Dixteel's Thought on Taiwan

HEHE...Moving The Blog to the WordPress

2009-08-22T13:48:00.003-04:00

hehe...moving the blog to the wordpress. Always nice to try new stuff. Will see how it turns out. lol

http://dixteel.wordpress.com/

lol...WTF, Microsoft.

2009-08-19T09:22:00.005-04:00

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms441219.aspx (Got the link from Michael's blog)

OMFG, they actually have to make a special method for it?!?!?! LMAO.

Microsoft, you are a genius. (extreme sarcasm).

Maybe you should put more effort in fixing your XBOX 360 instead of making special functions for China.

:-o Very Nice One from Mr. Keating

2009-08-18T23:42:00.004-04:00

A very nicely written article from Mr. Keating.

http://zen.sandiego.edu:8080/Jerome/1250649669/index_html

It has a certain Zen type of feeling.. (hum...is that why the url starts with Zen? No idea). Anyway, I think it is a very nice one, worth a read...

The Loyal Lapdog

2009-08-18T10:43:00.012-04:00

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=awoSlB5BBgPk

I simply cannot believe it...this guy simply uses every chance to help putting makeups on China no matter what.

The title:

Taiwan’s Major Threat Is Nature, Not China, President Ma Says.

WHAT!! In so many way that is just so wrong. It is like I got stabbed by a knife, therefore, knives are more dangerous than guns. How about just say both natural disaster and China are challenges and threat Taiwan has to face?

The armed forces will have disaster prevention and rescue as their main job.

That just sounds so wrong...the armed forces main job cannot be just disaster prevention and rescue operation. Their main job should include repelling external national threats, etc. Now he tries to limit our national military mission? Maybe they don't need MND (Minister of National Defense) anymore, all military will take order from an organization similar to the US FEMA.

I don't like to say it...but what a fool...

This is from the English one with the foreign reporters...There is nothing new, he still tried to lie or deny his way through everything. I am still trying to digest the craps he said in the Mandarin one with domestic reporters.

Some Coincidence

2009-08-18T01:15:00.020-04:00

I am not a superstitious person...but sometimes it is just amusing when something coincidental happens:

1 From 海兒's post reply in South News.

以馬英九所走過的政治路來看，他都是以迅雷不及掩耳之勢達到一個新的權力顛峰，然後快速地盛極而衰，從顛峰上摔落山谷。

2005年他趁著連戰出國時先下手為強的宣佈參選黨主席並順利地以高票當選，結果在2007年就因為「市長特別費弊案」被迫辭去黨主席。2008年他以 765萬高票當選總統時，我當時隱約也感覺到他很可能重蹈覆轍，結果現在一年三個月不到的時間就真的搞得眾人唾罵，權位岌岌可危。

而這一次的政治危機不同於過去幾次只是台灣內部的茶壺內風暴，而是涉及了美、日兩國對於馬英九的政治誠信已經消失甚至於質疑，這可不是馬英九再裝皮皮、裝可愛就能夠挺得過去的。

The example describes how Ma took a fall every time he became KMT chairman. After he succeed Lien and become KMT chairman, he has to step down very soon due to Taipei Mayor special budget scandal.

This time again, after he grabbed KMT chairman position, this unfortunate event caused a storm in his political career. A lot of people, even foreign reporters, think Ma's political career looks very grim. I agree with that...in all logical reason he has lost all his political credibility. But I also wonder...Do Taiwanese truly wake up this time? And the root of the problem is actually not just Ma, but all the KMT's twisted values that he stands for...I wonder if Taiwanese see it clearly.

2. From 海國右衛門's post.

今天的直機 CODE 竟然是!!!

NAVY 546 !!!

(Click the image to see the full picture and the number 546 clearly)

One of the US navy's MH-53E Sea Dragon Helicopters' that landed in Taiwan to help the rescue mission has a code number NAVY 546... During 2008 presidential election, approximately 5460000 voted for DPP's Mr. Hsieh, and 7650000 voted for KMT's Ma. So the code coincidentally approximated the first 3 digits of the number 546 萬 (萬 is 10000, a common way to short hand the number in Taiwan) of votes that go to Mr. Hsieh.

This is first time that any US military force enter Taiwan's domain in...30 years maybe, and one of the helicopter has this number.

Yea, this is just a stupid coincidence, but what a coincidence.

Interesting Interview

2009-08-16T03:26:00.000-04:00

Interesting interview... http://blog.libertytimes.com.tw/eric0514/2009/08/12/37268

Random Thought on the Rescue Operations and The Defense Paper by Taiwan Defense Working Group

2009-08-15T05:46:00.008-04:00

It is quite coincidental that a defense strategy paper titled Deter, Defend, Repel, Partner was published just a few weeks before this natural disaster. Perhaps because of closeness of their occurrence, it prompts me to think them together...and I think there are some concepts that can be examined or proven with the currently on going relief and rescuing efforts.

I hope those that are really concerned about Taiwan's national defense can examine this paper and the rescuing operations...I think there are actually quite a few things that can be learned from examining them together.

I am no expert, so I might be wrong. But a few things just come into my mind, and I will just blurt them out here. Since this disaster scenario is only closely related to the Ground Domain talked about in the paper, I am only considering the ground domain, not much air and maritime domain. That does not mean air and maritime domains (and perhaps a real good deterrent forces) are not important to Taiwan.

The Limitation of Armor Vehicles and the Importance of Helicopters
I think this time, as with previous earth quake and typhoon disasters, helicopters prove they are indispensable in Taiwan's security. As can be seen in the news, because of Taiwan rough terrain close to the mountain and river area, and because of the twisted landscape after disasters, helicopters are always the first ones that can go near those area and offer some assistance.

Although armor vehicles, especially the amphibious ones, also helped out greatly, their operational area are limited to the plain area. Also, a lot of times it seems their movement are also limited by the narrow streets etc. After the bridges etc are destroyed, I wonder how much use they have. Especially Humvee vehicles this time seem quite useless. This limitation could be due to the lack of mobilization of combat engineers. They have the ability to establish temporary bridges and clear out obstacles etc. Although armor vehicles have their use, I imagine during war time, if the armor divisions are to operate effectively, there have to be enough combat engineers, and they have to work very closely together. Because it can be expected that the bridges, rails, highways and roads to be destroyed during war. Also, those that advocated for mobile land based anti-ship missiles trucks might want to re-examine the scenario as well. (I am not saying it is a wrong concept, but would those destructions of bridges, road and rail effect their operations etc...those are the questions)

The problems with the helicopters are: 1. they are more dangerous (accidents etc) 2. they do not work as well in bad weather. These 2 disadvantages could be remedied a little, although not completely. Modern helicopter carriers such as Black Hawk are specially designed to protect its pilots and passenger during crashes. The helicopters are also quite robust. Also, helicopters have night vision system etc integrated that can help a little during bad weather or night flight. The most important is probably also the pilot training. They should be train to fly during bad weather and night time....although I am not sure if it is feasible to do that now or if they are already doing that, but certainly if Taiwanese helicopters can fly safely and efficiently in all weathers, it would be a big advantages during war and during rescue operations.

Another important thing is...perhaps people, especially those in remote villages, have to be informed on how to establish emergency helicopter landing zone...Because there was a news report that one village was able to have all their survivor transported out by helicopters after they establish a landing zone for the helicopters to land. Without a landing zone, the helicopters can only drop provisions...and the drop might destroy some provisions in the process. By establishing landing zone, provisions can be brought down safely, and those in need can be transported away.

Also, Taiwan needs more heavy lifting helicopters that can lift armors and small bulldozers...

Another thing is of course, the importance of air defense...in order for helicopters to carry out their orders effectively, airspace has to be secured. The importance of air forces and SAM cannot be under estimated.

Localization, Communications, Militia, Special Forces and Guerrilla Warfare
As can be seen, the central government performed very poorly and slowly comparing to the previous disaster effort. Local government, although reacted faster, did not have authority to mobilize the military. The troops stationed near the disaster area, ironically, can not react because they did not receive orders. This results in the lack of military resources committed in the rescue operation in the first few days.

If a state of emergency was declared, the local commanders can mobilize the troops under his/her command and offer assistance to the local government without the direct order from MND. But since Ma did not declare a state of emergency, that is not possible.

This shows the advantage of a degree of decentralization and localization in ground domain. In another word...it is vital that each area is well equipped to help itself to a degree, in case the communication to the central command is disrupted. This time, the central government react poorly simply because of incompetence, but during war, the central government might react poorly because the communication are cut or because the command centers got destroyed.

Also can be shown is the value of volunteers...Military are essential in rescue operations, but volunteers from different organizations also help out big time. This might also prove the value of independent and self sufficient militia, as mentioned in the report. Highly trained militia might be as effective as regular military forces in urban and mountain warfare. Of course, it might be a nightmare and the worst scenario to see Taiwan becomes a battle field of guerrilla war, but better be prepared than sorry. Also, even without full scale combat within the towns and cities, one can expect damages from bombing and enemy infiltration etc. In this scenario militia might also be indispensable as well.

As mentioned in the report, and as can be seen in this disaster, it is important to maintain good communication and battle field awareness. It seems Ma's government is really slow at receiving disaster reports etc. They have to rely on news, and even call-in program to locate the disaster areas. There is nothing wrong with getting information from all the different channels, but first of all...a lot of those that call into the TV station because no one answered their calls for many hrs etc, and second thing is during war, how do you know if all these channels have valid information? It is also known that even the online community updates their disaster reports much faster than the government (with Twitter and Google Earth, from what I can see)....this is really ridiculous. The report recommend a multi layered communication capabilities and communications redundancy etc. It is probably just that Ma government's screws are all loose, but certainly communication capabilities in Taiwan can be improved and upgraded.

Special forces also prove their use this time, although perhaps due to Ma government's slowness, a lot of special force units are not even used. Especially in the mountain area, where roads are mostly destroyed, only special forces can operate extensively in those area. (helicopters have to come and go, and usually the pilots cannot see everything up there). They seem to be crucial in scouting and communication.

HMMM...Why....(UDPATE)

2009-08-13T01:32:00.007-04:00

I am quite confused...i am not sure why. It seems Ma government did not mobilize all the possible assets in the rescue operations.

LINK

The last paragraph:

從昨天新聞報導中，我很驚訝在災情第四天才投入六千兵力。六千人就像是『螞蟻撼樹』一樣，無力呀！我實在不清楚為何昨天災民call in說隔壁營區阿兵哥在唱軍歌，看到報紙有人投書救災部隊不出來，改待命等長官視察。如果真的苦民所苦，現今三軍統帥為何不像九二一時下令北中部軍團往南，前進各災區，發揮二十五萬軍隊的力量迅速幫助災民清理及重建家園呢？

Basically the author (a retired military officer) is very surprised that only 6,000 military personnels are mobilized in the rescuing effort, and that is on the 4th day of the disaster...there are approximately 25,0000 military personnels available, and during 921, much more people were mobilized...6,000 is simply not enough to cover the whole disaster areas.

From the news we can see that all the soldiers that went into the rescue operations are doing their best, some even sacrificed their lives during the process (helicopters crashes). :( But it is obvious they were stretched to their limits but still cannot perform the operation fast enough. It is obvious more people and equipments is required. And there are more...but Ma did not use them. Why???

Also, he mentioned:

另外在我軍旅生涯中，每當有陸上颱風警報都會收到一則命令：救災視同作戰，遇有災情，各部隊不待命令立即出發救援！

Basically, he said during his military career, whenever there was a typhoon warning, they will receive one command: treat rescue operation the same as battle, if there are disasters, all units should mobilize for rescue operations immediately.

Comparing the past and present, I am sure everyone notice how much slower and how much less the government and the military reacted. Even now, a lot of possible useful military assets are still unused...

This is really strange...Also, combining this to this news, it is even stranger. The US state department said they have enough resource in east Asia, and if required, they are willing to help out. But Ma government so far does not ask for it. However, it seems there are still a lot of problems, a lot of people that need to be rescued and a lot of towns etc that need assistance. Why doesn't the government mobilize more of its assets, and at the same time also does not ask for foreign aid?

Just weird and sad...hm....

UPDATE: eTaiwan news has a nice editorial on this matter.

Other News...

2009-08-12T10:38:00.006-04:00

The rescue and relieve operations continue...

There are many tragedies and sad stories...but also some stories of bravery, humanity, survival and hope...From earth quakes to typhoons, sometimes it seems Taiwan is a place of trial...Fortunately, many Taiwanese offered their help and assisstance to those in need.

It seems there are still a lot of work to be done...such as clean up and reconstructions. It might also be the time to review how we can cope with major rainfall of Typhoons, and prevent this type of natural disasters...

But other than the disaster, there are other news:

Sika Taiwan office raided in probe into faulty adhesives

I certainly hope this is an actually investigation instead of just yet another way for Ma and his team to push the responsibilities to others.

TSMC set to invest in green sector
This might be a very good move by TSMC. Also for Taiwan, in the long term, development of alternative (green) energy source and less reliance on fossil fuel is a good thing in many ways.

Why water supply is so troublesome in Taiwan

This one is very interesting...and has a plausible proposal...

Donations

2009-08-10T22:16:00.002-04:00

Some Typhoon Morakat disaster donation information from DPP's website:

http://dpp0808.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post_4671.html

Organization listed on Liberty Times:
http://iservice.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/specials/Morakot/h.php?p=3

Typhoon Morakat (UPDATE)

2009-08-10T02:37:00.009-04:00

Worst flood disaster in southern Taiwan in 50 years.

Right now rescue and delivering aids operations are still on going. I wish those in central and southern Taiwan will be alright....

It is one of the worst in recent history...Right now it seems the amount of rain fall is abnormally high, but still there are quite a lot of lessons that can be learned about flood prevention and rescue operations...I hope those experts within the government and society can learn from it.

Also, a lot of bridges etc collapse again...the long time construction quality problems that have plagued Taiwan for so long once again surface...something has to be done about it. Given Taiwan's constant Typhoon and earth quakes, every structures in Taiwan should be made more sturdy than the structures in other places...

Unfortunately Taiwan has to cope with Earth quakes and typhoons. Taiwan has typhoon every year, and without typhoons Taiwan will have constant water shortage,...but for quite a long time it seems every time there is a major typhoon, some disasters happen. Taiwan should always be prepared for the worst...

Update: BillyPan mapped out the disasters using google map...

Update: Great news, many mudslide survivors found...

Kaohsiung Success is A Good Lesson

2009-08-07T14:44:00.006-04:00

I think we can learn a lot about the successful transformation of Kaohsiung in the past decade...

Claudia Jean has a nice blog on the story of the preparation of World Games in Kaohsiung.

This quote is quite interesting:

Prof. Lin pointed out the two main reasons which make high quality public construction work in Taiwan difficult. One is corruption where people’s representatives and civil servants at various government levels take bribes or kickbacks. Another is actually the law that is meant to prevent corruption.

Connecting this with what is happening in Taipei...it seems that there are many interesting issues that can be studied. Why is it that under KMT, there are a lot of poor construction and severe pollutions? Is it impossible to improve Taiwan? Kaohsiung showed that it is possible. It is possible to have beautiful cities in Taiwan. It is possible to clean up a stinky river. It is possible to break through and change the corrupted policies that have always plagued Taiwan. Starting from Frank Hsie, the consecutive DPP mayors of Kouhsiung continuously contribute to the improvement, and follow trough their policies, no matter the pressure. And it is not just the politicians, but a lot of engineers and officials sacrificed their reputation and life on the great task, on what they believe is right.

Comparing this to Taipei, which has a lot more money...it is real good contrast. Of course, Kouhsiung still has room for improvement, but it has taken the first most difficult step. Its success shows that...yes, with the right attitude, heart and leadership, it is possible in Taiwan.

UPDATE: This article is also very interesting...it indicates the similar problems that were mentioned by Prof. Lin: http://www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=92575

Continueous Problem with Neihu MRT

2009-08-07T01:36:00.005-04:00

There are quite a lot of news on the Neihu MRT lines. The problem seems to be much larger than previously anticipated. For the past month, almost everyday there are problems (LINK). Yesterday apparently the computer crashed and the service is suspended for 4 hrs. This is quite unprecedented in Taiwan's history. Not only that, the incompatible systems between Neihu and the older Muzha line seems to cause Muzha lines to go nuts as well (LINK). In summary, the new system is causing more trouble instead of providing more services.

IMO, it is very likely that Neihu will become the next Maokong. Its service has to be suspended until it is fully fixed. However, it actually looks like the problems is quite huge and fundamental, not some small bugs that can be fixed easily. From the beginning it is ill designed. The new Neihu system uses wireless communication in open environment. (the same Bombardier system is supposed to be used in closed, less complicated environment like an airport. I do not know why Bombardier agreed to do this contract because I think professionally they shouldn't. But seriously though I never like Bombardier as a company, because I heard a lot bad news from that company, and from my understanding their internal management is quite lousy as well...but this blog is about Taiwan, not Bombardier so I will stop here and focus on Taipei's problem). The line has a more than 90 degree turn toward the airport, which indirectly causing the train to be very narrow. Even if they fix the fundamental network, computer and electrical problems, the whole system is limited in capacity and comfort. Plus...the cart seems to LEAK WATER :-o. It is really a very bad construction.

Also, 謝長廷 and the DPP now point to the relations between the construction company 工信工程 and Ma (http://www.shadowgov.tw/23988_0_nc.htm) as a possible cause of all these fiasco. The newest development also includes 新生高架橋...once again this maintenance project is given to 工信工程. Will keep an eye on this for later development.

It is quite clear though, that Ma and KMT messed up in Taipei big time.

Why Are We Funding This?

2009-08-07T01:00:00.001-04:00

The recent fiasco regarding the Hong Kong film removal in Melbourne International Film Festival is quite interesting:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/08/07/2003450566
http://fareasternpotato.blogspot.com/2009/08/gio-angered-by-removal-of-film.html
http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2009/08/melbourne-film-festival-success-afp.html

This quote from Michael should be heeded by all artists in Taiwan:

I hope Taiwanese artists and others involved in collaboration with Chinese observe that their work will always be nothing more than a pawn in Beijing's political strategies.

This is actually a very interesting phenomenon in Taiwan that exists for quite a long time. In the movie and entertainment industries especially, the government often funds and supports projects in places like Hong Kong with more money than for Taiwan's own project.

This is quite weird. It is not like those films really benefits Taiwan's images. If the government does not want to help out Taiwan's own movie industries, that is fine. But they actually fund other countries' projects that has nothing to do with Taiwan. It is like the US government giving money to Honda and Toyota.

The full review on this type of illogical policies is warranted IMO. Instead of wasting money on some Hong Kong films that no body watches, they should give more indirect supports to Taiwan's film makers...etc. After the success of Cap No. 7, it is clear more support for Taiwan's film makers is not illogical or irrational.

DDRP...Interesting

2009-08-04T21:05:00.006-04:00

Interesting report (recommendation) from Project 2049 Institute:
Deter, Defend, Repel And Partner

I got this link from Mr. Turton blog.

Some of the ideas in it was mentioned else where before, but this one seems to be able to describe those ideas with a more understandable terms, I think. Many concepts and recommendations in it is also quite interesting....worth a read.

UPDATE: Taipei Times has more reporting on this report.

The Long Term Problems

2009-08-01T22:42:00.010-04:00

I am just pondering...

After looking at Ma's performance for the past 400 or so days as president, IMO, there is little hope of Taiwan actually improving much over the next few years. Taiwan will be lucky just to stay alive. Sure, the economy will start to recover eventually in the next few years, but the fundamental economic problem will not be solved. Problems in other areas will also surface. If Ma gets re-elected, it will be a total nightmare, but that might actually become a reality.

Also, looking at what Ma did in Taipei you wonder what kind of long lasting negative effects Ma will leave in Taiwan in the next few years. If Taiwan is lucky, and Ma doesn't get re-elected, the next President and his/her team will still face some huge challenges. Some already exist but for sure cannot be solved by Ma, some I suspect Ma will leave behind:

Judiciary System Reform
As shown by the Chen case, the Judiciary system has some huge problems both in its system and people. The system, from my understanding, is resemblance to German Nazi's system. It gives too much power to the judge and prosecutors etc. I am no expert, but I know a lot of it does not make any sense, especially if you comparing it with the courts in the US or UK. A lot of the people under the system is also problematic. The prosecutors leaking confidential information to the media, judges mocking the accused, unreasonable/unnecessary detention, too much KMT influence inside are all big problems.

The reform I imagine will take a long time and will face very stiff opposition, but it has to start somewhere now. First, the system has to be changed gradually, and the law education system has to be adjusted.

National Defense
Recently a lot of news seem to show some deterioration of the military both in hardware and software. The maintenance, training and the morale seem to be down. Combining this with Ma's current policy, it is not hard to imagine in the next few years the military would be in a poor state. The next government I imagine will face huge challenge in this area, and will need to pay a lot of attention to it.

Also, as the recent Japanese defense white paper mentioned, Taiwan's military has no counter to China's short range ballistic missiles etc. This problems will need to be addressed sooner or later...and better sooner than later.

Education
Some small improvement has been made during Chen's time but really not even near enough. IMO in a lot of area the education system is still tightly controlled by the KMT.

Economy
I cannot think of any thing solid on this one, and I doubt there are a lot of people out there that can actually propose a good economic strategy etc. The only people that are fully confident in their economic strategy are those KMT BShitters that keep saying invest in China. I do not know where their "confidence" come from, but I know those kind of policies are wrong, as been shown in the past decade, after Taiwan starts to pour money into China.

Basically, I think a lot of pan green people know what is not good, but they are not sure of what is good, regarding this topic. For sure, there are a few things that need to be achieved:

Lower Unemployment Rate: We have to be careful about what kind of unemployment, because different unemployment means different things. For sure though the unemployment rate is rising and right now it is ridiculously high (for Taiwan) comparing to neighboring countries like Singapore, Japan and South Korea etc. The most problematic unemployment is IMO Structural Unemployment. Actually this part is also related to the education problem.
Attracting Investment into Taiwan: How to retain and encourage people inside and outside Taiwan to invest in Taiwan is a big question. Right now there are still huge tendency for people to throw their money into China instead of invest in Taiwan. The fundamental cause has to be found, and policy that encourage investment in Taiwan has to be formed.

Those problems might even be underestimations...because there is a chance that Ma will do something catastrophic to Taiwan's economy in the next few years (signing ECFA might, for example). Given the lousy jobs he did when he was a mayor...this is actually a likely scenario.

Conclusion
In any case...even if Ma will not get re-elected, I think the next government will have a real hot potato in its hand.

Bravo! Kaohsiung

2009-07-28T12:33:00.006-04:00

Wow, talking about going out with a BANG. The opening ceremony was very impressive, and the closing one certainly did not disappoint.

This editorial said it the best:

Kaohsiung's success is rooted in the deep sense of community and solidarity in the southern port city around the values of democracy, human rights, free expression, citizen participation and, last but not least, Taiwan national dignity.

It is this set of values that the PRC boycotted and that Ma's KMT government have downplayed since coming to power last May which have now been dramatically returned to the view of Taiwan's people by the World Games.

Congratulation to the citizens of Kaohsiung.

EDIT:
Claudia Jean has a lot of nice reports, information and links on this.

I Wonder How Many People Are LIke This Person...

2009-07-26T22:08:00.002-04:00

http://www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=92338

I wonder how many pan blue supporters are like this guy.

To translate simply. The author is now very disappointed in KMT, but he/she was a very strong KMT supporter. He/she was very happy when Ma won the election in 2008, but now disappointed and start to worry about the future.

Those are not unusual. What is unusual is...he/she supported pan blue and KMT simply because pan blue express themselves more 溫文儒雅 (means something like politeness, gentleman/lady like, courteous etc). First thing to get straight is not every pan-blue politician are 溫文儒雅. A lot of them are quite thuggish in their appearance and behaviour. However, indeed, all the more popular pan-blue politician, like Ma, or the Taichung city Mayor like Hu, talk in a more gentle...almost feminine like tones.

Personally I don't give politeness too much credit. I think people should be courteous and polite...but those are not major concerns when we talk about something serious like politics. In politics, I would rather put priority on other more important personal quality. Especially in Taiwan's teenager-ish political environment, fervor in comments are sort of expected. Politicians will occasionally raise their voice, talk loudly, and with animated body language...etc in this environment, unless they have the trained mind of Dalai Lama, which I doubt many people have, or they do not give a f**k, in which case they are worse politicians.

However, I know majority of people prefer/like people that talk softly and act politely. It is simply part of human nature. I also know this is actually part of KMT's past propaganda taking effect. In the past, KMT simply labeled pan green as low level rioters, and a lot of people believe it, because they saw the picture and the video of the violent protest. However, they do not know the cause and the reason. They do not understand those violent protesters are fighting for people's freedom in Taiwan. They do not know they are trying to change a corrupted authoritarian government. Those past emotion remain until this day. So even there are a lot of thuggish pan-blue politicians, people do not notice....etc.

However, the main point really is...do you want to base your political judgement and choice simply on how people speak and how polite they are? Just think about it, and you will know how ridiculous that is.

The Pipe Dream

2009-07-25T08:10:00.005-04:00

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jul/25/today-fo1.htm

Some reports come out that indicates the opportunity regarding China's 家電下鄉 (Basically means selling electronic to the rural area, one of the stimulus type economic policy of China) is but a pipe dream.

One nice thing about this section of 大話新聞 is that it recorded all the stuffs officials etc said before, and replay them later to show if they are bull shitting or not. It shows how big of a BS the Chinese officials and KMT had created. One thing I notice is that those Chinese officials seem to have a habit of exaggerating description and numbers etc when answering questions. It is kind of a pattern I noticed over the years...but I am not sure if it is generally true. Unfortunately, once again, there are many idiots that fall for it. What is worse is that KMT actually helps in these lies.

So far, there were the fruits, tourists and now electronic...all pipe dreams IMO.

ECFA Cartoon Shows Many Kuo (郭冠英) in Taiwan

2009-07-25T07:08:00.009-04:00

Many nice blog posts regarding the insults of the ECFA cartoon:

As all the reports and blogs show, the problems behind these cartoon characters is deep.

Everyone is very surprised that such shameful discriminatory cartoon gets created in Taiwan, and not from any place, but the government itself (or some whomever is hired by the government to create this). It feels that we are going back in time 20 or so years, or rather, such problem still exist within Taiwan society. It is like grasses with deep roots, that get cut during DPP's time in the government, but grow right back after. It shows that the Kuo (郭冠英) incident, like I said before, is but a tip of an ice burg. 郭冠英 is not a single crazy guy. There are quite some people like him. Even Ma, IMO, has this tendency. He just hides it very well. (in many occasions he shows his arrogant and almost colonizer-ish attitude, but they are apparent if one does not pay attention to news or his behavior)

However, although some idiots will actually believe this garbage, majority of people I am sure are shocked and displeased by such creation. I am wondering though...why? If they know these cartoon is insulting, it means that Ma's government is trying to insult people (especially the opposition to ECFA) on purpose. If they actually think this is OK, it means Ma's government is worse than Kuo. Or maybe they are trying to redirect public attention from a bigger problems? I speculate too much....in any case, this cartoon is disgusting and unacceptable. It shows Ma team's incompetence, arrogance, stupidity and...evilness, for the lack of better word.

BS + Lies + Deciets

2009-07-21T23:04:00.000-04:00

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1009686&lang=eng_news&cate_img=1033.jpg&cate_rss=news_only_on_taiwannews

It has became quite clear that the way KMT works is by BSing and lying.

It does not matter what they do. They are full of sh*t. From constructions in Taipei, domestic policies and statistics, to foreign policies and statements. Like what is happening is Taipei construction now, KMT's actions are getting more and more ridiculous. The latest idiotic news from Taipei is about the new swimming pool.

I hope people in both Taiwan and the US see things clearly.

Disaster Summary

2009-07-21T19:05:00.011-04:00

Made some summary about the disaster construction project Ma created over the past few years...so I can keep track. There are just too many of them. The summary is by no mean comprehensive. It is from what I read and heard so far. There are a lot more detail and comprehensive information online regarding these, but most of them are in Chinese.

======================================

Neihu Mass Rapid Transit Line

Problems Summary:

Service suspended due to various system problems. (People have to evacuate and walk on the rail line to station) LIBERTY TIME PHOTO1 PHOTE 2
Cart is too small and narrow. PHOTO From Mango Daily, LINK 2
Use mid capacity system (skyline with small train) instead of high capacity system (underground with large train). In this case during planning various group already suggested using high traffic system due to the expected high volume of people created from the residential area development. (DETAILS)
Flawed design (Some Detail Analysis) Especially regarding the big curve redirection toward the airport. It is a very questionable decision because the high angle turn, which indirectly cause the narrowness of the train, and the high amount of extra money required. Making a separated straight line toward the airport might be a better option.

Kaohsiung World Games 2009 Opening

2009-07-16T21:08:00.004-04:00

June 16 2009 Opening. Can find some video on youtube etc. Here is the fire work parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zt0t82Fr7o&feature=related

Bunch of other videos are available. Overall not too bad. Personally I especially like the singing part. The stadium also looks very nice. (NY Times Architecture review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/arts/design/16stadium.html)

UPDATE: Hehe, this part is pretty amazing, with the special effect, music and stuff. And that roar by Lin is nice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yuJVnKhpog

What is the Cause?

2009-07-16T10:00:00.009-04:00

http://www.shadowgov.tw/23121_0_is.htm
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jul/12/today-fo5.htm
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jul/12/today-o5.htm

What a mess! This construction is not suppose to be extremely high difficulty...why so many problem? So much money and so much time wasted! And this is the result? Just looks very bad. People say don't spend money on Kidd class destroyers because they are expensive "garbage steel." Look carefully, people. This 內捷 is the real "expensive garbage steel."

Looking back, we can see a lot of expensive, wasteful and poor construction in Taipei during Ma's time as Mayor of Taipei. I am trying to compile a summary lists in English...but since they all use Mandarin them, it's kind of difficult. I will attempt it later. Looking at all of them I see some pattern in this series of disasters.

The Lack of Foresight And Understanding of the Environment

Take Maokong Gondola for example, the cart are fully sealed!!! Don't those planners know that Taiwan is hot during summer? And now look at this new rail system. The cart is just too small and tight. Also, many people pointed out, the city planned the system as medium load mass transit, but that area is obviously booming and the amount of possible passengers should warrant a heavy load mass transit design. Plus, from some photos I saw, the inside is so narrow; I doubt you can actually call it even medium size.

Other than the transit system, there are plenty of examples as well. For example, several construction or reconstructions of marketplaces are just total failures. The most famous case is the one where they make a glass cylinder structure. The problem with it is numerous. The market is supposed for Taiwanese food restaurant. But because the place is sealed up, it gets very hot inside. Also, each compartment is too small and closed in for any practical purpose. In the end those restaurants just left the place, and the place becomes another garbage construction.

Lust for Credit: Speed and Quantity Instead of Good Design and Quality

The two prime example are the Maokong Gondola and the recent new rail system. Maokong Gondola did not have environmental assessment. How is that possible? Because Taipei city treat it as "amusement" construction and under the law those construction does not need environmental assessment. It is really a big mistake not to have one because just a simple one would have prevent the problems with the infamous tower 16. (As someone shown before, geographical survey of the hills around those areas is available and quite comprehensive. But apparently no one in Ma's team even takes a look)

But why don't they do it? I think they just want to speed things up. They want to finish the construction near the end of Ma's 8 years as Taipei Mayor. Indeed, all those construction are finished or near finished within his term, but they are all in extremely poor quality. Further, they are all much smaller projects than what people expected. For example, full transportation system is changed to "amusement" system. Heavy load mass transit is instead medium load mass transit. "Small Giant Egg" Baseball Park is complete (without proper fire alarm system by the way if I remembered correctly) but "Big Giant Egg" baseball park is nowhere in sight. It is obvious. Ma prefers many small and fast constructions instead of a few huge and slow constructions. Things like Taipei 101 or high-speed rail is not his cup of tea (Taipei 101 started during Chen's term). His lack of foresight and lust for credits caused the waste of billions of taxpayers' money.

Putting Blames on Others and the Lower Ranks

Every time this shit happens, what is the result? Well, most of the time we just see someone else taking the blame. Of course, people might view this differently. Some might say, you cannot blame everything on Ma and maybe others made mistakes that Ma did not know. Of course, I also know that could be the case is some area. However, overall, aren't some of the top decision and planning a huge mistake? And aren't the screw all loose in Ma's team? During Chen's time, which most of the lower rank officials are the same, do we see that much problems? I believe some of the top decision and mentality are the cause of all these problems, because they are just too numerous, and they all share a similar pattern in terms of problems.

Conclusion

This is just my random thoughts on the stuff I read and see over the past few months. I will try to put a more comprehensive summary on this later. Need to find some old links, photos etc to have a more clear summary of these.

UPDATE:
Today's Taipei Times have 2 detail articles regarding this:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/07/17/2003448874
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/07/17/2003448877

Hmm...

2009-07-10T12:03:00.007-04:00

Echo Taiwan has some comprehensive coverage and analysis on the cause of deadly clashes in Xinjiang. Disturbing.

http://echotaiwan.blogspot.com/2009/07/trigger-of-uyghor-han-clash-in-xinjing.html

But if we look at ourselves...aren't there people like that in Taiwan as well? They just hear some rumors from the media, and get enraged instantly. Especially if we look back at those KMT supporters during the Red Clothes Army and post 2004 and 2000 presidential election time. Of course what is happening in China is 100 times more severe because obviously those Han Chinese do not even treat those Uyghurs as human beings.

People nowadays look back at the witch-hunt in Europe and North America and think those people are so stupid. But look at what is happening today! Even with all the information technology available, those Guangdong Han Chinese are as ignorant and fanatical as ever. This is disturbing indeed. Also, it is in Guangdong, a supposedly more prosper, advanced and civilized province in Chinese territory. It shows that advance in economy does not guarantee humanity. (Well...if we look back at history, there are already a lot of example, but this one is a good reminder.)

I hope Taiwanese look at this event carefully. I hope they look, sympathize and learn... DON"T REPEAT THE 228 MISTAKE.

The Value of Indepedence

2009-07-07T20:30:00.001-04:00

People nowadays emphasize more on words like peace, love, stability, progress, open trade, money,...etc. But looking at the recent events in Tibet,Hong Kong and Xinjiang, I think people need to emphasize more on the value of Independence.

Independence is important. To be your own master, to determine what road to take without the arbitrary coercions of others...these are essential and important for human beings.

Some people say what is the point, you cannot eat Independence. Chinese government, Taiwanese government, Martian government, there is no difference. Look at East Timor, they got their Independence but things don't become better. I can only tell them: YOU ARE WRONG. Just look at what is happening in Xinjiang for the past 60 years and tell me Independence is not important. Independence does not automatically mean prosperity, but at least it gives you a chance. It gives you a chance to be your own master to pursuit your fortune. Without it, you are just a slave, that is kept alive and healthy enough to work for the master.

Finally Some Interesting Economic News

2009-07-07T17:39:00.024-04:00

GAMESPOT NEWS

Now this is more like it. Interesting stuff. The government finally gets some fresh ideas. The government needs more stuff like this instead of just thinking about Chinese market all the time. Although in this case, Chinese language market is still part of the focus, I hope they can extend this beyond language and culture. Like what the Japanese and Korean did. (They don't just sell their games in Japan and in Korea only, right?)

Not sure if this will be a success. Video games nowadays have a very high development cost. It's no joke. To be competitive in this industry, there can be no half measure. To be successful, Taiwanese development studios have to compete (and cooperate) with studio in Japan, South Korea, Europe and the US, there is no question about it. Of course Taiwanese studio most like will start out on the smaller PS3 Network Download games. However, even those require good efforts to be successful. And in the long term, bigger titles can be considered.

There are also some concern though regarding the 40% subsidize. I don't see a problem with it. Taiwan also did that for the quite successful semi-conductor industries. However, the government should not interfere or "help" too much otherwise it will most like turn into failure like the car industries. Also, gradual reduction in the subsidization etc after the industry can stand on its own feet needs to the considered and planned.

Now...I just hope this move can turn out some real good games, and hopefully none of those stupid low quality generic games based on some lousy Chinese TV and movies like before.

UPDATE:

Well, since I am a big gamer, might as well talk more about my opinion on Taiwan's game industry. Note though that I am not some industry guru. This is just a small part of my personal opinion. (I have a lot more thoughts on this topic, but too much to write it here).

Personally I hope some dude that really understand Taiwan can make a great game that recreate the success of the movie Cape No. 7. Of course, it has to be even better and able capture market outside of Taiwan. These will enforce the "soul" of Taiwan and letting others know what is interesting about Taiwan's culture etc. Some of the games enjoy success not because they are main stream but because they are unique and have a great loyal fan base. Taiwan cannot just rely on "Chinese" language because heck, China can probably do better with this. They already have game studios in Shanghai etc. Taiwan needs something even more to have a place of its own.)

From my observation, Taiwan's game industry also seem to have quite a narrow vision. They need to broaden it up. For example, most of the games Taiwan make have 2 type of themes. One is Chinese fantasy theme, the other is "cute" theme. They kept drawing inspiration from Chinese history and fantasy, probably because they think China has 5000 years of history or BS like that and thus there are a lot of possible inspiration. Wrong! Although 5000 years are a long time but the interesting periods are only few and far between. Plus a lot of the history stuff are just not much different. Therefore the market is saturated by games that look and sound similar. Everyone just draw from the same theme, same idea, same source. There is no way you can sell games in this way. Gamers a lot of times want something different and refreshing.

Looking at Japanese animation and games for example. They don't just draw ideas from Japanese history and fantasy. They also got inspiration from sci-fi and western fantasy. Taiwan needs to learn to do that. It does not mean to be a copy cat, but getting inspirations from new sources are important. Especially the Sci-Fi area I think Taiwan actually has a lot of potential but people never thought much of it before. Sci-Fi offer an unlimited space for imagination, but developers in Taiwan often just look at Chinese fantasy and limited their imagination into a quite narrow area.

Of course, one major problems every gamer knows about Taiwanese games are its quality. There are games with good quality of course, but there are also games that are just unplayable and a complete ripoff of players' money. This is more of a technical issues that Taiwan's software community needs to work on. However, it is also a lack of watch dog system. In the North America and else where, there are solid game website like GameSpot, Gamespy, IGN etc that has high quality and fair reviews of each games that come out.

What Taiwan needs, are websites like those, that focus on giving fair review to games, especially Taiwanese games. There are site like Gamers.com.tw and others in Taiwan but from what I can see, they don't review much games at all. Most of the time they only give preview and news. It's like a big commercial website. What we need are review sites people trust. These kind of trust can only be built over time with professional and serious reviews of each games that come out. However, this must be done, in order to restore and sustain consumers' confidence in Taiwanese games, and give developers big incentive to make great games in order to sell them well.

Suspecious...

2009-07-07T11:54:00.004-04:00

Many people would agree that Ma's trip to Latin America was a total disaster. Mr. Keating has a nice one on this. One thing that really puzzles me though, is why? Why did he make this trip? Because I remembered he had another trip to the same places just few months ago. In both trip, he didn't do anything meaningful. It is like he is a tourist. So what is the point? And why so frequent? Especially this time, the performance is really bad. What is the rush?

The Pattern...

2009-07-07T11:08:00.009-04:00

Recently there are a lot of unrest around the world, from Iran, Honduras and now Xinjiang. All these recent events in Tibet, Iran and Xinjiang showed a general pattern however:

Protest occurs.
Paramilitary police went in and starts the killing.
Foreign media access, Internet access and other access including cell phones are cut. The area is locked down.
Official media becomes the primary source of the news, and starts releasing footage and photos etc.
There are accounts of police going around arresting people from their house etc. However, as the media is not there it's not clear how many got arrested etc.

I think, if one takes a look at what people say on the Internet forum discussion etc, one can realize this is actually a clever strategy of the despots. They have taken great advantages of the modern technology:

By blocking out information sources, most people, including the main stream media and the government officials, do not know what exactly is going on. They can only get a fuzzy pictures from the occasional leak of information from YouTube and twitter. It is like looking at the computer screen one pixel at a time: you only see the trees, but not the forest.
By blocking out foreign media, the official despot media is the only one that can pump out information in great quantity. Using the good old communist propaganda trick, mixing 80% truth with 20% lies, and by not showing everything, the despots have the power of interpretation. As the propaganda contains 80% truth, and there are no other major source of information, it is hard to tell what are facts and what are bullshits. They can damp down the opinions against them and create general confusion regarding the events. Thus, cooling off the sympathy towards the protesters and oppositions etc.
Internet becomes another battle field in which the despots supporters have the advantages. Because the lack of true information, sympathy expressed toward the victims are not as strong as it could be, while the despots supporters can use the partially information to further support the despots action and further harming the victims.

Thus, the victim becomes less of a victim, the murders become less of a murder, and the world becomes even greyer.

UPDATE: LINK

Looks like things are getting worse. In some ways similar to Iran, now there are another pro-government mob going around beating people up. But this one is worse because it's ethnically based. I wonder if those Han Chinese realized they are just pawns of the Chinese government, or perhaps they are willing to be the pawns. Look carefully at this, Taiwanese. This is what could happen. First, conquer and suppression. Second, force immigration. Third, ethnic culture destruction. If the situation reaches this point it's already too late.

Interesting News, Japan and the US finally Made a Move?

2009-07-03T04:20:00.009-04:00

This is an interesting news.

Japan and the US are moving military forces Apache helicopters to 與那國島.

Not totally sure what the implication is yet, but certainly it looks like a big move by Japan and the US. Does this have something to do with North Korea situation? Or is this just for Taiwan, or something else?

Hmm....

But looks like the stupid KMT "military specialist" already jumps up and down with great fury...idiots. If they take care of their business in the past few years, would Japan and the US make this move? It is obvious their action of hindering Taiwan's military development has threaten the stability in the region, now that the military balance is tilting in China's favor. That is why the move by the US and Japan.

All I can say is, those KMT so called "military specialists" can only think for China, not for Taiwan. I would say most of their "expert" opinion can be discarded unless Taiwan wants to help China instead of helping itself.

The Concern Over Chinese Investment

2009-07-01T23:57:00.009-04:00

http://www.shadowgov.tw/22773_126_act.htm?page_no=0

Mr. 謝 got a very good point on the issue of Chinese investment in Taiwan.

This issue actually bothers me quite a bit. Because on the one hand there is the traditional idea of opening market create prosperity, competition and stability, on the other hand China is not friendly toward Taiwan. The problem becomes, does it make sense to open market to a country that wants to swallow Taiwan? What 謝 said makes me realize the key point, and make my thoughts on this much clearer.

It's actually quite simple, just looking from the economical side:

China is not real capitalism. A lot of big industries are under control of communist party, some even under control of PLA.
Under normal circumstances, all corporation's goal is to gain money. When they invest, they also expect profit and risk etc. But as mention by point one. Chinese corporations are actually controlled by the government more or less. What does this mean then? It means those investment are not for profit. They are for Chinese government goal, to swallow Taiwan.
Thus it will create unfair competition. Because they are not for profit, they will not reward those companies that are profitable, but those companies that are pro-China. It will mess up the whole market system. Because now the market is not driven by profit, but driven by political will of Beijing at the same time. Those company can get huge funds even if they are not profitable, as long as they are pro-China. Those companies that have very nice products, but are not favored by Chinese government, will face unnecessary tough competitors. Thus the free market become not free because the Chinese government can manipulate it.
With the huge control Chinese government has, the whole economic system of Taiwan might fall completely into Chinese control. The market system will be destroyed, replaced by Chinese controlled market.

I think this is one of the possible outcome. Probably some economic experts with more solid data can have a more clear and concrete view on this. But I think these are the general idea and the danger. There are actually already some example we can take note from. One is Hong Kong. In the recent July 1st celebration we can see how much Hong Kong's political circle has changed. A lot of politicians simple kiss Beijing's ass. Furthermore, if we really think about it, there is no way Hong Kong can break free from the grip of China, because their economy is "infiltrated" by China and is now under Chinese control.

And I haven't even mention the obvious political implication. As 謝 mentioned, with Chinese investment in, China can indirectly "participate" in Taiwan's election, through election campaign donation. What will result from this, I think everyone knows already.

Disgust...

2009-06-30T20:19:00.009-04:00

http://www.southnews.com.tw/videos/00/2009/06/0630_01.htm

The first few minutes...really disgust and scare me. Is it really possible that Taiwan has people like that? What are the difference between them and those Chinese communist red guards during culture revolution (calamity)?

Fortunately, the video shows that there are some rational parents in that school.

There is some part of Taiwan's society that is really sick now. I just hope the sickness is not wide spread.

PS...Now I think of it...isn't this like a disease? CCP and KMT spread their Chinese culture revolution fever and their fanaticism to Taiwan. Now, it is up to Taiwan's rational and cool minds to be the immune system, to retaliate against this disease. Otherwise, this disease will certainly kill Taiwan...or rather, the vary soul of Taiwan.

Sigh...Ignorance, Fanaticism and Tyranny

2009-06-28T00:23:00.010-04:00

http://current.com/items/90250785_iran-tehran-wounded-girl-dying-in-front-of-camera.htm

Perhaps...this video sums up of what is happening in Iran...

Although I have nothing to do with Iran, I felt something stirring deep within my heart watching this video. Perhaps it's sadness, or something else...I don't know.

It reminds me of 228 as well...It's totally different situation, yea...but there are similarities...

Approximately half month before this thing happened in Iran, I was watching a TV program about Freemason, and one quote in the TV show stroke me and made an impression in my brain. Some dude (maybe a historian, I cannot remember) said something like, in Freemason's mythology, one always struggles against 3 things: Ignorance, Fanaticism and Tyranny.

Ignorance, fanaticism, tyranny...

Looking at what is happening in Iran and in Taiwan, ...ignorance, fanaticism and tyranny indeed.

It is Really Not Hard to See

2009-06-28T00:04:00.006-04:00

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jun/28/today-fo1.htm

This report reminds me again what I have been saying and what I have been thinking ever since Ma get elected. Over time a lot of things happened...but the basic trend does not change.

It is actually quite easy to see. It's like how drug dealing work. Someone for some reason are lured to try the drug because he/she does not have enough information or does not have a firm principle, and because he is under a lot of stress. The drug dealer acts all nice etc. But after the person become a drug addict, the drug dealer has total control over the person. The drug dealer sucks away all the money and dignity from the addict. The addict's life and his/her family's life are ruined, usually forever until death.

This is very similar to Taiwan's situation. Taiwan is under pressure (economic and internal politics). China is the drug dealer. China is attempting to make Taiwan addicted to a drug...a drug of economy and myth.

Too many people are greedy and do not care about anything else...like someone who is weak in mind and principles, and easily lured by temptation of something "magical" that can cure all the stress and worries of reality. Taiwanese need to be more aware of things other than money.

Shameless...

2009-06-27T13:43:00.000-04:00

Those KMT members are really shameless: http://www.shadowgov.tw/22597_0_is.htm

They know they are just playing politics. But they never thought what kind of danger and disadvantage they put Taiwan into? At the same time they accused others?

Shameless...Shameless...shameless.

A Real Stupid Move by DPP

2009-06-26T14:04:00.008-04:00

Someone needs to get DPP's attention to really reconsider this move...SERIOUSLY and SOON. This is a real stupid move. DPP needs to get the priority straight. This move for Taiwan is useless and has no point, and it will damage DPP in my opinion.

On the health side, I really don't see how US beef can cause health concern. Correct me if I am wrong, but the mad cow disease etc are no longer a problem to my knowledge. As long as Taiwan health official kept on top of things it should be fine to import cattle more than 30 months old and beef with bones. The situation is very different from Chinese milk problem because in that case Chinese milk producers intentionally add illegal substances into milk and Chinese officials were not able to discover the problem in time and intend to cover it up.

Also, to my knowledge, majority of Taiwan's beef are imported from Australia...and it seems Taiwan is treating the import from Australia and from the US differently...why? There is no good reason. It just seems to be a bit paranoid. Just because South Korean are crazy about this does not mean Taiwan has to follow their example. And to my knowledge South Korean reasoning are more due to economic concerns..., which Taiwan does not have because most of Taiwan's beef are imported from Australia.

DPP really needs to reconsider this move seriously. Unless they can really come up with solid reasons (like proof of mad cow diseases still going on in the US etc), they should drop this action. Otherwise, KMT will use this as a weapon against DPP. "Look, the paranoid DPP is trying to lock Taiwan from international market once again." I can just imagine they say something like that.

It makes sense to have good control over trade between China and Taiwan because China is not true free capitalist market. But the US is a totally different story. I do not see big harm in loosening of control of trade between Taiwan and the US. A lot of products, including agriculture, do not overlap, and the US market is more open and free than Chinese market.

Also, if it's DPP's policy to consider FTA with the US and other countries, which I believe is the case. DPP should not be against this beef import. DPP needs to consider this carefully. Instead of doing things like this...DPP should concentrate on stopping KMT from leaking agriculture technologies to China etc.

The Bottom Line...

2009-06-26T03:41:00.003-04:00

Recently there are some new development in Chen's case, both from KMT and DPP side.

I have some personal feeling etc, and I am sure a lot of people do as well. However, personal feeling in this case are complicated, contradictory and hard to express. And everyone is a bit different...so it is probably not worth to spill it all over the place.

The simple fact is this. Before, Chen's case, IMO, is not a big problem for Taiwan. But now it has become a mirror showing the sick, ugly and rotten side of Taiwan's judiciary process and system. The bottom line is, Taiwan has to face this problem and improve the system. It is not simply about Chen and politics, but about the long term development of Taiwan as a whole.

The recent DPP's petition from leaders of society and justice system is a small first step. There are a lot of follow ups. IMO, they might not have any short term effect and it might not make Chen's treatment any more fair. I am not even sure if they will have long term effect. However, some steps must be taken to get the ball rolling, to make the public aware of the problems, to start the improvement processes.

Indeed...

2009-06-23T01:20:00.004-04:00

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jun/23/today-f2.htm

I hold similar opinion.

Also, as I mentioned before (maybe), Taiwan gave to much attention to these so called Chinese experts in the US. I wonder who knows Chinese more? American or Taiwanese? The answer is quite obvious I think. The only problem is that Taiwan is in the thick of it. Therefore Taiwanese sometimes need to take a step back and evaluate the situation. But certainly, IMO, the American understanding of Chinese is not more than Taiwanese understanding, if it is not less.

So when reading what those American Chinese experts wrote about China, try to take them with a grain of salt. I doubt even CIA has a full understanding of China.

So...Humm....What Happened to 達震案?

2009-06-21T14:42:00.010-04:00

Surfing the web a bit and suddenly remembered....what the hell happens to 達震案?

If people have at least some short term memory, they will remember during election, KMT accusing some dude and Minister of National Defense of corruption on this 達震案. Rumor has it that the company 達震 is supposedly used as a private company contracting French weapon system...specifically the Rafale jet fighters.

This is actually a pretty good move because it puts competition between the US and French weapon systems, thus give Taiwan more leverage in terms of getting desired system. Obviously, there are some disadvantageous to consider. For example, French system's maintenance might be more expensive due to their smaller numbers, and French government is more prone to bend to Beijing's will. Moreover, the bad memory of La Fayette class frigates deal does not help the case. However, all these problems can be remedied more or less during deal making etc, and the La Fayette scandal is in huge part Taiwan's (or rather, KMT's) own fault.

So now, what happens to 達震? Obviously that plan was completely scraped. But from what I heard recently the first court already ruled not guilty...It is really stupid. During election, everyone said there is a problem, there is a problem. And now everyone just shut up about it. What's the deal? It just shows that KMT is all election and no rational discussion.

達震案 might need some fixing here and there, but in general it is actually not too bad an idea. Using private companies to purchase weapons from France to avoid Chinese pressure etc seems to be a possibility. Unfortunately, KMT just scraps the whole thing. GOOD JOB, KMT. You officially screwed up another deal between France and Taiwan. REAL GENIUS.

(By the way Rafale is not too bad...it is used by French Navy for the carriers as well, which means that its take off distance is probably short, another beneficial characteristic for Tawian. And supposedly it has limited stealth feature. If Taiwan is able to get a hand on one of this...Taiwan might even gain some leverage on getting not just F-16 C/D but F-35 as well.)

Some Interesting Read

2009-06-21T09:03:00.007-04:00

阿扁的功過

I sort of agree with the author on several points. To use street demonstration to try to "rescue" Chen will probably make things worse. Most people would agree what is more effective is a demonstration on the injustice and arbitrariness of the Justice department of Taiwan...in another word, a demonstration to ask for fair treatment of Chen's case. However, this type of message is often lost in the demonstration in this situation. Because the message cannot be simply stated and get across, demonstration might not be very effective. Other methods must be used. However, I am not totally sure what routes are the best. One thing for certain is there is no quick solution.

It is really unfortunate for Chen and those around him. Perhaps they are not all innocent, but they have been treated extremely unfairly not just by Ma, but the whole society of Taiwan. Maybe history will look at Chen and see his faults and accomplishments, but it will see Chen's treatment as a shameful act of Taiwanese servants beating up one person to please their master. (Well, if KMT keeps holding on to the power or if CCP get the hold of the power, history will be written in a twisted way instead...as always)
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《星期專論》齋藤「地位未定論」並非失言
Another piece on the old news several months ago...I guessed I had said enough about this myself, so I won't say anything further. Of course, the more people know and remember about this concept, the better perhaps.
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http://fareasternpotato.blogspot.com/

The 2 new logs:
Beijing makes itself an ‘indispensable’ ally
Chinese navy gets too close for comfort

Are kind of interesting.

The first issue, IMO, South Korea, Japan and the US's action are just complete idiotic lunacy. I always like to call the meeting "6 Parties Masturbation" instead of "6 Parties Talk." I am not saying they should just go into NK guns blazing, but their current policy only seems to make things worse and worse.

The second one is very interesting as well. It is really unfortunate...that China now desire to master the sea it seems. For Taiwan, this is a bad news. I think Taiwan really needs to look at some British history to see how they maintain their defense against French and Spanish fleets and commerce destroyers etc. The thing is, Taiwan's situation is much worse than British perhaps, because Britain faces opponent of similar sizes on a divided continents while Taiwan faces a much bigger continental hegemon.

PS. Oh yea...that NK propaganda cartoon looks kind of funny...It looks like the artist took a cue from Japan's Godzilla.I guess only giant Gundams can save us now: LINK

Other After Thought

2009-06-20T15:30:00.003-04:00

Another thing I thought of after reading it is that indeed there are some attitude in both pan-green and pan-blue that is not normal:

Some pan-green people over emphasize the reliance on the US military. If we are talking about trying to acquire military technologies, know-how and weapons, that is normal. For a country like Taiwan, there is no way we can develop all weapon system on our own. However, if we are talking about relying on the US to defend us, that would be very disastrous.
Some pan-green people think China is going to collapse soon. Yes, China has a huge internal problems but just hoping the opponent will collapse on its own does not help at all. It is better to think more on how to improve Taiwan's economy and military.
Some pan-blue people have this China fantasy. Under estimating the opponent is not good, but over estimating them is quite stupid as well. Some pan-blue supporters exaggerated Chinese military ability as if Chinese troops are some sort of Starship Troopers which even the US cannot compare. A lot of people also exaggerated Chinese economic progresses.

There are probably a lot of other weird attitude which I am not aware of, but I am pretty sure there are more lol.

My Thought On the Military Part

2009-06-20T05:53:00.009-04:00

I Read the whole thing. Overall it is very good, but sounds very "calculating" lol(well, maybe that is what a grand strategy is suppose to be.)

The part which I think I have some extra thoughts on are in the naval strategy. The author's preference to "big ships" actually coincide with my thought somewhat. A lot of people say big ships are useless for Taiwan, especially some politicians even use big ships are expensive and useless etc to block budget. However, I always thought bigger ships (frigates and above class such as the US Aleigh Burke class destroyers) have a place in Taiwan's naval strategy due to the following reasons:

As mention by the author, the navy's battle field most likely will not be in Taiwan strait directly. A fleet is "offensive" in nature. For Taiwan, during a war, a fleet either attack the enemy fleets, its ports or remain as "a fleet in being." Taiwan strait is a no-man's land for a fleet, with modern anti-ship missiles from aircraft and land. It means, the fleet will most likely be engaging enemy fleets or retreating to east, north or south of Taiwan to remain as a "fleet in being," to remain as a threat to the enemy's amphibious assault, as the author mentioned, or anti-blockading mission perhaps.
Bigger ships are actually easier to upgrade due to the bigger available room in the hull and deck area (Just look at what Taiwan navy did to the recently retired WWII museum piece cruisers). Also it has much better radar and survivability than the small ships. It is also easier to install large weapons (such as Anti-ships and anti-air missiles) on them. Smaller ships also require in greater numbers...so in sum is bigger ships actually more expensive?
Bigger ships actually have higher top speed. It means they are more strategically mobile, because they can move faster and stay at sea longer without refuel and resupply. Of course smaller ships are more maneuverable, but it is not like they can dodge shells or missiles (like aircraft). Bigger ships at least have a chance to shoot down incoming missiles and air crafts etc.

So I think Taiwan cannot just discard the concept of a main fleet consists of larger ships right out of the window, even if Taiwan has a lot more submarines, because subs have disadvantages that needs to be considered as well. For example, subs (not nuclear subs) move much slower even in top speed. It probably has to move even slower during operation to remain stealthy. It means that they can only attack by ambush, and use hit and run tactics. Without other ships' support, it is hard to tell how effective they can be. Of course right now China's anti-sub capability might be lacking, but I think all different factors need to be considered before dismissing them. During WWII, without other fleets' support, German's sub fleets became ineffective and got destroyed in the end. At the same time, with its main fleets in existence, the US subs was able to achieve some surprise attack on very important Japanese targets.

However, one might not have to dismiss the small ships so quickly neither. I think it all depends on how they can be used. For example, it is true, as the author said, the function of small missile attack ships' and land based anti-ship missiles is exactly the same: make enemy's direct cross-straight amphibious assault impossible, in which case, they have to use the longer route and expose themselves to the attack from the fleets outside of Taiwan straight. So why not just use mobile land based anti-ship missiles instead. That is very true, but who says it's more advantageous to have mobile land based anti-ship missiles? It might be that it's actually better to have small missile attack ships. For example, maybe it's easier to move those missiles around on ships. Maybe due to Taiwan's rough terrain and possible destruction of road and bridges during war, it is harder to move those missile trucks in position etc. Also, if we use the small boats as missile trucks, one can imagine using them close to the coast, where the coast terrain might actually obscure radar scan. This will give extra cover for the small ships while the enemy's ships become exposed to the Taiwan's land based radar...etc.

Of course, I am just speculating a bit here from some information I read in the past..these type of things only experts can answer what is practical and what is not. But my point is that too many people just dismiss some weapon platforms or systems without actually giving some good analysis on the possibilities they give. As the author had shown, bigger ships might not be all useless for Taiwan, and in fact they might be more useful.

Another interesting thing the author mentioned is the importance of Army, which I also agree. Even in Navy and Air Force's stand point of view, Army is extremely important. Navy and Air Forces cannot defend their own bases directly, Army is the one capable of doing that. Even if Taiwan's navy and air force can "bring the fight" to the enemy and away from Taiwan, there is no guarantee that the enemy won't be able to slip in attacks on Taiwan itself. That is when Taiwan has to "defend itself" directly, and the only way is the army and possibly the police (SWAT). But, as the author pointed out, Army is probably the one branch in the military that requires the most rethinking etc, such as the parts regarding more training in urban warfare and using natural advantages of being the defenders.

Other details that the author did not mention or perhaps did not consider is the hardening of the bases and the use of SAM. But I guess those are more of technical details comparing to the other issues.

lol Grand Strategy Study for Taiwan

2009-06-20T02:35:00.010-04:00

http://blog.yam.com/eoiss/category/2449683

Someone else actually did it!!! A quite detail thought, info gathering and analysis of possible Taiwan grand strategy.

I haven't read in detail so I don't know how good it is. But it certainly is a big task to try to come up with something like that. I attempted it before but just found it too difficult. It is just too much for me to pack so much thoughts into an organized blog with so many different fields in economics, defense, politics, education and everything else.

Of course, grand strategy I think is nothing more than a very rough goal or guidelines. A lot of development of a nation is very "natural" and unexpected, thus it is very difficult to just follow a straight solid road. In fact, it will probably be a disaster to do so. However, using strategy as a sort of rough goal and guides is probably helpful and natural.

And of course, grand strategy cannot be formed by just one person. It requires a lot of different inputs. This guy gather a lot of info and experts thoughts over the years to formulate this, but it is probably still not sufficient for something real serious. But it is just amazing and fun to see it done. (I attempt to amuse myself with this strategy thoughts but even trying to do that is difficult. Although I also gather many different info over the years, I think I just don't have enough knowledge to write something this big yet..perhaps later when I have more time and skill I can try again lol) .

I will read it soon and see what it says.

UPDATE: So far I found it very well written, and I agree with a lot of stuff it said so far.

Ha...Just An Off Topic Post

2009-06-18T03:45:00.002-04:00

Well...this is off topic, but doesn't this photo look kind of funny:

http://iservice.libertytimes.com.tw/IService3/newspic.php?pic=http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jun/18/images/bigPic/196.jpg

The Brazilian leader is left out of the...well, don't know what it is they are doing. But he is left out of whatever the other 3 are doing.

Interesting Military Analysis from USNI Magazine

2009-06-18T03:07:00.006-04:00

The Far-Eastern Sweet Potato has an excellent post on the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine.

LINKS:

This is very alarming indeed...not just for Taiwan, but for the US as well.

You Be The Judge On This

2009-06-18T02:38:00.004-04:00

Someone organized a list of the things Ma said and did that gives the impression of his selling out of Taiwan and flip-flopping nature. Re-post it here:

{歡迎轉貼無須告知}

馬英九賣台證據

73.馬：不統不是排除統一選項(20090617)

72.中國搶攻第二農產輸日我從第2落至22(20090615)

71.馬又跳票／中國白領勞工擬開放來台(20090615)

70.中國官員武嚇蕭美琴直譯揭醜態(20090613)

69.馬倡兩岸書同文可寫簡體字(20090610)

68.農發基金會農技輸中白手套？(20090608)

67.馬英九：不排除開放12吋晶圓廠赴大陸投資(20090605)

66.漢光政軍兵推排除反斬首　馬總統進駐指揮所(20090605)　

65.台肥賣水產地標中國台灣(20090605)

64.六四事件二十週年馬未提平反讚中國開放(20090604)

63.金馬澎將再撤軍總額不到萬人(20090603)

62.馬英九兩岸策略提出“一中共表”概念(20090523)

61.吳伯雄晤胡錦濤自稱「島內」硬拗對等(20090527)

60.胡錦濤談ECFA 重提兩岸一中(20090527)

59.中資來台BOT 綠強力杯葛(20090526)

58.世衛官網加註台灣病例仍歸中國(20090524)

57.參與世衛台灣被當領地中國代申請？(20090524)

56.ＷＨＯ官網台灣病例被納入中國(20090523)

55.葉金川:新流感首例最壞情形是列中國之下(20090521)

54.葉金川:台灣參與WHA 兩岸有共識未形諸文字(20090520)

53.葉金川︰台宣示主權會被當爛國家(20090518)

52.世衛官網台灣列中國一省(20090517)

51.藍召青年訪中黨內批朝貢過頭(20090513)

50.中國海峽論壇胡志強把「整個台中搬去」(20090513)

49.馬：若連任兩岸不排除政治協商(20090510)

48.兩岸連手逮要犯大陸公安明年初駐台(20090508)

47.我參與WHA 綠批：成中國附庸(20090501)

46.搞統一？研考會：赴中國不算出國(20090410)

45.馬違慣例親自遙祭黃帝陵(20090404)

44.統戰技倆? 陸辦官報校園贈閱(20090407)

43.中國日報寄北市議會　議員批「統戰意味濃」(20090317)

42.陳月卿登陸打書矮化夫官銜(20090403)

41.陳月卿赴中賣書綠批國安漏洞(20090403)

40.中興兵推不進圓山指揮所　綠委批：宅男兵推！(20090326)

39.加入WHO 台灣八個港口列為中國港口？(20090320)

38.為何是「中華台北」？玉山參選七大奇景不見「台灣」(20090313)

37.改漢語拼音學者不滿意識形態領政(20080918)

36.馬指示研究「台商任中國政協」(20080917)

35.觀光局迎陸客簡體官網無國旗　國號、國旗沒了！民進黨痛批(20080628)

34.總統府網站台灣字樣被刪綠委痛批(20080522)

33.高考二級將加考中國憲法考生傻眼(20090310)

32.中國人民銀行行長周小川：兩岸金融參考中港模式(20090307)

31.溫家寶：一中原則增強兩岸互信(20090306)

30.馬態度強硬拒絕ＣＥＣＡ公投(20090220)

29.亞洲舞龍賽不見中華民國國旗(20090216)

28.我多數駐外館處網站未掛國旗(20090216)

27.國安高層要求停止中國佈建(20090213)

26.故宮院長周功鑫已經投降了(20090210)

25.今年漢光演習確定不會開火(20090211)

24.馬英九促研議建設金廈大橋(20090206)

23.江丙坤：經濟依賴中國非壞事(20090205)

22.南市／不滿台語認證經費被刪除　民代發動遊行抗議(20090208)

21.馬英九：把中國威脅極小化(20090206)

20.離譜!毛澤東生日變國定假日(20090116)

19.藍提案「建議」中華民國主權獨立？(20090116)

18.中國外交部：台灣船隻也是中國海軍保護的對象(20090113)

17.獲准西進　馬蕭紀念酒不見中華民國、總統字眼(20090108)

16.台東「被統一」桌曆印上五星旗(20090107)

15.貓熊接風動物園周邊撤國旗?(20081223)

14.單向直航政府挨批喪權辱國(20081229)

13.我國通報禽流感疫情所發的更正函，在標題與最後署名是「Taipei China」(20081228)

12.華盛頓公約：貓熊來台屬國內交易(20081224)

11.太扯了！桃縣議會日曆標示71回歸十一國慶(20081222)

10.貓熊來台文件矮化台灣？動物園：兩岸認可(20081216)

9.馬寧見胡錦濤溫家寶拒達賴訪台(20081204)

8.衝擊國防不在意?直航截彎取直馬：下月有結果(20080918)

7.馬英九日前指稱，兩岸關係不是以「國籍」劃分，是以「戶籍」劃分(20081103)

6.駐美武官悄悄降編秘書(20081207)

5.漢光實兵操演將改兩年一次(20081219)

4.中華郵政去ROC 國際單據多加上(地區)(20081216)

3.改漢語拼音學者不滿意識形態領政(20080918)

2.若見陳雲林馬：就互稱先生(20080618)

1.馬：兩岸非國與國屬特別關係(20080904)

UPDATE: Echo Taiwan also has an excellent post: LINK

The Usual Disturbing Stuff

2009-06-16T00:36:00.007-04:00

Recently there are some unsettling development in Taiwan's economy and political discussion. Although they are worrisome, but they are no longer a surprise for me because I know that is exactly what Ma and his government would do. Leaning ever more toward China, non-stop.

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jun/13/today-p1.htm

This news is also kind of disturbing, but actually I did not pay much attention to it...again probably because I was used to it. But when 蕭 appeared on 大話新聞 and discussed her experience, I was reminded what a similar experience I had in the past. Of course I did not speak to some China official like 武樹民 in the past, but I met people from Hong Kong and China outside Taiwan. Some of those people from Hong Kong I met seem to show some understanding of Taiwan's situation (or a desire to understand) and is not like 武. But of course most of them probably don't have a clue and don't care. But actually one guy from Hong Kong that I had a discussion with is very very similar to 武. He is all friendly etc until you start talking about the "real" stuff. Quite some of the people from China whom I met are actually like 武. Unfortunately, after a while, I avoid those topic with those people, most of the time I don't talk to them at all.

Online forums is even worse. A lot of post done by Chinese which I saw on forum inside and outside of Taiwan is disturbing to say the least. On some US forum, some posts that are obviously written by Chinese immigrants to North America or some Chinese born in the US show extreme hostility toward Taiwan. But again...I cannot be too sure because you never know...those might be posted by paid Chinese Internet police or army.

Of course I cannot generalize my experience to say that every Taiwanese must have similar experience. But from what I heard from friends etc, that is the general situation. The problem is not just the military threat, but this pressure of forcing you or act as if Taiwan is part of China is really uncomfortable. Certainly, I never act as if China is part of Taiwan. I respect Chinese sovereignty over China...but usually I don't get the same respect in return. It is expected given the faulty materials been taught in China, and even in Taiwan, but still it makes me uncomfortable.

The sad thing about all of these events is...they seem usual and disturbing at the same time in Taiwanese eyes.

Is This the Crisis Core of Taiwan?

2009-06-11T00:05:00.018-04:00

DPP and others reaction to Ma's attempt to take over KMT chairman position:

Of course we can all laugh at 吳: this is what you get for being a pawn and dog of Ma. Other "funny" things include Ma actually turning 180 degrees again. Whatever this guy says, even with a definitive tone, does not count. He has absolutely no credibility.

But the main issue is much more serious and need people's full attention. In my view, things are becoming worse and worse and I am wondering if we are reaching the crisis core, the breaking point, the last straw on the camel's back. Perhaps I am over reacting, but....

There are basically two major problems as pointed out by different people in the article.

蔡英文說，國民黨不但掌握行政權，也掌握立法院四分之三席次，再由總統統合行政權與立法權，國家憲政體制已經喪失制衡機制，將會產生台灣憲政體制上非常大的風險。

The first, as stated above, is the erosion of the whole political system. There are no longer balance and check of power. The power now centers on one person and the small group around him. This is a dictatorship with a democratic makeup, a hot bed for possible tyranny (well, if the recent action of Ma including suing prosecutor 侯寬仁 is not tyrannical enough already) . Now a lot of things, including Taiwan's future and the Taiwanese fate, become extremely uncertain.

蔡同榮表示，「現在馬英九統治台灣，相當於胡錦濤統治中國，根本沒有人或媒體敢挑戰他，而他兼任黨主席的原因，是為了要完成他『終極統一』的目標。」

This is a problem because that is exactly what the China's annexation strategy is: define the Taiwan status problem as an internal affair of China and as the issue between just two Chinese political parties, CCP and KMT. In this definition, with KMT in total control of the government, and Ma in total control of the KMT, Taiwanese has no say and cannot reject any deals between CCP and KMT that might effect Taiwanese life significantly. Also, by becoming chairman of KMT, Ma signals that the head of the state and the head of the KMT are one and the same, similar to the current situation in China and the situation in Taiwan 10 or 20 years ago. This plays right into CCP's set up. I am now highly convinced that Ma intends to bring Taiwan into China's fold no matter what. He will eliminate any obstacles standing between him and China's annexation of Taiwan. To Taiwan, he is truly a determined traitor and enemy. I hope people can see this clearly now.

Then again, I might be over reacting. In any case, it's better to be cynical than careless and stupid in this situation. I just hope the force of the public, DPP, other organizations and even some of those people in KMT such as 王金平 can stop Ma and the KMT old guards.

Side NOTE: an interesting poll by DPP on this 馬英九兼任黨主席 and the 識正書簡 matter: LINK

Well Done Mr. Keating

2009-06-09T22:43:00.002-04:00

A well reasoned argument by Mr. Keating. I hope those CNN and AP etc can read this. Unfortunately I think those news agencies are much more stubborn than Starbucks, which is kind of ironic.

Thanks Taiwan Matter for noting this excellent article. Taiwan Matters' view on this article: LINK

Hehe...nice, I will add this one to the Taiwan Status side bar.

More People Need To Know

2009-06-06T15:21:00.005-04:00

http://www.shadowgov.tw/21835_0_is.htm

I wonder how many people actually know this.

A few years ago all the pan blue media kept attacking, accusing and quite simply making it looks like they are all guilty. The prosecutors seemed to be forced and influenced by the media to charge them. Now looking back it seems a lot of those charges are quite questionable. But during that time the pan blue media made it looks like they are definitely guilty.

The lesson here is simple. Presume innocent until proven guilty under the rule of law. Those pan blue media is just using questionable rumors etc as political weapons to attack pan green politicians. That is not justice, but brainless mob action. I wonder how those people that cheer for the media and become fanatical witch hunters feel once they know about this. Would it calm them down now? The only thing is the media won't report this in the same proportion as when they were accusing those people, and those ignorant mob would never find out the truth.

The sad thing is a lot of those people's reputation is tarnished by the media for no reason...

The positive thing is the KS Metro was completed and is working fine (unlike Maokong Gondola) Which reminds me, shouldn't some prosecutors investigate the Maokong Gondola thing? Because it is very obviously falling apart.

Another Nice Editorial on Taipei Times

2009-06-04T13:42:00.005-04:00

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/06/05/2003445388

Nicely written editorial.

I wonder if those strategic thinkers in the west ever thought of their policy with China actually creates this reverse wave of anti-democracy. Now every authoritarian government looks to China for guidance and diplomatic cover in the UN. Their grip on power is stronger than ever.

But perhaps that is the way things are. Like waves in the the ocean, it goes up and down. The only thing worth noting is the irony in all of this, and the realization that Taiwan has to stand firm in this storm.

Good Rebuttal On Wu's Ridiculous Statements

2009-06-04T10:43:00.004-04:00

Taipei Times has a good rebuttal on Wu's ridiculous statements.

Also, I am sure a lot of people notice by now the pattern of the older KMT politicians.

Usually, when they are in power and in Taiwan, although sometimes you can still get a glimpse of their twisted values, they appear rather moderate. However, as they get older, and closer to the age of retirement, they start to go to China a lot and their stance starts to lean more and more toward China. This is true for James Soong, Lien Chen, and now Wu.

I suspect that they are all seeking political profit through kowtowing to China. They have very few public support in Taiwan, and perhaps they don't even have a lot of support in their own party. That is probably what prompt them to go to China and make all those shameful act to get political power from CCP. Of course they loss even more support doing so, but they probably don't care.

They either really meant what they say in China, in which case they have been lying and pretending in Taiwan, or they are just kowowing to China in order to get wealth and power from CCP. Either way it's quite pathetic indeed.

It is very ironic that KMT always say stupid slogans like "Ping Economy, Don't Ping Politics," but actually they don't Ping neither. They only "Ping" their own pockets.

The Triumph of Reality Over Illusion? Thought About El Salvador, Starbucks And Name

2009-06-03T13:44:00.010-04:00

Two recent events prompt me to think about..."What is in a name?"

(Because we are discussing name here, I will pretend Taiwan does not have a name, and use Island X to refer to Taiwan...because saying something like "Bob refers to Taiwan as Taiwan" simply doesn't make my point clear).

Event one is the Starbucks' correction on its website after web users in Island X took initiative to email Starbucks complaining about it. Actually I checked the Starbucks' site and in most places it uses only Taiwan to refer to Island X. Only in one of the search page it shows "Taiwan, Province of China." After the complains, Starbucks correct it rather quickly...within 24 hrs.

The other event is that El Salvador's foreign minister used the term "Republic of Taiwan" to refer to Island X. These might have another "wow" effect on most Island X citizens perhaps, similar to when former US President Bush said "Republic of Taiwan." Bush was known for frequent slip of tongue though so you wonder if he said that by mistakes. But El Salvador's foreign minister is a diplomat, which should mean that his words are mostly carefully chosen.

If we think about it though, isn't this the natural flow of things? CCP uses the name ROC in the UN, and would get angry anytime a foreigner use ROC to refer to Island X, because the name violates its "One China" G Spot. KMT only uses ROC when it is inside Island X. When it is in China, it cannot even refer to Island X as a country, and can only say ROC when it is talking about history, not current event. When it is in other places I wonder if it can actually use ROC anymore because most people around the world don't make a distinction and think ROC == PRC. DPP just doesn't like the name ROC at all. In global private sector, most companies refer to Island X as Taiwan, not ROC.

So basically, no one likes the name ROC and no one is using the name ROC. That name is basically fading away, because it simply does not reflect the reality. El Salvador has diplomatic tie with Island X, which means Island X must in reality be a nation. But the name ROC is simply confusing and does not reflect the reality. And for many years, most people refer to Island X as Taiwan, and even people on Island X prefer the name Taiwan. So why don't we just use the name "Republic of Taiwan" to refer to Island X? And thus the name in born, in the mind of El Salvador's foreign minister and many others around the world.

Of course, CCP and KMT both do not like the name Taiwan or Republic of Taiwan because they don't like the reality that Island X is an independent nation. But someone like El Salvador and Starbucks who have to do business with Island X and deal with Island X as an independent nation would ask..."But...no one in Island X like "Taiwan, Province of China" or "Chinese Taipei, " and those terms simply do not reflect the reality. So, what exactly should we call Island X then? Banana Republic?" Perhaps, perhaps. But once again Banana Republic does not describe Island X well and it is actually a trade mark used by a clothes company.

For all practical purpose, Republic of Taiwan is the best name for Island X, because it is the most concise, most clear and best reflection of the reality. That is the reason why former US president Bush and El Salvador foreign minister both refer Island X as Republic of Taiwan, whether it is by mistakes or not. That is also one reason why Starbucks can change the name back to Taiwan on the English website so quickly, because "Taiwan, Province of China" simply does not reflect the reality.

PS. I hope some of those people in DPP also stop using "ROC == Taiwan" and "Taiwan == ROC" because seriously no one cares and if even El Salvador already used the concept Republic of Taiwan as a name, why shouldn't DPP?

Thoughts on Recent Statements Made by KMT

2009-06-02T12:39:00.013-04:00

Recently there are quite a few statements made by KMT that is just inappropriate in my opinion. All I can say is...from these statements one can see what KMT's view is, and IMO they are just not in accordance with the basic human decency and values.

Wang Yu-chih's Statement Regarding former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun’s suicide
Cloudia Jean already point out well the fundamental flaws and problems in this guy's statement. So I am not going to write about it in detail here. I would just like to add that this guy did not say this by mistake, and this fundamentally wrong statement is not due to lack of explanation. No...this guy said it because the KMT truely believes that is the case. Why? 2 Reasons. First, if you look at his further explanation a day after, you will notice, he did not recognize there is something fundamentally wrong with his statement. He said something like "To preserve his dignity and honor, he choose suicide, and we think that deserve our respect." In another word, he only knows that people are uncomfortable with his statement but he does not know where the problem is. Thus he only reaffirms his praise when he tried to explain it further. This shows that he and those behind him truly believed what he said.

Furthermore, just a few days ago, KMT updated their news website with their comparison between Roh and Chen. It clearly praised Roh's suicide and accusing Chen of being shameless. All these statements and publication indicate that KMT attempts to use Roh's suicide to further attack Chen. They seem to miss the point: the cause behind Roh's suicide is largely due to prosecutors leaking information to the media (similar situation in Taiwan) which created undue psychological pressure on Roh during the investigation. Under the rule of law, all are presumed innocent until proven guilty. What is happening in Taiwan and Korea is the judiciary branch broke the law and stray away from the due process, creating "mob justice" through media, and initating this trial by morality instead of trial by the Law. These are fundamentally wrong. That is why, a lot of Korean turn up in Roh's funeral, because they feel sorry for him. Perhaps they even feel a sense of guilt and shame. But KMT did not see this. Instead, they try to use Roh's suicide to create more "moral judgement" and "trial by the mob" on Chen.

Wu Poh-hsiung's Statements in China
A lot of people pick on his use of term "in the island, " which again just shows how twisted KMT's mind is. It is the same with the term "mainland." All of it is used to create the sense that China and Taiwan belongs to one country.

A person that is aligned with the majority opinion in Taiwan would use the term "in my country" etc. But I am not really surprised or angered by this because KMT is always like this. No matter what decoration they add on, fundamentally, their view is the same.

I look at his visit in the whole instead. And I can only say, comparing to DPP's Chen Chu, the visit is a totally shameful act, and his and his party's interests does not align with Taiwan's interests.

Ma's Refusal for Referendum on ECFA
Ma once again refuse to have a referendum on ECFA. I guess a lot of people already beat Ma's argument to death. Basically, Ma think we don't need referendum on ECFA is not a sovereignty issue thus it does not need referendum. But Peng Hu, for example, is going to have a referendum on legalize gambling. It is clearly a double standard. Clearly, the issue does not have to be sovereignty related to have a referendum. Anything that the legislature or the government cannot decide is a plausible referendum issue. The other thing he said is if we have referendum on everything, then there is no need for legislature etc. But who says we need referendum on everything? We are just talking about ECFA here. Ma is clearly trying to loss the focus on the issue and avoiding the question.

All these statements I guess would not surprise anyone who has observed KMT behavior for a while. The only thing I can say is that KMT has too much abnormal element in it which makes it a cancer cell and parasite in Taiwan. KMT either needs to be completely removed, or break into pieces in order to be completely transformed into a normal democratic party. Right now I think a completely marginalization of KMT would be the easiest path, but is that even possible?

?Even Military Community Can't Seem to Stand It Anymore?

2009-06-01T02:50:00.006-04:00

http://www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=90937

Traditionally Taiwan's military has more pan blue supporters, but looks like right now even quite a few of them cannot stand the recent policy of Ma.

I found the guy's reasoning very clear. And he confirms a lot of people's concern, especially pan green's concern, that the recent BOT proposals, ECFA and various other policies created by Ma's government is endangering Taiwan. The only difference between him and some pan green supporters are their views of Ma's intention. He thinks that Ma is basically totally clueless, arrogant and ignorant, while some pan green supporters think Ma is basically trying to sell Taiwan out piece by piece. But this difference is quite minor, comparing to the acknowledgment from both sides that what Ma is doing is a huge problem for Taiwan.

Military should be politically neutral of course. But when it is about grave national security matter they should also give out some of their honest opinions when necessary.

Actually...This is So True

2009-05-29T13:25:00.004-04:00

The interview on Taipei Times sounds kind of funny, but actually it fits so well with the situation:

INTERVIEW: Taiwanese have Stockholm syndrome: psychiatrist

Actually I think I saw another of this guy's interview a while ago...but I think maybe during that time the "symptom" is not very clear to me...but now more I think about it, the more of what he described make sense to me. It fits very well with the logical holes I find listening to opinions from different average Taiwanese. I find it especially true to my parents' generation (40 to 60 years old). Even the ones that are not pan blue have these symptoms. Some people have more severe symptoms than others. Although I personally knew a few younger people having similar problems, I am not too sure about my own generation in general...which is kind of weird, probably because younger people usually don't have enough confidence to voice their own opinion.

The bright side of things are there are quite some people already free from this entanglement...the only problem is can they help others to set themselves free.

Great Editorial By Taiwan News

2009-05-28T15:58:00.005-04:00

Great editorial on Taiwan News: Taiwan economy needs reform more than PRC

The conclusion is particularly strking:

Taiwan now is paying the price for the KMT's "scorched earth" strategy that succeeded in "persuading" the electorate to give it power again and for the KMT's obsession with "great China" and its lack of a genuine Taiwan-centric vision grounded in reality.

Isn't that the KMT's plan all along and isn't that a concise and clear summary of Taiwan's past few years?

Actually, history does repeat itself. After KMT took over Taiwan, it pillages (scorched earth once again) Taiwan to the ground. Afterward, it just claims the credit of Taiwan's economic recovery from that calamity. Then it claims that it is the only party that knows economics...

If they haven't been to Taiwan, Taiwan might be 10 times better. Such thuggish deception...but it is the Taiwanese fault to let them deceived us for such a long time, even till this day.

Just Ridiculous

2009-05-28T13:43:00.002-04:00

Ma's government recent attempt to pass bill allowing Chinese investment in BOT projects of major national and public utility is just getting ridiculous. Why some Taiwanese tolerates such intolerable insult and blunt surrendering posture of Ma is beyond my comprehension...

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/05/29/2003444813

Do we actually need Chinese in our BOT project that bad? What is the benefits of that? Why risk so much for absolutely no gains?

Interesting Opinions And Data on Economics

2009-05-26T12:31:00.007-04:00

Taipei Times has this piece on the economy.

Interesting, will look further into it later.

UPDATE: Liberty Times has another one: LINK

These data are very important I think. DPP and other pan green organization should spread these informations. The China fever has cool down considerably but a lot of people still have these false concept of China is the only hope for Taiwan's economy.

It's a simple strategy. KMT try to advocate buying product X with sovereignty. DPP can counter this by advocating the importance and benefits of sovereignty, at the same time reveal that product X does not worth that much.

It is like telling someone don't buy a piece of chicken leg with one's own life.

Taiwan Matters' Critics on China Post

2009-05-25T11:12:00.003-04:00

Taiwan Matters had a nice critic on a crazy editorial of China Post.

I highly doubt that any sane person with reasonable judgement would still read China Post, but it is still scary to see what kind of non-sense it is trying spread. If someone lacking a fundamental logic and judgement ability, such as a child, picks it up and read it...well, you don't know if he/she will take it seriously or not. That is where this type of thing is dangerous.

Even today, I occasional see some 20ish Taiwanese, who is knowledgeable in everything except this type of thing. Their concepts of nation, nationalism, Taiwan, political parties...are all illogical and blurry. Can't really blame them...since a lot of people tried to keep all these things blurry, which just result in a huge mess, and in this mess, propaganda machine like China Post can make their infiltration.

Thought on 陳菊's Visit to China

2009-05-24T12:03:00.005-04:00

Looking around a bit and watching those talk show I think this piece is the most well written since it touches on and evaluate most of the aspect of the visit, and I think most rational people would agree that in this visit, China wins, DPP does not win, and KMT lost.

As the article mentioned, China wins simply because its government can manipulate and censor the media. A local governor of Taiwan visiting Beijing is very easily manipulated to a local governor of "China" visiting Beijing. Certainly to the average Chinese citizens, the DPP of Taiwan has kowtowed to the their central government. CCP's seat of power of course looks more stable than ever, even during the economic darker time.

Those that think that 陳菊 strikes a blow to China by announcing ROC sovereignty in China are being too naive I think. Here is my reasoning:

China does not care if you call yourself ROC or not, especially if you are in China. Because to them ROC and PRC are both concept of a China that has Taiwan as part of it. Certainly, it does not matter to CCP if PRC just change their name to ROC, as long as CCP is still in power.
Media censorship can prevent any manifestation of this declaration. But even if there are no censorship, due to 陳菊's status as a mayor, what 陳菊 said really does not matter. The media manipulation is just there to give CCP a popularity contest boost.

To the KMT, I think this is a gigantic blow. Now it almost looks like they have been side lined. Certainly what they did in the past few years looks very cowardly and naive. It definitely looks like they have lost the ROC standard. They only use this ROC title domestically now to rally those who is foolish enough to still support them.

To the DPP I think it is not too big of a deal. The visit did not stray away from the current DPP doctrine. However, I think the current DPP doctrine can only achieve "status quo" and cannot achieve full independence from ROC and PRC...this DPP has to keep in mind and be flexible to change its doctrine, in order to achieve its goal. Of course, it is best to have another strong TI political party to keep DPP in check, but right now the KMT is still too strong. KMT has to be marginalized first in order for another political party to exist...That just sounds very difficult lol. But who knows, future is very unpredictable, especially in Taiwan.

I think DPP needs to formulate its China policy of course. But during their formulation, they need to remember what their long term goal is. To take the ROC standard that has been thrown away by KMT might not be the wisest thing to do. It is best to be able to use a Taiwan standard and declare Taiwan sovereignty, not ROC sovereignty. Don't just act like some hero jumping into dragon's mouth. That is not true valour. First, know what the goal is, then evaluate if the goal is worthy. Only then should DPP take action. Especially to 呂秀蓮...I hope she knows what she is doing. Because it certainly sounds a bit like she is looking at this as some kind of fashion show.

This type of things I guess all pan green supporters will keep watching and observe the development. Of course most people have no doubt about DPP's loyalty to Taiwan, but if DPP is foolish and naive, its loyalty to the TI cause does not matter.

UPDATE: Another very interesting view on this - LINK This view is more negative, but I find its view also very reasonable. It indeed looks kind of foolish that DPP has picked up the ROC standard that KMT has thrown away. Indeed there is no wonder that the pan blue media gave her all the praise and the Beijing Mayor is all smiling, because all of these is within their "perimeter." It's like a dog on a leash, it might bark a lot, but it still does nothing concrete. The only good thing is it has created some damage to the KMT, but I am sure even this damage is within CCP's calculation (and perhaps even KMT already predicted it). All I can say is...this is a real double edged sword, and if DPP only acts with blind sense of "fashion" or foolish "bravery," it will kill itself.

Some Interesting Stuff On May 21st Taipei Times

2009-05-22T04:59:00.007-04:00

Taipei Times' May 21st Issue has a lot of interesting stuff. I will just save them here for record keeping.

Some interesting reports regarding Ma's first year.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/05/21/2003444126
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/05/21/2003444128
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/05/21/2003444131

The weirdest thing I found is about Maokong Gondola. Gondola lift system is not some cutting edge construction, but Ma can make it such a disastrous project. Even before the suspense of service due to erosion of the towers' foundation, the system has a lot of problems. The ones I can recall:

The imported carts are not suitable for the warm climate in Taiwan. It's most likely used in western European climate like the one in France. The result is unbearable suffocation for the passengers, and they have to give small fans to the passengers and also tried to remedy the situation by poking holes in on the floor and ceiling of the carts.
Constant temporary suspension due to small lightning storm etc.
Some "stop and go" problems during operations.

It's quite obvious. The system is not that complex, but he can still messed it up. How come Taiwanese still voted for him?

Forth Scholars' Letter to Ma
The forth one...and if we look at it with the previous 3, I think it's obvious things these scholars paid attention to only gotten much worse. I think it's quite obvious Ma did not listen.

US congressman Ed Royce call for overhaul of Taiwan policy
This is an interesting proposal. Some of it might not be possible, but it shows that at least some politicians in the US start to move their attention back to Asia Pacific.

-10.24% First Quater GDP...A Bit Shocking

2009-05-22T04:42:00.003-04:00

I wonder if others actually expect the statistic to be this bad.

Even I did not expect to see such number. I think it might be because all the other recent news seem to indicate the economy is bottoming out and on the way to recovery. Especially the stock market was all up.

But now I am really wondering if there are conspiracy behind the market surge...Although all the international market was up, but TAIEX seems to go up way too much. The market is supposedly an indication of the future economic development, so it is plausible that the economic condition in the later part of 2009 or even the 2nd quarter will be much better. Still, -10% is a bit shocking, and it seems to indicate Ma's government was trying to paint an unrealistic rosy picture.

But still, I feel economy, does not matter how bad it is, will eventually recover (unless Ma is really so bad that he actually destroys Taiwan's economic foundation, and the whole system falls apart ><). Economy is important, but what's more important is stopping KMT's selling out of Taiwan. Economy can recover, but sovereignty could be lost forever.

Protests in Geneva

2009-05-20T11:30:00.004-04:00

http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2009/05/taidu-beauties-make-minister-yeh-cry.html
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/05/20/2003444076
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/05/21/2003444116

Thanks those who protested at Geneva.

You were great.

Bravo!

My Thoughts On 517

2009-05-20T11:13:00.002-04:00

First of all I would just like to say: thanks all those who participate in 517...

I am not an expert in demonstration, so I am just writing some of my thoughts, not really offering solid advices or criticism here.

Let me start from the simplest one...I don't know about others, but one thing I don't like about DPP's demonstration style are the background music during speeches. I think it actually distracts people from what the speaker is really saying. Plus it seems to supposed stir up emotion. But first of all I don't think emotion can really helps in defeating Ma's government. To undo our fellow citizens' mistake during election, we needs common senses, reasons and instinct to convince them that Ma and the KMT is deceiving them. We have to give them reasons and proofs, so they can judge by themselves. That is the only way they can perhaps realize their mistakes. Already a lot of people did, but many more needs to this reasoning. Secondly, the music just sounds cheesy with the speeches. Again I am not a demonstration expert, and many people might like it, but I am just offering my personal opinion. lol

Another issue a lot of people seem to have is the purpose, the intention of DPP and how it should end. This is a tough issue I think. And it generate a lot of energetic debates amoung pan green supporters.

I personally hoped that this demonstration could have accomplished more. So it was a little disappointment when it seems to end without accomplishing much. I think a lot of people feel that way. But then I thought of it another way...perhaps our expectation is just too high. Rationally, how much can we actually accomplish with just one massive demonstration. We need a lot more than just one demonstration to change the current course. Some people think that people should stay longer, until May 20...but what happen after May 20? Should people stay even longer? Because I highly doubt that Ma will actually care to consolidate even if people sit there until May 20...Of course I don't know for sure, but I feel that's what he will do. He will ignore the demonstrators and continue his course, while his pan blue media cronies continue to smear the rally with whatever reasons they can find.

I saw a lot of good suggestions etc in plurk, but the funny thing is a lot of them contradict each others. So while they all seem to be good suggestions and ideas, you cannot really do them all at once. I think Mr. Hsieh of DPP addressed this most elegantly. I think what he said basically translate to "ideas, critism and suggestions are all good, but don't make divisions. And during implementation, make sure one idea, not 2 or 3, is followed through, so there is a unifying power." I think he is quite right. It is good and healthy that people have different ideas etc. It is even critical to have another political party if Taiwan gets rid of KMT one day. But during demonstration, it is probably better if everyone is on the same step.

Overall I think it's a good demonstration, but there are rooms for improvement. And to those who think it was a waste of effort, I would say...that is exactly what KMT wants you to feel: despair. Don't give up, this is only the beginning. And I am sure the effect of demonstration is already there, although we cannot see it on the surface to quantify it. I think a lot of people, inside and outside of DPP, is still working hard to safeguard Taiwan after 517.

The Global Media Battlefield

2009-05-19T12:51:00.008-04:00

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/05/20/2003444067

Nicely written editorial expressing the frustration in the international media.

I have noticed this for a very very long time. I want to yell to CNN, AP, Reuter, BBC and all those media stop spreading CCP and KMT propaganda. Stop the shallow reporting and get to the real truth. But of course I can't. I am but a tiny voice compare to those giant media corporations. But I know I am right and they are wrong.

Western media always, and I mean ALWAYS, follow exactly the view from CCP and KMT. They think they have a "balanced" view because hey, it's CCP and KMT, they are "rivals", and thus it's balanced. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! My ignorant media friends, you are missing a whole chunk of a picture - the view from Taiwan's perspective. How can that be balanced reporting? Furthermore, CCP and KMT are made out of the same materials. That's balanced view? I also find some of their reporting extremely and down right insulting to Taiwanese.

God, I just wish those media can really take note of Taiwan's view, not just KMT and CCP view. Perhaps I cannot really blame those media...after all, KMT and CCP have been spreading propaganda on this for 50 years, while we Taiwanese just only recently start to awake from KMT propaganda....But I just wish this situation will change.

DPP's New English Blog

2009-05-16T03:32:00.002-04:00

Well...it wouldn't make sense if I don't post a link here, because it's actually a big news :)...but I am sure most people know about this site by now lol

http://dpptaiwan.wordpress.com/

Another Nice Editorial

2009-05-15T15:10:00.004-04:00

http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=949274&cate_rss=news_Editorial&cate_img=46.jpg

Deep and thorough analysis of the past one year and summaries of many good reasons for the 517 protest. Nicely done, TaiwanNews.

The Force is indeed strong.

70% and 56.1%: The Effect of Chinese Influence in Media And The Problems of Fake Polls

2009-05-15T11:02:00.016-04:00

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/05/15/2003443647

This news prompt me to think more about this recent polling. I think that some manipulation was done on the survey of ECFA and the approval rating etc.

The poll by MAC that shows 70% support for ECFA is obviously problematic, because other polls done by media (even some pan blue ones) show the support to be much lower. Furthermore, a poll by a magazine shows that 80% of CEO and managers in Taiwan don't know what exactly ECFA entails. It's no secret that a lot of people, even some government officials, don't know exactly the content of ECFA. That's why DPP continues to call for referendum on ECFA and transparency on the dealing with China. The problem is obvious...how can people support it if they don't even know what it is exactly? There is something fishy about the survey...and again MAC tried to hide the details of it, like what questions were asked etc, further proving that there is something wrong with it.

The 56.1% is perhaps not so obvious a fake given that recently the stock market in Taiwan went up and there are signs of economic recovery in Taiwan (and around the world). It's not impossible that Ma's approval rating went up a bit (since some Taiwanese still look at things only through stock market and their own narrow perception about economy), but can it actually goes up that much? It's not obvious until you look at who did the survey - China Times. That newspaper company is now owned by the Won-Won Corp. owner. This guy, as everyone knows, has submit himself to CCP. A few months ago he even said something like he bought those media to serve the CCP. China Times was originally already a pan-blue media...but now it's obvious it's a pan-red media. Given the background, this poll result can be clearly disgarded because it's most likely just there to serve CCP purpose. Also, it came in very timely, right before 517. It sure feels like a propaganda warfare from the CCP side. (You can find quite some info on how the media/propaganda warfare were conducted by Communist parties in Eastern Europe, German, South East Asia, and even the US itself during the Cold War.) And that's exactly what KMT chairman John Wu did: using a fake survey to invalidate DPP's action.

Some might wonder, why don't they just put 80% if they want to fake it? Ah, but that's against the strategy of propaganda. If they made it 80%, not 56.1%, would anyone believe that? It has to be made plausible to be of any success. The 70% done by MAC was obviously a failure. This 56.1% has more chance of deceiving the public.

I learned in my Statistic class that it's very easy to "lie" with statistics. Polling is an important part of the statistic analysis, and I think it's very easy to generate faulty result from it if one is not careful in the process. If it's easy to generate faulty result unintentionally, then obviously it's very easy to generate faulty result if one conducts the polls with the intention of getting certain result or tries to manipulate the polls by asking improper question or using improper sample selection methods.

The problem is, once again, can the public realize the deception? Or will they submit to the whim of KMT/CCP?

Counting Down to 517

2009-05-15T00:50:00.006-04:00

517 is coming close...

Unfortunately I am not able to attend this historical rally, because I am currently outside of Taiwan. But I hope a lot of people will attend...I think this is only the beginning , but it's also a turning point.

It's not just about economy or stomach...it's also about many other things that mean much more...

I also threw in some donation as my way of supporting the cause because I cannot physically be there...Might not help much, but that's all I can do now :( I also hope other Taiwanese outside of Taiwan can help out anyway they can.

Recently I saw Tamil Tigers' protest in Toronto on news...unfortunately it's probably too late for them. Although I don't understand much their struggle, I know quite some of them in Canada support their cause through different ways. Taiwan is probably luckier than the Tigers, but if we sit around and do nothing, one day we might have to do this protest, like the Tigers, in Washington DC, with no hope of changing anything.

Some info on 517: http://taiwanmatters.blogspot.com/

Another Example

2009-05-15T00:40:00.003-04:00

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/may/15/today-t1.htm

Another example of Ma's 2 hands strategy.

It makes me angry to see this kind of thing. But then after some thought, I realize isn't KMT always like this? During White Terror (Martial Law) era, they call themselves Free China. They call themselves democratic when in fact they know nothing about democracy.

I think it's just in their culture to use a lot of fancy words and advocating fancy moral values when in fact they don't understand them and act in the exact opposite of those values. It looks good on the surface but it's just a disgusting act of pretension.

It's also worth noting that China also signed this 國際人權公約. What's the use? It's just a piece of toilet paper in the eyes of KMT and CCP.

Open Letter from Tsai

2009-05-14T21:36:00.000-04:00

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/ingwen831/12503868

Open letter from Ms. Tsai.

Nicely written.

Universities Way Too Romantic?

2009-05-14T14:33:00.005-04:00

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/05/15/2003443662

This is really amusing. I think this professors thought too highly of themselves and too optimistic.

Even writers from Hong Kong complains about Chinese students in Hong Kong being watchdogs and pets of Chinese Communist Party. Can they learn something that is truely valuable from Hong Kong, I don't think so. And is Taiwan any different? No.

And let's take a look back of what Ma did in Harvard, shall we? He is a "professional" student paid by KMT to study in Harvard, but more importantly, to watch those TI supporters in the US. A lot of TI supporters are put into black list because of him. He also write article that supports KMT's dictatorship and was an editor of a pro-KMT magazine. Just reading some of the stuff he wrote and you realize he learn nothing from the US culutre. Of course he denies and avoid the topic now, but the evidences are very strong. Indeed, looking at his behavior and attitude you wonder if he actually learned anything in Harvard. Even now I wonder if his former teacher in Harvard, Mr. Cohan, is very disappointed (humm...kind of like Star Wars once again...turning to the dark side?! lol). He certainly voiced his concern on the justice system deteriation in Taiwan numerous times recently...but looks like his former student doesn't listen and instead falls even further to the dark side. haha...this quote from Star Wars just fit so well:

Ma: I've been waiting for you, Cohan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now *I* am the master.
Cohan: Only a master of evil, Ma.

So yea...I think those Universities just think too much, too idealistic and too ambitious. They should focus on producing more good leaders in various field for Taiwan FIRST before they daydream about producing presidents for another country.

On Open Trade

2009-05-13T15:15:00.007-04:00

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/05/14/2003443546

Nice analysis I think. This is a very interesting and actually a tough issue.

When it comes to trade with China etc I always find it complicated and a lot of times I have contradictory thoughts on it. I think maybe a lot of people in Taiwan also have similar experience.

On the one hand, I like the classical liberal idea of open trade etc. Trades can benefit all those who involve, and as the article mentioned, it might decrease the possibility of open military hostility. I am currently reading the Constitution of Liberty by Mr. Hayak, a classical liberalist. I like a lot of his ideas. I think Taiwan has some good traits that is mentioned in the book, and I hope Taiwan can adopt more of this liberal ideas in the future.

On the other hand, I just cannot convince myself that open trade with China is a good idea, and here is a few reasons:

Although China seems to have a free market, its government actually has a huge control in their economy. A lot of their big business people have close tie with the communist party and the government can still use arbitrary coercion on anyone who might disagree with the government. Is a complete open trade with such nation really a good idea? Taking this idea of trading with such government to extreme...for example, should the US and UK trade with Nazi German before WW2, even when Hitler openly announced his hostility against the UK in German's national assembly? We all know many corporations such as IBM and other raw material manufacturers etc trade with Nazi German...but if they trade a lot more with German would it even prevent WW2? I wonder what would Mr. Hayak say about this...
What Stops a country like China from using the economic trade as a leverage? In most of other country like Japan and the US, it might be harder to do, because economic powers are delegated to many different individuals, and the government cannot just step in and say you should do this and that. Especially in the US, their citizens always question the government and remain critical. But in China, it's kind of different. As mention before, Chinese government still has huge control on the economy. It also has full control on the justice system and the media. Such country can use trade as a leverage, or even weapon I think. Of course, such weapon is a double edged sword and they might hurt themselves a bit in the process...but if it can kill its enemy, like Taiwan Indepedence, then why not?

Well...I guess we just have to be pragmatic about this. To the other countries, we can stick more to the basic principle of open trade, because there are no complication or hostility...but to China, I don't think we can just do it based on one ideological principle.

The "Good" Old KMT Strategy: Tell Others to Bury Their Heads in The Sand

2009-05-13T11:39:00.007-04:00

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/05/14/2003443545

KMT (and Ma) has once again call on all citizens to bury their heads in the sand.

It's just interesting that KMT seems to always live in a state of denial. They could have just acknowledged the existence of such thing, and proposed what they would do about it. Instead, they once again hide their heads under the sand and deny the existence of such document, when it is well known that such document exists.

It's the same type of denial they have for the past 50 years. Once they even call themselves "Free China" when in reality they are just a government in exile that created 228 massacre in Taiwan and oppressed Taiwan population under martial laws for 40 years. Unfortunately , through their brain washing education system a lot of Taiwanese listened to them and bury their heads under the sand with them.

The list of examples can go on and on, including their attitude to foreign policy etc...

I am just wondering how much longer will those Taiwanese that still bury their heads under the sand stop to do so...

hey, stop mimicking us

UPDATE: Just thought of another thing...Looks like nowadays KMT are denying not just for themselves, but for China's benefits as well. Take this one for example...Ma is denying it also because he wants to maintain China's "good will" image. He doesn't want to make China look hostile or frightening. When you actually read the MOU, you will notice how thuggish Chinese government is. That's also what Ma is denying.

Interesting One

2009-05-12T22:01:00.002-04:00

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/may/13/today-o1.htm

I wonder what kind of opinion he has on Taiwan's current situation...and if there is anyone in Taiwan who can talk to him about this...

Interesting Graph

2009-05-12T17:28:00.007-04:00

Graph in Chinese
Graph in English

Thanks BillyPan and Echo for uploading the graphs. It is actually very interesting...

First thing to note is all the survey number in the graph are done by pan-blue media (UND, TVBS and China Times). So the validity of it is questionable. Ma's actually support might be much lower, and Chen had 82% support? Was that even possible? I wonder if there are data from pan-green media which we can double check on this. Because I sense something fishy about this data.

The second thing to note is, as BillyPan observed, Chen's support was always higher than Ma's. This is actually kind of weird...because Ma had a landslide victory over Hsieh and got 70% of vote (if I remember correctly). In another word, he got more percentage of vote than Chen!!! Both Chen's elections was a huge struggle. The first one was even due to the division of KMT. The second one he only won by 0.228%. But the survey shows that Ma's support is already much lower than 70% one month after he took office...This is just kind of shocking...and what is the possible explanation? I think one possible reason is just that at least 20% of people who voted for him realized they have been hustled. It becomes clear Ma is not that good, and his economic policy was kind of BS.

The third thing that appear very interesting to me is...how the f**k did Chen get 82% of support after he took office? During election, fewer than 50% voted for him, but after election practically everyone supported him...how did this work? And then soon after the support slides down dramatically. I think this might be due to some economic issues. Not sure...

A lot of people said pan green is weak and losing support...but if we think about it, the pan green camp had at least 40% solid supporters. Even during legislator election, the pan-green got approximately 40% of votes. It's just because the way electoral area are drawn, only 27 DPP members got elected. It's an under represented 40%. Also, this 40% came during the time of pan-green turmoil. Of course, not everyone in pan-green is happy with DPP's performance, but the point is what kind of ideal they support is quite clear. The other 60% I think quite a lot of them just didn't see or know what kind of party KMT is, and a lot of them can be convinced at least on some issues to support pan green's cause. So I think for sure, many pan-green will feel despaired when in fact they might not have to because there are many others who have the similar ideology. The problem is...how to stop Ma with this support and how to alarm more people of the possible crisis.

Tsai's Speech at GWU

2009-05-12T11:42:00.001-04:00

Courtesy of Michael Turton: Link

The Pattern of Ma's Behavior

2009-05-11T11:32:00.024-04:00

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=945620&lang=eng_news&cate_img=1033.jpg&cate_rss=news_only_on_taiwannews

The report hits me once again about how persuasive Ma can be sometimes, especial when the interviewers or the reporters who asked the questions are pro blue (which CTV is). But further examination about his past behavior shows that he is a very authoritarian and deceptive person. Unfortunately I think not everyone has enough time, cynism, memory and critical thinking skills to see through his deception. Heck, even I feel like believing him, but when I think back about his past behavior, I realize 99.99% he is just trying to decieve the public again.

I thought it would be interesting to categorize a few pattern of Ma's deceptive behavior:

Pattern 1: Term Manipulation (Change The Glass without Changing the Wine)
I think this interview with CTV also falls into one of this pattern. If you look into what he said in the past, you realize he does this constantly. Mainly he uses this technique to divert criticism and attention when he is trying to push for some policy. Following is a few example:

Change the term CEPA to CECA to ECFA: because CEPA reminds people of Hong Kong, Ma change the term 3 times, but the purpose or content never changes. In fact, there was little revelation about the specifics of CEPA(CECA, ECFA) . The latest survey shows even 80% of CEO in Taiwan don't know the treaty contains or suppose to contain.
The Promise of No One China Market: the One China Market was originally promoted by the current vice president. But during election, he said there won't be any one China market. But if we observe carefully, after election, everything they do is going toward One China Market policy. They just don't use the name and do it piece meal style. Again, change the name to no name, but no change in the content.
Draft a New Parade Law That is Actually More Restrictive: Because of the "wild strawberry" student movement, a new parade law that is supposed to give the protesters more freedom actually turn into something that gives the police practically unlimited power. Under that law, the police can arbitrarily define their restricted area and can fine the organizers unlimited times. What stops the police from making the whole island restricted area? Although it's forcefully blocked by DPP but it's just another example of how Ma tries to package something foul with new boxes.
No Sunshine in the new Sunshine Policy: Similar situation as the one above. The new anti-corruption law that just got passed actually doesn't do anything. I don't remember the specific details because it was passed 2 months ago I think, but I remember a lot of it is quite ridiculous. The useless law is setup with a name just so Ma can fulfill his promise during election and make himself look good.
Annexation VS. Peace Treaty: Again after people accusation, he try to repackage what he said. Of course we cannot be sure just what exactly he is trying to do just base on what he says. Base on past experience, a lot of time he just tries to sneak something bad under a nice name. In this case, "PEACE" is the beautiful package paper he uses to wrap around his policy. The problem is after all these can we still trust this guy? And what kind of "peace" is he talking about? Slavery is quite peaceful as well. Surrendering is PEACE. Selling out Taiwan is peace. No offense to His Holiness, Dalai Lama, but Ma can sell Taiwan out and become another Dalai Lama. Tibet signed a peace treaty with China right before it was annexed. And the good old Lama now travel around the world promoting PEACE while lots of Tibetan got killed in Tibet. Ma can do the same thing. Sign the peace treaty, wipe the dust off his butt, let China take over Taiwan, and go to the US of A to promote PEACE and enjoy his luxury life. Maybe he will even get a Nobel Peace Price as well. (OK, I might not be saying the right thing because I am a bit pissed off but my point is clear. )

Pattern 2: Two Hands Strategy (Or Should I Say Pretend to Be An Innocent Girl Strategy)
This strategy is used very often by Chinese Communist Party. Now Ma is adapting it to the fullest toward its own citizen. Basically, in this strategy, Ma "let the dog out, " stand by and watch the fight, and then come out pretend to be a innocent and say something that sounds righteous. Here are some examples:

Most recent one, "the students got beat up in Tainan" incident
A news camera man got hit by riot police
The Police Confiscated and Broke the Flag incident
The Japan Ambassador incident

There are probably a lot others, but these 3 I remembered well. In every case, his subordinate did something unthinkable to shocking etc. The Ma will later come out and say something nice, and pretend as if all these have nothing to do with him. But then, he does not punish those official that did such things. Some even got promoted.

Pattern 3: False Advertisement
This one is quite self-evident. Just go back and watch his electoral campaign commercials on YouTube now. I don't know if you will laugh or cry.

Count Down to 517 Protest: Still One more Requirement

2009-05-09T18:01:00.006-04:00

We are now approximately 1 week until the 517 protest. The number of protesters and the validity of the protest are all good. But as some others pointed out before, it still lacks something: more clear demand.

Here is a protest's poster:
http://www.shadowgov.tw/act130.htm
http://photo.shadowgov.tw/i/1240979975-29.jpg

In it you can see only the "referendum on ECFA" is a clear demand. The others are goals and some demands that I think is a bit too general. The statement such as opposing One China Market is all good, but the question is how...that's where specific demand can help. For example, you might demand the government to stop the KMT and CCP platforms...or you can demand some official to step down etc...I am not good at this but just throwing out some examples.

The video on the site also shows the same deficiency in demand...Yea, the video is good, it contains information and evidence on how KMT is selling Taiwan out for their own profit, thus gives people a lot of reasons to support the protests. But again a clear demand might be desired. Maybe not in a video, but definitely it has to be made clear.

As for whether to have 2 protests, 1 in Taipei, 1 in Kaohsiung, or 1 protest in Taipei...I think it's best to have just 1 in Taipei. But again if people want to march in Kaohsiung, there is no harm there I think. But perhaps somehow using Internet and media, the 2 can be linked together to create concentration of forces, although physically separated...It demands some creativity, but I think it's possible. Plus it might even have some advantageous, who knows...

And I guess the old Ben Franklin's quote comes in handy once again:

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Chen's Hunger Strike

2009-05-09T11:31:00.005-04:00

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/may/9/today-p1.htm
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/may/9/today-p1-2.htm
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/may/9/today-p1-3.htm

Many reports on recent event on Chen's case.

Before I said...Chen's case is probably not an important topic in Taiwan, because Taiwan is facing a bigger problem (Ma government and his sell out to China). But now perhaps I would say Chen's case has became much more important...because the treatment to Chen has shown the pinnacle of great erosion in the judiciary system in Taiwan.

However, I would say although Lee is a very intelligent scientist, he should not say this:
"媒體問李遠哲是否對陳水扁有什麼建議，他說：「他做錯事了，有些事情也承認沒做對，他應該道歉，應該請他的太太和兒子把錢送回來，道歉。」"

He is right but he should not say this on TV I think...because obviously the pan Blue is going to use this to justify their own wrong doing...He is missing the point and not helping the situation. The point is the court is under heavy influence of KMT...actually this incident shows KMT controlling the judiciary system in Taiwan. Whether Chen apologize or not is not that important compare to the erosion of justice system in Taiwan. Further, I remember he apologize before already.

It is funny (or should I say disgusting) that no judge and prosecutors etc voice their concerns...even only Chen's lawyers, not other lawyers, criticize the situation. Instead, we have American, including Ma's former teacher in Harvard, writing the criticism. Here is one: http://zen.sandiego.edu:8080/Jerome/1240730170

Key To Taiwan's Economy: Education, Not China

2009-05-08T12:42:00.009-04:00

http://www.kelake.org/archive/life/talent-takes-hard-work-1.php

After reading this, I have one thought: the foundation of Taiwan's further economic progress is in education. Some people use various reason and excuses try to tie Taiwan's future with China, as if Taiwan has no future without China. But all the reasons or excuses only say that China is a possible place for investment, like anywhere else (South East Asia, Vietnam, Australia, US, Japan, Canada, etc etc). Of course many reasoning, such as China is hostile to Taiwan, can counter this, but the point is a place of investment is not "the future" of Taiwan.

Education, on the other hand, is the key investment to Taiwan's future. Unfortunately, although I know it's important, but I have no knowledge in how to improve education in Taiwan...lol. Everyone knows the education system setup by KMT has a lot of problems, and DPP has made some improvement (during the process also creates some other problems, some might say), but it's not enough probably.

The link above and the resource in the log might provide some further answer.

Tsai in Washington

2009-05-07T14:21:00.005-04:00

It's still too early to tell whether Tsai is a good leader, but I think she is definitely a pretty good diplomat.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/05/08/2003443067

I think what she said reflects truly a lot of Taiwanese concerns. It shows that she is in line and aware of people's worries, knows the problems of Ma's policy, and is able to voice these worries to Washington. But whether Washington gets it or not we cannot tell. But at the very least it was a good try.

I specifically like this quote:

We genuinely hope that confidence can be restored with Washington and that a strategic convergence of interests will emerge, while we continue to communicate our differences and concerns. It is not enough to say that we do not want to be troublemakers, for once we stop defending our interests when a world power finds us ‘troublesome,’ we will put ourselves in a position ever more vulnerable to the whims of Chinese pleasure or displeasure.

It's a nice one. It takes a very reasonable and firm stance but not confrontational...I think.

Democracy Does Not Equal Liberty

2009-05-06T12:19:00.008-04:00

A lot of people who are concerned about Taiwan noticed the erosion of democracy in just the past 1 year. Although I agree with their observation, I think perhaps what has eroded even more is liberty and the rule of law.

A lot of people I think mix the term democracy with liberty, and thus they think democracy equals liberty. Although they are often related, strictly speaking they are not the same thing. Often they exist together, but there are cases where the country is democratic but is extremely lacking in liberty (a good example: Iran).

Most people probably won't feel it in their daily life etc. But there are already signs that liberty is eroded in Taiwan...:

1. The Chen Case: Ex-President Chen are still being hold in custody without good reasons. The justice system and prosecutors seem more determine to find him guilty than find the truth. The prosecutors also eves drop on Chen and his lawyer's meeting etc. Basically this shows the government's arbitrary coercion on people. Because I don't like you, so I can treat you unfairly...that's what the current government is doing.

2. No transparency on ECFA, Cross Straight Direct Link and other Treaties of KMT: Another type of arbitrary coercion. Basically the KMT and CCP negotiate some sort of treaties between themselves, and force people in Taiwan to accept them. ROC government officials again in this case is used to reinforce treaties that Taiwan has no knowledge or participation of.

PS: Interesting, as I am writing this, this post on Taipei times also shows similar opinion. I guess I am not the only one...The article is correct, it is possible to have a democracy without freedom and liberty...I know many people in Taiwan have the wisdom to realize this,...I just hope there are enough of them.

Attitude to Japan is Where Taiwan and ROC Differ

2009-05-05T11:06:00.010-04:00

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/05/05/2003442813

This editorial shows once again KMT's usual attempt to promote hate toward Japan to divert public attention to the more serious issue: KMT's ATTEMPT TO HELP CHINA ANNEXING TAIWAN.

The editorial is well written I think...but I would like to also see this incident from another point. And I believe viewing from my angle things become even more clearer than what the editorial says.

A lot of people (even some people in Green camp) want to promote the concept of "ROC == Taiwan" and "Taiwan == ROC." Or should I say that's actually the current general consensus in Taiwan. But this incident shows clearly where the entity of Taiwan and the entity of ROC differs.

The entity, ROC, is similar to PRC in its policy toward Japan. During normal time, they will say "we should promote peace between China and Japan." And they will maybe sign some treaties here and there. Sometimes PRC even acts as if it is superior to Japan etc. Those are all normal. But then every now and then, both ROC and PRC will promote hatred toward Japan to divert its domestic discontent. Japan should apologize to this. Japan should apologize to that. Some small island belong to us...etc. Regardless if their demand is valid or not, they always do these.

The entity, Taiwan, has a totally opposite policy toward Japan. Due to historical and perhaps other reasons, Taiwan and Japan are more friendly to each other in many different levels. Taiwan's view of Japan is much more moderate and stable than ROC, and there is no random outburst of hostility etc. A lot of people in Taiwan even consider Japan a closer ally than the USA.

I am not sure...I think perhaps it's time pan green group scrap the idea of ROC == Taiwan and Taiwan == ROC concept because clearly that does not seem to work out well for Taiwan. A new concept like Taiwan != ROC is required. New concept is always a minority in the beginning and goes against general knowledge, but if it speaks certain truth, there is a chance that it will gradually gain majority acceptance later.

UPDATE:

Funny, right after I wrote those stuff this report shows up:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/05/06/2003442873
It just further proves my point. ROC and PRC have the same policy toward Japan. In another words, toward Japan, ROC and PRC see themselves as allies, and see Taiwan and Japan as enemies. It does not get clearer than this.

It's also interesting to note that on this topic, ROC and PRC both like to mix total different issues together in one argument. Like mixing "one China" policy with Taiwan status issues. I think they just want to make things unclear. The more clear things are, the more disadvantage to them.

And once again Ma came out to be the "good" guy. Ma himself started this twisted argument, which Saito replied. Then Ma's foreign officials attack Saito, and after they stir up the issue, Ma came out be the nice guy. It's the same pattern with Ma again and again.

But in the end this is just a diversion from the serious crisis Taiwan is facing now. But I think their diversion will fail, and instead more and more people will realize their deceptions.

Student Beaten Shows KMT Coercion and Ma's Fakeness

2009-05-05T09:58:00.004-04:00

Again and again, violent incidents in Taiwan shows KMT's thuggish nature and Ma's pretentious nature.

Some might look at the 5 student protesters beaten by some temple "volunteer" and then arrested in Tainan and say what's the big deal but that is extremely shallow and foolish view. It has always been like this: KMT uses organized crime members and government authority like police to coerce others that hold different opinions. Taiwan is democratic but it still has a long way to go to achieve true liberty and rule of law, and KMT is one of the giant ugly parasite in Taiwan that's holding Taiwan back.

While KMT uses violence, they always use deception to coerce others. Police said they took the students to police station because they want to protect them. BS. Why didn't they take those thugs that beat the students to police station as well? If someone rubs an old lady on the street, who do the police arrest and bring to the station? The old lady or the rubber? This is always the KMT way, do something and later don't admit it and use pretty words and excuses that make no logical sense, trying to fool the public. If the media wasn't there, would the police try to find excuses? No, and definitely they will treat the students much worse.

But this police misconduct is only a skin deep view. Why do police act this way after Ma got elected? Because KMT coerce the police. That's right, they do these through promoting and firing police chief etc to set an example. Police that beat up protesters and shut down that music stores got promoted, while the previous police that practiced constrain in Tainan go fired. KMT has way too much influence in how police operate. One police even beat up the news reporter during Chen Yun-Ling's visit in Taipei, what makes those police so over zealous? When DPP was in power, there were a lot of protests by KMT as well, but the police never act like this.

Furthermore, the police just stand there and let the those thugs beat the students. And those thugs wore temple uniform. Now the temple organization says nothing about this incident. No apologies, no explaination, nothing. Furthur investigation is needed in this. But it's clear, a invisible and "evil", for the lack of better words, force is behind the police and the temple. Like I said before, Taiwan religious community are filled with KMT scum bags and I think this incident also shows it.

And then, Ma always used pretty words after the incident...for example, he said something like "people should be able to carry the national flag" after the police confiscate and broke those flags. Now he said something like those students protest should be allowed. Well, Mr. Ma, why don't just voice your concern to your police chief, make him punish those policemen that act inappropriately? Maybe you should consider firing your police chief because he certainly seems not up to the job. But instead, you promoted those that act violently. Mr. Ma is such a fake and pretentious person...I have never seen a person with such "thick face" and dishonesty, even in politicians. I hope more and more people can realize this.

Taiwan Religion Community Filled With Scums

2009-05-04T03:02:00.006-04:00

Now I am not saying all religion in Taiwan is bad. Some of them are very nice. But that does not change the fact that for a very long time I notice a lot of scums in Taiwan's religious community.

And this recent event prove once again my point:
http://www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=90162

Wow...I have never seen religious people being so violent and hot tempered. Surely religious people should be even more peaceful and have wisdom to allow different voices. But look at this people, pushing and attacking young students. Even a normal non-religious person won't do such a thing. Does this religion makes people more violent or more peaceful? Well, IMO they neither make people more violent nor more peaceful, they only make people more stupid.

Furthermore, through out my life I have seen those so called spiritual leaders in Taiwan use religion to gain financial and political power. Scums. It is my hope that more Taiwanese become aware of these type of religious fakes, and choose their temples or churches etc carefully. Don't fall for those scums and follow them blindly...

UPDATE: Oh right...now I think of it...a lot of those so called religious leaders in Taiwan are just KMT cronies. There are some religious leaders in Taiwan that truly have great wisdom, but a lot of them are simply fakes that are working for KMT. Damn...I just hope more people will see through deception instead of following some of those fools in their spiritual pursuit.

Another Thought on The Issue

2009-05-03T16:12:00.007-04:00

Just had another thought on the previous post. Perhaps one simple way to look at the Taiwan status issue is this: Taiwan and Japan have similar fate after WW2, both are occupied by Allies power. Japan is occupied by the US, while Taiwan by the ROC. But the main point which must be made very clear, is that the US does not have sovereignty over Japan, and the ROC does not have sovereignty over Taiwan. They are simply occupying power, and they should be temporary. The problem is ROC, after the occupation, pillage Taiwan and decide not to leave. And after they lost the whole mainland, they become the government in exile in Taiwan. They are no different from the Tibet government in exile in India in their status. They are "borrowing" land in another people's territory to setup their government. The difference is India granted Tibet's wish to do so, but Taiwan is forced to accept ROC...and now they don't want to leave, and claim Taiwan to be part of China lol The only territory that rightfully belong to the ROC is the island of Kinmen and Matsu.

Looking at it this way, ROC is a really nasty parasite.

Yet Another KMT's (Ma's) Foolish Attempt

2009-05-01T11:25:00.012-04:00

Yet again KMT (Ma) tried to manipulate history and historical documents to fool Taiwanese. This time it's the Taipei Treaty. But now Taiwan is equipped with much more knowledgeable people in this matter, and there are different media access for them to counter once again Ma's lunacy.

Several links on this topic:

There are a lot more articles on this, hopefully I will collect more links later. Actually if you read the Taipei Treaty yourself you will probably discover that Ma's claim is false. People probably don't need some experts telling them about this. But like Cairo Declaration myth, this type of propaganda tries to use the fuzziness and people's laziness to check the records themselves. So the more concrete counter attacks on this propaganda, the better.

UPDATE - LINKS:
Treaty of Taipei had no claim to sovereignty (From Taipei Times)
從國際法大師說起 (From Liberty Times, by 黃啟堯)
齋藤已給老馬面子 (From Liberty Times, by 沈建德)
台灣主權未定論許世楷：日本外交界常識
Japan: Taiwan's status is unresolved (Another one from Michael Turton)
Letter to Taipei Times From Mr. Tkacik

Wow Too many links, maybe I will just put it on the side bar as well...just for the record.

The Fight to Stop The Passing of New Parade Law

2009-04-30T04:10:00.006-04:00

Editorial Link

This time it's very fortunate that many noticed Ma's strong intention to sneak this law through, and therefore, DPP was able to rally strong opposition to it. Right now the KMT members seem unenthusiastic about it. I think it's because they also know this new law is wrong, and if they pass it even a lot of their own supporters will feel dissatisfied. The only person that seems to want to force this through is Ma. In any case, I guess we have to thank those who noticed this event and informed others about it.

However, it's still too early to tell what will result from this. DPP has successfully blocked it once, but can they do it again? One thing is for certain though...this new law should not be passed and the opposition of it is very strong. It's unfortunate that I cannot contribute more in opposing the passing of this law.

I definitely see the connection behind all of Ma's actions...I am now quite certain...he is trying to force his way through and drag Taiwan with him. He is doing everything in his power to oppress different voices and spend tones of money on commercial (propaganda) advocating his policy. The opposition to his policy of leaning toward China is very strong but he still forge ahead regardless. To what end does Ma want to bring Taiwan, I am not totally sure. I think it's very likely that he wants to create condition for eventual Chinese annexation of Taiwan or subordinating Taiwan to Chinese rule.

Thoughts on The Constitution of Liberty So Far 2: Chapter 7 Very Interesting Discussion

2009-04-30T03:36:00.005-04:00

Once again as I read along the book The Constitution of Liberty, I found something that clears out a lot of my puzzlement, doubts and observations of political events around the world, but especially in Taiwan. Chapter 7, Majority Rule, contains a very insightful discussion on democracy and liberalism, which for some reasons I find it very closely related to what is exactly going on in Taiwan now. Mostly likely I think too much, but it does feel like that chapter is written particular for me and perhaps many other in Taiwan in this moment.

Some people feel Taiwan's politics as being chaotic beyond comprehension. Sometimes even I feel quite clueless. But after reading that chapter a lot of things seem to clear up in my mind.

Nice Article by Mr. Tkacik

2009-04-28T18:06:00.007-04:00

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/04/29/2003442283

A very well written article by Mr. Tkakik. A few points in the article that I find them a bit shocking but actually explain a lot of my puzzling over the US policy on Taiwan:

Point 1:

Unfortunately, “geostrategic considerations,” when it comes to Taiwan (or China, for that matter) have long been absent in Washington policy circles. Former intelligence officer and White House Asia expert Robert Suettinger, in his book Beyond Tiananmen, admits that “the notion that American policy [toward China] is directly driven by strategic considerations ... is grossly inaccurate.” It had been driven instead by business pressures — if not by sheer intellectual inertia — long after the US’ strategic imperatives with proudly authoritarian China evaporated in the 1992 collapse of the Soviet Union and the 1989 reversal of China’s political reforms at Tiananmen.

I found this paragraph a bit shocking because I always thought the US official would be on top of things but looks like they weren't. That actually explains one of the reason why sometimes I feel the US Taiwan policy to be constantly inconsistent and contradictory to the general US principles...and a lot of times seem to go against Taiwan's interests.

Point 2:

“Fantasy” indeed. As my friend Yuan Peng, a think tank researcher for China’s intelligence services, has written: “In the world today, virtually all of America’s adversaries are China’s friends.” You name them: North Korea, Burma, Iran, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Syria, Hamas (through Syria) and Hezbollah, have I missed any? China gives them both weapons they use in the field and diplomatic cover they need in the UN. Why? As China’s foremost US expert, professor Wang Jisi (王緝思), has said: “Facts prove that it is beneficial for [China’s] international environment to have the United States — both militarily and diplomatically — deeply and inextricably sunk in the Middle East.” This has nothing to do with Taiwan, and everything to do with China’s freedom of action in Asia.

I have been suspicious about this for some time, but I never piece the evidences together...after reading this paragraph, a lot of things happened in the past few years start to make a lot of sense.

After reading this article a lot of things seem to become clear to me...a lot of "why" in my mind seem to find their answers...very nicely written.

Recent Situation

2009-04-24T10:00:00.025-04:00

Very busy recently with other stuff, so not a lot of time for blogging. Unfortunately, things seem to be heating up once again. My thoughts on recent news in Taiwan:

ECFA Progress
This is probably still one of the most important issue Taiwan faces now. But for a few weeks it's side tracked by other incidents in Taiwan (Kou Racist statement...etc)

I think this editorial sum up the fear a lot of people have on Ma's ECFA policy: LINK

It's my observation that the concerns are domestic. The US think tanks etc don't seem to be concern at all. There are of course people in the US expressing the concern, but there are those in the US expressing very optimistic view. But the concern from Taiwanese seems to be more one sided. I think this is no without good reasons, because in the past Ma has done to many of these "saying one thing and doing the opposite." In another words, his credential is very low in a lot of people's mind now, domestically.

Despite this, Ma still pushes very hard for ECFA. His government even fake the survey to do this (come on, 70%?!, that's ridiculous comparing to survey done by others). This action makes me even more suspicious...who is backing him up? and what does he want to achieve by forcing things through?

Loose Screws
Recently there are a lot of loose screws news in Ma government. One official went on dating during office hour using official car, and later didn't receive any punishment what so ever. Just a simple "no next time" and that's it. Other loose screws including national security adviser's wife going to China to sell her books and fruit punch processors. Again, there was no punishment. There are others but I cannot recall them all right now. All these activities break the law and regulations...but none receive any punishment. The good thing is that these incidents show that some Taiwanese news media is still operational and doing their jobs of "supervising" the government. The bad thing is that the Rule of Law, which is already not very strong, seems to be degenerating into the Rule of Emperor Ma...

The Anti-Democracy Waves
There seem to be a trend now for business and entertainment people from Hong Kong and even Taiwan itself to devalue Taiwan's democracy, praising China's authoritarian rule and advocating the old "Greater China" idea. The most recent one is Jackie Chan (that's right, the so called "international" star, Jackie Chan). After his stupid remarks, he was attacked by media and politicians alike, from both Taiwan and Hong Kong. Of course, he probably still felt very satisfied because obviously his master, Chinese government, gave him great praise for his "patriotism" and "wisdom." Plus, he still gets to live outside of China...so does he care? Nope. Of course, after this incident, his newest movies box office hit the bottom...in fact, it seems no body in Taiwan watch it. The news report I read said 1 theatre in KS city only sold 2 tickets in 1 week...well, I don't know which 2 fools actually went to see it, but that's still very impressive. I hope that movie can make the record of the least watched movie in Taiwanese history. This is also not the first time that Jackie Chan insults Taiwan...I think this is the 3rd time. Not only this, he also defends Chinese government's action in Tibet before I think.

But on the other hand, I think Jackie Chan is just a small potato...there are bunch of other influential people in Asia who will not hesitate in praising Chinese rule, including the owner of 旺旺 corporation. Of course, it's their freedom to express their opinion, but it's also our freedom to voice our disagreement loudly and boycott their products.

==========

Overall I am very optimistic about Taiwan's future...but now Taiwan seems to be facing a big crisis, but I hope it can prevail.

Interesting Conference.

2009-04-14T22:33:00.001-04:00

Very interesting conference...some of stuff these 2 guys said I never even thought of before...very interesting.

LINK

蘇俊賓 Is No Good

2009-03-20T05:32:00.010-04:00

It's interesting a lot of people seem to have expectation on 蘇俊賓. Those on TV or pan green general public seem to think him as a Taiwanese moderate KMT and a reformer. In another word, they think he is a "good guy." In the recent Kuo (郭冠英) event, 蘇俊賓 failed their expectation by not punishing his subordinate 郭冠英 and indeed let him go back to Canada with 1 month paid vacation.

It's obvious what 蘇俊賓 did is unacceptable. The interesting thing is a lot of people seem to think 蘇 would do the right thing. But for a very long time I am always very suspicious of this guy. My view on him can be found here:

Does KMT Have the Ability and Credibility to Uncover The Truth?

Hmm...sometimes I admire my own ability in observation lol. But seriously though I think a lot of Taiwanese, even the old and wise, are sometimes too simple and naive when facing someone like 蘇, who appears to be reasonable, but underneath he might be just the same as all those other KMT people.

American Taiwan Policy Establishment Not Trust Worthy

2009-03-19T04:43:00.008-04:00

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/mar/19/today-fo1.htm

Now I clearly find the AIT generally unreliable as an ally. Their way of thinking is very far from Taiwan's general opinion I think, and their view very different from me and many others in Taiwan. They forget that although the cross strait tension is easying, it costs Taiwan's sovereignty and human rights greatly. The tension and worries in Taiwan itself is rising, which in my opinion, might not be a bad thing for Taiwan, because more people need to wake up before Taiwan can progress further. But the US diplomats seem to ignore this fact, or pay little attention to Ma's ignorance on general public's opinions.

Again I sort of make this connection with the way they are thinking and the recent 郭冠英 incident. In the past most of Taiwan's official is like 郭冠英. Therefore there is little doubt that most of the American diplomatic establishment only has contact with this sort of people. Because those diplomats don't actually live in Taiwan, when they see Taiwan, they can only see through the scope created by people like 郭冠英. And when 郭冠英 has such as twisted view on Taiwan, I have little doubt that the American diplomat establishment's view is also twisted and far from Taiwan interests. I also suspect it's not just American, but indeed other nations that have close contact with Taiwan. The only exception is Japan, whose government is always very suspicious of KMT and more sympathetic to the TI cause. However, Japan unfortunately does not have a solid ground under their feet to support Taiwan or voice their opinion clearly on this issue, due to historical reasons. But again even in Japan I wonder how much influence do KMT have.

Looking back in history and we can see that this is not impossible. One thing KMT seems to be very good at, is lobbying in Washington. During WW2, Cold War, and I believe even today, they have strong presence in Washington that can effect the US decision, and this decision can be extremely disastrous to Taiwan, as the period right after WW2 shows. It's not if the US don't have lower level official in Taiwan, but it always appears to me that the US government trust those KMT lobbyist more than their own official, or perhaps their own lower level officials have no channel to the top to voice their view. Certainly I think that is the case during 228 era.

So here is my view on things. It's common sense but often get blurred by circumstances. The US in general is an ally and indeed a strong supporter of Taiwan due to TRA, but not everyone's view in the US is in Taiwan's interests, many are indeed against Taiwan interests in my opinion. What Taiwan needs is to counter those KMT lobbyists in public, government, and challenge strongly the US establishment thinking on Taiwan issue. Also, Taiwan is not without allies in the US. There are few in the US already doubting the US establishment thinking on the Taiwan issues.

This is also a head up to the Taiwanese. Many Taiwanese are disappointed of Chen administration's effort on TI of the past 8 years. But I think it's time they also realize that the situation is not as rosy as they thought. The difficulties Chen faced in the past 8 years can be clearly seen now. Although DPP formed the administration, a lot of officials are still people like 郭冠英, and the American establishment thinkers changed little. Chen admin has its fault but people also has to realize the difficulty they faced. The TI supporters were too optimistic when Chen won the presidential election. The lesson is that much effort are still required, and much road still need to be traveled, even if the DPP wins the presidential election.

Has Taiwanese Figure Out What They Want Yet?

2009-03-18T20:02:00.008-04:00

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/03/17/2003438699

I read this article a few days ago. Although the guy has some interesting points, but it's mainly about TRA, which is more on the US policy making side, and I did not find any particular statement that caught my attention. But today when I thought about it again, suddenly I find the last sentence very interesting:

Taiwan, he said, must reach an internal consensus on what it wants before any country, including the US, can help, he said.

It seems like a very common knowledge but the meaning behind it I find it interesting.

It looks to me that recently there are foreigners abandoning their support of TI. For the past years I have read or heard politicians from Canada, East Europe, Japan and the US expressing their disappointment. This, of course, is expected. When they are supporting the movement, the Taiwanese seem to abandon it during the 2008 election. Of course, many, including me, will argue that Ma during election actually only emphasis on economy and avoiding any topics involving China. He even gave his support to Tibet during that time, which of course is a lie because after election he refuse to let Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan. Also, many are simply blinded by the KMT attacks on ex-president Chen's corruption charges. Although I myself believe this argument but sometimes I also wonder about the naivety of Taiwanese. And of course those foreign TI supporters will feel a sense of being betrayed.

Now I actually realize the connection of these 2 things. Of course, many would like to help Taiwan if possible, the problem is: what exactly does Taiwanese want? It seems a lot of survey and data clearly indicate the desire of Taiwanese, but then during election, the result does not show it. It just shows that, a lot of people still don't realize the meaning of their vote or they do not have enough resolve to pursuit what they want. When this is the case, how can other help? Because the target is not even clear.

More and more Formosan seem to be gradually realizing their wish for TI and I hope this trend continue. And I hope more and more people see through KMT and CCP's deception.

Pacific Humpback Dolphins...Interesting.

2009-03-18T13:32:00.004-04:00

Very interesting piece from Michael:
http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2009/03/dolphins-matsu-co2.html

Humm...it's funny I never knew much about the dolphins near Taiwan...actually there are some near my home town's coast as well.

Here is a video from near Taichung coast, you can see a few of them:
http://en.wildatheart.org.tw/archives/ets_humpback_dolphins_in_taichung_waters_with_movie_clips.html

More info on Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pacific_Hump-backed_Dolphin

The species are endangered now unfortunately, and more awareness and attention of their existence is required.

Donation on the effort lol: http://en.wildatheart.org.tw/donate.html

Thoughts on The Constitution of Liberty So Far: Discussion of Freedom, Reason and Tradition

2009-03-18T04:46:00.006-04:00

I am now reading another book by Hayek because I found his view to be very interesting.

And now when I am onto Chapter 4: Freedom, Reason, and Tradition, my mind are suddenly flooded with thoughts and ideas.

A lot of people in Taiwan, including me, think that Taiwan needs more importation of western ideas in the social and political area for further improvement. And indeed, I sense that quite some people are doing so. You can see the this in articles and talk shows etc. It's a healthy thing in my opinion.

But when I start reading that chapter I realize more clearly that, which western idea? There are many different ones and which one do I prefer? The book divide the 18th century European philosophers into 2 basic groups: empiricist and rationalist. It's too much to describe here what they are etc. But basically the author prefer empiricist's view and argue that they are the one that truly understand Liberty, and so far I agree and think his argument makes a lot of sense.

A lot of my thought relating to Taiwan starts to flood in when the chapter starts to talk about difference between empiricist and rationalist views on moral and tradition etc. This thought is quite a complex subject for me to write, and they are still disorganized. Perhaps I will sort it out more clearly later and write them down. But here I would just say they are related to the problem of Confucius philosophy and why I think they are problems, and comparing the western one with other eastern philosophy like Tou philosophy.

Another thing that flooded my mind is I think, as I am reading the chapter, that Taiwan's "peaceful revolution" and transition to democracy in the past decade actually resemble more closely to the empiricist view. This actually gives me more hope for Taiwan's future development.

Another interesting thing is one of leading figure of empiricist is Adam Smith (more famous for his work the Wealth of Nation), a Scottish moral philosopher (surprisingly not economist). I always thought this guy has a very keen observation when I was reading the Wealth of Nation, which I haven't finished reading because it's freaking thick. But definitely I might want to look more into this guy later if I have time. I think he has another book less known that actually talks about moral philosophy.

Another Problem That I have Known for Years

2009-03-12T16:21:00.009-04:00

Here is another serious problem Taiwan has:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/03/13/2003438357

Sound ridiculous? But many, including me, have noticed these sort of problems for years. Even during the DPP times, a lot of these "envoy" are pro KMT and pro China tax money waster that just don't do their job properly. It's own envoy sided with China instead of Taiwan. It goes back to my concept of China Centric and Taiwan Centric thinking. But in the case it shows how extreme and damaging to Taiwan some of those so call "envoy" can be. IMO, they should be called Chinese envoy, and should receive payment from China, not from Taiwan. Plus his view is just wrong in terms of human rights and liberty.

It's another reason why Taiwan don't have much international space. Because truly...how many envoys out there are actually working and accomplish anything at all? I know only a few during DPP term, and now probably none because Ma's basic policy of ceasing any foreign relation activities.

UPDATE: After watching some follow up news on this guy...it just too ridiculous...This guy got paid by Taiwanese tax payers, work in Toronto, and yet this is how he thinks?? The stuff mention in the newspaper is just a small peak of the iceberg. He had wrote 100 or so articles full of hate toward Taiwan...It's just really weird. Also it's worth to note he got PROMOTED after Ma enter office...really make me speechless. I really wonder how many of these kind of foreign officials are there? By reading what they wrote, it's clear they cannot do any good for Taiwan. Doing more harm is more likely. Of course, freedom of expression should be protected, but if this guy don't believe what he is doing, he should just quit and find another job, or the government should just fire him because clearly he is not suitable for this job. Plus because he is a government official, his statement almost sounds like full treason or racism...but I think this only a qualified judge can decide. This guy really belong to China...not Taiwan. He should immigrate to China instead of getting paid by Taiwanese...