security obscure the more human dimensions of international relations. A reflection on a recent official Taiwan event in Ottawa shows how useful an anthropology of the state can be to understanding the dynamics of diplomacy. This is an annual political ritual that unfolds amidst constantly shifting social relations in both Canada and Taiwan. Even as a citizen-observer, my anthropological training draws my attention to the meaning of words and events. 

On October 5, 2022, Canadian parliamentarians and supporters of Taiwan met in Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier for the 111^th National Day reception hosted by the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group. Over the years, the wording on the celebratory red banner has transformed from “Republic of China on Taiwan” to “Republic of China (Taiwan).” This year, there was an accompanying multi-media screen with images of Taiwan’s scenery interspersed with slogans of “Happy Birthday, Taiwan!” and “Taiwan National Day 2022.” Legislators of all parties took the podium to pledge Canadian support for Taiwan, a country now besieged by military threats from China. The legislators and attendees celebrated the unanimous passage of a motion that very day calling for “Full Participation of Taiwan in the World Health Assembly (WHA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).” These apparently tiny differences of vocabulary reveal significant political differences. For example, “Republic of China on Taiwan” indicates that the Chinese state is on the island of Taiwan, whereas “Republic of China (Taiwan)” joins the two names and thus makes a different political statement. 

​​Canada has not hesitated to demonstrate public support for Taiwan. Just two weeks priorto the 2022 National Day reception, a Canadian naval frigate transited the Taiwan Strait with a U.S. Navy warship in an action that Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand described as “a concrete demonstration of the resolute opposition of democratic allies to China’s expansion attempts.” In addition, Canadian support of Taiwan was highly visible when Liberal MP Honourable Judy Sgro led a delegation of five members of Parliament to Taiwan to attend the October 10 National Day ceremonies in person in Taipei. In a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen in the Presidential Office, Sgro said, “The Canada-Taiwan relation is a very important thing. I think it is important for the world to see.” Chair of the Standing Committee on International Trade, she promised progress on a bilateral investment protection agreement and hope that Taiwan can join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade group. She declared that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are fundamental to Canada’s soon-to-be-released Indo-Pacific Strategy. 

In Ottawa’s Taiwanese community, of which I have become a part due to marriage and years of research in Taiwan, there was considerable discussion about whether or not it is appropriate to call October 10 “Taiwan’s birthday.” Historically, it marks the day in 1911 when the Wuchang Uprising against the ruling Qing Dynasty began in Hubei, China, heralding the Xinhai Revolution and eventually the birth of the Republic of China. Taiwanese people remember very well that, in 1911, Taiwan was part of Japan and had nothing to do with those events. They also recall that the Republic of China came to Taiwan in 1945 without their consent and subjected the Taiwanese to 40 years of martial law. Some Taiwanese, especially those exiled to Canada during Taiwan’s martial law period, want very much to extricate Taiwan from the Republic of China entirely. On the other hand, people whose families transited Taiwan after the war on their way to Canada are strongly attached to the Republic of China and regard Taiwan as a beacon for democracy in a broader Chinese world. From their perspective, both the People’s Republic and Taiwanese independence supporters threaten the Chinese nation they love. 

In Taipei, the conflation of the Republic of China National Day and “Taiwan’s Birthday” reflects a recent and tenuous consensus, with enough semiotic flexibility to bring together actors dedicated to very different life projects. Former President Ma Ying-jeou and former Taiwan Provincial Governor James Soong (both life-long proponents of Chinese nationalism) shared the stage with President Tsai and her government, including die-hard advocates of Taiwan Independence. Palau President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. made an official state visit, Palau being one of the few states that still diplomatically recognizes the Republic of China as the government of China. Yet, 19 Japanese legislators marched in the parade and celebrated the 50 years of friendship between Japan and Taiwan that has flourished since Japan switched its recognition of “one China” from Taipei to Beijing. Japan, like Canada, has a diplomatic protocol with China recognizing “one China” while intentionally remaining ambiguous about whether or not that includes Taiwan. The superimposition of “Republic of China” and “Taiwan” enables certain kinds of relations, while also keeping other possibilities at bay. 

For anthropologists, these events are about the performance and ritual enactment of sovereignty, whereas words reveal symbolism and hint at underlying political ontologies. International relations are nodes of engagement in which different political actors and coalitions from different places use acts and words to represent and give concrete form to their life-worlds. The particular histories and social contexts of all of the actors are important parts of the political processes we seek to understand. 

Back in Ottawa, Liberal engagement with Taiwan affirms a united Canada supportive of democracy and rule-of-law in what they now call the “Indo-Pacific.” At this year’s National Day reception at Chateau Laurier, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet (the only party leader in attendance) boldly made the point that Taiwan has an intrinsic right to self-determination; support of Taiwan and other subjugated nations resonates emotionally and supports the Bloc’s own goals for Québec. Blanchet’s own education in anthropology may also make him more sensitive to the needs of humans. In contrast, the Conservatives and the NDP both support Taiwan, but that support is based on different world-views and rooted in different sets of interpersonal relations. For the Conservatives, Taiwan is an ally in the struggle against Communism. The NDP, partially because of historical links with United Church with its missions to Taiwan, has always supported Taiwan as part of its commitment to international social justice that includes Indigenous rights.  

Anthropologists excel at studying political rituals and representations, while also taking seriously the daily yearnings and even national imaginations of ordinary people. Ethnography provides rich detail that often gets overlooked in studies that focus on political leaders, state institutions, and written laws, as if any of those could exist independently of history and society. Most importantly, anthropologists put people with their sundry ways of perceiving and inhabiting the world, at the centre of the analysis. I have so far spent my career looking at the ways in which Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples relate to the Republic of China state and Taiwan (which, to them, are two different political realities). Indigenous people in Taiwan have taught me that their fraught relationship with the state is fundamentally a nation-to-nation relationship; and that they have their own diplomatic protocols. But it is also important to use anthropological tools to understand the kind of official state-based diplomacy that unfolds in Ottawa. In these days of uncertainty, war, and pandemic, a people-based study of international relations is needed more than ever.