Uh...part of their cultural heritage is speaking Holo and also to a lesser extent Hakka dialects. Mandarin, in spite of its praticality has not been part of their cultural heritage until quite recently with the arrival of Zhiang Zhe Shi and friends. Needless to say, his arrival was not altogether pleasant for the residents of Taiwan and resulted, among other things, in the suppression of all dialects besides Mandarin and other traditions unqiue to Taiwan.
>The native Taiwanese are ethnically Chinese.
And most Americans are ethnically European. What's the big deal? Does this mean we can't celebrate the aspects of our culture that are uniquely American?
>They seem to be wanting to deny their own cultural
>heritage, mainly for political reasons so as to justify
>independence from the mainland.
Complete nonsense. Have you ever lived in Taiwan? If anything Taiwan is a better representation of traditional Chinese culture than China is. Many traditions/treasures were lost in the mainland during the communist/cultural revolution, etc. In any case, my view on this is the other way around. I don't see Taiwan denying it cultural heritage. I see mainland China cynically using Taiwan's cultural heritage as a justification of its aggression.
Then how do you explain Taiwan independence movement supporters' attempt to dissolve Republic of China (free China).
They don't even consider themselves ethnically Chinese and use all sorts of vague statements to confuse people who want to know details about their movement.
> Taiwan is a better representation of traditional
> Chinese culture than China is.
In the computer biz, the two markets are already split
along cultural lines, right down to the keyboards.
The Taiwan/ROC keyboard is called "traditional Chinese",
whereas the mainland/PRC is called "simplified Chinese".
In the movie "Sleeper", the state treated dissidents
with a device that "simplified" their brains.
Same sorta thing :-)
Precisely my point. And yes, I have lived in Taiwan, where I first gained a real acquaintance with Chinese history and culture. It seems as though the Taiwanese now are trying to deny that Chinese cultural heritage, and that is what saddens me.