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The global Chinese community is abuzz about an unusual event: A Tiananmen rebel exiled in Taiwan, renowned for his courage, charisma and extraordinary personal narrative, has declared his candidacy for a seat as an independent in the island democracys parliament called the Legislative Yuan.

There is a reason for such passionate responses to the seemingly mundane event, for the candidate is none other than Wuer Kaixi, the biggest celebrity to emerge from the momentous 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy movement that was brutally repressed by the Chinese communist government.

On his Facebook page, Mr. Wuers profile aptly describes him and his colorful, unusual background as a Chinese dissident, an ethnic Uighur, democracy activist, one of the Tiananmen student movement leaders, now lives in exile in Taiwan.

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Yet, if you call him and his life colorful, he would protest vociferously because his primary motive to enter the parliamentary race is to get rid of color politics in Taiwan, which he sees as the biggest obstacle holding back the islands boisterous democracy.

Michael Jackson had a song I liked very much, he told Inside China, Its called Black or White, which has my favorite words, Im not going to spend my life being a color.

Almost everyone in todays Taiwan society has an identifying color, being blue or green, Mr. Wuer said. The two largest political parties are the ruling KMT party, popularly known as the Blue, and the main opposition, the Democratic and Progressive Party (DPP), or the Green.

SEE ALSO: Hong Kong democracy protesters clash with police

The colors in Taiwan are not on our skins, but are indelibly attached to our political identifications we talk, think, vote, either willingly or passively, solely based upon the Blue/Green color line, Mr. Wuer noted.

He bemoans the polarization which has turned Taiwanese politics into a highly partisan battleground where opposing colors attack and demonize each other with little tolerance or mercy.

Here is the original post:
Inside China: Tiananmen rebel practices democracy in Taiwan