Comics – Taiwan: Culture on attack

At some point it had to happen. Xi Jinping has done what he threatened for years – and sent China’s folk exemption army on the offensive. Taiwan is attacked. So something breaks out that is now called the “West Pacific War”. This global political event, dates somewhere between 2025 and 2035, whirls the global order. And hits many readers in Taiwan.

“The West Pacific War” has actually not broken out, but it is the title of a manhua work that is strikingly popular in Taiwan. Especially on this comic or manga is that the main characters remind you of reality. The US President in the story is a showman who looks like Donald Trump; China’s President is a tactor who is like XI Jinping.

»Donald Trump is the template for the US president in my story, but he is called there. And I gave Xi Jinping other Chinese characters for the story, but they can be read in the same way, «explains Liang Shao-Hsien, the author of the work, the similarities. »And I realistically drawn and designed both politicians. Trump is a very charismatic guy. But also one who prefers to negotiate than shoot. I think my story is realistic overall. “

In any case, this should be the reason why this manhua is so popular: it describes real politics. The mainland china ruled by Beijing viewed the democratically ruled island of Taiwan as part of his own territory and has been threatening an invasion for years. The United States, which China views as the greatest rival, warn Beijing of such a step. And the Taiwanese government is looking for international alliances to protect itself.

“The West Pacific War”, which has come onto the market in four episodes since 2017, which are to follow four more, has been sold around 8,000 times so far. At the publisher Bardon Chinese publisher, you are still very satisfied “The sales are now specifying a new standard for this genre,” says publishing employee HSIEH Meng -ating. “When the first episode came onto the market, it had to be printed after about a week because all copies were sold. That was surprisingly quick! “

The war scenario flourishes thematically, which ultimately all employs in the country.

In general, the market for illustrated stories from Taiwan – called Manhua – is still small. People rather consume western comics or Japanese manga. But that is changing. The Taiwanese government promotes local publishers both in Germany and internationally. The Japanese newspaper “Japan Times” wrote in March of a boom industry: “Thanks to a flourishing ecosystem, the illustrated medium experiences a new flowering period from independent artists, publishers, sales platforms and state sponsors.”

One of the most important sponsors in the industry is Taiwan Creative Content Agency, founded by the Ministry of Culture in 2019. This supports the local cultural production in the areas of image and sound, among other things, and operates a number of initiatives tailored to Manhua. Thematically, the war scenario, which finally all employs in the country. Because Taiwan sees itself threatened by mainland china.

If you like, the state promotion of an international distribution of Taiwanese cultural assets is part of the conflict, which is described in “The West Pacific War”. Because Taiwan – officially: Republic of China – is also looking for international attention in this way to protect itself from an attack by the Peijing People’s Republic of China. The ulterior motive: the greater the visibility and therefore the soft power, the lower the risk of an invasion.

The conflict goes back to the Chinese civil war, which ended in 1949 with the victory of the communists and the escape of the inferior nationalists onto the island of Taiwan. On the mainland, the People’s Republic, a one -party state that the Communist Party leads to. The nationalists continued their Republic of China on the mainland on Taiwan. Both continued to claim to represent China. Although this still claims the mainland today.

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In Taiwan, in turn – which has initially been a military dictatorship for decades, but became a democracy from the late 1980s – one would rather deal with yourself. Surveys show that the majority of the population do not see themselves as “Chinese”, but as “Taiwanish”. Taiwan has long since had its own cultural scene, where all possible topics are negotiated in the manhua: from queer gender issues to the scenario of invasion by mainland china.

“This kind of combination literature is not only evident in manhua, but also on television series,” says Claus Soong, born in Taiwan and expert in security policy at the Thinktank Mercator Institute for China Studies. “Many China see among the young people as a threat. It is also a threat. However, many also see the opportunities that could offer as good relationships with China. «Depending on how you are set, you are often more or less interested in this war literature.

Author Liang Shao-Hsien, who himself served in Taiwan’s military for 20 years, complains that he is familiar with geopolitics and security questions. Since the first book was published in 2017, a lot of what he predicted in his manhua has really occurred: »On page 207 in the Prequel, I have predicted that Trump was chosen a second time. I have also predicted that there will be an attempt to assassinate him. “

What has not occurred so far would be the coup in China’s communist party. But it can still come, says the draftsman. Although he admits that not everything in his story is realistic: »90 percent of the weapons I describe in history are actually there. But I came up with a few: a robot army, for example, or genetically modified people. But something like that makes the story a little more exciting! “

How the war goes out should not be revealed at this point. At Bardon Chinese, one hopes that “the West Pacific War” will soon be translated into other languages.