The Fight to Stop The Passing of New Parade Law

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

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

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

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.

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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.

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

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

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.