By Vlad Zavadskyi
Our mother is Taiwan, and we are the masters of Taiwan. For hundreds of years, our mother’s tolerance and kindness persevered and nurtured every generation of Taiwanese. Therefore, every one of us needs to have courage today and openly and loudly shout it out, “I am Taiwanese!” -- Lee Teng-hui (Tsai, 2005, p. 1)
For the prosperous countries of the world, the question of Westphalia sovereignty was resolved decades ago. The proclamation of its own independence is the recognition of one’s uniqueness and maturity of self-determination. Taiwan, as a result of four centuries of colonialism has grown gradually, incorporating the ways of the foreigners and thus strengthening itself. The presence of other rules and religions contributed to Taiwan’s tolerant character, and enabled them to form a distinct identity. The whole country is located on the island which is situated on the trade crossroads of three ‘tiger’ civilizations: Chinese, Japanese and USA. It hasn’t been easy for Taiwanese in their history, since its independence is still “de facto” as they haven’t been recognized by their “brother country” – China.
