A Different Path
Like his critique of empire, the logic of Cai's argument for self rule was inherently spatial. He argued that Taiwan was a unique place, whose history had produced a unique people. For that reason, Taiwan deserved to express its unique character in the world through self government.
“We insist that a Taiwan parliament, based in the principle of self-rule, be speedily established. Just like you are not the same as us because of the effects of a thousand years of history and a special landscape, we also have special qualities that differ from you. Perhaps we also have many unique faults in our lives, just as you perhaps have many beautiful qualities. Nevertheless, if you put aside the option of us making our own choices, if you ignore our special qualities and instead coerce us into becoming like you, it would be a tremendous insult to our character. Even if a hundred years or a thousand years pass, such a thing should not be done” (Cai 1928, 101-2).
In basing his argument for political liberty on Taiwan's uniqueness as a place, Cai adopted the cultural regionalism of romantic nationalism to make an anti-colonial, but not anti-imperial, argument. Rejecting the core-periphery model of assimilation, Cai envisioned the spatial formation of Japan as one of diverse cultural regions, each contributing their unique qualities to the imperial whole. Divided by culture, rather than time, Cai demanded that each region, and therefore each people, be granted political equality in the form of self rule.
