REGIONAL REPORT : EL MONTE : Cultural Center Is Symbol of Taiwanese Controversy

What’s in a name?

Plenty when it comes to the Chinese Cultural Center in El Monte.

Many say the $3-million facility built by the Taiwanese government is a haven where overseas Chinese can rekindle ties with their historic culture.

But others, who believe Taiwan should be independent of China, see the center as a slap in the face. They want it renamed the Taiwanese Cultural Center to reflect who funded the facility.

They also accuse center officials of discriminating against them because of their political views. As evidence, they claim that center officials have not made rooms available when they call to schedule meetings.

“They intentionally discourage (pro-independence) Taiwanese Americans from using the center; a lot of us don’t want to do any activities under that flag,” said Jack Liu of Palos Verdes, president of the Collegiate Alumni Assn. of Taiwan, referring to the Taiwanese flag that adorns the lobby.

To draw attention to their concerns, Liu and other pro-independence Taiwanese Americans planned a press conference today at a San Gabriel restaurant. Some said they will boycott the center until the name is changed.

Daniel Liao, director of the center, denied Liu’s claim and said the center welcomes all overseas Chinese organizations. He said thousands of Chinese Americans use the center each week to take out books, hold conferences or learn calligraphy.

“We’re willing to serve people, welcome people, regardless of their political associations, Liao said. “I have no grudge with them. I respect their opinions. But there is a current reality existing. What will happen in the future we can’t tell.”

The debate offers a peek at the political crosscurrents battering Taiwan today, pitting many of the 500,000 to 600,000 overseas Chinese in Southern California against each other.

On one side stand pro-independence Taiwanese Americans such as Liu who think that Taiwan’s 21 million people should forget about negotiating a reunification with the People’s Republic of China and declare themselves a free and separate nation.

On the other side are Taiwanese Americans such as Marina Tse, president of the Chinese American Educator’s Assn. Tse, whose father was a senator in Taiwan, supports the government, which seeks an eventual reunification with mainland China.

Taiwan calls itself the Republic of China. Mainland China, under its communist government, is the People’s Republic of China. The feud between the two dates back 50 years, to when Mao Tse Tung’s communists fought Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang party for control of the most populous nation in the world.

By 1949, Mao had won and the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan, where they established a government in exile with the aim of eventually returning to the mainland once communism had been vanquished. They are still waiting.