Almost 400 years ago, the first Chinese general landed in Taiwan.

His name was Cheng Cheng-Gong, although he was also known as Koxinga.

Armed with the most powerful naval fleet in South Asia — bequeathed to him by his father, a formidable pirate — he defeated the Dutch army that had ruled the land for 38 years.

Expelling the foreign power that had ruled over the island for decades, Koxinga was portrayed as the naval guardian of Taiwan and a national hero. In his honor, people built temples, named roads after him, and created an entire religion around his legacy.

Politics often revolves around our national myths, and contested history around the stories we tell ourselves. While Taiwanese people worship him as a defender of the island, the Chinese consider him key to the ‘recovery’ of Taiwan. In fact, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has even used Koxinga’s image as part of its propaganda to unify mainland China and Taiwan.

On the other hand, people of Taiwanese ancestry have been emphasizing Koxinga’s history of persecution of the original inhabitants of Taiwan, which has triggered an identity crisis of a new kind.

To read more about how a Chinese pirate’s son muddled Taiwanese identity, click the link: https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/how-a-chinese-pirates-son-muddled