For English teachers in Taiwan, is it "Lunar New Year" or "Chinese New Year"?

I hear that other cultures celebrate Taiwanese New Year as well. Apparently it's also a thing in China. 

(Please don't take this meme too seriously). 

Just a quick one for the first day of the Lunar New Year. 

When I first arrived in Taiwan, I called it Chinese New Year or CNY. Then I realized that wasn't the best term, as many cultures outside of China -- including Taiwanese culture -- also celebrate this holiday, and it's probably not good practice to tie it to China. It also ties in with CCP attempts to co-opt every cultural touchstone they see as "Chinese", promote it as theirs alone, and force people who don't identify as Chinese to accept Chineseness. Gross.

Like most people who go through this phase, I landed on Lunar New Year, and I still think that's the best choice. Only once has someone pointed out that it's technically decided by the the farmers'/luni-solar calendar, not the "lunar" calendar, but honestly, the goal is to pick a culturally neutral term and I'm not sure we need to go down a deep rabbit hole to find one. Plus, such arguments are usually a tad disingenuous; the people who make them often want to keep "Chinese New Year" as the common term by de-legitimizing everything else. 

(If you want to call it Lunisolar New Year, I certainly won't stop you.)

However, I quickly became a massive prig about Lunar New Year, to the point of correcting other people who said "Chinese New Year". I regret this. It's my holiday or part of my culture. I had no right to be correcting anyone for whom it is.

That didn't work either, though. A lot of students and trainees whom I knew didn't identify as Chinese and wanted to be able to talk about their cultures without having to link them to China still called it "Chinese New Year" for lack of a better term, especially as the word "Chinese" doesn't appear in any rendering of the holiday's name in any Sinitic language that I know of. The issue wasn't thinking that was the best word, it was an absence of alternatives -- a linguistic information gap. Some hadn't learned the word "lunar" yet.

I now recommend my current approach. I call it Lunar New Year,  clarify the word "lunar" if there's any confusion, and explain why if the context is right. When someone calls it "Chinese New Year" and I'm in a situation where it's clear my suggestion wouldn't be unwelcome, I point out that "Lunar New Year" is an option and why if necessary. Then I follow that up with "...but you can call it what you want" or "you can choose". 

The idea behind this is that language is a toolbox, and people who choose to take a language class (or study to become a teacher -- my main job these days is training) want those tools. They don't want or need to be told what to call things from their own culture in a foreign language. So instead of pushing cultural information -- forcing learners to accept that New Year is "Chinese" or not depending on your whims as a language authority -- it provides language information that can help them make their own choice. It raises awareness and offers options rather than providing a single 'way'. 

This also provides room for the argument for "Lunar New Year" to be persuasive enough on its own merits, not because it was pushed on anyone. It also opens up that space for Taiwanese learners of English to discuss the issue themselves and either choose to disagree or come to a resolution. Plenty of Taiwanese activists are already doing this work; "Lunar New Year" was not a term invented by foreigners. If they want to push harder for Lunar New Year, they have a better foundation to do so than someone who's not from here. We can support them but I don't know that we can ever be them. 

If a student or trainee continues to use "Chinese New Year", do I flinch a bit? Deep down in my heart of hearts, yes. Taiwan is my home and I do have opinions about it, as I've lived here a long time and have many local connections. But can we really call ourselves conscientious teachers of a language with an undeniably problematic history if we foist those opinions on people actually from the cultures we live in? The tools we offer can never be neutral, but they can be imbued with choice and their non-neutrality can be acknowledged.

So, I try not to show an outward reaction, even as I continue to call it Lunar New Year.

In other words, in the Year of the Ox, let's keep fighting CCP bullshit, but without resorting to their tactics of cultural imperialism. "Lunar New Year" will probably win out, because the case for it is sufficiently persuasive without your having to tell anyone what to think. 

Let's talk about immigration and quadruple standards (again)

An exhibit at the former Japanese Naval Guesthouse in Taipei, now an art gallery, featuring work by Taiwanese artists alongside artifacts from South and Southeast Asia.


I was recently quoted extensively in this Hong Kong Free Press article about the ongoing fight for dual nationality in Taiwan. I think overall the piece is quite good. 

The article covers some important points: even people born here to parents who don't have Chinese or Taiwanese ancestry can't get dual nationality. There is simply no pathway. Until just a few years ago that meant potentially being forced to leave the only country you've ever called home because there was no visa available. Now, that issue's been somewhat addressed by allowing such children to get permanent residency. Other streamlining has occurred, which helps, but still doesn't -- and can't -- address many key issues. 

We can't vote, usually get turned down for anything requiring a credit line, and aren't eligible for any number of benefits that will likely grow more necessary as we age (a lot of senior citizen benefits are not available to us regardless no matter how long we've paid taxes). Our ability to be fully included on the labor insurance pension plan was only recently instated, as well. 

However, there are a few things from my interview that didn't make it in, and I'd like to discuss them here.

It's been pointed out that the piece ignores the Southeast Asian community, and yes, it does. I brought up the issue of foreign blue-collar labor, not because I think I can speak for anyone, but because I was being interviewed. That segues into my first point.

Many people note the "double standard" of Taiwan's nationality laws: most countries either allow everyone or no one to have multiple nationalities. In fact, it's a quadruple standard.

People with the right ancestry can have multiple nationalities without issue. People with so-called "elite" jobs can get dual nationality. People like me can get permanent residency but not dual nationality. And treated worst of all, blue-collar foreign workers (who make up a large percentage of the Southeast Asian immigrant community) have no access to permanent residency, nor do labor and residency laws protect them adequately. 

This is both racist and classist on the part of the Taiwanese government. Although there are explanations for why the piece focused on APRC holders, it would have been good to include a section on the extra barriers that exist for most immigrants to Taiwan, with a related interview. 

My second point is related: it creates a system where your human worth is tied entirely to your job. But, as Preston points out in the article, being a good citizen is about more than what job you do, and it's a bit of a straitjacket to insist that "worthy" people must hold a narrow range of positions: 

“They’re using it as a rewards system....It’s basically a very exclusive club, but there’s more to good citizens than just being an elite member of society."

It stifles the sorts of contributions that may be good for Taiwan, but don't come with a specific title attached. 

It's also a reminder to those of us who have APRCs that consistently advocating for and supporting immigrant communities with less privilege is important. 

The truth is, even if I get a PhD someday, I don't particularly want to be a professor -- the job I would need to qualify. I think my personal contribution is more impactful as a teacher trainer, because I work with local teachers, who can then do what they think is best with their professional development in their context. 

The usual comeback to this is that "the government chose to incentivize the sort of people it wants to immigrate". Okay, but that's still a "you are only worth your job title" attitude, and in any case, the government has also been saying that it wants qualified teachers and teacher trainers for it's EMI/CLIL-based initiative to improve English language proficiency. In other words, I am exactly the sort of person they say they want. Beyond that, while the government may not say they want blue-collar labor, such labor is vital to Taiwan and they know it.

Another rejoinder I often hear is that Taiwan is a "monoculture", it's not a place where anyone from anywhere could potentially come to call themselves Taiwanese. I will leave aside the "being Taiwanese" aspect, because even if I get dual nationality someday, I don't intend to call myself that. I do think the term still has cultural connotations that just don't apply to me. 

There are two things wrong with the "monoculture" argument. First, the original citizenship law was written in China in the 1920s. It was never intended to apply to just Taiwan, and certainly wasn't tailored to or even appropriate for any concept of Taiwan as a nation. Now, the vast majority of Taiwanese either identify solely as Taiwanese, or prioritize Taiwanese identity. There is a distinct sense of a unique Taiwanese culture, heritage and history, separate from China. As Kerim noted: 

As a researcher of Taiwanese indigenous culture and languages, Friedman said there was also an ideological reason for allowing more foreigners to hold dual citizenship. “I would very much like to see Taiwan move away from the ethno-nationalistic view that citizenship in Taiwan is associated with being Chinese… I would like to see more diverse kinds of Taiwanese people.”

“I think Taiwan’s future as an independent country also depends on de-linking Taiwanese identity from ‘Chinese-ness’… So as a personal act, becoming a Taiwanese citizen myself is a step in that direction,” he said.

If descendants of the Chinese diaspora who have never even visited Taiwan, whose ancestors may have never visited either (or only stopped here briefly after leaving China in the 1940s) are eligible for "ROC" nationality -- something I don't begrudge, by the way -- then it's not about that distinct Taiwanese culture. It's about race, and specifically being 'from China'. But Taiwan doesn't identify as part of China! 

So, is being Taiwanese something separate from being Chinese, or not? If not, then why is the ancestral requirement paramount? If so, how does that square with what polls say about Taiwanese identity? 

Creating a pathway to nationality for who have built a life in Taiwan despite their ancestry can create a foundation for a nation that exists as a civic partnership rather than an ethno-state and cement a national identity distinct from China. It helps Taiwan move away from difficult, tired and frankly outdated arguments -- ethnic nationalism is so twentieth century! (Even with places like Tibet and East Turkestan, I don't think they deserve independence because they are not Han Chinese. I think they deserve it because the Chinese government treats them like crap.) 

In short, a pathway not based on bloodline contributes to a national ethos that makes sense and is consistent with the sort of country Taiwan says it wants to be. Some may fear an erosion of national identity, but out of over half a million foreign residents, only a fraction intend to stay permanently, and it's likely not all of those would go for dual nationality. In other words, those who want this pathway are already here, and for any newcomers the process would likely take around a decade: the number I hear mentioned most often is 5 years post-APRC, which itself takes at least five years. It wouldn't likely create a flood of newcomers, and I don't think Taiwanese identity is so weak that people who've stayed a decade could possibly threaten it. 

The second problem with the 'monoculture' argument is that historically it just isn't true. Taiwan has always been an international crossroads, and has seen waves of settlers, colonizers and immigrants, who generally weren't welcome at first (and some of whom did great damage -- and yes, I'm looking at powerful members of the KMT diaspora). Everyone with ancestral ties to China -- that is, most of the population -- is descended from settlers. More recently, intercultural families, often with a mother from Southeast Asia, are common in Taiwan. I've been too busy with work to find good data on this, but here's a 2010 article that put the number at one in ten Taiwanese children with a foreign parent, down from one in seven in the early 2000s. 

What happens to the children and grandchildren of these waves of immigrants? Honestly...they come to identify as Taiwanese. They adapt to local culture, and local culture adapts to them. 

I don't ever expect to be considered 'the same' as a local, and I doubt I could fully assimilate if I wanted to. I can't deny that my race and the privilege that comes with it as well as the culture I was born into create differences that I doubt can be fully bridged. However, this is my home. Period. 

There's one final point worth making: the 'social consensus' argument. As non-voters, we can't force the government to do anything, nor can we force the public to agree with this vision of Taiwan that includes us. 

But do we have to? Most Taiwanese who ask me if I have citizenship are shocked to learn it's not available to me without an unconscionable sacrifice (the ability to return to care for aging family in the US should I need to). I doubt most are even aware that the quadruple standard exists. How can society be against something it doesn't even realize is an issue?

I do worry that one of the issues is a willingness to consider people like me for dual nationality, but not the people who are hurt the most by the quadruple standard -- the Southeast Asian foreign worker community. That will have to be addressed in the coming years.

The government could do something about all of this. They could end these pointless calculations of 'worthiness' based on one's job. All I can say is that I hope, in my lifetime, that they do. 

Hot New Tips For Talking About China With "Nuance"!

Hey, China Hands. Feelin’ down? Like it’s really hard to defend a regime that is accused of genocide, cultural oppression and warmongering? Are you finding it difficult to reconcile your “Believe Women” stance with your ardent desire not to believe women who say they were repeatedly raped while detained in CCP-run concentration camps? Would you do anything to get your “everyone who doesn’t love the CCP is racist” mojo back?

Never fear — you can always call for “nuanced debate” on issues such as threatening invasion and straight-up massacre, and accuse those who wrongly criticize the CCP of “lacking nuance”. 

“But there are so many critics these days,” you might say. “How do you actually insist all of them debate with ‘nuance’? Surely someone will figure out that I am literally defending genocide!” 

Well, you’re in luck! At Lao Ren Cha, we’re here to help. We’ve done the research, asked the experts and compiled some of our hottest tips for accusing everyone who disagrees with your pro-CCP stance of “lacking nuance”.

Before we get started, let’s review the Golden Rule of Nuance: the person who calls for it can never lack nuance themselves. Afraid that someone will say your thinking is about as deep as a sheet of paper? That your “China isn’t so bad, it’s all the other countries that are terrible, in every way” argument is clunky and boorish? Don’t worry — just play the Nuance card early, so nobody can say it about you! 

Here are some more Hot Tips how you can keep an online fight going far longer than it ever needs to, sowing annoyance and division in your wake: 

1.) Spout "facts" and be really hostile when people check them, but require incontrovertible verification for every piece of evidence you don't like. Ensure that no verification is sufficient to convince you, including video evidence. All "facts" that don't meet your impossible standards of proof simply do not exist!

2.) "Whataboutism" is your best friend! Utilize this argument early and often. Try to make it plausible, for example, pointing out real flaws in Western countries such as the US prison system or Australian detention centers on Nauru. TIP! China can criticize these things about other countries without acknowledging the genocide it’s perpetrating, but other countries cannot criticize China. 

3.) Call everyone who disagrees with you a neoliberal or a capitalist -- or both. In fact, go with both. It helps if you claim that standing for Taiwan means supporting “the Nationalists”. It doesn’t matter if they do or not. 

4.) "Boomer", "White feminist" and "Karen" are useful terms to describe certain behaviors of privileged White people. Nevermind that though, be sure to call everyone who disagrees with you one of these, whether or not they are applicable. "White Left" is also a good choice. A lot of people actually are racists so that works too, and pairs well with disingenuously conflating criticism of the CCP with criticism of every Chinese person.

5.) Cite your experience in "the real China". Bonus points if that experience was exclusively in Beijing or Shanghai.

6.) Talk about imperialism and colonialism a lot, and sound really good doing it. Only apply your fairly strong anti-imperialist/decolonization arguments to the West, as no government that's not Western is capable of either of these or any of their evils.

7.) Use your most heartfelt voice to claim that the only way to stop genocide and systemic rape is through "engagement", if we just "engage" then the CCP will stop all the genociding and rape. Anyone who disagrees with that is, again, a racist.

8.) If you can't work in Confucius or "5,000 years" of something, at least make sure to say that China "lifted millions out of poverty". Do not mention who put them into poverty.

9.) Use metaphors that don't quite work. A good choice is comparing Taiwan to Hawaii. Neither the actual status of Taiwan compared to Hawaii nor how others in the debate feel about Hawaiian independence matter. It should always be assumed that Taiwan is not currently independent.

10.) Racism directed at Asians in Western countries is a real problem, and should be both noted and opposed wherever it occurs. Don’t worry about whether it’s relevant to the discussion at hand though — be sure to use this as a rejoinder to every criticism of China whether it's applicable or not.

11.) The Culture Argument: if the discussion is about whether Tibet and East Turkestan should be part of China, point out that China is a multicultural and diverse society. If the discussion is about Taiwan or Hong Kong, point out that they are the "same culture", "same civilization" or "same blood" as Chinese (even though arguably none of these are true, it doesn't matter) and therefore should be a part of China. These two views are completely reconcilable if you push them forcefully enough!  

Warning! Don't overuse this argument or They might come to the conclusion that none of these are a good argument for why a nation should exist in a particular way, and start to consider civic partnership as an alternative. You do not want this! Try instead to direct them to arguments about "culture", "history", "civilization" and best of all, "genetics", despite the fact that you both know they're irrelevant. 

12.) Appeal To Authority! Here’s an example of how that works: The Lancet publishes papers that conflate Taiwanese and Chinese medical data and refuses to retract it, so haughtily claim that they’re The Lancet so how could they possibly be wrong?

13.) The Catch-22: if Taiwan doesn’t want to be a part of China, why do they still call themselves “the Republic of China”? If they want to be independent, they need to change that. If they change the name of their country and China reacts angrily, be sure to criticize them as “troublemakers” who are “provoking China”. 

Important Note! What Taiwanese actually think doesn’t matter. This also applies to Tibetans, Uyghurs and Hong Kongers. 

14.) Use simple mnemonic devices to recall key arguments in a flash. For example, if you’re in the heat of battle, just remember the TAP rule: Taiwan Always Provokes. Nothing China does is ever provocation, they’re just angry because Taiwan doesn’t accept that China claims their country. Taiwan should just calm down about it. But if Taiwan tries to bolster its defensive capabilities, that’s PROVOCATION and it’s WRONG because it might anger China. 

Advanced Level Nuance

Are you an expert nuance-haver? Leave the rookie arguments to the rookies and show off your top-tier skills with these Advanced Tips! These are especially effective and confusing because you can make it sound like you're actually an ally. Wowza! A few people might see through your concern trolling, but don't worry -- most won't. 

15.) Claim to oppose the CCP but ensure that all of your individual statements actually kind of support them. A good choice here is saying that you’d prefer Taiwan not be annexed by China or that the genocide in East Turkestan should stop, but that there is nothing any Western country can or should do about it at any level (from sanctions to refusing to negotiate to providing defensive assistance) because they are “evil”. Do not offer any other viable solutions. 

Bonus Points if you then complain that other countries don’t do enough to support these causes.

16.) Write about it! Be sure to use classic “negs” like calling Taiwan a “self-ruled island” (it is acceptable to call it “a vibrant democracy” so people will think you are even-handed, but do not use any other complimentary descriptors). Quote Chinese state media without context or criticism, get quotes from the same six analysts — I mean they’re basically the same six quotes over and over anyway — and try not to include any contrary voices. If you absolutely must include a Taiwanese voice, ensure that the person is not an activist or lawmaker who supports de jure independence. After all, the KMT has plenty of people who will give you a pro-China quote! Who cares if they’re not in power and their platforms don’t reflect public opinion?

17.) Use hypotheticals when the real-world data doesn’t support you. Do the majority of Taiwanese identify as solely Taiwanese? Do the vast majority prioritize Taiwanese identity? Is there essentially no support for unification? Ignore it all and say things like ‘tyranny of the majority’ or “but if 52% of people want independence and 48% don’t, should you break up a country over that?” Be sure to ignore the fact that Taiwan is already sovereign. 

18.) Remember, dismissing everything as “Western propaganda” is a rookie mistake, and you do Advanced Nuance! If you are pushed into a corner where you cannot say you don’t believe women in China who claim to be raped, but believing them means criticizing the CCP, say something like “it’s complicated”. Anyone who says it’s actually quite simple just doesn’t understand Advanced Nuance. 

Don’t Forget! Refuse to acknowledge that your equivocating response to women in China who recount systemic sexual abuse when you quite reasonably advocate believing women everywhere else is in any way hypocritical or racist. 

19.) Destroy from within! There are lots of ways to do this, providing plenty of opportunities for customization. Here’s an old classic: a lot of right-wingers claim to support Hong Kong, Taiwan and East Turkestan — hypocritically, but this isn’t about them. Be sure to call anyone who also supports these things right-wingers regardless of their actual politics. 

20.) Is the despised outgoing administration doing a few things that are actually good for Taiwan, Hong Kong and East Turkestan? Are you worried the incoming administration won’t be strong on those same issues? Be sure to say that the outgoing folk are “sabotaging” or “complicating” the incoming ones, even when the new administration makes no indication that that’s the case. 

Bonus Nuance Tip! 

Remember, only other people engage in colorism, never you. If a person of Chinese heritage defends genocide or invading other countries, that person is always right and should always be taken seriously. If a non-Chinese person argues back that genocide is wrong, tell them that they have no right to an opinion on genocide being wrong. 

Happy Nuancing!

Book Review: Spinning Karma

Sit back and brainstorm: off the top of your head, how many comedy novels about Taiwan or set in Taiwan can you think of, which are available in English? 

Until recently, for me the answer was ‘none’. Ghost Month has its amusing moments, but it’s more of a mystery thriller. Some travel writing and memoirs have fun anecdotes, but none is a proper comedy in the style of, say, Tom Robbins. Local literature in English translation can sometimes have droll moments, but Taiwanese writing tends overall to lean more into garden-path reflections than straight-up hijinx. 

Of that number (zero), how many of those novels are Buddhist comedies?

Well, zero times any number...

Enter Spinning Karma. Written Joshua Samuel Brown, best known for his work on the Lonely Planet guides and certified Foreigner Who Has Spent A Long Time In Taiwan, this light and lovely but also thoughtfully-written comedy is exactly the right choice if you want a distraction from...well *gestures around vaguely* you know. This. 

Quick disclosure: this review isn’t sponsored — I’m writing it because I feel like it. But, Joshua is a good friend.

The plot of Spinning Karma does an excellent job of, well, whirling around and then spinning back on itself. It starts with the story of “Rinpoche Schwartz”, a guy whose Staten Island accent I can straight-up hear through the page but who has somehow managed to become the head of a semi-legitimate Buddhist organization that originated with a disgraced ‘70s sex cult (don’t ask; just read.) It’s attracted a few true believers but has otherwise faded into obscurity since losing the sex-cult stuff and getting more into the Buddhism — some of it seemingly real, some of it explicitly admitted by our narrator to be pure bullshit. 

From there, a series of events takes our blue-collar Buddhist master to Taiwan, where yet another series of events give Rinpoche Schwartz a half-baked idea to get more followers. Despite his best (okay, not his best) efforts to avoid an international incident, it...works. It’s never quite clear to what extent Schwartz fully aware of what he’s doing and to what extent he’s just propelled by a cluster of subconscious impulses that he just sort of gives into, one after the other. This is what makes him an interesting protagonist: is he a wholly cognizant scheister, a two-bit con man in a track suit, or is he a well-meaning doof being strung along by his own karma? It’s impossible to say. 

From here, all I’ll tell you is to read on for the craziness to unfold. Don’t miss a few little neatly-wrapped gifts that Brown has left scattered in the text: not just the old-school Monty Python reference and the droll reaction to it by a well-meaning think tank liberal type, but those in the know should take note of what Schwartz’s daughter-in-law says about their cat. 

In the end, as the title implies, the karma you spin out does tend to come back around to get you...just not always in the next lifetime, and certainly not in the ways you expect. The story ends with echoes, or perhaps mirror images, of how it began, which is probably from some sort of Buddhist parable that I know nothing about. 

What I found most interesting about Spinning Karma was the way that it holds everyone accountable and doesn’t tiptoe around clear wrongdoing. And yet, Brown humanizes each character, while not pretending that, say, China is a wonderful country of openness and tolerance, or that the mainstream media is a whirling cesspool spinning its own narratives that shape how we, an uncritically consuming public, see the world. Without diving into both-sidesism, Brown points out that even characters with the best of intentions can sometimes do things that have consequences they haven’t really thought through. This is especially true of every media personality. Of all of them, I most appreciate the cameo by Taiwan’s famous Next Animation news cartoons, which informs the design of the cover art. 

The novel also hints at a deeper truth: religion is what you get out of it. If you’re a huckster who knows what he’s dealing is an ultimately meaningless spiritual mash-up, then that’s what you’ll deliver, and that’s all it will be to you. (That’s pretty much all religion has ever been to me, to be honest, and that probably won’t change.) But if you get something from it and deepen your understanding of yourself through spiritual practice, and how you move in the world, that in itself gives it meaning. What such a person deals out may have the power to be more impactful, all because of how it emanates from them. 

Or as one of my favorite — and quite old — songs goes: 

Only on a true return could you find that you never left 

(What’s missing?)

Counting on an unpredictable tide for deliverance

(It’s right in front of you)

Swallow every verse and rhyme just to find

That the secret’s to embrace yourself.

Or something. I guess. 

Don’t take from this that Spinning Karma is War and Peace. At it’s heart it’s exactly what it aims to be: a light, fun Buddhist comedy set mostly in Taiwan, that is also an excellent escapist novel for a pleasant evening with your favorite drink. 

If I have any criticism at all, it’s that the text implies that Schwartz wanders from Ximen to Tianmu on foot (only Tianmu is named but Ximen certainly features), which any Taipei resident will know is impossible. That’s OK though, perhaps we just skip the boring part where he takes the MRT. Oh yes, and a government official grabs his coat to go out...in Taipei in June. 

If that’s all I have to say against the novel, it must be quite a fun read indeed. My verdict: buy it! Pour a glass of wine and dig in.