Power? Benefits?
The Influence of Public/Private Sectors, Ethnic Groups, and Social Classes on Taiwan’s Cold War Memory
Le pouvoir ? Les avantages ? L’influence des secteurs public et privé, des groupes ethniques et des classes sociales sur la mémoire de la guerre froide à Taïwan
p. 93-124
Résumés
The postwar narrative strategies of the memories of the Cold War in Taiwan have manifest distinctions in classes and ethnic groups. The existing literary reviews focus on the political, economic, and military aspects of the Cold War research, and neglect cultural aspects. On the other hand, the current secondary data focuses on the viewpoints of intellectuals and seldom considers the Cold War memories among different classes and ethnic groups. This paper focuses on field surveys (2005-2018), supplemented by cross-analysis of secondary data, to discuss the narrative strategies of the post-war Taiwanese memories of the Cold War. The article tries to argue: First, in terms of class, the criticism of the United States and the Cold War proposed by intellectuals in Taiwan in the form of literary works which refer to comprador culture, bar culture, and the phenomenon of scholars returning from abroad. Compared with intellectuals who criticized American “power”, on the other hand, the working class generally affirmed in the narrative the “benefits” brought by the Americans, including high-tech modern machinery and high salaries (working for U.S. companies outperformed working for Taiwanese companies.) From the perspective of ethnic groups, mainlanders (those who were originally from other provinces in Mainland China) who had English language capital had a better chance to obtain higher-level job opportunities. However, there are generally contradictory narratives concerning the complex “love/hate” emotions by the mainlanders regarding the “benefits” and “power” of the U.S. presence in Taiwan. As for the Taiwanese local residents, they were generally assigned to relatively menial jobs (ie. cooks, nannies, construction workers, and house cleaners etc.), and they were more inclined to have a more positive attitude towards the U.S.. Generally, the narratives of the post-war memory of the Cold War in Taiwan not only re-evaluated over time, but also varied according to the class and ethnic group of the actors.
Les stratégies narratives d’après-guerre concernant la mémoire de la guerre froide à Taïwan différent grandement en fonction des classes sociales et des groupes ethniques. Les études existantes sur la période se concentrent en général sur les aspects politiques, économiques et militaires, tout en négligeant les aspects culturels. En outre, les données secondaires actuelles privilégient le point de vue des intellectuels et prennent rarement en compte les souvenirs des différentes classes sociales et groupes ethniques. Ce chapitre se concentre sur des enquêtes de terrain (2005-2018), complétées par une analyse croisée des données secondaires, afin de discuter des stratégies narratives propres à la mémoire taïwanaise de la guerre froide. Plusieurs points seront abordés. Tout d’abord, celui des classes sociales dans la mesure où les critiques prononcées à l’égard des États-Unis et de la guerre froide sont le plus souvent le fait d’intellectuels taïwanais qui, par le biais d’œuvres littéraires, relatent la culture compradore, la culture de bar et décrivent le parcours de retour d’universitaires formés à l’étranger. Contrairement à ces intellectuels qui critiquent la « puissance » américaine, la classe ouvrière revient généralement dans ses récits sur les « avantages » apportés par les Américains. Elle souligne notamment l’apport des machines modernes de haute performance technologique, ainsi que les salaires élevés : travailler pour des entreprises américaines rapportant plus que dans des entreprises taïwanaises. Toutefois, les récits sont généralement contradictoires en ce qui concerne les sentiments complexes d’« amour/haine » des Continentaux à l’égard des « avantages » et du « pouvoir » de la présence américaine à Taïwan. Quant aux Taïwanais natifs, qui exerçaient en général des emplois relativement subalternes (cuisiniers, nounous, ouvriers du bâtiment, femmes de ménage, etc.), ils ont tendance à adopter une attitude plus positive à l’égard des États-Unis. De manière générale, les récits sur la période de guerre froide à Taïwan sont non seulement réévalués au fil du temps, mais varient également en fonction de la classe sociale et du groupe ethnique auxquels appartiennent les acteurs.
Entrées d’index
Mots-clés : Guerre froide, mémoire, Taïwan, base américaine, récits
Keywords : Cold War, memory, Taiwan, American base, narratives
Texte intégral
Introduction
1In the aftermath of the massive 921 earthquake in 1999 (Jiueryi dadizhen 九二一大地震), it was discovered that a widely known but unspoken military secret, the “Yangmingshan Program” (Yangmingshan jihua 陽明山計畫), had forced residents to relocate from their homes to make way for the United States (U.S.) military during the Cold War era.1 Prior to this discovery, knowledge of the Yangmingshan Program had only been transmitted orally by local Taiwanese people based on their memories. To facilitate the post-war defense assistance of Taiwan by the U.S., land in the townships of central Taiwan including Qingshui, Daya, and Shengang was requisitioned for the expansion and reconstruction of the original Kōkan Airport (from the Japanese colonial period) to establish the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base. All aspects of the plan were shrouded in mystery and referred to by local seniors as “state secrets.” Although this remained part of the collective memory of the local people, it was officially removed from the public historical record. It thus became an unspoken open secret.
2Twenty years later in 2019, there was a surge of interest in Taiwan in the so-called “U.S. military economic boom.”2 The Combined Logistics Command Guest House located on Meicun Road, West District, Taichung City, was previously a U.S. military guest house that provided accommodation, travel, and banquet entertainment services. The Taichung City Government was planning to demolish the building to build a social welfare center; this led to protests from local residents and activist groups (e.g., the Taiwan Tree-Hugger Association). For local residents, not only did the site contain many precious trees, but it was also a historical remnant of the U.S. military presence during the Cold War era and the place where many local seniors ate Western food, particularly beef steak, for the first time. In contrast to the cultural memory of the Cold War in the West, where the memory and heritage of the Cold War are mostly preserved through museums and memorials, in Taiwan the “memory of the Cold War” resurfaced during urban renewal projects when public and private buildings of that era faced demolition or were renovated and repurposed as restaurants and coffee shops. There was a public outcry to preserve these structures as historical evidence of the contribution of the U.S. to the “Taiwan Economic Miracle,” for which the previous Kuomintang (KMT)3 government had always taken full credit.
3The construction of the “memory of the Cold War” is still ongoing, particularly in Taiwan. This is the premise of the research question of this study: how have ordinary people in Taiwan constructed and shaped the memory of the Cold War? This study conducts an analysis of official exhibitions in Taiwan and the U.S., as well as the oral histories of ordinary Taiwanese people, to understand how the U.S. and the Cold War are depicted by official narratives and remembered by ordinary people. The so-called “ordinary people” in this study include those who are not officials or intellectuals. In this study, the interviewees are mainly from the working class, including laborers, consignment store workers, a house servant, a hairdresser etc. Generally speaking, they have no voice in mainstream discourse, and their words and memories did not become part of mainstream history. To gather the memories of ordinary people, this study used snowball sampling in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung from 2005 to 2018. In total, I interviewed 52 residents, including 2 bar owners, 5 bakery workers, 2 supervisors and 4 laborers in American factories, 6 sales assistants, 1 hairdresser, 1 military translator, and others who had some interaction with U.S. military servicemen. Distinguished by ethnic groups, there were 8 mainlanders and 44 Taiwanese. Among them, most of the mainlanders were in the management class, while most of the Taiwanese were engaged in labor work. Moreover, differentiated by region, there were 5 Taipei interviewees, 38 Taichung interviewees, and 11 Kaohsiung interviewees.
Figure 1: The Location of the Research Field

Literature Review
Cold War Memory Research
4Maurice Halbwachs developed the concept of collective memory with a focus on the specific operations of a specific group. Emphasizing the importance of collective memory, he explained how collective memory is constructed by society and operates through family, religion, and class. Although Halbwachs observed and analyzed these factors in particular, collective memory does not only operate through these groups. At the same time, the operation of past memories is dependent on actual current needs.4 Following Halbwachs and his contemporaries (e.g., Aby Warburg), the study of collective memory was revisited in the 1980s, wherein more scholars proposed specific analyses of how collective memory is constructed.
5German scholar Jan Assmann made a distinction between two types of memory, proposing the concepts of “communicative memory” and “cultural memory.”5 The former exists in the “interactive practice” by which individuals and groups recall the past. These are short-lived and close to the everyday life memories of a certain historical period. They can be retained and transmitted for two or three generations through oral dialogues and narratives. In communicative memory, “emotion” plays a key role, including happiness, pain, surprise, or attachment to the memory. By contrast, “cultural memory” is distant from everyday life and can exist through archival materials, images, photos, dances, ceremonies, or any form of “knowledge.” To a certain degree, cultural memory is the concretion of identity. When compared with communicative memory, cultural memory is more fixed, organized, and binding, such as in myths, legends, taboos, and traditions.6
6In the context of the memory of the Cold War in this study, the memory of “ordinary people” is part of the “communicative memory” of a particular generation. These memories exist in speech and conversation but have not yet become cultural memories. In 2010, the official “cultural memory” shaped by National Sun Yat-Sen University (NSYSU) and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) was based on political purposes, attempting to convey specific concepts (e.g., the Taiwan–U.S. friendship) through the construction of history.7 The focus was on political and cultural elites, “showing us how the reputations of a few people are based on the obscurity of the majority.”8 There is therefore a gap between the official “cultural memory” and the unrecorded “communicative memory” of the Cold War generation. To address this gap, this study used the four media for carrying memory identified by Harald Welzer as starting points: interactions, written records, images, and space. Furthermore, cultural memories and communicative memories are not necessarily contradictory; they can influence and shape each other through a process that reflects official vs personal, mainlander9 vs Taiwanese, and upper class vs lower class viewpoints.
7Until recent years in the discussions of the narratives of the Cold War, the memories of ordinary people have been somewhat neglected and excluded from the scope of “official historical memory.” Questions proposed by Korean scholar Jinim Park—“Who speaks?”, “Whose voices are heard?”, and “Who decides whose voice counts?”—are still worth considering.10 According to Danish Cold War researcher, Rosanna Farbøl, after 1989, the Cold War no longer existed as an ideology or security policy; rather, it existed as a cultural memory and imagination and a political and moral guide.11 Therefore, the Cold War still retains contemporary significance, such as in the political and academic fields. Despite this, little attention has been paid to the field of “memory research” with respect to the Cold War. Farbøl proposed various reasons why the “memory of the Cold War” has not been valued in the same way as the memories of other wars: 1. previous studies have focused on “hot wars,” such as the study of the two world wars or the Vietnam War; 2. the Cold War is not easily associated with specific commemorative events; 3. according to the traditional definition of war, the Cold War did not become a “real” war.12 The Cold War had unique characteristics. In fact, it became the “absent war” that lasted for half a century.
8A study by Michael Szonyi of Harvard University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations pointed out that in recent years, there have been two major trends in global Cold War research. First, with the opening of the archives of the Soviet bloc, some scholars began to reassess the Cold War period. However, Szonyi argued that such research remained focused on military and diplomatic history. This is the case, for example, of Patrick Major’s and Rana Mitters’ research, which did not result in the creation of a “new Cold War history.” Second, after the 1990s, with the cultural turn in Cold War research, many scholars began to study how culture and society contributed to influence the Cold War, which in turn influenced the culture and society. Research in this field was mostly focused on the U.S., followed by the Soviet Union.13 The current article focuses on two significant aspects of the memory of the Cold War within Taiwan. First, we examine Taiwan’s local history during the Cold War through the “geopoliticalization” of the everyday lives of ordinary people within the context of the Cold War. This blurs the traditional boundaries between the history of international relations and the history of domestic society.14 Second, we examine how local residents portray the Cold War today, observing in depth how they describe the impact of international politics on their daily lives. It becomes evident that the everyday life of ordinary Taiwanese people at the time was altered by the Cold War.
Cultural Encounters: USIS/U.S. Soldiers Overseas
9Numerous studies have stressed that the U.S. military has been a controversial phenomenon over the past 80 years.15 The U.S. armed forces have created an “empire” of military bases worldwide. Mark L. Gillem highlighted that “American servicemen and women are currently stationed in more than 140 countries from central America to Western Europe to the Middle East.”16 The related works reported in the following literature can be classified into two major categories: one focused on the military bases and the other are encounters within the civilian context. However, these can be seen as two sides of the same coin.
10Focusing on the military bases, Gillem contended that current U.S. military policy for its overseas troops practices neither assimilation nor association but encourages a new American empire of “avoidance.” The military bases are isolated and well-appointed compounds, designed to let the servicemen and women “feel like they are at home” while trying to prevent them from making contact with the local residents. According to Gillem’s viewpoint, the military bases are like “prisons,” earning fear and respect but not dialogue and empathy. Like “American Towns,” the military bases expose the arrogance of the U.S. consumption of foreign land.17 Gillem’s research mainly examined U.S. military bases from the perspective of architecture and space: the bases appear to exist in isolation, wherein their interaction with the outside world is minimized.
11A few studies have explored the unavoidable interactions between U.S. soldiers and local populations, by which the U.S. influences the local community in numerous ways. First, according to Jinim Park’s research, U.S. soldiers collaborated with American mercenaries who are Korean and Vietnamese in the Vietnam War. She identified the confrontation and hierarchy between them: “Americans, Koreans and Vietnamese were classified as first, second and third class people.”18 Second, the local people in the Vietnam War transformed their lifestyles, economy, and culture to gain “beneficial relationships” with the U.S. servicemen. Park proposed a framework of bodies, race, gender, and nation, pointing out the shortcomings of American and Korean writers’ works, such as when these narratives neglect female figures and people of color. It should be noted, however, that Park found that Korean soldiers were more concerned with the material aspects of war and regarded themselves as mercenaries fighting for America. Anni Baker focused on how U.S. bases affected economic and political life in the host communities, how host societies shaped the profiles and activities of military communities, and what happened when relations broke down. Through case studies of bases overseas, Baker pointed out the impacts of the U.S. presence, namely economic revitalization and cultural changes.19 These positive effects proposed by Baker were similar to those experienced in Taiwanese society at the time. The negative consequences, including the conflicts between soldiers and local people, have become controversial issues in many countries. In my study, however, local people reported often employing colorful tactics to mitigate disruptive situations.
12In Taiwan’s case, while considerable attention has been paid to military bases, a significant amount of literary works produced by local intellectuals have mentioned the United States Information Service (USIS) libraries during the Cold War period. These memories are from the viewpoints of elites in Taiwan’s writing circles. Many Taiwanese writers, such as Yuan Qiong-qiong (袁瓊瓊), Yindi (隱地), Fu Yuean (傅月庵), Yang Ze (楊澤), and Qi Bangyuan (齊邦媛),20 have similarities in describing their own life experiences in using the USIS libraries, and the ways they described were quite similar, such as the experience of reading English books in these libraries during their school days, the description of the exhibition space inside and the fact that the USIS offers a “modern” lending service.
13Despite the fact that there is some discussion about military bases, USIS libraries, and intellectual memories in the literature, there is a paucity of the narratives of “ordinary people” and how their daily lives were influenced by the U.S. and the Cold War in published research studies. The purpose of this study is to address this gap by examining the official memories forged by the U.S. and KMT officials in the past and by exploring the memories of ordinary people in the context of their social class and ethnic background.
Exhibitions as Representations of Cold War Memories
14One of the prominent media for conveying the memory of the Cold War in Taiwan is through exhibitions. Exhibitions are a way of “telling stories” using text, photos, and videos within a specific space as a medium for memory transmission. This section analyzes the cultural memory that Taiwan and U.S. officials wish to construct through the use of exhibitions.
15Tony Bennett asserted that museum exhibitions are a process of “visualizing” power relations.21 The exhibitions held by the USIS served to materialize and visualize Republic of China (ROC)–U.S./Taiwan–U.S. relations. The earliest such exhibition was titled “Americans in Taiwan” and ran between June 22–28, 1963. The exhibition was held by the USIS in its Taipei office (USIS-Taipei) and featured artworks created by Americans in Taiwan during their leisure time, which were oil paintings, watercolor paintings, and sketches in the style of modern, classical, and Chinese paintings.22 Through this exhibition, the USIS showed that the Americans living in Taiwan were interested in and enthusiastic about art and Chinese culture during that era. Thus, “Free China” (Republic of China/Taiwan) was constructed as the sole representative of the “orthodox” Chinese culture.23 This exhibition attracted visitors to the USIS cultural center to experience the modern art on display in the space. However, the exhibition simultaneously used the Americans’ study and love of Chinese paintings to indicate the tolerance and acceptance of other cultures by the U.S. and thus reinforce the notions of the strengths and mutual identification of the “ROC–U.S.” relationship.
16On January 1, 1979, Taiwan and the U.S. broke off formal diplomatic relations. In February 1979, the U.S. established the American Institue in Taiwan (AIT) in Taiwan. Although the U.S. government emphasized the “unofficial” status of the AIT, its staff and funding were in fact allocated by the U.S. State Department, giving it a clearly “official” de facto nature. The AIT maintained the previous functions of the American embassy while still enabling the U.S. to maintain relations with the ROC. Since its inception in 1979, the functions of the AIT had been low key, focusing mainly on visa processing, Taiwan–U.S. trade and business, and cultural exchanges. However, according to the relevant personnel from the American Center of NSYSU, 1999 was a turning point for the AIT’s policy. With the upcoming 2000 presidential election in Taiwan, the AIT found that it did not actually understand the political climate in southern Taiwan. To promote bilateral exchanges between Taiwan and the U.S., NSYSU established the American Center in 1999 with the support of the AIT. The AIT began planning a series of lectures and exhibitions in cooperation with the American Center.
17In conjunction with the art performances or lectures of the USIS period, following the “American Footsteps in Southern Taiwan” exhibit in 2010, “American Footsteps in Taiwan” exhibit in 2011, there were a series of exhibitions related to the U.S. The most significant difference from the official construction of the memory of the Cold War in the past was the construction of the “everyday life between Taiwanese and Americans in Taiwan” by the AIT. In other words, a series of exhibitions not only presented cultural memory, but also presented the “communicative memory” of certain people during a period of time, especially the elites of U.S. and Taiwan. Through these exhibitions, the following main idea was conveyed and strengthened: in both past and present Taiwan, Taiwanese people seem to love Americans very much and this sentiment seemed to be reciprocated.
18In addition, the exhibitions transformed “communicative memory” and tried to solidify it through photos and videos. For example, through the field work of the NSYSU team,24 the exhibitions featured oral histories related to “USAID agricultural products, whuch was .”25 Food provided by USAID not only supplemented the nutrition of Taiwanese people but also influenced and even persuaded locals to convert their religious beliefs to Christianity. Through the churches, USAID entered rural areas of southern Taiwan. Many families were given American flour and milk powder, which served as one of the main sources of nutrition for school children. Wearing clothing made out of flour bags was a childhood experience for many people. The use of American flour also led to the establishment of Western-style bakeries in Taiwan. These bakeries began to appear in Kaohsiung and became exclusive suppliers of U.S. military bread.26
19These exhibitions depicting cooperation between the U.S. government and a local university (NSYSU), showed Taiwanese people smiling as they received USAID flour or milk to be used as instructed, regarding them as important nutritional supplements. However, according to Interviewee Tsai, “American milk powder was not like the fresh milk you drink today! You had to make it yourself, and it often didn’t dissolve well. Personally, I don’t think it was very good. But at the time, we had no money. Plus, there was a shortage of everything, so American milk powder was very precious.” Interviewees Wang, Sue, and Chen all expressed similar views. Thus, there was a difference between the cultural memory constructed by the “propaganda photos” in the exhibitions (provided by the Information Bureau of the Executive Yuan)27 and the communicative memory of ordinary people.
20Moreover, in the 2010 exhibition, the Rest and Recuperation (R&R)28 program was diluted and dealt with positively. In the exhibition, there were three photos of bright and clean-looking bars. The description was as follows:
The Korean War broke out in 1950 and the U.S. Seventh Fleet was stationed in Taiwan. U.S. Navy personnel began to appear on Qixian 3rd Road, which is near the Kaohsiung Pier, leading to the development of a dedicated bar industry for U.S. servicemen. Qixian 3rd Road became a veritable “bar street” until the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.29
21However, according to the interviewees, these bars were typically dark and seedy and many illegal activities took place there. According to interviewee Kao:
In both large and small bars, the decor was almost the same. When you enter, it would be completely dark except for the light from small light bulbs.
22Interviewees Chen and Chang, who were bar owners, indicated that the bars relied on “darkness” to make money. The exhibition’s bright and clean bar photos, as an effort by Taiwan and the U.S. government to depict the R&R bar scene positively in cultural memory, appeared to be inconsistent with the communicative memory of Taiwanese people.
23In another exhibition, titled “American Footsteps in Taiwan,” which ran between April 2 and May 30, 2011, the AIT and the American Center of NSYSU collaborated to expand the former “American Footsteps in Southern Taiwan” exhibition. More than half of the photos and documents presented at this exhibition were related to “Taiwan–U.S. political and military cooperation.” Furthermore, the main axis of the narrative was very clear: “the firm friendship between Taiwan and the U.S.” The exhibition emphasized the long history of the Taiwan–U.S. friendship and focused on the U.S. contributions to Taiwan. According to AIT Taipei Director, William A. Stanton: “When you walk, you leave traces. I hope that through this exhibition, Taiwanese people will know about America’s long friendship with Taiwan.”30 The exhibition used 180 images and 68 historical artifacts to tell the stories of the close military, political, economic, educational, medical, and daily life cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S. In terms of image presentation in the exhibition, it was evident that the photos of Taiwan and U.S. officials were of staged interactions. For example, one of the photos showed a group of workers standing beside the propaganda vehicle of the U.S. Army Public Affairs Office, studying a pictorial of how to use a concrete mixer. Displays of the close interaction between Taiwan and the U.S. sought to convey that the U.S. brought all kinds of assistance and modernity to Taiwan, which were happily accepted by ordinary Taiwanese people. The exhibition attempted to use text and images to instill a particular cultural memory of the Taiwan–U.S. friendship, thereby heightening the awareness of this relationship in visitors.
24Similar to the 2010 exhibition, the “American Footsteps in Taiwan” exhibition in 2011 only mentioned the R&R program in passing. However, in the latter exhibition, the R&R program was depicted with a photo of two neat and well-dressed American soldiers eating steamed dumplings. The accompanying text read: “Because Taiwan was on the frontlines of the American containment of socialism, Zhongshan North Road in Taipei and Qixian 3rd Road in Kaohsiung once had many bars, bringing a special American scene to U.S. troops stationed in Taiwan and on R&R during the Vietnam war.”31 The series of Taiwan–U.S. exhibitions suggested that both sides intended to play down the cultural memory of the R&R program, especially when the text and images were used to sanitize the details of the R&R program, displaying it as an officially approved, positive, law-abiding, and orderly program.
25The series of special exhibitions on Taiwan–U.S. relations showed that in contrast to the past operations of the USIS, today the AIT has placed more emphasis on the construction of cultural memory between Taiwan and the U.S., which also means changing the social framework for constructing cultural memory. The construction of the memory of the Cold War is affected by two factors at both the macro and micro levels: changes in U.S. policy mentioned in the previous paragraphs and the attitudes of those in charge of the AIT. The AIT held this series of exhibitions mostly due to Sheila Paskman assuming the role of Public Affairs Section Chief on July 1, 2010. Paskman believed that history is not a single story, but an ongoing one that affects our lives today:
Paskman who studied modern Chinese history said that history is the stories of people, and history consists of many great and interesting stories. It is not just what happens on a certain day or certain month. Many people ignore the fact that history continues to affect our lives today.32
26Paskman’s view of history resulted in the emphasis on life and culture in the exhibitions. In other words, she had hoped to incorporate the communicative memory of a certain era, albeit a communicative memory that had been “approved” by the AIT, into the exhibitions through the appropriate media of photos and videos.
27On November 28, 2018, the Kaohsiung Museum of History began the “Strong Foundation, Bright Future: AIT@40, U.S.–Taiwan Relations Since 1979” exhibition (29/11/2018–8/4/2019). The narrative period of the exhibition began in 1979, continuing on from the “American Footsteps in Taiwan” exhibition. The main axis of the narrative broadcasted in the exhibition was demarcated by the terms of office of the AIT directors, emphasizing the comprehensive and long-term cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S. The textual description was as follows:
In 1979, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) was established as a non-profit, private corporation established in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, committed to upholding commercial, cultural and other relations between the people of the United States and the people in Taiwan and assisting Taiwan in maintaining its self-defense capabilities. Over the past forty years, the AIT has established a comprehensive, long-term and reciprocal partnership between Taiwan and the United States.
28In terms of its narrative approach, the exhibition differed from the narrative classification of “American Footsteps in Taiwan.” Rather than focusing on different spheres like politics, economics, culture, and education, it focused on official Taiwan–U.S. exchanges during the office terms of past AIT directors. Even when dealing with culture and sports, it still focused on so-called “celebrities,” emphasizing the outstanding performance of Taiwanese people in the U.S., such as the first Taiwanese student to be sent to the United States West Point Military Academy, Lee Wu-ling (李武陵); the first Taiwanese athlete to play in Major League Baseball, Tsao Chin-Hui (曹錦輝); and the first Taiwanese-American professional basketball player in the U.S., Jeremy Lin (林書豪).
29Although the exhibition did not feature any historical artifacts, it adopted the latest virtual reality (VR) technology using images to depict the “40 Years of Taiwan–U.S. Relations” between 1979 and 2019. There was also a film featuring directors who were active in the past, such as Kin W. Moy (梅健華, 2015–2018), emphasizing Taiwan’s democratic achievements, and ending with the segment “the U.S.–Taiwan relationship is great” (meitai guanxi zan 美台關係讚), once again highlighting the main axis of the exhibition. In addition, the exhibition featured 15 oral history films, which were largely based on the memories of politicians, including Lee Teng-hui, Ma Ying-jeou, James Soong, Vincent Siew, Fredrick Chien, Hau Pei-tsun, Stephen M. Young, and James F. Moriarty, as well as other figures, such as Audrey Tang (free software programmer and Digital Minister), Liu Ka-shiang (writer), Ju Tzong-Ching (percussionist), and Chen Wei-yin (baseball player). While this exhibition had the same basic messages as previous exhibitions, it focused mainly on Taiwanese and American officials and Taiwanese celebrities who benefited from the U.S. influence. It ignored the narrative memories of ordinary Taiwanese people.
30In sum, after 2010, the AIT has been more actively involved in the construction of the cultural memory regarding the friendly relationship between Taiwan and the U.S. The exhibitions showed a consistent axis in using cultural memory to define the Taiwan–U.S. friendship, exchange, and reciprocity. The special feature of the exhibitions was the change of the narrative media from texts, images, and USAID artifacts to VR. This change in the media sought to transform the “communicative memory” of a certain generation into “cultural memory.” However, the communicative memory that the exhibition wished to depict focused on American and Taiwanese politicians (who, with the exception of Lee Teng-hui, all were “mainlanders”) and social elites. The presented memory was concentrated on a particular class, giving the exhibition an elite bias in the construction of the memory of the Cold War.
Analysis of the Memory of the U.S. Military among the General Public
31Aside from the official discourse of friendship, exchange, and reciprocity, how did ordinary people understand/narrate this history? What was their communicative memory? The importance of understanding the memory of the Cold War among ordinary people lies in “asking big questions in small places.” From the memory of ordinary people, we can understand how the Cold War and regional conflicts affected people’s daily lives.33 This section analyzes the memories of USAID/the Cold War from ordinary people in different parts of Taiwan given through in-depth interviews. Four different types of communicative memory emerged from the interview results.
Representation of Others: The U.S. Military is the U.S. Dollar
32The first type of communicative memory emphasized that “the U.S. military is the U.S. dollar,” meaning that U.S. soldiers were objectified as monetary profit. U.S. servicemen were thus dehumanized by Taiwanese people: soldiers were nothing but dollars and numbers. In the official exhibitions in 2010 and 2011, the section about the U.S. military and bar culture, placed under the heading of “military cooperation,” pointed out that “at the peak of the Vietnam War, there were as many as 540,000 U.S. troops stationed in Vietnam. Cities such as Kaohsiung, Taichung, and Tainan close to sea and air bases became the main R&R centers for the U.S. military. The few hundred meters of Qixian 3rd Road (Qixiansanlu 七賢三路) from Wufu 4th Road (Wufusilu 五福四路) to Kaohsiung Harbor (Gaoxionggang 高雄港) were often crowded with American soldiers…”
33In the exhibition narrative, the number of U.S. troops in Taiwan was thus highlighted. This narrative was repeated in the interviews which I conducted in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung.
At the time, Zhongshan North Road (Zhongshanbeilu 中山北路) was full of American soldiers. The area extending to Dehui Street (Dehuijie 德惠街) and Shuancheng Street (Shuangchengjie 雙城街) held the range of their activities. (Interviewee Yu)
At the time, Wu-Chuan Road (Wuquanlu 五權路) was filled with American soldiers. They took shuttle buses from the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base (Qingquangangjidi 清泉崗基地) to downtown Taichung. (Interviewee John)
We could see Qixian 3rd Road (Qixiansanlu 七賢三路) at the time from our store window. The entire street was filled with American soldiers and bar girls walking around. (Interviewee King, Interviewee Green)
34In addition, interviewees described their contact with the U.S. servicemen, and their descriptions showed three different emphases on the U.S. soldiers in the relation to money. This communicative memory was different from the aforementioned official and intellectual cultural memory. While the images of the U.S. army in the exhibitions sought to show the discipline of soldiers, the local impressions of the U.S. army were those of human beings of flesh and blood. Therefore, their behavior was out-of-control at times.
1. Emphasis on the profligacy of the U.S. military:
35Numerous interviewees conveyed the notion that the spending habits of the U.S. military were remarkably extravagant, frequently citing the saying “They Spent money like water!” (花錢如流水). They emphasized the exchange rate ratio between the US dollar and the Taiwanese currency during the 1960s was 01:40, underscoring the considerable value of the US dollar during that period. Furthermore, they observed that the expenditures made by U.S. servicemen played a substantial role in fueling the growth of the local economy.
These big-headed American soldiers spent money like water! (Interviewee Grace)
When they came to Taiwan, they all had a lot of money in their pockets. They would not be stingy in their spending in stores, because after their vacation, they would have to return to the battlefield in Vietnam. They were unsure if they would have the chance to come back alive. So, they had a very casual attitude towards money. (Interviewee Green)
Let’s start from the Americans disembarking from their boats! At the time, the Americans were fighting the Vietnam War! During the war, they would come in batches to Taiwan for vacation, one week at a time. You know what it was like for them fighting the war there, going through fire and water; it was very hard, there was no way to relax. They came to Taiwan for a vacation. To encourage young people to fight for their country, the American government increased their salary a lot! When they came, they were not afraid of the consequences and just spent their money. Spent as much as possible and be as happy as possible. If you are talking about Taiwan’s economic miracle, I believe it was brought about by the Americans/American military. Like Yanchengpu (Yanchengpu 鹽埕埔)34 here in Kaohsiung, it was originally because the U.S. military came to Taiwan and brought crowds of soldiers that spent money, and some goods also came in, promoting the development of local economic activities. (Interviewee Helen)
36In the interviewees’ discourse, the economic miracle was “not” the result of the leadership of the KMT government as that government claimed, but rather the result of American troops coming to Taiwan for leisure and spending money. These viewpoints ran counter to the history constructed by the KMT officials but were similar to the secrets behind the economic miracle revealed by later researchers.35 To a certain extent, the revitalization of the local Taiwanese economy brought about by the U.S. military is similar to Baker’s viewpoints about how U.S. bases shape the economic activities of the host communities.
2. Emphasis on the perception of U.S. soldiers as generous and charitable:
37Interviewee Grace stated that the American soldiers with whom she interacted in her business were very generous. These American soldiers were kind to the local children:
The American soldiers were often surrounded by groups of Taiwanese children. Some American soldiers would bring a group of Taiwanese children directly to our store to buy things for these children. (Interviewee Grace)
38Another example was given by interviewee Wang:
I remember when I was in elementary school, I accidentally ran into the American military base. I was caught by the American soldiers. At the time I felt terribly scared as to what the foreigners would do to me ... But actually, after telling me a load of things I couldn’t understand, they gave me a Coke to drink and also gave me U.S. money and let me go. (Interviewee Wang).
39This part of ordinary people’s communicative memory showed their positive impression of the U.S. military. It’s worth noting that their recollections of the generosity of the U.S. servicemen often coincided with memories of personally receiving material and monetary gifts from them.
3. Emphasis on the interactions between Taiwanese people and the U.S. military:
40In contrast to the positive exchanges depicted in the exhibition of “American Footsteps in Taiwan,” in terms of the U.S. military in Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan, the local emphasis was on the “money benefits” that they brought. Interviewee Lin indicated:
When the U.S. soldiers came, they would be surrounded by our children screaming “money, money.” (Interviewee Lin).
41Interviewees living in Kaohsiung recalled the following:
The first English word that I learned in my life was “money” because as soon as the U.S. soldiers appeared on Qixian 3rd Road, they would be surrounded by people selling flowers or records. As children, we would also sneak up to the U.S. soldiers calling out “money, money.” They would really give us money. (Interviewee Green)
42According to the interviewees, “Most people in Kaohsiung believed that children would learn bad things on Qixian 3rd Road, so they were forbidden from going to Qixian 3rd Road without permission, on fear of being beaten”; “The American soldiers would change 100 dollars into 1 dollar bills and ride a tricycle while blowing a whistle. When the children ran over to them, they would each be handed 1 dollar by the U.S. soldiers. They were very happy to see the children grabbing the money”.36 “Back then, when the children saw the U.S. soldiers, they would clap their hands and shout ‘hello, hello.’ The American soldiers would give them 1 dollar, and everyone would be happy.”37 According to the communicative memory expressed by the local people, the most impressive part of their contact with the U.S. servicemen was receiving “money,” not the solid friendship as declared by the officials of KMT and the U.S. In other words, for ordinary people, their positive and direct emotions toward the U.S. military actually came from the material aspect.
Amercian Modernity : Working for the Americans
43The second type of communicative memory was related to “working for the Americans.” This type of memory has not been reflected much in the memory of the government or intellectuals. The interviewees giving their narratives of working as construction foremen and laborers for the Americans were all Taiwanese rather than mainlanders. They reported having a “positive” attitude toward American modernity. The similarities between this type of communicative memory from ordinary people and the official ideology promoted by the government through exhibitions included the emphasis on the modernity brought about by the U.S. However, in the exhibition, “American Footsteps in Taiwan,” the objects on display were mostly military (e.g., altazimuth, centrifuges, or filters), medical supplies (e.g., medical yarn), or equipment, such as loudspeakers, typewriters, or drills, demonstrating the modernity and progress of the U.S. in military, medical, and industrial technology. The communicative memory narratives of ordinary people suggested how American modernity was experienced and regarded by ordinary people. Workers, such as interviewee Hsu, who worked for the American company Fornell at the Ching Chun Kang Airbase in Taichung, stated:
The Americans had buses to pick us workers up to go and work at the base. I remember that the buses were dark green, much like today’s buses. At the time, I felt that these Americans were really good to the workers!
The working time of Americans was very fixed, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, with an hour of rest in the middle. Unlike workers in Taiwanese companies at the time, who had to work from very early to very late.
44Hsu emphasized the “benefits” of working for American companies for local workers in Taiwan. Interviewee Hu also said, “For the Taiwanese at the time, the Americans were ‘softer.’ Doing American work was easier, and the pay was higher. People in our village were eager to do it , but we required a mediator to connect us with the work group.” And it was enough for each person to just do one thing at a time. For example, I was in the W group (workers for the Americans were grouped according to letters of the English alphabet) and was responsible for the formwork. You just had to do this one thing one time...” When discussing working for the Americans, Hu mentioned the better working hours, pay, and perks, as well as the specialization of labor for construction work. In summary, for those working for the Americans, the American modernity and benefits were mainly measured by them in their better pay and working.
45Another foreman (interviewee Dick) nodded repeatedly and added: “The Americans’ machines were really powerful! Really powerful!” The two foremen both affirmed the modernity of the technology of the American construction company.
46As for the foremen for the Americans, the perceived “benefits” in their communicative memory were different. Although both worked for Americans, Taiwanese workers and foremen had different perceptions of the so-called American “benefits” largely based on status and class. According to interviewee Gu:
I was a foreman in the Japanese era! If you wanted me to compare the differences between how Americans and Japanese worked, I think that Westerners had a lot of powerful machines. Some of the machines were very big. The first time they brought one along, I was shocked; I had never seen such a powerful machine.
47Another foreman (interviewee Dick) nodded frequently and added: “The Americans’ machines were really powerful! Really powerful!” The two foremen unanimously affirmed the modernity of the technology of the American construction company. When asked to rank pre-war Japanese, post-war American, and KMT companies in the bases, they emphatically said that the Americans were first and the KMT last. We can therefore deduce that they regarded American modernity as superior to Japanese modernity, with the KMT government’s modernity seen as the least impressive. From the communicative memory of workers and foremen, we can understand their perceptions of modernity and the hierarchy between different countries. In addition to modern machinery, the U.S. had superior working conditions and salary, giving Taiwanese workers a more modern and sophisticated memory of “working for the Americans.”
Bar Culture in Popular Memory
48The third type of memory was that of the bar culture. Compared to the positive and simplified handling of the “U.S. Military Rest and Recuperation Program in Taiwan” presented in the official Taiwanese and American accounts, bar culture was a central theme in the communicative memory of interviewees, irrespective of Taiwanese/mainlander, social class, or regional (Northern, Central, and Southern) differences. In other words, “bars” were the most important “memory sites”38 in the narratives of ordinary people.39 The development of Taiwanese bars after the war must be observed under the geopolitics of the Cold War, revealing the historical meaning of bar culture. In Taiwan at the time, bars were not a place of “leisure” for ordinary people in Taiwan, but instead a place of “labor.” Ordinary people were the workers, not the customers.
49On November 25, 1965, the “U.S. Military Rest and Recuperation Program in Taiwan” was implemented, and Taiwan became one of the choices for R&R destinations for U.S. soldiers, leading to a flourishing bar culture:
Zhongshan North Road, Linsen North Road to Dehui Street and Shuancheng Street—at night, it transformed into a different world. (Interviewee Pei)
50Wu, who lived in Daya, Taichung, stated:
In that era, my biggest impression was that as children, we would go to the church to do our homework after class. Opposite the church was a bar. It was very black and dark. We children would peer across the road to take a peek at what the American soldiers and bar girls were doing. I also saw American soldiers jumping up on the table to dance.
51Wu described the emergence of bars as a response to the arrival of U.S. soldiers in Taiwan. In addition, various businesses related to the lives of American soldiers, such as record stores, consignment stores, leather shoe shops, and suit shops, flourished in response to the arrival of the U.S. military in Taiwan. A similar narrative also emerged regarding Wuquan Road and Daya Road in Taichung:
Do you know how busy Wuquan Road was at the time? There were various stores supplying anything you could possibly need including record stores, shoe stores, and clothing stores. I remember there were several barbecue restaurants because Americans liked to eat barbecue. (Interviewees Den and Diana)
The stores on Qixian 3rd Road and Dagouding were all open to 11 or 12 at night. There were also many record stores. They would play English songs all day: “Beautiful Sunday” ... it didn't stop ... I can still sing it now. The American soldiers loved to buy records! (Interviewee Helen)
52In Northern Taiwan, interviewees called the women who worked at the bars “bar girls” (banu 吧女) or “cats” (maozai 貓仔) in Taiwanese, while bars were “cat rooms” (maozaijian 貓仔間). The latter had a derogatory meaning. In Central Taiwan, the women were referred to as “bar girl” (banu 吧女). In Kaohsiung, they were consistently referred to as “bar aunties” (jiubasao 酒吧嫂). According to interviewees, this was a local usage in Kaohsiung. By adding the character “aunt” (sao 嫂), it gave the term a more respectable meaning in Taiwanese. Among the U.S. military clubs in Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan, only the ones in Kaohsiung were called “Horny Clubs” (taigegui 胎哥鬼, angzanggui 骯髒鬼), a name with derogatory connotations. According to interviewee Kao:
They called the bars “Horny Clubs” because the American soldiers and bar girls would hug or kiss on the street. This was very much in-your-face and difficult for Taiwanese people at the time to accept.
53The above narratives showed the commonalities and differences between regions in the communicative memory of ordinary people.
Self-Representation: Flexibility and Ingenuity
54The fourth type of memory emphasized the flexibility and ingenuity of Taiwanese people. Compared with previous studies,40 this article underlined the agency of actors in relation to U.S. soldiers. Prior to constructing the fourth narrative, the interviewees emphasized the large number of U.S. troops and then moved on to Taiwan–U.S. relations:
Do you know why we referred to “American soldiers” as Meiguo dabin (美國大兵)? The word we used for “soldiers” (dabin 大兵) made them look dull and obstinate, unlike us Taiwanese who can quickly adapt to situations. (Interviewee Wang)
When doing business with them [the Americans], the Americans do everything in steps, unlike us tricky Taiwanese. (Interviewee Leo)
Americans pay particular attention to integrity when doing business. If they realize that you deceived them one time, they won’t do business with you next time. So, to do business with Americans, integrity is very important. (Interviewee Yu)
55From these narratives, according to the Taiwanese, the Americans paid attention to trustworthiness and keeping commitments and did not resort to opportunism or trickery. The Taiwanese constructed this image of Americans through narrative; through this process, they also formed some understanding of their Taiwanese identity.
56Facing these characteristics of Americans, interviewees mocked the American soldiers in a humorous tone in the narrative, in turn emphasizing the flexibility and ingenuity of the Taiwanese.
You know that we Taiwanese are more adaptable! So, not only did we take things from the PX (the U.S. military consignment store) to sell on the “black market” (zeizishi 賊仔市), we even joked that if we could manage to get a tank out, we Taiwanese would be able to sell it. (Interviewee David)
The Americans were actually very wasteful. If they didn’t finish their Air Force flight lunch box, they would throw it away near Haifeng Village (Haifengli 海風里) in Qingshui. Taiwanese were smarter. They went out and collected and sorted the thrown-away lunch boxes and sold them in Taichung. Many of us here relied on the Americans’ garbage to get rich. (Interviewee Tsai)
We helped the Americans to build a runway at the Ching Chun Kang Airbase. The Americans would come and ask us, “Is the concrete for the runway dry?” We would lie to them and say, “Not yet, not yet,” so we could continue to rest. So, we all thought that working for the Americans was so easy! (Interviewee Yang)
57Even though there were differences between the narrative content of the interviewees, there was a similar theme of emphasizing their own flexibility and adaptability. While in their minds the American personalities had a scrupulous attention to detail and were more methodical, Taiwanese people used various means to improve their status and make a profit.
58In particular, many interviewees in Kaohsiung pointed out the tricks that the women working at the bars used to deceive U.S. soldiers. This was inconsistent with the official account that emphasized “the soldiers’ sympathy for the vulnerable bar girls.” There were two frequently heard storylines. One involved the women cooperating with local stores to swindle soldiers out of U.S. dollars:
Some girls would bring U.S. soldiers into the store. The girl would wink at the store owner, quote the price to the soldier, and then ask the soldier to pay in U.S. dollars. These bar girls would quote inflated prices and then return to the store to collect the amount above the real price. Bar girls with more integrity would give the store a commission. (Interviewee Grace; the interviewee used the Japanese word for “commission.”)
59The second storyline involved hoodwinking U.S. soldiers in various ways to earn more drink commission. For example, U.S. soldiers would pay to take the girls out of the bar, but the girls would try and find a way to escape and run back to the bar to earn more drink commission:
Some girls had no conscience: the U.S. soldiers had already paid, and they just ran away! And then went back to working behind the bar. (Interviewee Kao).
60When the soldier who was cheated reported it, the bar owner and the bar girl would put on an act together to deceive the soldier. According to Interviewee Kao:
If the U.S. soldier came to complain, “never admit it.” This was the basic trick and “motto” of being a bar girl. The Taiwanese police, bar owners, and girls worked very close with one another. Therefore, when a dispute like this occurred, they staged a trial in front of the U.S. soldier. The owner would ask all of the girls to line up so that the serviceman could pick out which one cheated him. However, there was no way for him to distinguish which girl it was, because to the U.S. soldiers all Taiwanese girls looked the same. In this situation, the American had no choice but to admit defeat and leave.
61They called the language that they used for their performance “Eight-Nation Alliance language” (baguolianjunyu 八國聯軍語). This was a language that was neither English, Japanese, Mandarin, or Taiwanese. It was just gibberish mixed in with Taiwanese insults. The coquettish body language of the girls would ease the conflict, and due to the language barrier, the American soldier would mistakenly believe that the case had already been handled by the local police.
62It is worth noting here the mainlander/Taiwanese/ethnic and class differences behind these narratives. According to interviewees Green and Grace, the bar owners were nearly all mainlanders, especially from Qingdao (青島) in Shandong (Province Shandongsheng 山東省).41 It was said that they already had the experience of running bars in Qingdao before. Upon arrival in Taiwan, the mainlander bar owners formed close ties and cooperated with each other. According to Li Hsiu-chien, a resident of Yancheng:
At the time, the bar industry was run by mainlanders. I remembered that most were from Shandong, also including people from Qingdao, Anhui, Gansu, Shanghai, and so on.42
63The bar owner Wu Hsi-chung also added:
Bar owners in Kaohsiung were mostly from Shandong and Qingdao. More than two-thirds of the 33 bars had Shandong owners.43
Most of the managers were also the owners (some were hired). Because they were all mainlanders, they had a very distinct accent (especially the Shandong accent, which sounds like thunder). (Interviewee Kao)
64In short, one needed a license to operate a bar. At the time, because mainlanders had patronage relationships with the KMT government and past experience of managing bars in China, it was easier for them than the local Taiwanese to apply for a bar license. The mainlander/Taiwanese status of the other staff in the bars including the bartenders, bar girls, and “pimps/runners” was not obvious. According to the bar owners on Wuquan Road, Taichung (interviewees Chen and Chang), most of the bar girls at the time were local Taiwanese people. However, a bar owner in Kaohsiung said that the bar girls could be divided according to different periods: in the 1950s, the bar girls in Kaohsiung were all mainlanders, especially from Qingdao, Shandong, and Shanghai; in the 1960s, they were mainly local Han Taiwanese girls. This was consistent with the account given by the Taichung bar owner who said that from the mid-1960s, it was mostly indigenous Taiwanese girls. Unlike the bar owners who were all mainlanders, the Taiwanese/mainlander makeup of the bar girls was more complicated and diverse. In addition, there were large differences in the background and social classes of the bar girls. “The record for the most girls in my bar was 65, of those 30 or so were college students, while another 30 or so had only elementary school education or were illiterate.”44
65Differences in the mainlander/Taiwanese and social class statuses influenced the narrative identity of individuals. According to the interview data, mainlanders had complex “love and hate” emotions toward the U.S.:
The Americans came to Taiwan and helped Taiwan actually for their own benefits! You can say that they are imperialists. Although they did bring some benefits to Taiwan, don’t forget that these were based on their own national interest! (Interviewee Tom)
66This interviewee had the benefit of English language knowledge. He had graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages, National Taiwan University, and had served as a translator for the U.S. military. He was a mainlander. His accounts gave the current researcher a sense of his contradictory feelings of love and hate for the U.S. A similar narrative also appeared in the interviews with bar owners from other provinces:
Americans are both compassionate and heartless! Don’t pay attention to the fact that they treat you well now, because this is in their own interest. They can turn against a friend in a second! (Interviewee Chen)
67Chang mentioned that to defend their rights, Americans could quickly change their position. The KMT and U.S. government official narratives wished to convey to the populace that there was a firm friendship between Taiwan and the U.S., with continued American assistance to Taiwan over many years, a mutually beneficial and reciprocal exchange. This was largely inconsistent with the narratives of ordinary people. This disparity largely depended on class.
68In answering the question, “What is your overall impression of the U.S. military/Americans?”, the interviewees indicated responses that showed differences based on Taiwanese/mainlander status and social class status. As described above, middle-class mainlanders were inclined to express criticisms of the U.S., regarding it as a symbol of global hegemony pursuing its own national interests. However, the working-class mainlanders and local Taiwanese emphasized the various benefits brought about by the U.S., including material benefits and a positive influence on everyday life, tending toward a positive narrative mode. For example, the interviewees mentioned the following:
At the time, we were very poor. Americans brought flour and other supplies and helped us a lot. We called Christianity the “flour religion” (mianfenjiao 麺粉教). (Interviewee Sue)
I relied on the Americans to get my business started! At the time, the currency exchange rate was 1:40. The American money was more valuable. (Interviewee Fay)
Our family lived off USAID (Meiyuan 美援)! Besides USAID milk, I remember that my mother found a whole bunch of second-hand clothes that the Americans didn’t want from somewhere. She sorted them and then sold them. They sold well! We lived off of American second-hand clothes. (Interviewee Chung)
69These interviewees were working-class local Taiwanese people, who paid more attention to the U.S. material benefits. From their communicative memory, I can find affirmations of the U.S. and the “benefits” of the Cold War.
70Unlike those of the working-class Taiwanese, the communicative memory of the working-class mainlanders concerning the U.S. featured contradictory narratives of “benefits” and “power.” This study interviewed people engaged in the baking industry from Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan (interviewees Liou, Way, and Jack). They were all mainlanders and were almost unanimously positive about the American “sanitation” requirements. Although the sanitation discourse was not evident in the official exhibitions and the memory of intellectuals, it was consistently found in the narratives of mainlanders in the baking industry. The concept of health education in Taiwan was still in the promotional stage at the time, as the KMT government only actively promoted health education after the 1960s, including the promulgation of the “basic knowledge for modern people” and “citizen etiquette norms.” By contrast, the U.S. military/Americans strictly enforced their own sanitation standards in Taiwan, leaving a profound impression on people in the baking industry. Those working in the industry felt the economic “benefits” brought about by the U.S. soldiers’ demands for baked products, as well as the “power” of the U.S. military from its strict “sanitation” standards.
71For example, a bakery in North Taiwan was evaluated by the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group as achieving sanitary standard A. Its products were mainly provided to the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group stationed in Taiwan. Meeting the quality control standards of the U.S. military was not easy for bakeries, as they were subject to regular inspections by the U.S. military:
At the time, they [the U.S. military] would send people to check every week. If you think back to that era when everything was scarce, no one was bothered about cleaning. The U.S. military would send people to inspect, checking the appearance of each baker, examining their fingernails, and even going to the toilet to see if the toilets used by our employees were clean, so you can see that they [the U.S. military] were very strict. (Interviewee Way)
72The owner was very impressed by the meticulous sanitation inspections of the U.S. military. A bakery in Central Taiwan also discussed the sanitation requirements of the U.S. military. According to interviewee Liou:
I needed to make a living after retiring from the army. At the time, the U.S. military required a bread supplier, but the U.S. military sanitation requirements were very strict. We had to pass their regular testing to become their bread supplier. For example, a famous sun cake store in Taichung - I don’t want to say which one - when the U.S. military checked their flour storeroom and found mice, the bakery was unable to pass inspection. Subsequently, the U.S. military inspected our bakery. Everything had to be inspected from our work environment to the fingernails of our bakers. It was really strict.
73From the above interviews, I found that most of the owners of bakeries were mainlanders. They were often retired from the military and had acquired a new skill to be able to transfer to the baking industry, taking over the bread market under the USAID. Therefore, from their narratives, I noticed that they enjoyed the beneficial effects of the U.S. while simultaneously being subject to its power.
74At present, the memory of the Cold War in Western academia does not present death, loss, or suffering; further, there are no victims or martyrs. In short, the “negative consequences” of the Cold War are completely absent, and we are left with only exaggerated praise and celebration.45 In Taiwan, the narratives of the memory of the Cold War are much more complicated. Based on the concept of the communicative memory of ordinary people, interviewees narrated versions of the memory of the Cold War that were different from the official versions. In their memory, I point out the similarities and differences between those with mainlander or Taiwanese origins from different social classes and regions.
Conclusion
75To some extent, the exhibitions mentioned above reconstructed Taiwan’s “memory of the Cold War,” conveying the ideology of “friendship between Taiwan and the U.S.,” “close exchanges between Taiwan and the U.S.,” and “the U.S. as Taiwan’s long-time protector.” The importance of this study lies in its reflection regarding the construction of the memory of the Cold War in Taiwan and its re-engagement with the existing official discourse of Taiwan and the U.S. There is a gap between the officially constructed elite-orientated cultural memory and the communicative memory of ordinary people.
76First, in the official exhibitions of the AIT and USIS, we can see what changed and what remained unchanged in the official narrative analysis of the U.S. Since the 1960s, the U.S. narrative structure has remained unchanged, using the same stereotypical vocabulary of “friendship,” “exchange,” and “reciprocity” to reconstruct cultural memory through exhibitions. Since 2010, in response to the rise of China’s threat to Taiwan and its “sharp power”, the AIT has become more active in various propaganda activities surrounding Taiwan.The reconstruction of memory and actors’ awareness of their present and future are closely related. Taiwan and the U.S. have once again consolidated their relationship through the construction of historical memory. Although the emphasis is on the past, the purpose is the direction of future action. Therefore, the reshaping and consolidation of historical memory are not only matters of the “past;” they also point to current political relations and the future direction of development.
77Second, this research revealed the memory of the Cold War among ordinary people. According to interviewees, they learned about America as well as the Vietnam War and Cold War through contact with the U.S. military/American people. In their narratives, ordinary people generally held a “negative” attitude towards their own life experiences. They believed that their own memory of the Cold War was not important. However, when discussing the U.S. military/U.S., mainlanders, such as bar owners and the operators of bakeries, often had contradictory narratives of U.S. benefits/power. For the local Taiwanese, the mainly working-class communicative memory focused on the “immediate material benefits” brought about by the Americans. The economic impact of the U.S. on them personally and even Taiwan was significant. Therefore, this narrative structure emphasized the large number of U.S. soldiers and their spending power. This showed that even if the Taiwanese and U.S. governments were committed to shaping the cultural memory of the Cold War, the Taiwanese/mainlander status and social classes of Taiwanese people influenced their perceptions and understandings of American power, as shown in their communicative memory.
78Finally, from the perspective of research on memory, exploring the memory of the Cold War in Taiwan has the following implications. First, in terms of the mediums for the transmission of cultural memory, aside from the four mediums proposed by Harald Welzer,46 this study included the use of new VR technology in memory construction and the building of cultural memory through the communicative memory of elites. Second, from the perspectives of communicative memory and cultural memory, the communicative memory of ordinary people did not become a part of cultural memory. This study revealed the political and elite nature of the construction of official cultural memory. From the perspective of Cold War research, this study focused on the perspectives of ordinary people, exploring the daily life of Taiwanese people in the context of Cold War geopolitics. It also identified differences in the cultural memory of ordinary people according to time period, Taiwanese/mainlander status, and social class, which in turn affected whether they regarded the Cold War in terms of American “power” or Cold War “benefits.”
79Taiwan’s memory of the Cold War is not an independent phenomenon; it shares commonalities with those of other places around the world under the geopolitical influence of the Cold War, which has produced different memories based on the differences between countries. Therefore, more in-depth comparative studies regarding the memory of the Cold War in different countries are still required. In contrast to Michael Szonyi’s memory of the Cold War in relation to Kinmen (Jinmen 金門) in Taiwan, which was a battlefield and under military control, the memories of the Cold War in the other parts of Taiwan are more focused on economic, vacation, and leisure aspects. In these narratives of ordinary Taiwanese people’s memory of the Cold War, we found contradictions in the perceptions of U.S. “power” and “benefits” due to mainlander/Taiwanese status, social class, and time period factors.
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Notes de bas de page
1 The Republic of China and the United States signed the “China-US Mutual Defense Treaty” (中美共同防禦條約) in December 1954, later in 1956 implemented the “Yangmingshan Program”. At that time, the KMT government moved some residents of the Qingshui Town to Xinshe Town in order to provide US with land for the construction of CCK base. In 1999, the September 21 Earthquake occurred. The problem of land ownership arose for the relocated residents living in Xinshe. They found that they only owned their houses but not land they were situated on, so they went back to trace the details of the Yangmingshan program.
2 U.S. military economy (meijun jingji 美軍經濟) refers to the trend in recent years of renovating old Japanese-occupied houses, with attention turning to former U.S. military official residences, which have also been converted into trendy coffee shops and restaurants. Taiwanese people are trying to convert the buildings left behind by the U.S. military into cultural and economic resources. This effort continues to be part of the so-called “U.S. military economy.”
3 Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party, KMT) was founded in 1911 and adheres to the “Three Principles Of The People,” which refers to Sun Yat-Sen's principles of nationalism, democracy, and the people's livelihood. In 1949, the KMT lost the civil war to the Communist Party and retreated to Taiwan to maintain its one-party rule. It was not until 1996 that Taiwan held its first presidential election. KMT became the opposition party for the first time since 1911 in the 2000 presidential election.
4 Halbwachs, 2002, p. 39–40.
5 Assmann, 2006, p. 3.
6 Welzer, 2007, p. 5.
7 The cooperation between Sun Yat-sen University and the Kaohsiung branch of the American Institute in Taiwan can be traced back to 2001. Jiang Weilin, head of the economic and consular section of the AIT Kaohsiung branch, said, "They invest resources to assist the operation of the Sun Yat-sen American Center, mainly hoping that the center can become the best way for people to obtain information about the United States." AIT has taken practical actions to sponsor the general education courses offered by the American Center of Sun Yat-sen University. During this cooperation, the "American Footprints in Southern Taiwan Special Exhibition" was held in 2010 and extended to 2011 "Special Exhibition of Americans' Footprints in Taiwan", etc.
8 Assmann, 2016, p. 59.
9 Mainlanders refer to a group of people (and their descendants) in Taiwan who are ethnically Chinese and migrated to Taiwan from provinces in China at the end of the Second World War in 1945. Also known as Taiwan’s post-war immigrants, most of this group had fled to Taiwan in 1949 when the KMT lost control of mainland China.
10 Park, 2007, p. 1.
11 Farbøl, 2017, p. 150.
12 Ibid., p. 161–164.
13 Szonyi, 2016, p. 12.
14 Ibid., p. 325.
15 Baker, 2004; Gillem, 2007.
16 Gillem, 2007, p. xvii.
17 Ibid., p. 23–25.
18 Park, 2007, p. 28.
19 Baker, 2004, p. 58–60.
20 Yuan Qiongqiong, 2018; Yindi, 2000; Fu Yuean, 2003; Yang Ze, 1994; Qi Bangyuan, 2009.
21 Bennett, 1995, p. 59–88.
22 United Daily News, 21 June 1963.
23 During the Cold War, the KMT government sought aids from the United States while at the same time established itself as the representative of an orthodox and free China. Therefore, it became known as “Free China”. The term Free China is opposite to the “Communist China”.
24 The team comprised political and social science professors, Kaohsiung AIT officials, and laypersons familiar with this history. The objective of the team was to promote understanding between Americans and Taiwanese by holding lectures and activities concerning American culture and education.
25 USAID refers to U.S. government’s international development agency administering civilian foreign aid. In Taiwan, USAID fell under the Mutual Security Acts. The financial USAID operated from 1951 to 1965, while the military USAID ran from 1950 to 1975.
26 Shin Chuie-Ling (ed.), 2010, p. 30.
27 The Information Bureau of the Executive Yuan is one of the five branches of the ROC government.
28 U.S. Military Rest and Recuperation Program (R&R) in Taiwan refers to the U.S. Department of Defense designating Taiwan as one of the resort areas for U.S. troops stationed in Vietnam, thereby including a vacation plan for Taiwan in its R&R program. It was implemented on November 25, 1965, and lasted for two years and three months. Other R&R destinations in the Pacific region designated by the U.S. military included Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Penang, Lang Island, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Australia, and Hawaii. “Taiwan Tourism Industry Survey Report,” Taipei: Tourism Commission of the Ministry of Communications, October 1968, p. 185.
29 Shin Chuie-Ling (ed.), 2010, p. 47.
30 United Daily News, 18 December 2010.
31 American Institute in Taiwan, 2011, p. 122.
32 United Daily News, 19 May 2013.
33 Szonyi, 2016, p. xvi.
34 Yanchenpu is the former name of Yancheng District nowadays. Yanchenpu was the political and economic center of Kaohsiung City in the early days. Since the era of Japanese occupation, Yancheng’s industrial and commercial prosperity was said to equal that of Ginza. Until the Japanese left and the U.S. troops moved in, the popular Yancheng District had many Western bars and restaurants, with the romantic beauty of the Love River as a backdrop.
35 Wen Hsinying, 1990.
36 Li Hsiu-chien, 2007, p. 28.
37 Ibid., p. 29.
38 The original text is Lieux de Mémoire proposed by French historian Pierre Nora. In Nora’s words, “A lieu de mémoire is any significant entity, whether material or non-material in nature, which by dint of human will or the work of time has become a symbolic element of the memorial heritage of any community.” Nora, 1989, p.12
39 Assmann, 2006, p. 8–9.
40 Baker, 2004; Park, 2007; Gillem, 2007.
41 Qingdao is located in China’s Shandong Province. It became a concession of Germany in 1897 and became an important commercial hub for Germany in China. Later, Japan replaced Germany in Qingdao. Qingdao was therefore deeply influenced by the bar culture of foreign countries.
42 Lin Xiuqian, 2007, p. 17.
43 Ibid., p. 39.
44 Ibid., p. 55.
45 Farbøl, 2017, p. 155.
46 Welzer, 2007.
Auteur
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Mei-Hsiang Wang
National Sun Yat-Sen University

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