tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64227704192092701622024-03-14T06:30:02.034+02:00Talk Taiwan 談台灣The true voice of the Taiwanese peopleΆλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-31679004901880975092013-03-20T00:32:00.000+02:002013-03-20T00:32:00.493+02:00Improving human rights needs actions not just a report - Part 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dean Zain's case:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dean Zain is a British expat who is accused of killing a newspaper deliveryman while driving under influence of alcohol in Taiwan.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The most recent <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/03/01/2003556006" target="_blank">news report from the Taipei Times</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/03/01/2003556006</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. Zain asked the prosecutors to release road videos near where the accident took place, and requested court presence of a human rights observer, which are quite reasonable by western standard <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/02/02/2003554039" target="_blank">but refused by Taiwan's justice system.</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/02/02/2003554039</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right at the very end of the above link,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We’ll work hard to capture the escaped offender,” Ma said.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I wish Mr. Ma was not talking about the "offender" who has been assumed guilty until proven innocent.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A <a href="http://michaelturton.blogspot.gr/2010/05/zain-dean-case-statement.html?m=1" target="_blank">blog post</a> from the View from Taiwan shortly after Dean Zain's accident and his statement:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://michaelturton.blogspot.gr/2010/05/zain-dean-case-statement.html?m=1</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thewildeast.net/2011/03/worst-case-scenario-court-rules-guilty-in-scotsman%E2%80%99s-trial/" target="_blank">Another post</a> shortly after Dean Zain received a verdict:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.thewildeast.net/2011/03/worst-case-scenario-court-rules-guilty-in-scotsman’s-trial/</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Mr. Zain's <a href="http://michaelturton.blogspot.gr/2013/02/the-zain-dean-case-various-statements.html?m=1" target="_blank">recent statements</a>:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://michaelturton.blogspot.gr/2013/02/the-zain-dean-case-various-statements.html?m=1</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The above post has led us to the "must-read" excellent links for understanding Taiwan's justice system written by Brian Kennedy, an American attorney living in Taiwan. If you haven't read these links from my previous post's references section, you should read them now.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://www.amcham.com.tw/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=911" target="_blank">Judging the judges</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.amcham.com.tw/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=911</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=833&CtNode=1347" target="_blank">Taiwan's Criminal Justice System: Clash of Cultures</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=833&CtNode=1347</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I don't know anyone in Dean Zain's case, but if I were a jury as in the Northern American justice system, I would question the prosecutors as to why there was no road video exist in this case when there are in fact many cameras along the road.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/03/18/2003557349" target="_blank">this news article further made readers believe that Taiwan's road surveillance system is quite good</a>, but when it comes to Dean Zain's case, the cameras were not working???</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/03/18/2003557349</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After reading nearly all the news and comments in this case I have concluded that the judge has reached a verdict without any proof of Zain's guilty charge. Not only me but many foreign expats in Taiwan who read news from a variety of sources have the same conclusion as me including this one that I just discovered from the internet, who shared the same view as me - Dean Zain GUPI - and putting this as the title of his post, so I will <a href="http://truthintaiwan.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/zain-dean-guilty-until-proven-innocent/" target="_blank">link it because I really like reading the "truth" in Taiwan and not those government propaganda stuff</a>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See http://truthintaiwan.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/zain-dean-guilty-until-proven-innocent/</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. Zain said he was the passenger and not the driver in a hit and run accident involving driving under influence of alcohol, so the justice system actually needs to investigate if a driver offered by the KTV may have been the driver who caused the accident and killed a newspaper deliveryman.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is exactly what the judge should focus on without any media pressure or media influence in Taiwan!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did Mr. Zain lie or is the KTV owner a close friend of the prosecutors?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And why in Taiwan a KTV employee is allowed to drive a client's car? or is it not allowed but they do it anyway?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In north America, only the person(s) insured under a car insurance plan (i.e. listed as drivers for the car) are allowed to drive the car. Clearly one of the lessons we learned from this case is that:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In future, only a client's relative or friend, or a taxi driver should be allowed to take the client home, leaving the client's car behind to be picked up the next day. The only time that a client's car can be used to drive him / her home is when a relative or friend of the client is also listed as a driver sharing the same car as the client under an insurance plan and has not consumed alcohol at that moment. If parking is a problem, a client should simply go to and leave an entertainment place, where alcohols are served, by a taxi when they know in advance that they may drink excessively.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unrelated to Mr. Zain's case, but a recent news that shows Taiwan's prosecutors should press charges carefully and should respect people's right to assembly.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/03/12/2003556863" target="_blank">Student protest Laosheng</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/03/12/2003556863</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taiwan suspended death penalty executions during the DPP era, but has resumed with the Ma administration. With the justice system stands the way it is now, is Mr. Ma, a Harvard-educated law scholar (without passing any law exam, Ma cannot be called a Harvard-educated lawyer) satisfied with his justice department's handling of each case of capital punishment conviction?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No one should be pronounced guilty until proven innocent. This is simply respecting human rights.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. Ma signs papers such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to appear good but people are waiting for him to act!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In conclusion, improving the quality of the judges is an imminent task in Taiwan. Taiwan resumed executions of inmates, but low-quality judges and death penalty simply cannot coexist.</span><br />
<br />Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-5584883697207609472013-03-19T04:39:00.000+02:002013-03-19T11:12:06.933+02:00Improving human rights needs actions not just a report - Part 1 <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ex-president Chen Shui-bian's case</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Human rights improvement needs actions, and not just a report. When will Ma Ying-jeou realize that?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps Ma doesn't care about carrying out much-needed transitional justice but he cares about how to make his administration "look good" on the surface, so on March 31 2009 Taiwan ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/good-news/taiwan-signs-human-rights-20090409" target="_blank">news on Taiwan's ratification</a> http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/good-news/taiwan-signs-human-rights-20090409</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ma chose this "good-looking" route despite that the UN rejected Taiwan's deposit of ratification, and the UN Human Rights Committee is ineffective.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rights#section_9" target="_blank">UN refusal of Taiwan's deposit</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rights#section_9</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://clg.portalxm.com/library/keytext.cfm?keytext_id=122" target="_blank">UN's ineffectiveness</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://clg.portalxm.com/library/keytext.cfm?keytext_id=122</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, Taiwan's first national report on human rights by 10 experts invited by Ma is out.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2013/03/04/2003556203" target="_blank">news on Taiwan's human rights report</a> http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2013/03/04/2003556203</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It urged the Ma administration on the following issues:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- to abolish capital punishment,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- to suspend the execution of death sentences,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- to reveal the truth behind the White Terror era,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- to respect freedom of assembly,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- and to prevent monopolization of the media.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 84 recommendations listed by the experts included calls for the improvement of rights for migrant workers, Aborigines, women, gay and transgender people, and people with disabilities.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On an issue that has gathered great domestic attention, the experts said that the Ma administration should “take appropriate action in relation to the serious health problems of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it was 4 months ago that Ma should have already heard of foreign "medical experts" call for Chen's medical parole.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/11/23/2003548408" target="_blank">Medical experts call for Chen's medical parole</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/11/23/2003548408</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A US medical team that examined Chen in June 2012 said that statements from the Ma administration that Chen was receiving adequate medical treatment were “ludicrous.”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The team, including Ken Yoneda and Charles Whitcomb — both professors of medicine at the University of California — said in a joint statement that Chen’s imprisonment conditions were “substandard and inhumane.”</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They said the conditions were a major contributing factor, if not the cause, of Chen’s current physical and mental problems.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the recent (February 24 2013) response from Taiwan's Ministry of Justice: no medical parole for Chen!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=2156730" target="_blank">news of no medical parole for Chen</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=2156730</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is another <a href="http://blog.taiwan-guide.org/2013/03/letter-chen-shui-bian/" target="_blank">more recent call</a> for his medical parole by David Reid.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See http://blog.taiwan-guide.org/2013/03/letter-chen-shui-bian/</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/03/14/2003557047" target="_blank">more concern about the issue of Chen's recent medical conditions</a> http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/03/14/2003557047</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"According to international human-rights activists, his prison’s harsh standard of treatment, which falls well below international norms, is contributing to serious illness."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"At the age of 61, Mr Chen has been confined to a tiny, damp and sometimes ant-ridden cell, with one cell mate but without a bed for four years. Aside from 60 minutes’ daily exercise, his life for most of this time has been restricted to lying and standing in a personal space roughly the size of an office lift."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The above is from the Economist, read <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/10/chen-shui-bian" target="_blank">the whole article here</a>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/10/chen-shui-bian</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently church also <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/03/02/2003556077" target="_blank">raised questions for Chen's human rights</a>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/03/02/2003556077</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's recap what Chen Shui-bian said when he was mentally fit to be interviewed:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Soon after I became president in the year 2000, I made the decision to cut my salary in half. So, accumulated over the past almost seven years, I have saved the nation at least 40 million New Taiwan dollars. It is impossible to imagine that I would spend five years to collect more than 700 receipts just to obtain illegally about 14 million NT dollars and put that into my pocket."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The above <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/01/29/talkasia.chen.script/index.html" target="_blank">Chen statement is from the CNN's Talk Asia in 2007</a>. http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/01/29/talkasia.chen.script/index.html</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not to be missed is <a href="http://truthintaiwan.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/political-backlash-the-ahbien-story/" target="_blank">The ahBien story</a> by a non-English-teaching professional resident in Taiwan.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://truthintaiwan.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/political-backlash-the-ahbien-story/</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ironically, Chen Shui-bian, the former Taiwanese president, who is the youngest-person-ever-to-pass-the-ROC-bar-exam, is being jailed by the never-passed-any-bar-exam Ma Ying-jeou.</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See this <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/06dat/bio.5roc.html" target="_blank">link for Chen's biography</a> for his university years. Scroll down to the section with alphabet "c". http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/contents/06dat/bio.5roc.html</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"In June 1969, he was admitted to the National Taiwan University. Initially a business administration major, he switched to law in his first year and became editor of the law review. He passed the bar exams before the completion of his junior year with the highest score, earning him the distinction of being Taiwan's youngest lawyer. He graduated in 1974 with a LL.B. in commercial law."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chen's struggle with Taiwan's GUPI (Guilty Until Proven Innocent) Court</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On November 6, 2010 <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2010/11/06/2003487820" target="_blank">Chen was found not guilty in bribery</a>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2010/11/06/2003487820</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, nobody really knows why Chen has spent so many days in jail, and I bet the majority of Taiwanese do not actually know the judicial "details" of Chen's charges and sentences, this <a href="http://jurist.org/jurist_search.php?q=chen+shui-bian" target="_blank">Jurist website</a> gives some quick summary chronologically.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See http://jurist.org/jurist_search.php?q=chen+shui-bian</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If one pays close attention, Taiwan's Taipei District Court first sentenced Chen to life imprisonment in September 2009, but later the Taiwan Supreme Court found out that they could not find evidence to support the accusation by prosecutors that Chen embezzled money from the "state fund" account!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See also <a href="http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110827-296481.html" target="_blank">Chen Shui-bian jail term reduced</a>. http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110827-296481.html</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So Chen was initially sentenced to life without all the evidence gathering!</b> Judge Tsai Shou-hsun who initially sentenced Chen to life imprisonment only knew how to 死背古書而不會推理 recite old Chinese texts but didn't know how to reason. He got away from incompetence, not penalized for reaching a sentence without full verification of facts while Chen has suffered being called a corrupted president who mis-used state fund.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The irony about Chen Shui-bian’s legal battle is that it would have been thrown out of court and ended long ago when Chen was still healthy had it occured in the US."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2013/03/05/2003556293" target="_blank">this letter to the Taipei Times editor</a>. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2013/03/05/2003556293</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And in Canada, and in Europe too...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While inmates are allowed to publish articles they write in prison, Chen was banned from publishing some articles by prison officials. Clearly this is not likely the decision of the prison itself, but of some higher ranking authority in Taiwan.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/asia/Story/A1Story20110620-285105.html" target="_blank">Taiwan bans ex-leader from publishing jail article</a> http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/asia/Story/A1Story20110620-285105.html</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/03/11/2003556804" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A-bian’s trials show justice as political tool: academics</span></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/03/11/2003556804</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chen Shui-bian's trial is a disgrace for Taiwan's judicial system.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It shows that human rights improvement and transitional justice need actions and not just a report. Taiwan's justice system needs a total overhaul!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">References:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Excellent links for understanding Taiwan's justice system written by Brian Kennedy, an American attorney living in Taiwan.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://www.amcham.com.tw/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=911" target="_blank">Judging the judges</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.amcham.com.tw/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=911</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See <a href="http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=833&CtNode=1347" target="_blank">Taiwan's Criminal Justice System: Clash of Cultures</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=833&CtNode=1347</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/See%20http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2013/03/17/2003557263" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Courts must heed people's wishes</span></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2013/03/17/2003557263</span>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-87475631138075757722012-01-14T09:21:00.001+02:002012-01-14T09:21:33.189+02:00Taiwan next? Parliament first!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Democratic elections aims
to making democracy 'work' in that they provide a mechanism through which each </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">citizen can contribute on an equal basis to collective decision making.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">In order for Taiwan’s democratic mechanism to function
well, the voters should pay much attention to who they should vote for in the
Legislative Yuan and not just whom they should choose as their next president.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Without a pan green majority in the parliament, much
needed reform on Taiwan’s referendum law, and <a href="http://frozengarlic.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/how-about-mmp/">a fairer electoral system</a> will not
be discussed in the Legislative Yuan (LY), reform on either of the two has never
been mentioned by the current KMT-dominated LY.
Beside the fear for not being able to strengthen Taiwan’s democratic mechanism,
there will also be another 4 years of turbulence / conflict between the
executive branch and the legislative branch of the government much like during
the Chen Shui Bian’s era if today Taiwanese voters choose a DPP president with
a KMT majority LY, it will be another wasted 4 years of stand-off, a big loss
for Taiwan’s global competitiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Taiwanese go to the polls today facing big challenges to
overcome the influential non-neutral factors that can tilt the result of this
election including but not limited to the following:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">US’s announcement of Taiwan as a candidate for the US
visa waiver program just in time to help the incumbent Ma Ying-Jeou<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">An anonymous US official “leaked” to the Financial Times
in September 2011 that the DPP presidential candidate, Tsai Ing-Wen failed to
convince the Obama administration that she would handle relations with China
well<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ref: </span><a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/NA13Ad01.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Asia Times’s Taiwan
vote may trip up US and China</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> and </span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/01/12/2003523041"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Taipei
Times's 2012 ELECTIONS: US congressman expresses concern over US neutrality</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">An estimated (but questionable) 200,000 to 300,000
Taiwanese expats in China mostly in favor of Ma are returning to vote in this
election, half-priced airfares or cheaply charted flights are helping<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ref: </span><a href="http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2012/01/taiwan-vote-lures-back-expatriates-in-china/"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">China
Digital Times (CDT) Taiwan Vote Lures Back Expatriates in China</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Taiwan election expert “Frozen Garlic” observed the KMT’s
gerrymandering skills in Taipei City long ago – but most Taiwanese voters don’t
even know about that election results may often take place as early as when
electoral redistricting was determined rather than when voters go to the poll
stations to vote<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ref: </span><a href="http://frozengarlic.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/redistricting-taipei-county/#comment-634"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Frozen
Garlic’s comment 634</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> and </span><a href="http://frozengarlic.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/redistricting-in-taipei-city/"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Frozen
Garlic’s post on redistricting in Taipei City</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The election date is carefully selected on the 14<sup>th</sup>
of January so that young voters (mostly are DPP supporters) will be deterred
from returning home to vote, having to study for their final exams in Taiwan’s
university calendar system<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ref: </span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/01/06/2003522560"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Taipei
Times's 2012 ELECTIONS: Students protest over right to vote</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Taiwan’s non-neutral Central Election Commission<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ref:</span> <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2011/09/30/2003514517"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Taipei
Times's EDITORIAL: Legislative review was a farce</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Does Ma’s administration really welcome international
observers in this election?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ref: </span><a href="http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/foreign-affairs/2012/01/13/328865/MOFA-denies.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">China
Post's MOFA denies canceling international observer trips</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The same old problems of votes of unequal weights, huge
differences on party financial resources – a very rich KMT party with stolen
assets from the nation, KMT’s media advantage and all the other factors forming
the patterns of election malpractice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Having the above list of odds against the pan green camp
in this election does not mean that it is impossible for the pan green to win
the election. Unfair situations simply
make winning very difficult but not impossible.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Taiwan Next”? To achieve this DPP’s campaign slogan, I
would say to Taiwanese eligible voters estimated at </span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/01/07/2003522659"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">18,090,255</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">,
“Parliament First!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">With the KMT winning the parliament in 2008, this is what
I received (excerpt) from a British external affairs official replying to FAPA
Europe’s WHO campaign letter in 2008 – i.e. we could not voice for Taiwan’s
interests abroad if Taiwanese had voted for a party that lacked intention to
safeguard its sovereignty:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The UK government agrees that one of the fundamental
rights of every human </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">being is to have the highest attainable standards of
health available to them </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">and the UK government is committed to making this a
priority around the globe.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Further more, we agree that Taiwan's absence from systems
for co-ordination of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">international health issues is undesirable. In common
with our EU partners, we </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">hope the WHO will adopt practical measures to allow
Taiwan to participate in its </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">activities.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We do not believe that supporting Taiwan's bid for
observer status of the World </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">Health Assembly would bring any practical benefit. On the contrary, we see it </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">as a largely political move which simply serves to impede
the practical solution </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">we all want. Taiwan's effective participation can only be
achieved with the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">agreement of all WHO members, including China.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We and the EU have been supportive of attempts to find a
workable solution and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;">will continue to work for this, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">including by exploring more practical approaches </b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">with
the new Taiwanese administration</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">By now everyone knows what the new Taiwanese
administration did but was afraid to tell its people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ref: <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2011/12/26/2003521632"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Taipei Times’s The undermining of Taiwan’s space</span></a></span></b></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-90016059459321131852010-04-25T08:31:00.001+03:002010-04-25T08:46:40.231+03:00Taiwan is Taiwan, not ROC nor PRC: USCIS<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is not ambiguous about Taiwan’s status, it is a US executive branch that respects and honors Taiwanese people’s rights to call their country “Taiwan”. In a </span></span><a href="http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/Taiwain_1dec2008.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">memo dated Dec.1, 2008</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, it states that for purposes of the United States immigration law, Taiwan is to be considered </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">a separate independent country</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> despite the Department of State’s “one-China” policy.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Consequently, the United States passports may </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">not</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> be issued showing place of birth as “Taiwan, China,” “Taiwan, Republic of China,” or “Taiwan ROC,” but for the “mainlanders on Taiwan”, it may show “People’s Republic of China” as their country of birth, but their country of nationality (on application form N-400) should be listed as “Taiwan”.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Some excerpt from the memo:</span></span><br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The adjudicator must not require an applicant to list “Taiwan, PRC,” “Taiwan, China,” “Taiwan, Republic of China,” “Taiwan, ROC,” or “People’s Republic of China” as the country of birth or nationality on Form N-400 if the applicant has indicated “Taiwan” and the documentary evidence submitted supports their claim.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Note that some applicants may have been born in the PRC but currently hold a Taiwan passport because they moved from the mainland (PRC) to Taiwan long ago. For those applicants, the country of birth should be listed as “People’s Republic of China” and the country of nationality should be listed as “Taiwan” on their Form N-400.</span></span></span></blockquote><br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The ISO country code “virus”</span></span></span></b></span></span></span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Many organizations, corporations, governments </span></span><a href="http://lettersfromtaiwan.blogspot.com/2010/03/gallup-toes-party-line.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">claim that they are “apolitical”</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and simply use the “standard” </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ISO country codes</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> assigned for Taiwan to represent Taiwan, but on the </span></span><a href="http://www.iso.org/iso/english_country_names_and_code_elements"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ISO country coding system</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, Taiwan has been mistakenly listed in the country name’s “short form” as “Taiwan, Province of China” (note: the name is </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">neither short nor reflect the reality of de-facto independent status of Taiwan</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">).</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is a well-planned “virus” by the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Statistics_Division"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">UN Statistical Division</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (which is under the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Department_of_Economic_and_Social_Affairs"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (UNDESA) with a Chinese head, Sha Zukang since July 1, 2007) to annex Taiwan through the convenience of ISO “standardization” code, which is used by many businesses. I have even noticed on many university advertisements on the internet for recruiting international students, Taiwan has been listed erroneously as a province of China due likely to this ISO country code “virus”.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On the surface, the ISO seems to show that this “short” name for Taiwan has existed since 1974 when the list was originally created, but I suspect the change of name actually took place in more recent year, otherwise it would have been noticed long ago by Taiwan’s government during the 8 years of DPP in power, and </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/09/19/2003423640"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan’s lawsuit against ISO in Swiss court</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> would have taken place in earlier year than 2007. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The people of Taiwan are waiting for an explanation as to the progress of this lawsuit, has there been a judgment? Did the plaintiff drop the charge? When and why? Was there a secret deal in which both Ma’s KMT-ROC and Hu’s CCP-PRC agreed to use a code “Taiwan, a province of China” so that each party could interpret the “greater China” the way each party likes, but not according to the will of the majority of Taiwan’s citizens?</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The UN has no rights (see reference number 2 regarding MOU) to sign any memo against a non-member state (such as the WHO’s secret MOU with China regarding Taiwan’s communication with WHO be routed through China), nor to change a country’s name arbitrarily simply because of pressures from another bullying state.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Resolution-2758.png"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">UN resolution 2758</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> resolves the question of who should represent China and mentions nothing about who should represent the 23 million people of Taiwan.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If UN is serious about promotion of human rights and human dignity, its geographic “experts” should be investigated for possible “pressures” from above, and the UNDESA under secretary should be probed for his “incompetence” and his role in helping the spread of the Taiwan ISO country code “virus” around the globe.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Reference:</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1. A quick reference on </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha_Zukang"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sha Zukang’s background</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> revealed that he had previously served as Director-General, Department of Arms Control, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1997-2001) and earlier as Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs, how ironic!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2. </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorandum_of_understanding"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">MOU</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> should involve only the mutual beneficiaries of the signing parties, it should contain nothing about a 3rd party outside of the negotiation process.</span></span>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-2508028443807223402010-04-07T22:02:00.052+03:002010-04-08T04:31:38.091+03:00Will PRC shut down the Shadow Network?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Some better news sources to read on the latest report of Cyber Espionage on Dalai Lama and others include:</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406093508.htm"><span class="apple-style-span">Science Daily</span></a><span class="apple-style-span"> gave a better overall summary on the report "Shadows in the Cloud: An investigation into cyber espionage 2.0." as the source of news came from the University of Toronto.<u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://citizenlab.org/2010/04/new-iwm-report-shadows-in-the-cloud/"><span class="apple-style-span">news from the Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs</span></a><span class="apple-style-span">, University of Toronto provided all the related links.<u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/science/06cyber.html"><span class="apple-style-span">news from the NY Times</span></a><span class="apple-style-span"> gave a good overall picture of the scope of the operation.<u1:p></u1:p></span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">And many interesting reader comments from the newspaper where the university is based,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/world/india/article/790748--u-of-t-sleuths-track-internet-espionage-ring-to-china?bn=1"><span class="apple-style-span">the Toronto Star</span></a><span class="apple-style-span">,</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">include the following comments:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">No one in China can run an operation this big....</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Who else is so interested in the Dalai Lama?</span></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Denial of involvement is the PRC government’s first reaction to the latest report on cyber hacking by its “citizens”. Late Tuesday, Beijing strongly denied any government role in the cyber attacks calling them "groundless," </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-04/06/c_13239779.htm" title="Xinhua report, in English"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #004276;">according to Xinhua</span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span">, the official state-run news agency.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">But according to the above NY Times news:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><blockquote><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The People’s Liberation Army also operates a technical reconnaissance bureau in </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Chengdu</span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"> </span><span class="apple-style-span">(my note: the city is China’s IT and national defense R&D center)</span><span class="apple-style-span">, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">a</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">nd helps finance the university’s research on computer network defense.</span></span></span></span></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">In a society like China where info is strictly-controlled, who else can have a large-scale cyber operation without the consent and the capital of the Chinese government? Who knows?</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">I hope the UN, which is supposed to promote world peace, will act quickly to hold a conference on stopping the cyber-hacking crime and protect the privacy of innocent citizens of the world who entrust their personal data to organizations, governments, and businesses that may fall victims of cyber hacking.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Denial of involvement by Chinese government does no help; however, preventing similar operations from happening again will at least show some sincerity for China to be a responsible stakeholder of global governance.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Related reading:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">New</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2010/04/08/2003470061"><span class="apple-style-span">Taipei Times: Canadian researchers trace systematic cyber-espionage operation to China</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://taiwanmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/chinas-offensive-cyber-hacking-and-more.html">China’s cyber hacking and more, how can they call their actions “self-defense”?</a></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/metzl8/English">Project Syndicate: Will China Lead?</a></span></span></span></span>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-69046257231095050932010-04-01T21:25:00.030+03:002010-04-02T18:10:55.034+03:00China's freelance internet propagandists<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:11px;"><!--StartFragment--><div class="MsoBodyText"></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A term refers to paid internet commentators working for the People’s Republic of China, whose role is posting comments favorable towards the government policies to skew the public opinion on various Internet message boards.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In 2008, the above number of members was estimated at 300,000, other names include “red vests”, “red vanguard”, and “50 Cent Army”.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Guardian newspaper calls it the 50-cent Army (a reference to the pay: 50 Chinese “cents” per post, which is equivalent to about 7 US cents) and has published </span></span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/sep/22/chinathemedia.marketingandpr"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China joins a turf war</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on Sep. 22, 2008 by Malik Fareed.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The BBC has published </span></span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7783640.stm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China’s internet ‘spin doctors’</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on Dec. 16, 2008 by Michael Bristow.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Datamation warned that </span></span><a href="http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/article.php/3795091"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the 50 Cent Army Could Wreck Web 2.0</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on Jan. 8, 2009 by Mike Elgan.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And the Far Eastern Economic Review also published </span></span><a href="http://www.feer.com/essays/2008/august/chinas-guerrilla-war-for-the-web"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China’s Guerrilla War for the Web</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on August 2008 by David Bandurski.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After all, the wikipedia listed even more links in its reference area on this topic: </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent_Army"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">50 Cent Army</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Chinese cyber hacking, Chinese freelance internet propagandists, self-censorship by foreign corporations doing business with China or by cultural events organizers on events held outside of China but sponsored by Chinese capitals, what have we got left for freedom of speech and access to genuine information?</span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And that’s not all in China's favor, we have also got “Chinese experts” who run China-related consulting business and at the same time act as advisors for the US government (conflict of interests?!), and those journalists who forget to keep neutrality and </span></span><a href="http://fareasternpotato.blogspot.com/2010/02/same-subject-different-takes.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">feed biased info into our mainstream media</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div></span></span>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-19331893925443206052010-02-26T14:12:00.006+02:002010-02-26T14:49:52.979+02:00Some notes about the proposed ECFA<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Read today's Taipei Times News on </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2010/02/26/2003466689"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Trade deal renegotiation unlikely: MAC</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and notice the 3 paragraphs near the end:</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Recently, a Chinese firm selling liquid-crystal-display (LCD) television sets, Qimei, was found to bear a similar name to Taiwanese LCD panel maker, Chi Mei.</span></span></span><span style="font: 16.0px Lucida Grande"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Liu said the Taiwanese firm must first find out whether its Chinese counterpart was officially registered in China before it takes the matter to a Chinese court.</span></span></span><span style="font: 16.0px Lucida Grande"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Liu said he was uncertain whether it was the first violation of brand name in the electronics products industry, but similar occurrences were rampant in the agricultural sector.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></blockquote><p></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We are not opposing the signing of ECFA simply because we want to be against whatever policies or agreements that the Ma government wishes to push through without any clear content. We are more concerned about the future livelihood of the people in Taiwan and especially when facing a hostile neighbor.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For example, the KMT government should have some thoughts about accompanying protection measures for traditional industries such as the farming industry, the objectives of such protection is to avoid the takeover of lower-quality mass agricultural production by China's cheaper labor force, which perhaps has already taken place in China's Hainan island (growing Taiwan's fruits and vegetables with seeds from years of painstaking Taiwanese R&D).</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The European Union model should be studied by Taiwan, and perhaps also by 16 ASEAN countries, and Asian members of the APEC.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The European Union promotes and preserves products quality and uniqueness through a system of certification process in 3 different levels (a must read </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_designation_of_origin"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">refer to the wikipedia link Protected designation of origin</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">): protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI) ,traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) . </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The purpose of this European law is to protect the reputation of the regional foods and eliminate the unfair competition and misleading of consumers by non-genuine products, which may be of inferior quality or of different taste because of natural climate factor or processing method variations.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">These days, all kinds of varieties of mushrooms (including the traditional Japanese Shiitake mushroom) could be found on sale in the French Carrefour supermarket chains, all are produced in China. The Japanese Shiitake mushroom could only be grown in traditional Japanese locations using ancient methods before 1982. Not knowing under what environment this mushroom is grown in China whose industry has polluted most part of the country and my instinct of avoiding Chinese products has led me to choose only the domestic or other European-grown mushrooms and skip the Chinese "Shiitake" mushroom. For consumers protection, the Chinese grown "Shiitake" mushroom could have used a different name, such as the name of the region where the mushroom is cultivated.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I wouldn't want to see all kinds of Taiwanese regional products grown in China after ECFA is inked with different tastes but bearing the same names as the original Taiwanese names, for example, Wen-shan Bao-Zhong tea. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It makes sense for the EU member states to conduct business more fairly this way among member states even though they do not face each other with hostilities and missiles. Confronting China's territorial claim, missile threat, diplomatic isolation, and blocking entrance to and / or arbitrary name change to our international organization membership, Taiwan simply cannot sign the ECFA with no protection measures for our traditional industry and with no specific guarantee from China that it will not interfere with Taiwan's trade negotiations with other countries including signing FTAs with individual ASEAN members.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial; min-height: 11.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Businessmen from any western nations should diversify manufacturing to many other developing nations in the world and could also help promote world peace and security since other developing nations, unlike China, do not burden the world with military expansion, cyber crimes, and infringement on intellectual properties. </span></span></p>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-76669768781507490412010-01-03T06:15:00.000+02:002010-01-03T09:00:58.955+02:00China is a rich poor country<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Rich enough to lend everywhere in the world yet still poor to need foreign aids, how controversial?!</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China’s </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">state-owned</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> banks diversifying lending beyond US Treasury Bills</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> as </span></span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/01/AR2010010101994.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the Washington Post reported</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My question: If <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">China’s</span></span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">state-owned</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> banks have money to lend globally, does </span><a href="http://tktw.blogspot.com/2009/11/germany-plans-to-stop-foreign-aid-to.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China still need any international aids</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">?</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Guardian reported: </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/31/iphone-china-blocks-dalai-lama"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">iPhone apps about Dalai Lama blocked in China.</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My comment: Is self-censoring going to extend its boundary beyond China in future?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I’m afraid </span><a href="http://taiwanmatters.blogspot.com/2009/11/readers-have-rights-to-know-truth.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">it has started from its neighbor, Taiwan’s MAC office</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><a href="http://www.epsoweb.org/earthworms-rise-surface-again"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Earthworm census</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> may provide clues to the relationship between climate change and drainage in soil per the </span><a href="http://www.epsoweb.org/about/about-epso"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">EPSO</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> article.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:14.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Lucida Sans Unicode""><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"There are three different groups of earthworms; those that stay near the top of the soil, those that burrow horizontally and those that burrow vertically," said </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dr. Neilson</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. "The paths of the horizontal and vertical earthworms cross; creating important natural drainage channels in the soil. If there is a reduction in the earthworm population there would be less natural drainage and that combined with increased rainfall caused by climate change could result in more flooding."</span></span></blockquote></span></p><p></p><p></p></span></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-42937627044936657162009-12-30T02:41:00.014+02:002009-12-30T22:16:26.230+02:00Where is your heart at?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">As 2009 is drawing near the end, this is a good question to ask ourselves and our leader in time of Taiwan's difficulties such as this year's natural disaster.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I did contribute my share to help the </span><a href="http://www.pct.org.tw/english/typhoon/responseLetters.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">typhoon Moracot rescue and reconstruction effort</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> and </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidonformosa/2080662806/in/set-72157603346489493/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">had confidence</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> that it had been put to good use where it was needed the most.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The following links have some interesting lists / spreadsheets which compare the donations of corporations, politicians, and entertainers / celebrities:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The </span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/08/12/2003450951"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Taipei Times had gathered the Moracot donations information</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> from Taiwanese businesses and public figures as early as August 12, 2009. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The </span><a href="http://scubathugsteve.blogspot.com/2009/08/special-post-for-typhoon-morakot-ways.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Stocks and Politics blog posted a summary</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> as of August 13, 2009 and concluded that the DPP politicians had donated USD $1,036,000 vs. KMT politicians $136,000.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AqMDwhaX5ZWSdFhBS04yWG5pTGJSdW1CYXo2NEdNcHc&hl=en">Google document</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (written in Chinese-language and the currency used the New Taiwan Dollars) compared the donations as of August 22, 2009 between the amount given to China's 2008 </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquake"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sichuan earthquake</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> and the amount given to Taiwan's 2009 Morakot typhoon by Taiwan's business entity or public figure. It is the most extensive list that I could find so far.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">From the above Google document, Ma Ying-jeou did <b>not</b> make any announcement of his </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">personal</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> donations (if any) to the Morakot typhoon but <a href="http://www.redcross.org.sg/aid-pledges-flood-in-after-china-quake-disaster-1.phtml">he did make announcement about his personal donation</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://www.redcross.org.sg/aid-pledges-flood-in-after-china-quake-disaster-1.phtml"> to the Shichuan earthquake</a>.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I also failed to find any donations to Morakot typhoon by Ma using English-language internet search but I did find his donations to China's earthquake (considering Ma prefers to speak English for publicity). </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Singapore Red Cross Society reported on the fifth paragraph of the immediate above link that :</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, said it would join the rescue effort, while its president-elect Ma Ying-jeou, who has moved to repair ties with China, donated 200,000 Taiwan dollars (6,500 US) from his own pocket.</span></span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The other pan-blue politicians </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">who have donated to the Shichuan earthquake</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">but not to the Morakot typhoon</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> per the above Google document include some very prominent figures (but if you have subsequently made donations after the publication of the above Google Doc, you could write to them to update their records </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">plus also leave your comment below this post for correction</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">):</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Former premier </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Chao-shiuan"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Liu Chao-shiuan</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> ( </span><a href="http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1142919&lang=tc_news&cate_img=257.jpg&cate_rss=news_PD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">劉兆玄 click this link and find out where Ma sent him to</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> now) 100,000 NTD vs. 0</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Vice president </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Siew"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Vincent Siew</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> ( 蕭萬長) 150,000 NTD vs. 0</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Soong"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">James Soong</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> ( 宋楚瑜) 1 million NTD vs.0</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Other noticeable observation is that former KMT chairman </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Po-hsiung"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Wu Po-hsiung</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> ( 吳伯雄) donated 5 times more to China than to Taiwan.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In order not to make this post extensive, I will not make any notes on donations by the business community, the readers are encouraged to consult the above lists / documents when they consider their business engagement such as supporting / purchasing certain products.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Taiwan's donations to China per the </span><a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/29/content_11281941.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Xinhua News</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Among all these relief efforts, the assistance coming from Taiwan has reportedly topped that of any other nation in the world. Just days after the quake, the Republic of China (ROC) government proposed a NT$2 billion (US$67 million) aid package for mainland China, including NT$700 million (US$23 million) in cash made immediately available and NT$100 million (US$3 million) in relief supplies including 2,000 tons of rice. The remaining NT$1.2 billion (US$40 million) was earmarked for post-quake reconstruction projects to be funded from public donations.</span></span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">By late May, cash donations from the ROC government, enterprises, organizations and individuals had already reached more than RMB780 million (US$113 million), according to news releases from the mainland China's State Council. Of the top five cash donors among multinationals, four were Taiwanese enterprises, including Formosa Plastics Group, Evergreen Group, Foxconn Technology Group and RT-Mart International Ltd.</span></span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">China's donations to Taiwan per </span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/12/25/2003461831"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Taipei Times News</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ARATS said it received NT$450 million (US$13 million) in donations from people in China, adding it had given NT$150 million to the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and would wire the remaining NT$300 million next week.</span></span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Where did the donations to China go to?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I don't know, but these two links, although talking about China's domestic donations, may give us some hint:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.chinahush.com/2009/08/13/80-percent-of-the-earthquake-relief-donation-went-to-the-chinese-government/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">80 Percent of the Earthquake Relief Donation Went to the Chinese Government</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> and</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2009/09/ngos-tread-lightly-on-chinas-turf/">NGOs Tread Lightly on China's Turf</a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b>I believe wherever our hearts belong, so too will our donations go to. </b></span> </span></div></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-69062190974444910292009-12-18T11:24:00.005+02:002009-12-18T20:12:03.538+02:00If I do nothing, nothing will change: Dr. Orbinski<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A few days ago, I was at a dental office, taking my child there for treatment. While waiting there, I picked up a magazine and read an excellent article. I copied down the name of the character featured in the article, and came home, searched the internet and found the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/cover-story/james-orbinski-profile-doctors-without-borders-canadians-in-rwanda/">on-line version</a></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> of the same article I read, and a quote contained in this article which moved my heart. The character featured in this article is Dr. James Orbinski.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">At the end of the 9th paragraph of the above linked article is the quote, a message for us all (my note: in the magazine, this quote is shown in a very big & blue-colored font whereas in the on-line version it has to be looked carefully):</span></span></div><div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3366FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I can’t know if anything that I do will change what happens tomorrow. I can’t know with certainty, but what I do know is if I do nothing, nothing will change.</span></span></span></blockquote></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Unlike most doctors who simply work for personal profits, and unlike the WHO that puts politics above its missions (i.e. promoted the </span></span><a href="http://tktw.blogspot.com/2009/11/ever-changing-status-quo.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">fake meaningful participation without membership for Taiwan but secretly signed MOU with China to adopt the policy of apartheid against Taiwanese</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">), Dr. James Orbinski is a humanitarian doctor who has served in some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones. He was the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) from 1998 to 2001, and accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on the organization’s behalf in 1999.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Over the past quarter-century, Dr. Orbinski has worked in places such as Somalia during the famine and civil war; in the refugee camps in Jalalabad, Afghanistan; and at the Kosovo Macedonia border during the NATO bombings in 1999.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">His </span></span><a href="http://jamesorbinski.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">quote</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, so simple yet so profound, deserves our special mention at this holiday season in today’s lack-of-humanitarianism world among political leaders and health professionals, and it also serves as an encouragement to the people of Taiwan who aren’t taking any actions or participating in activities that may direct the destiny of their country, such as the </span></span><a href="http://taiwanmatters.blogspot.com/2009/12/dpp-protest-info-and-maps.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">upcoming demonstration in Taichung</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And for me, although I’d prefer spending more time with my family, but if I don’t blog, some truth will simply be covered-up by some mainstream media’s China-friendly propaganda. "If I do nothing, nothing will change" is a precious lesson for us all.</span></span></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-42047885447799500042009-12-14T12:27:00.006+02:002009-12-14T14:30:46.134+02:00Ma's apology, empty words or transitional justice?<div><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/12/13/2003460832"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) recently bowed and apologized to political dissidents</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and their families for the abuses of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government during the White Terror era.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Many readers may have noticed by now that Ma likes to say one thing in public but do exactly the opposite when people are not paying much attention, and here is what happened this year under his administration.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The </span></span><a href="http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=896350"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">opposition lawmakers and human rights activists in March this year slammed the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau for dumping confidential files and body parts of deceased political prisoners</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> incarcerated during the authoritarian period of Kuomintang rule in an abandoned building and demanded that the materials be promptly transferred to the National Archives Administration.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/07/16/2003448797"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) accused President Ma in July this year of insincerity in promoting reconciliation with victims of political persecution</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. Ma’s paying tribute to dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/07/21/2003449168"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">changing the name of the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall back to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> showed that the Ma government has never reviewed the massacre conducted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The replacement of the plaque began at about 8:10am on July 20, 2009 after some 300 police officers secured the hall with barricades overnight (like thieves that are most active at night!) and put up an official document stating that the hall would be closed for 24 hours for “official business.” Workers cut the granite plaque bearing the title “National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall” that hung over the main building into pieces. The removal was completed by noon, after which workers proceeded to reinstate the Chiang plaque. The replacement project cost NT$1.1 million (US$33,000) according to the Ministry of Education, which is in charge of the restoration.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For Ma, bowing his head didn’t cost anything, but restoring the Liberty Square’s hall back to the dead dictator’s name cost every taxpayer money.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This past spring when Ma announced it would reinvestigate two of the remaining unsolved murder cases from 1980 and 1981, many people hoped that new information would be found. The murder of the mother and twin daughters of then-imprisoned provincial assemblyman </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_Yi-hsiung"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lin Yi-hsiung (林義雄)</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> on Feb. 28, 1980, and the death and apparent murder of </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/07/02/2003447662"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Chen Wen-cheng (陳文成)</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, a Taiwanese professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the US, on July 3, 1981, following his interrogation by the Taiwan Garrison Command created great concern in Taiwan.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On March 13, 2009, the chief prosecutor brought together Taipei prosecutors, the police, the Bureau of Investigation, forensic experts and detective bureaus to begin the new investigation. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately, the recently released 50-page report reveals almost nothing new.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Instead, the report </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/09/13/2003453451"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">repeated the old line</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> that “Lin’s neighbors identified </span></span><a href="http://arts.monash.edu.au/chinese/staff/bjacobs.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">him</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> as going twice to Lin’s house at noon on the day of the case ... Thus, Bruce Jacobs became the first object of suspicion of the special investigation team. But Bruce Jacobs denied he went to the Lin family house at noon on that day and pressed the door bell. Furthermore, the police had searched his home and did not discover any evidence.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dr. Bruce Jacobs, a professor at Monash University in Australia was in Taipei at the time of the murder and was held in detention by the police for several months as the chief murder suspect in order to deflect attention from the KMT and from how a murderer could enter, kill these people, and leave in broad daylight while the house was under 24-hour KMT surveillance. One does not have to read between the lines to see </span></span><a href="http://zen.sandiego.edu:8080/Jerome/1252854426/index_html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">how this gives the lie to Ma's alleged concern for rectifying the past</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bruce Jacobs still believes that in order to examine the record properly, the files of the many security agencies need a complete re-examination. Only then can Taiwan begin the genuine Truth and Reconciliation process necessary to heal the wounds from the past.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Where have the files of Taiwan’s White Terror victims gone? </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Hsi-ling"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Wang Hsi-ling 汪希苓</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> is one of those KMT top guys who may have some of the answers if the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau hasn’t dumped away all the files.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Under the KMT’s administration, Taiwan’s transitional justice still has a long way to go.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ma is good in displaying his “sorrow” for KMT’s brutality during the White terror, but his administration has only empty words and no actions despite his “sincere” apology.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Let’s examine Ma’s role during Taiwan’s White Terror era, was Ma Ying-jeou a “professional student” spying on Taiwan’s students in US? The following 6 links provide some clues.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/loofahdaily_a/2465598245/in/set-72157601848497595/">Paper of Ma talking about his activities in KMT’s monthly campus magazine “Boston Communique”</a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; "> </span></div><div><a href="http://www.newtaiwan.com.tw/bulletinview.jsp?bulletinid=23745"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">哈佛教授指證 馬英九是校園間諜</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (My comment: I hope this law professor can stand up for justice now, otherwise he might as well quit teaching law)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2006/08/22/2003324278">DPP lawmakers demand apology from `Ma the spy'</a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=70548"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">「職業學生」馬英九的「自供」</span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2007/07/ma-ying-jeou-professional-student.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ma Ying-jeou, Professional Student?</span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/07/05/2003368201"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Editorial: Ma Ying-jeou's moment of truth</span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Comment left by a former MIT’s Taiwan graduate student at this article, </span></span><a href="http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/chinacalling/archive/2008/11/12/fallout-from-chen-shui-bian-s-dramatic-arrest.aspx"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fallout from Chen Shui-Bian's Dramatic Arrest</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span></span></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Posted By: liuchen_ly (November 21, 2008 at 2:33 PM)</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Thank you, Ms. Liu, for an excellent article. What Ma administration did to Taiwanese is despicable and extremely disappointing, but hardly surprising. I was a graduate student at MIT when Ma was studying in Harvard. It was well known among the students from Taiwan that Ma was paid by the KMT to spy on pro-Taiwan independence students and to report to the KMT government. Such activities created “white terror” even in the land for the free. Many people were blacklisted and were prohibited from returning to Taiwan. He also published Boston Communiqué which acted as a KMT mouthpiece. His lack of respect for freedom, rule of law and basic human rights was evident then. During the presidential campaign, he said all the right things, but his deeds are in total contrast to his words. I sincerely hope that the fragile democracy in Taiwan can endure and survive his brutal assault.</span></span></span></div></blockquote><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, is Ma sincere about reconciliation? You be the judge.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Reference:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/03/19/2003438861"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">White Terror documents cause uproar</span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2009/03/white-terror-documents-and-human-body.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The March 20, 2009 post of The View from Taiwan</span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=897482"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Why 'terror' files are important to Taiwan</span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a href="http://www.taiwandc.org/twcom/tc19-int.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The murder of Henry Liu</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and </span></span><a href="http://n.yam.com/view/mkmnews.php/543817"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">國安局長汪敬煦洩密給FBI</span></span></a></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-67144055655565556302009-12-11T10:31:00.007+02:002009-12-11T15:17:40.892+02:00Death because the judge decided so?!<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I side track little from my usual topic of Taiwan’s politics for this post today because I am always interested in promoting justice. I am going to bring this case to the attention of my readers all over the world so you can get a glimpse of Taiwan’s judicial system. And I hope this post will bring about some reforms.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Two days ago, the Taipei Times reported the case of a </span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/12/09/2003460501"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">defendant sentenced to death for the eighth time</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">As this dragging case is not the only one since the Amnesty International’s Taiwan watch list included </span><a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/time-justice-taiwanese-prisoner-faces-11th-retrial-20090921"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">another case</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> in which a defendant had been retained for 21 years and was awaiting for the 11th retrial, although I didn’t follow-up on this AI case’s latest development, nevertheless, it showed another example of the flawed system.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For the 1st case I mentioned above, the Taipei Times reported:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Hsu Tsu-chiang’s lawyers say his conviction was based solely on the confessions of two codefendants, one of whom recanted the testimony.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">….</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Prosecutors say the evidence against Hsu is solid, citing the fact that one of the suspects (who left the country and was never caught) stayed at Hsu’s home around the time of the crime and that a car rented by him was one of several cars used for the crime.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Defense lawyers dismiss these arguments as circumstantial and add that all the other cars used for the crime were stolen, and it was therefore extremely doubtful that the perpetrators would have been careless enough to rent one of the cars under one of their own names. Hsu was tricked into renting a car for his “friends,” who didn’t have one and said they needed it for the day, his lawyers say.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Control Yuan agreed that prosecutors’ arguments were “illogical.” It also said prosecutors ignored testimony indicating that Hsu was not at the scene of the crime.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Before the judgment was announced, as Chen waited in the hallway for guards to arrive with her son from Taipei Detention Center, she said Hsu no longer believed he would ever be free.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“They only have the confessions to go on,” she told the Taipei Times. “How can that be justice?”</span></span></span></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The following is my observations and comments from reading the news:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">All I can conclude from reading the news is that the defendant did some favor for a friend (or tricked by a "friend") by renting a car and letting his friend stay at his home. Whether the defendant knew or not about what his friend did at the time he provided the two favors should not convict him to death. Is the defendant’s DNA sample found at the crime scene? Since there is testimony that the defendant was not at the scene of the crime, why did the judge choose to ignore this testimony but rely his decision solely on the confession of one of the two codefendants?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Why don’t Taiwan’s law enforcement officers attempt to seek foreign assistance to trace and catch this suspect that had left the country, and why should a friend be sentenced to death because the police didn’t catch the suspect in time and let him escaped out of the country?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Why does it depend on the decision or perhaps the mood of a judge that day?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Why doesn’t Taiwan’s justice system have the option of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_trial">trial by jury</a> to decide the guilty or non-guilty verdict of a defendant (I mean isn’t it time to introduce the jury trial system in Taiwan and let the criminal defendant choose between a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_trial">bench trial</a> or a jury trial?)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">My knowledge of law is restricted to taxation in the past and blank in criminal, and I am not a trained lawyer, but I do hope this post will bring about some judicial reforms in Taiwan so that human dignity is upheld.</span></span></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-16486246690606259672009-12-10T01:41:00.000+02:002009-12-10T03:29:19.075+02:00Reviewing UN’s founding mission on Human Rights Day<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Today is </span><a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/2009/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Human Rights Day 2009</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and also the 30th anniversary of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaohsiung_Incident"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Kaohsiung Incident</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> which started Taiwan's gradual transformation into democracy.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><b>Embrace diversity, end discrimination</b></span> is clearly written on the UN's </span><a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/2009/pdf/HR_Day_UNHQ_Event.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">HR Day promotional poster</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. But, instead of protecting human rights, the UN prejudices against the people of Taiwan.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The </span><a href="http://tktw.blogspot.com/2009/11/ever-changing-status-quo.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">UN discriminates the people born in Taiwan for its employment recruitments</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Plus it excludes Taiwanese from all kinds of universal rights such as health rights, and the WHO has </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">no ways of implementing</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Taiwan’s </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">meaningful participation</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> without being a full member, nevertheless it continues to retain </span><a href="http://www.who.int/dg/office/cong/en/index.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">an advisor for the Director General</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> who has no medical or public health background whatsoever.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The UN also facilitates to extinct the traditional writing form of Chinese.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I hope UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message is not only for window dressing.</span></div><div></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Discrimination targets individuals and groups that are vulnerable to attack: the disabled, women and girls, the poor, migrants, minorities, and all those who are perceived as different.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">... But these victims of discrimination are not alone. The United Nations is standing with them, committed to defending the rights of all, and particularly the most vulnerable. That is our identity and our mission."</span></span></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Therefore, there is a need to remind the UN officials the founding principles of the UN. Career diplomats should not just do lip service to dictators and the Chinese bully.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, let me review the UN charter together with all the UN diplomats before they attempt to make their speeches.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Chapter I of the United Nations Charter lays out the purposes and principles of the United Nations organization. These principles include the equality and self-determination of nations and the obligation of member countries to obey the Charter, to cooperate with the UN Security Council and to use peaceful means to resolve conflicts.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The excerpt of Chapter I:</span></div><div></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace</span></span></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I </span><a href="http://tktw.blogspot.com/2009/02/better-world-if-un-is-run-by-human.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">support</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> the concept of Shirin Ebadi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, who advocates greater roles for human rights activists in UN’s Human Rights Council. Human rights should be respected on the day-to-day operations of the UN, and not just honored on a special occasion.</span></div></div></span></span></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-2714271018308794642009-12-09T13:52:00.010+02:002009-12-11T10:51:58.877+02:00Will Ma protect citizens abroad or only trample civil rights at home?<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/12/09/2003460539"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lawmakers across party lines yesterday urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lodge a protest against China over reports that a Taiwanese student in South Korea was harassed by a group of Chinese students for displaying a Republic of China (ROC) flag</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Taipei Times from the above link:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">What the Chinese students did was indirectly permitted by Ma.</span></span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And that’s why we should review Ma’s police policy a year ago and look forwards for a fresh new policy in the upcoming Taichung reunion of Chen Yunlin陳雲林 and Chiang Pin-kung江丙坤.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Watch this </span><a href="http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/5238/dislocatedfingernz4.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">picture of an injured finger of a lady</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> who struggled with the police while trying to uphold the ROC flag in her own country per </span><a href="http://taiwanmatters.blogspot.com/2008/11/press-release-on-taiwan-situation.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">this post</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Watch </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj9ufh2HaQg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">this video</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> at 1:15 point, the PRC flag is allowed to be </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">paraded with respect</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> while this protester is </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">taken into custody</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. This obviously demonstrated </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">double standard</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> by the police authority.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The measures employed by police to ensure the safety of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) </span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/11/05/2003427784"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">have drawn criticism from several lawyers and nongovernmental organizations</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> that question whether the police were acting within the bounds of the law and the Constitution.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The efforts to protect China’s Chen Yunlin exceeded those of Chen Shui-bian’s inauguration in 2004 when 15 countries presidents were present.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">During Chen Yunlin’s visit, the government had deployed 10,000 security officers, and according to Amnesty International USA branch’s </span><a href="http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGASA380012008"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">public statement</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, 149 police officers and 200-300 individuals were injured; 18 were arrested. Many confrontations and injuries could have been avoided if the police let the citizens freely express their opinions.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Was there an apology from the Ma government for the police’s violence? Now a year later, who from the Ma government has come forward and apologized? And the answer is </span><a href="http://taiwanmatters.blogspot.com/2008/11/taiwan-premier-liu-will-not-apologize.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> and even worse </span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/06/12/2003445959"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">laying charges to protesters demanding an apology</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Let’s see if the </span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2008/11/04/2003427719"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Martial Law comes back in real life</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> but not in paper again this month for the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">KMT-CCP reunion</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> in Taichung.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And it is time for the young generation Taiwanese regardless of when their parents or ancestors became settlers in this land to examine in-depth why it is so controversial to uphold the ROC “national” flag (a derivative of the KMT’s party flag). If they want to have continuous freedom and democracy for Taiwan, they should neither vote for the KMT nor uphold its symbol.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And for the parents who discouraged their children from participating in the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Strawberry_student_movement"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Wild Strawberries student movement</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> last year to re-think why inaction when facing government suppression is a problem for their children’s future survival. The KMT is learning from the CCP how to trample over its own citizens!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And if our own government doesn’t even care about safeguarding the nation’s sovereignty, why should the citizens of any other country respect Taiwan?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Let’s see if the Ma government will lodge a protest to protect its citizens abroad in this incident that happened in Korea, or this government exists just to harass its own citizens domestically.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Reference:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUXQnQ3Ss-A&feature=related"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">You Tube video showed that some confrontation was due to Taiwan’s police under Ma Ying-jeou’s order grabbed and destroyed ROC’s own flag</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x54mXOCzty0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">唱片行播台灣之歌,警方闖入要求停播關門</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (You Tube video: the police trespassed a private record shop, shut off the music, confronted the people there, and closed the shop in order for Chen Yunlin to not to hear the Taiwanese music)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsNloaCkd34"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">台北戒嚴了?from 2008 11 03大話新聞</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (Martial Law reappeared in Taipei? Da-huwa Talk Show of Nov. 3 2008)</span></span></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-62839433904718963582009-12-05T05:32:00.003+02:002009-12-05T05:45:09.728+02:00Don’t vote the KMT in today’s county election: a Greek’s perspective<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A while ago, Harry Adamopoulos </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/10/24/2003456745"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">wrote to Johnny Neihu</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> of the Taipei Times:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"></span></span></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I would hope that some Taiwanese could see the perspective of us dabizi (</span></span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW" style=" line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">大鼻子</span></span></span></span><span style=" line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)!</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The only way I can help, Johnny, is by reminding voters to punish the KMT in the year-end elections.</span></span></span></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif";color:#222222;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">He also </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/10/17/2003456157"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">reminded</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> the Ma administration in an earlier mail that:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"></span></span></span></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taking down your national flag when foreigners (</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">note: he meant Chinese officials!</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">) are in town is so degrading. This nonsense has got to stop.</span></span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Additionally, </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yuan Hongbing,</span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> a Chinese law professor now in exile, told us how China planned to annex Taiwan, through a book </span></span></span><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">he wrote,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><em style="border-style: initial;border-color:initial;border-style:initial;border-color:initial; outline-width: 0px;outline-style: initial;outline-background-image: initial;background-repeat:initial;background-attachment:initial;-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial;background-position:initial initialcolor:initial;"><span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan Disaster</span></span></b></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, released on Nov. 17 in Taipei.</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-outline-level:1"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In a press conference on November 25</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">th</span></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, Yuan revealed a summary of his book on the steps of </span></span><a href="http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/25773/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Beijing's strategies to control Taiwan by 2012</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, and among them is this: </span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-outline-level:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></p><blockquote><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Erode political platforms from within:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Another key strategy of the regime is to erode Taiwan’s politico-economic factions from within. To accomplish this, the regime will focus on corrupting the Kuomintang (KMT) leaders and marginalizing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP.)</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></blockquote><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-outline-level:1"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In order to further </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">s</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">trengthen democracy in Taiwan, I urge the voters in Taiwan neither to vote for the KMT candidates nor for the candidates failing the KMT nominations and are running as independents.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Have you ever seen a party registered in an enemy country participating in the elections of the country in question?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yes, there is only one in the world!</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Only in Taiwan will you find a </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Chinese</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Nationalist Party (aka as the</span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> KMT</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">) candidate participating in a </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan’s</span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> election.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Not even between friendly nations will you find a Canadian Liberal party candidate participating in an US election! </span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Chinese</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Nationalist Party is a </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Chinese</span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> party that should </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">not</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> participate in </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan’s</span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> elections if Taiwan were a normal country.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Since the KMT will not disappear from Taiwan’s elections, nor will the one who brought us the KMT to Taiwan do anything or say anything about the unfair financial advantages they have made the KMT become through decades of dictatorship and one-party rule, the only thing the Taiwan’s voters can do is to diminish the KMT’s local influence by not supporting its candidates each time there is election.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If you continue to vote for the KMT, there may be no more chances to vote in the near future because the administrators will simply be appointed from your enemy country.</span></span></span></span>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-38063284811353056762009-11-29T05:17:00.008+02:002009-12-11T10:58:51.272+02:00The ever-changing “status quo”<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">To maintain the</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_quo"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">status quo</span></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is to keep the things the way they presently are, but when it comes to describing the situation in the Taiwan Strait, the “status quo” is never equilibrium, it is indeed a hoax.</span></span></span><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“Strategic ambiguity” is a term widely used by the US government officials to describe Taiwan’s legal status. </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"; font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"; font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On page 4 of</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"; font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";"><a href="http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/64794.pdf"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">this CRS report dated Feb. 2006</span></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">on Taiwan’s Political Status, it has detailed description of the “strategic ambiguity”. </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As a matter of fact, the “status quo” as interpreted by the US is based upon its policy of strategic ambiguity. Following this policy, Taiwan’s UN referendum was heavily criticized, but China’s every hostile move to annex Taiwan was condoned.</span></span></span><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The policy makers in the US State Department think that by keeping Taiwan’s legal status ambiguous, it has served the purpose of preserving peace in the Taiwan Strait,</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">but this policy has totally trampled the basic rights of Taiwanese to participate in international organizations</span></span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"; font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, such as the WHO (the most crucial health rights), and in the meantime ignored China’s gradual annexation of Taiwan through</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">unilateral declaration of territorial rights </span></span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"; font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">on international organizations’ documents, example below (click the Cached link as</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"; font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainland_Affairs_Council"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan’s MAC office</span></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> under Ma Ying-jeou's leadership is trying to appease China by self-censoring these type of documents)</span></span></span><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <h3 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-family:";"><a href="http://www.mac.gov.tw/english/english/news/07117.htm"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">MAC: The United States should respect and understand that the</span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://www.mac.gov.tw/english/english/news/07117.htm"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://www.mac.gov.tw/english/english/news/07117.htm"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">...</span></span></span></span></a></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China presumptuously includes Taiwan's ports under its territorial ... where China included some of Taiwan's ports in the list of its domestic ports, ...</span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:green;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">www.mac.gov.tw/english/english/news/07117.htm - </span></span></span><span style="font-family:";"><a href="http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:J1Wy6c7dc5wJ:www.mac.gov.tw/english/english/news/07117.htm+China+included+some+of+Taiwan%27s+ports&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cached</span></span></span></span></a></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:#7777CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - </span></span></span><span style="font-family:";"><a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=related:www.mac.gov.tw/english/english/news/07117.htm+China+included+some+of+Taiwan's+ports&sa=X&ei=bawPS5uzIcXesgadjL2XAw&ved=0CAoQHzAA"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Similar</span></span></span></span></a><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h3> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style=" line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:#000099;"></span></span></span></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on its website the list of qualified ports under the International Health Regulations (IHR), where China included some of Taiwan's ports in the list of its domestic ports, which fully revealed that the political oppression and interference that China has imposed onTaiwan's international space and sovereign status has reached an extreme level. In response to this, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has strongly expressed its dissatisfaction and condemnation.</span></blockquote><span style=" line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Further, the WHO’s apartheid against Taiwanese caused many problems, the immediate effect of this was evidenced by Taiwan not being able to receive prompt assistance from the WHO’s health authority to control the SARS epidemics in 2003, the delay of assistance (while the WHO contemplating for China’s approval?!) caused many unnecessary deaths.</span></span></span><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Later the secret</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height:115%; Arial","sans-serif";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";"><a href="http://martinmckeesblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/to-taipei-this-week-to-give-plenary.html"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Memorandum of Understanding</span></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(</span></span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/05/13/2003443490"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">MOU</span></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">) signed between China and the WHO’s officials further damaged Taiwan’s autonomy by allowing China to “manage” the procedures in which how WHO should or should not interact with Taiwan, instead of its initial intent of allowing Taiwan’s meaningful participation in health meetings and international cooperation tasks without Taiwan being an actual member.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Facing</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:";"><a href="http://www.docstoc.com/docs/17175874/Examples-of-Chinas-Diplomatic-Suppression-of-Taiwan-in-the-Two-Years-Since-the-Enactment-of-the-%E2%80%9CAnti-Separation-Law%E2%80%9D"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China’s suppression of Taiwan’s international space</span></span></span></span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;">a must read link</span>), the so-called meaningful participation was replaced by all kinds of Chinese tactics to prevent the participation by Taiwanese delegations. </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Tactics used include Taiwanese officials were informed at the last minute for health meetings that they either missed the deadline of registration for the event or could not prepare themselves properly for the event; in many instances, the event host countries, after being pressured by Chinese authority, simply didn’t grant visas to Taiwanese delegations. </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If Taiwanese delegations were allowed to participate in an event, China would designate their choice by picking their preferred candidates to represent Taiwan for the event.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The participation of Taiwan in the WHA meeting as an observer this past June was simply a plot, a political victory for China. </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Participation in a week’s meeting as an observer does not in reality protect Taiwanese universal health rights because only with Beijing's approval could Taiwan observe the WHA meeting. The fact that Taiwan must re-apply each year for its WHA observer status implies that Beijing wants to hold leverage on future Taiwanese leaders depending on their stance towards Beijing.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The strategic ambiguity is a total failure in terms of protecting the basic universal rights of Taiwanese.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>If a person was born in Taiwan, he or she cannot work for any UN or its sub organizations even if he or she holds any other country’s passport.</b></span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I will give an example:</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A friend of mine was born in Taiwan to a missionary couple stationed there. </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My friend does not live in Taiwan anymore. </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When she was applying for a humanitarian job from some UN sub organization, on the application form she had to choose, among the pre-entered choices, the country of her birth. </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">She was born in Taiwan but because the country “Taiwan” was simply not included in the choices, she didn’t know what to do. </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Immediately she faced the problem of leaving this question blank (but it was a required entry), or just picked any arbitrary country on the form (that would be lying against her passport entry), or abandoned the application? </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Why shouldn’t Taiwan be included in the choices, is Taiwan an entity in the outer space? </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Does the strategic ambiguity address this problem? </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">No!</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There is no need to mention those Taiwanese people born in Taiwan and carry a ROC passport who wish to contribute their talent in the UN or its sub-organizations because no matter how gifted or how distinguished they may be, they are doomed to be excluded from working for the UN. </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And Taiwan does have the technical know-how and many talented people who could contribute their expertise.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Other problems:</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwanese want a locally-designed constitution to consolidate domestic democracy replacing the imposed ROC constitution, but the US opposed because that would be a change of the status quo.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwanese have no rights to a nationality of their choice, holding a passport called ROC, an occupying authority that double as Chinese exile government with only a few countries recognizing it.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If Taiwanese do not challenge these unequal treatments, how can they obtain the basic rights inscribed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Similarly, if there were no abolishment of slavery and no civil rights movement from the predecessors, I wonder if president Obama would enjoy the status he enjoys today?</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The status-quo is shifting bit by bit, tilting in favor of China because the US executive branch allows it to happen, it never stays at equilibrium.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The most recent omission of the Taiwan Relations Act on the written statement in Beijing by president Obama coupled with his indecision on the F-16 C/D jet sales are an indication of another shift, which may have been pre-negotiated by Secretary of State H. Clinton back in her February visit to China. Is this the 3rd round of betrayal after 1947 and 1979?</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Due to US’s other domestic and global interests in which China’s cooperation are being sought, Taiwan is being bargained away little by little leaving the rights of Taiwanese citizens unprotected.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:10.5pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Why do the US government officials make foreign policies that often trample the human rights of citizens of other countries? </span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While I don’t agree with innocent US citizens being held as hostages on many confrontational situations abroad, but how can anyone help when their government officials designed foreign policies to invite danger for its citizens?</span></span></span><span style="font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height:115%; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:ZH-TW; mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:PMingLiU;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>And for Taiwanese who believe in the choice of keeping the status quo, this post is a reminder for them to review what has happened from keeping the so called “status quo”.</b></span></span></span></span><p></p>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-70848809936687961442009-11-17T02:12:00.001+02:002009-11-18T13:47:41.893+02:00Why does AP always speak from the POV of China?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Update: AP has a corrected version to my first complain of biased reporting.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I don't know why, and I would like to remind AP of their </span></span><a href="http://www.ap.org/pages/about/about.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">mission statement</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 153); "><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">...providing distinctive news services of the highest </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">quality</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">reliability</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and objectivity with reports that are </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">accurate</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">balanced</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and informed.</span></span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#000099;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><a href="http://news.aol.com/article/obama-no-need-to-change-china-taiwan/768193"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">AP reported</span></span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: </span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">President Barack Obama says he sees no need to change Washington's "one-China" policy, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">which views Taiwan as part of China</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. Beijing continues to claim the island as part of its territory and threatens to attack if Taiwan moves to formalize its de facto independence.</span></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">AP, please read the 2</span></span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">nd</span></span></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> paragraph of the beginning summary of the Congressional Report dated August 17, 2009</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span><a href="http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL30341.pdf"><span style="color:blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">China/Taiwan: Evolution of the "One China" Policy -- Key Statements from Washington, Beijing, and Taipei</span></span></span></a></span><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> before filing your inaccurate report to spread rumors around the globe.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It says:</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The United States did not explicitly state the sovereign status of Taiwan in the three U.S.-PRC Joint Communiques of 1972, 1979, and 1982. The United States “acknowledged” the “one China” position of both sides of the Taiwan Strait. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">U.S. policy has not recognized the PRC’s sovereignty over Taiwan</span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">; has not recognized Taiwan as a sovereign country; and has </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">considered Taiwan’s status as</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> undetermined</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(my note: in other word, </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">strategic ambiguity)</span></b></span></span></span></blockquote></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, please read </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">my blog right-hand side’s “ATTENTION! MAINSTREAM JOURNALISTS” about the brief Chinese history and the illogical invention of the sentence “</span></span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fact:</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The sentence would likely mislead uninformed readers to think that Taiwan and China have been together all the time and split in 1949 due to a civil war in which Taiwan was part of the battlefield.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">However, the fact is that Taiwan was under Japanese rule since 1895 due to the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Shimonoseki"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Treaty of Shimonoseki</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> signed between Japan and the Qing Dynasty in which Taiwan was given away perpetually, and therefore Taiwan was under Japanese jurisdiction when the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912 replacing the Qing Dynasty. When th</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">e ROC constitution was drafted in 1925, Taiwan, since was under Japanese jurisdiction, was not included in the list of individually-listed provinces of the territory of ROC. When the ROC constitution was promulgated in 1946, Taiwan had not been brought into the territory of the ROC.</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Further, it was the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that fought against each other in China's civil war. After being defeated in China, the KMT fled to Taiwan to take refuge on the island as an exile Chinese government and it therefore extended its temporary stay and doubled its role as a post-WWII administrator of Taiwan on behalf of the Allied Forces per </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Order_No._1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">General Order No.1</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On </span><a href="http://www.moneynews.com/markets/taiwan_china/2009/11/09/283604.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">November 9, 2009, AP reported</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the last 2 paragraphs right before the end):</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"></span></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";"></span></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, but Beijing continues to claim the island as part of its territory. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Relations between the sides have improved significantly after Ma took office</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> last May.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ma has </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">vowed to reduce tensions</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> across the 100-mile (160-kilometer) -wide Taiwan Strait, but he has also said Taipei and Beijing should work on improving trade relations first before moving on to sensitive political and security issues.</span></span></span></o:p></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Great recognition of improvement of relations that has tensions! It's like describing a couple having honeymoon relationship but with tensions, kind of strange isn't it? The words just don't make much sense to appear together.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If it is true that the relations are so good after Ma took office, why does Ma have to vow to reduce tensions? It's simply not logical when one sentence appears after another!</span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With China's 1500 missiles still pointing at Taiwan, similar to a situation in which a hostage is being forced at gun point to make love with the hostage taker, Ma seems willing to perform such an insulting role while on-lookers applaud instead of offering assistance.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The phenomenon of improved relations is an </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">illusion</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> created by western media and politicians, but certainly is not being observed the same way from Taiwanese POV. </span></span></p><p></p></span></span><p></p></span></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-17201764281016636972009-11-09T12:27:00.007+02:002009-11-09T17:48:53.808+02:00Former chairman of AIT speaks up<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Nat Bellocchi, a </span></span><a href="http://www.ait.org.tw/en/about_ait/chairpersons/default.asp"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, appeared in today's Taipei Times with this op-ed, </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/11/09/2003457959"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Pitfalls and possibilities in Obama’s Taiwan line</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">He expressed his opinion about how the global community (especially US and China) should interact with Taiwan in order to foster true peace and stability in the region, his remarks really made my day:</span></span></div><div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">From an international perspective, Taiwan is an example of a successful transition to democracy. The most rational and reasonable outcome of Taiwan’s normalization of relations with China would be acceptance of this young democracy in the international family of nations. This is a process that will need cooperation from all sides; for its part, China will need to see that it is in its own interests to come to terms with a small and democratic neighbor with which it can live in peace.</span></span><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Remember, Taiwanese never threaten nor challenge the existence of China. It was the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) who had fought against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the past. It is the CCP who has continuously threatened Taiwanese with weapons. And it is the US officials who have continuously ignored the rights and wills of the Taiwanese people in pursuit of some US politicians' own business interests, </span></span><a href="http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1528"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">example</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. A search on the internet with the combination of words like "Kissinger and China and business" will lead you to a dozen of related entries, including his recent visit to China in October 2009. Kissinger is China's favorite guest!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It is not fair to blame all the presidents, like Clinton, who followed the groundwork laid by Kissinger. However, it is up to the American people to address the issue of conflict of interest involving government officials and / or advisors and their foreign venture consulting businesses as it is beyond the scope of this post. The US foreign relations and policies have often been dominated by the interests of these consulting firms and their clients. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Nat Bellocchi also had a nice piece back in August, 2005, </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2005/08/10/2003267174"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Identity issue raises its head again</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. It contains identity issue as well as a warning for the Taiwanese who believe that maintaining the status-quo is the best choice for Taiwan. For people who pay little attention about the gradual shifting of the status-quo, Bellocchi's advice in that piece was:</span></span></div><div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Unfortunately, Taiwan has one priority issue that overshadows all the others -- the lack of consensus on national identity.</span></span><blockquote></blockquote> </span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">That is an enormous task, but a critical necessity. Voters see "status quo" as the answer -- thinking that staying neutral can last as long as they like. My last article tried to explain why this is illusory. The result would not be a choice, but eventual unification. Ambiguity dominates the language between Taiwan, the US and China. In addition, election campaigns tend to be dominated by unreliable rhetoric. With the lack of interest among so many voters, addressing this problem should be today's top priority.</span></span></span></blockquote></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-50071549480076512992009-11-08T06:34:00.007+02:002009-11-15T16:11:57.157+02:00Beyond “Don’t concede more on Taiwan 美對台立場不能再讓步於中國”<span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I was reading this article called </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/11/06/2003457741"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Don’t concede more on Taiwan</span></span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> b</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">y <a href="http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/JTsearch5.cgi?term1=HISAHIKO%20OKAZAKI">Hisahiko Okazaki</a> published on Friday, Nov 06, 2009, Page 8 at the Taipei Times.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It actually talked about how President </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Clinton shifted Taiwan’s status-quo, an important history lesson for Taiwanese from 1998 to 2009.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hisahiko Okazaki has served as the Japanese ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Thailand. He now runs the Okazaki Institute, a think tank in Tokyo. This piece was first published in ACFR News Group No.1528, an e-mail publication of The American Committees on Foreign Relations, on Oct. 27, 2009.</span></span></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="color:black;"></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The following are the excerpts from the above link which described how Taiwan’s status-quo has been slowly shifted since President Clinton’s era:</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"></span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Then on the eve of the President’s visit, stories began to circulate that the President was going to commit ‘three NOs,” that the US would oppose Taiwan independence, one-China-one-Taiwan policy and Taiwan’s formal membership in state-based international organizations. Fortunately, there was no mention of “three NOs” in the joint press conference, nor in the major policy speech at the Beijing University. Then the volte-face came. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Dropping by in Shanghai, the President declared the “three NO’s” in a dialogue with Chinese intellectuals on a TV show</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span></span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Although the US Congress quickly rejected the commitment through resolutions of both Houses, China may still view the remark as an official commitment of the President of the United States and may quite likely expect President Obama to reconfirm it.</span></span></span></span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is not difficult at all to suspect that there were some disgraceful deals behind the scenes. The date of the visit, to start with, is believed to have been besought by the US to turn attention away from a domestic scandal, and that indebted the US to say three NOs and bypass Japan and Korea while making the longest trip that Clinton made to a single country. The topics to be discussed during the Shanghai TV interview, which had originally been planned to concentrate on cultural affairs, seemed to have been changed at short notice.</span></span><blockquote></blockquote></span></span></blockquote></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><a href="http://www.southnews.com.tw/Taiwan_China/00/0379.htm"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Chinese-language translation</span></span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> of the above article is also available.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="line-height: 115%; "></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The above article led me to read some other very important articles, which I will mention them from the latest to the oldest.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="line-height: 115%; "></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">First, what did Secretary of State H. Clinton do this past February in Beijing?</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="line-height: 115%; "></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Read </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><a href="http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2121"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif";mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Clinton’s China Visit Opens Door on Climate Change</span></span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> by Orville Schell.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="line-height: 115%; "></span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The 2</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">nd</span></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> last paragraph of the article has this:</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; "><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Long after the current economic crisis is over, the situation in Tibet has been calmed, arguments over currency exchange have been forgotten, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">and the Taiwan split has been resolved</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, the world will only be beginning to confront the daunting effects of climate change. To date, the U.S. and China have been largely out of the game of climate change solutions. Without our two countries whole-heartedly in the game, there is, honestly speaking, no meaningful game being played.</span></span><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote></span></blockquote></span></div><div><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What does it mean by this phrase “the Taiwan split has been resolved”?</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Whatever it means, it is up to everyone’s guess!</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Was Taiwan bargained away without our knowledge?</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Is president Obama’s upcoming trip to China, for the subject of Taiwan, simply to rubber stamp the arrangement already made earlier between H. Clinton and China’s leaders in February?</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Now another article back in 2003.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">An article by Charles </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">R. Smith</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> published </span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003 would raise some eyebrows for sure because it gave some explanations why China could advance so quickly in its military science.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Declassified documents showed that President Bill Clinton personally approved the transfer to China of advanced space technology that can be used for nuclear combat. (</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><a href="http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/9/29/25139.shtml"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">read the</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> entire article</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">…</span></span></span></a></span><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">)</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And one could find out how President Clinton had kowtowed to China’s demand back in 1998 by reading </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><a href="http://www.bu.edu/globalbeat/pubs/ib36.html"><span style=" line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">As Summit Approaches, Clinton Follows China’s Lead</span></span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> written by</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Richard Halloran just before Clinton’s trip.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Chinese had induced Mr. Clinton to spend nine days in China, from June 25 to July 3, 1998 (just in time to return home for the July 4</span></span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">th</span></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> national holiday), longer than any other U.S. president’s trip to China before, and had requested Clinton to fly directly from US soil to Beijing by-passing Japan, an important ally of US in Asia.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">China also made Clinton appeared in </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Tiananmen Square symbolizing his assertion of China’s handling of the dissidence was right, thereby, bringing an end to the controversy in China's history.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I conclude that </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hisahiko Okazaki’s recent article</span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is backed up by all my other reading I have done.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Twenty three million people’s fate was nothing when a politician had to diffuse attention from his personal scandal. And I don’t understand how anyone can be accused of spying when military secrets can be “approved” officially to be transferred abroad.</span></span></b></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; "><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; "><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Finally, Chinese dissidents may be expecting yet another time’s lock-ups or house arrests for Obama’s upcoming visit since that had been the case when the UK’s Telegraph reported </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">on Feb. 21 2009 </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">b</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">y David Eimer</span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> that </span></span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4742202/Hillary-Clinton-China-visit-blamed-for-the-detention-of-activists.html"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hillary Clinton China visit blamed for the detention of activists</span></span></span></a></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 14px; "><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal; "><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="line-height: 115%; "></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If you haven’t read the links, go ahead and read them now because history has taught us many lessons.</span></span></span></span></span></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-66175989157908790022009-11-02T21:06:00.004+02:002009-11-04T19:11:51.597+02:00Germany plans to stop foreign aid to China<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">China has </span></span></span><a href="http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091030-22927.html"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">blocked the Berlin Wall Anniversary Twitter site</span></span></span></a><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, and previously it had also </span></span></span><a href="http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091013-22539.html"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">interfered with the Frankfurt Book Fair</span></span></span></a><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It came as no surprise when the </span></span></span><a href="http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20091030-22929.html"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">German government announced </span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">plan to stop foreign aid to China</span></span></span></a><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and it has received overwhelming supports on the comments left by the readers of <a href="http://www.thelocal.de/">the Local</a> on-line paper.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The most recent figures available show that Germany gave China €67.5 million in 2007.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"Battling poverty is more important than ever for Germany. That means we should place our resources where they can help the most,” Dirk Niebel, the newly appointed German Development Minister told the paper. “Economic giants like China and India no longer fulfill these criteria.”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Germany is not alone in providing foreign aid to China. Among other countries are Canada, Japan, France, Australia and Great Britain, to name but a few, whose aid comes to billions of dollars.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A Canadian, </span><a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/1345"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Branka Lapaine</span></a></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/1345"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> has been advocating for the Canadian government to stop aid to China</span></a></span></span><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, she had listed nine reasons why the aid should be stopped, among them were:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">China’s defence budget was $30 billion and its army is the biggest in the world. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">(My note: this was an old figure back then, for</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">2009 this figure has risen to 70.3 billion USD per Chinese government publication</span></span></span></a><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:15.0pt"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While Western democracies were concerned about what was happening in the Darfur region of the Sudan, China not only supplied arms to that country, but protected it from UN resolutions and action.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">(My note: </span></span></span><a href="http://tktw.blogspot.com/2009/05/china-is-expanding.html"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">China also helped Sri Lanka government to </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">defeat the Tamil Tigers so it could build a navy base there to control the Indian Ocean</span></span></span></a><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.)</span></span></span><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">China supports repressive governments around the world, etc.</span></span></span></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But what I found most interesting is that the author observed that Chinese state-owned companies are investing in natural resources companies in Canada (so that when there is energy crisis in future, China will have less to worry about? and this is on top of China’s investments in Africa.):</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Chinese direct investment in Canada has grown from $54 million in 1991 to $220 million in 2004, when China Minmetals Corporation, a state-owned company, unsuccessfully attempted to buy Noranda Inc. and Falconbridge Limited. Then in 2005 China invested in two tar sands and one gold mining company. China’s National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) paid $150 million for a 1/6 interest in Calgary based MEG Energy Inc., while its Sinopec Group obtained a 40 per cent interest for $105 million in Synenco Energy Inc.’s Northern Light oil sands project in Alberta. The Zijin Mining Group invested $1.95 million in Vancouver-based Pinnacle Mines Ltd.</span></span></blockquote></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;line-height:normal"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And the author concluded that:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Clearly China is not an impoverished country if it has millions to invest in Canada alone.</span></span></blockquote></span></span><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://ssjj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/4/1/39.pdf"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Japan had suspended aid to China twice in the past</span></span></span></a><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, in 1989 due to the Tiananmen crackdown, and again between 1995 to 1997 due to China’s nuclear testing in 1995.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If history taught us that </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; "><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7635466.stm"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">China’s poor farmers are not being taken care of and their cows are poorly fed, thereby causing the source of the problem for using melamine addition to diluted milk and dairy products</span></span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="line-height: 115%; color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Shouldn’t China take care of its own poorest citizens before spending huge budget on military defense and in the meantime receiving foreign aids?</span></span></span></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-40575558377511270832009-10-28T18:29:00.004+02:002009-11-16T19:41:20.789+02:00Will Taiwan still get advanced fighter jets?<span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Why </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">did</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> AIT head Stanton remain tight-lipped on the sale of F-16C/D fighter jets, and only saying the issue was still under discussion? Because the US will be able to decide if Taiwan is still worth defending when the outcome of the ECFA negotiations between the KMT and the CCP is clear. So it is actually good for the US to wait and see because it will make the KMT negotiators work harder for Taiwan’s interests. </span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><a href="http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=1026274&lang=eng_news&cate_img=83.jpg&cate_rss=news_Politics_TAIWAN"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan’s defense ministry urges U.S. to sell advanced fighter jets to Taiwan</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, but the </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/05/29/2003444813"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">KMT government’s planned economic policies are so contradictory</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (a must read link), therefore Taiwan cannot blame the US for hesitating.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Recently Taiwan’s pan-blue media, the Global View Magazine released an </span></span><a href="http://www.gvm.com.tw/gvsrc/200910_GVSRC_others_E.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">opinion poll</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> indicating 58.6% were dissatisfied with Ma’s performance and 41.2% (see note below) believed that he is taking Taiwan towards unification soon (compared to 16.6% believed so in Aug. 2005). Judging from Taiwan’s public opinion, in which 68.3% believed that the two sides would not need to unify even if the economic, political, and social conditions are approximately similar (compared to 11.7% who believed that it would be time to unify when the conditions are similar), there is no doubt that Ma’s cross-strait policy is being carried out against the will of the majority. And in fact with 69% disapproved the eventual unification, this simply coincides with the earlier finding of a separate question with 68.3% supported no need for unification when the conditions on two sides are similar.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If Taiwan’s public opinion has this doubt about Ma’s ability to defend Taiwan’s interests, why shouldn’t the US officials be cautious?</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="color:white;"><span style="color:red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After all, there is no use having the Taiwan Relations Act when the KMT-ROC has a lousy Ministry of Economic Affairs.</span></span></span></span></span><span style="color:red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Those people </span></span><a href="http://tktw.blogspot.com/2009/10/statistics-on-taiwans-independence-or.html?showComment=1256273871932#c8371805751168947593"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">who believe Ma is going to bring more money, with no effect on Taiwan's political status</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> are simply not paying attention to the reality that economic policies dictate political decisions including military sales these days.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“Senior administration members have said that a decision on selling F-16s to Taiwan will not be announced until next year.” </span></span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/10/10/2003455590"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">reported Taipei Times</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. This means that the US will be watching closely on the terms that will be contained in the ECFA, if they don’t like some terms inside the ECFA, they may decide not to sell advanced weapons to Taiwan anymore. “Improved relations between Beijing and Taipei also make future US arms sales doubtful.” This means that the US is smart and cautious enough not to let its hi-tech secrets slip through Taiwan’s arm sales to reach China through China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou.</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If Taiwan gives away everything for free to China, there is nothing left to be used for bargaining. So, don’t blame on the hesitant US officials, just watch the KMT’s Ministry of Economic Affairs!</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Reference:</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span></span><br /></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Note: 41.2% believed Ma’s stance is unification, 3.9% believed Ma is maintaining the status-quo then unification, 23.9% believed Ma is maintaining the status-quo then decide, and 6.2% believed Ma is maintaining the status-quo forever (that leaves 24.8% with no answer or unlikely believed Ma is definitely going for an eventual independence)</span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><a href="http://www.taiwansecurity.org/TSR-Arms.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Taiwan Security Research keeps you up-to-date with Taiwan’s defense news</span></span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; "><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/01/07/2003433112"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Pentagon wary of PRC-Taiwan ties</span></span></a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span></span><br /></span></span><span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/10/28/2003457004"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">AIT head defends US policy on arms sales</span></span></a></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><a href="http://asiadefence.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/obama-administration-moves-ahead-with-taiwan-arms-sales/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What Obama administration had approved so far – maintenance type of arms sale</span></span></a></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/10/13/2003455865"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">US position on Taiwan defense is shifting</span></span></a></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=awoSlB5BBgPk"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan’s Major Threat Is Nature, Not China, President Ma Says</span></span></a></span></div>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-85531250137714100912009-10-23T15:21:00.007+03:002009-10-28T18:40:59.410+02:00Taiwan’s legal status has its place inscribed on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Article 15<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: red;">Update: An edited version is also available at the <a href="http://taiwanmatters.blogspot.com/2009/10/taiwans-legal-status-has-its-place.html">Taiwan Matters</a> group blog.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today’s letters to the editor’s section of the Taipei Times has this translated piece </span><b><a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/10/23/2003456612"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taiwan’s history has no place in US courts</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">after reading it through I couldn’t quite agree with the way the author wanted his message heard. Fortunately, I found the </span><a href="http://www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=94657"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">original Chinese language piece</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to read also, and I also read </span><a href="http://www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=94671"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">another related Chinese piece</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. I don’t know if it was due to the lack of space on the newspaper or any other reasons, I just don’t know if it was such a good idea to cut-off some of the author’s words in a </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">translated piece.</span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following is the comparison of the original to the translation from a paragraph of the piece:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
</div><blockquote><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">不過,中華民國政府流亡台灣雖然曾經得到美國的承認與協助,但是「台灣與澎湖的地位問題迄未確定(</span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">其實就是</span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">不</span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">屬中國的意思</span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">)</span></span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">」,為何每在關鍵時刻如一九五四年、一九七一年乃至最近的二</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">○○</span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">四、二</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">○○</span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">七年,美國官方都一</span></span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">再</span></span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">表述?必須從上述的背景才能理解。何況自從一九七九年台灣關係法生效以後,連中華民國「政府」</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">也不被承認了</span></span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">。</span></span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">在國內,一九九九年民進黨「台灣前途決議文」對中華民國的暫時承認,實與九</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">○</span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">年代李登輝的民主化台灣化密切</span></span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">相</span></span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">關,如今馬英九的路線顯然與李登輝時代背道而馳,如此下去確實有重新釐清、重新「決議」的必要</span></span></span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">。</span></span></span></span><br />
</blockquote><blockquote><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: black;">Taipei Times's translation in</span></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">blue</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">:</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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</div><blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">While the US recognized and supported the ROC government in exile on Taiwan, at major times such as 1954, 1971, 2004 and 2007, US officials reiterated that the status of Taiwan and the Pescadores (Penghu) was yet to be determined.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(<b>my note</b>: <span style="color: red;">in fact "undetermined" status means they (Taiwan and Penghu) do not belong to China, </span>it was a <b>crucial</b> phrase here in the original piece but was either not translated out or being omitted by the editor)</span><br />
</blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Why would they have made these comments if Taiwan really was an unincorporated territory under USMG?</span> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(<b>my note</b>: This whole sentence was not in the original text, but was added to explain the meaning of “undetermined”, and I think by <b>omitting the above phrase and by adding this sentence to explain the meaning of “undetermined” is not very fair to the author</b>)</span><br />
</blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Also, why has the US not dared to refer to our government as the ROC “government” and simply addressing it as the ROC ever since the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) took effect in 1979?</span> (<b>my note</b>: another missing phrase here is the "ROC government has<span style="color: red;"> not been recognized</span> since 1979") </span><br />
</blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">We have to understand the issue of Taiwan’s status in light of the abovementioned background. The Resolution on Taiwan’s Future ratified by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 1999 posed new directions for Taiwan’s future and this was closely linked with democratization and localization actions taken by former president Lee Teng-hui (</span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">李登輝</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">) in the 1990s. However, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (</span></span><span lang="ZH-TW"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">馬英九</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">) current line is in complete contradiction with Lee-era policies and there really is now a definite need for things to be clearly reviewed and new “resolutions” to be made.</span></span><br />
</blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have some thoughts to share derived from reading this piece.</span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All we can see is that the US court does not want to give a ruling involving US foreign policy as it has no jurisdiction over a matter that is to be determined by the US executive branch, but the US (and all the other countries in the world except the KMT-ROC) had never recognized the transfer of sovereignty of Formosa from Japan to ROC. They have an intention to settle the status of Formosa pending on the outcome of the Chinese Civil War. But in the meantime, as Taiwanese opposed the KMT’s dictatorial rule and the Taiwanese nationalism evolved, local residents’ rights as guaranteed by the UDHR will have to be respected.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, this simple rejection of US Supreme Court to review the previous court ruling of lack of jurisdiction is being taken by the KMT-ROC as US recognizing ROC’s sovereignty over Formosa, and therefore in active pursuit of charging Lin and Chen with treason. That is just too much!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The US must react to this latest judicial nonsense, otherwise, many people in Taiwan doing research towards Taiwan’s legal status will be easily charged with treason by the biased KMT-ROC kangaroo court as long as one does not recognize the ROC’s sovereignty over Taiwan. The KMT-ROC is scared only of the US, I wonder why (a hidden boss?). It is OK for the US officials to say that ROC is not a country or ROC has no sovereignty over Taiwan, but it is not OK for the Japanese representative to say so, the KMT legislators want the Ma administration to evict the current Japanese representative, and worse, the Taiwanese residents are definitely not allowed to say so, they will be charged with treason when ironically the people who deserve this in public opinion would have to be only people like Ma Ying-jeou and Lien Chan etc.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the war, the Allied did send the KMT-ROC to administer Formosa, but as early as 1947, there were signs of discontent (actually the discontent was building-up long before Feb. 28, 1947) by Formosan residents on the KMT administrator’s corruption and its discrimination against local residents, but the problem was not addressed immediately. The US supported the Chiang Kai-shek and ignored the discontent simply because he was an ally who fought communism.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s too late to reverse the history, and too late to comfort those families who lost their loved ones from executions by dictator Chiang during Taiwan’s White Terror, but it is never too late to speak-up for one’s conscience now and to support the rights of Taiwanese as guaranteed by the UDHR. Taiwanese has rights to a nationality of their choice, and since there is no longer a Chinese Civil War, those mainlanders who prefer to go back to embrace their original motherland are free to go, and the other mainlanders who wish to become Taiwanese citizens are free to stay, but forcing all Taiwanese to become Chinese citizens ( either no-longer recognized ROC citizens, or CCP-PRC citizens) is totally unacceptable.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Contrary to its </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">founding principle, the US government has ignored human rights of others while putting priority on its US national and international interests. As democracy and human rights developed in Taiwan and are in conflict with the US foreign interests, the human rights of Taiwanese have been ignored again and again. There is a consistent trail of betrayal of principle.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not to repeat myself on the Taiwanese rights to a nationality of their choice, it is inevitable that a referendum must be held by Taiwan’s residence to resolve the future status of Taiwan. It is not like what the US says that as long as it is resolved peacefully between the people on two sides of the Strait, adding one condition that the US’s China policy does not support Taiwan independence to give a tilted favor obviously towards the evil human rights abuser, CCP-PRC.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I simply hope that countries especially those European ones </span><a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">listed here</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (15 out of 20 tops are in Europe) can soon vision that if the CCP-PRC government can threaten Taiwan with missiles now, and can even </span><a href="http://tktw.blogspot.com/2009/10/china-exporting-censorship-to-europe.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">extend its influence onto Australian and German soil</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> now, the CCP-PRC can be further encouraged to bully around the world soon.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, Europeans, speak-up and support Taiwanese rights to a nationality of their choice through a referendum, no one should be removed off his </span><a href="http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rights guaranteed by the UDHR</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. No country should have its status stay undetermined for as long as more than half a century because it suits some other country’s strategic plan.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Cross-posted at the <a href="http://taiwanesegreek.blogspot.com/2009/10/taiwans-legal-status-has-its-place.html">Taiwanese Greek</a> Blog.</span></span>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-14335400833124598742009-10-22T19:35:00.001+03:002009-12-15T19:59:13.495+02:00Poll statistics regarding Taiwan's independence vs. unification<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For readers convenience, this is being posted backdated here, it was originally cross-posted at the </span></span><a href="http://taiwanmatters.blogspot.com/2009/12/poll-statistics-regarding-taiwans.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Taiwan Matters</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> blog on December 14, 2009.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Another look at the </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Global Views</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> survey of October 2009</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />For several weeks, I have owed my readers the second part of my analysis of the recent </span></span><a href="http://www.gvm.com.tw/gvsrc/200910_GVSRC_others_E.pdf"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Global Views Magazine</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> opinion poll</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. The poll asked the usual questions about the attitudes of Taiwanese towards "independence versus unification." I've finally gotten around to putting this analysis into a presentable format.<br /><br />At the bottom of the poll is a description of the methods used [</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">sic</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> throughout]:</span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This survey was conducted by GVSRC from 6.20 p.m. to 10.00 p.m. from Oct. 14-16, 2009. It was conducted with random-digit-dial sampling and computer-assisted telephone interviewing methods. 1006 Taiwanese people who are 20 or older completed the interview. One can say with 95% confidence level that the theoretical margin of sampling error is ±3.1%. Gender, living areas, ages, educational level and other features of the interviewees have undergone weighting procedure and test of the sample's representativeness in the survey results. The funding of the survey came from the Global Views Monthly.</span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I wasn't sure if each person interviewed had gone through the whole set of questions, or only a portion of the questions. If each person had completed the entire questionnaire via telephone interview (which seemed to be the case), I wondered why there were some inconsistent outcomes within their own survey.<br /><br />I don't want to blame the pollster for this or to suspect data manipulation right away because sometimes people are tired of answering the questions at the end of a telephone interview, and they may provide inconsistent answers. However, from my experience, I can conclude that the survey gave inconsistent results -- assuming there was no data and/or sampling manipulation at all such as removing samples which gave unfavorable results or including additional samples (from the original randomly selected samples) which gave favorable results.<br /><br />The abbreviations used here will be the same as those in my earlier analysis:<br /><br />SD: Maintain the status-quo now, decide later<br />SF: Maintain the status-quo forever<br />SI: Maintain the status-quo now, declare independence later<br />SU: Maintain the status-quo now, proceed with unification later<br />II: Independence immediately (or as soon as possible)<br />UI: Unification immediately (or as soon as possible)<br />NA: No answer or don't know<br />TT: Total percentage who responded<br /><br />The time when the poll was taken will be denoted with MM/YYYY<br /><br />M: Mainland [sic] Affairs Council (MAC) statistics<br />G: </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Global Views Magazine</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> statistics<br />AV: Average statistics for the year-to-date<br /><br />The percentage sign is omitted throughout.<br /><br /></span></span><center><table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="3"><tbody><tr align="center"><td width="32"> </td><td width="85"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2007</span></span></td><td width="85"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2008</span></span></td><td width="85"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2009-AV-M</span></span></td><td width="85"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">09/2009-M</span></span></td><td width="85"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">10/2009-G</span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">SD</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">39.9</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">38.75</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">35.2</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">35.4</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">40.7</span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">SF</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">19.25</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">23.35</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">27.5</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">28</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">11</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.0</span></span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">SI</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">14.15</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">15.875</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">15</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.00</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">14.9</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">10.3</span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">SU</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">10.7</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">8.05</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">8.15</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">8.7</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">4.3</span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">II</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">8.8</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">8.85</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">5.85</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">5</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">19</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.0</span></span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">UI</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2.7</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1.75</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1.45</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1.7</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">4</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.0</span></span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">TT</span></span></td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">93.7</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">89.3</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></center><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Global Views Magazine</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> conducted an earlier poll in May 2009 (refer to page 5 of the linked PDF file) which tells us:<br /><br />SD = 44.9%, SF = 11.5%, SI + II (as in that survey it was not distinguished between the two) = 25.4%, and SU + UI = 8.3%, a total response rate of 90.1%.<br /><br />The first thing I did was to add up the figures to reveal the total percentage of those who responded to find out the percentage who refused to respond or didn't know the answer. In the October 2009 </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Global Views</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> survey, there was a total of 10.7% who either refused to answer or didn't know the answer, whereas the figure for the MAC survey was 6.3%. Generally speaking, a greater response rate gives more accurate poll results.<br /><br />The next thing to do was to compare past trends with present figures. The SI of 10.3% is low compared to past trends as well as to the MAC result of 14.9% in September 2009, this coupled with the UI of 4% -- which is unusually high, as I mentioned in my previous post that this figure had never been as high before (only 3 out of 28 times had this figure ever exceeded 3%) -- made me suspect that maybe there was some attempt here to give an overall false impression (since most people will not compare the October 2009 survey with past trends) that people are shifting from the "status quo first then independent later" to the "unification immediately" group. But read on, and you will find out why this is not true when compared with the statistics of past MAC surveys.<br /><br />The next task was to compare </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Global Views</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">' results from the above chart with the different questions within the same </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Global Views</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> poll.<br /><br />The first question was whether one would agree (A) or disagree (D) with eventual unification with China, and here are the results (from page 3 of the link at the top of this post):<br /><br /></span></span><center><table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="3"><tbody><tr align="right"><td width="32"> </td><td width="75"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">02/2006</span></span></td><td width="75"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">09/2008</span></span></td><td width="75"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">05/2009</span></span></td><td width="75"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">10/2009</span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">28.7</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">19.5</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">16.2</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">15.7</span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">D</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">54.5</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">67.5</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">69</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">69</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.0</span></span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">TT</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">83.2</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">87</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">85.2</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">84.7</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></center><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Notice that the people who want independence (SI + II) would answer "disagree" to this question while the people who would like to maintain the status quo forever (SF) would either answer "disagree" or would not give an answer to the above question. So, the percentage of "disagree" here contains (SI + II + some SF), and the "no answer" figure actually contains (NA + some remaining SF).<br /><br />The second question in this survey asked whether one would agree or disagree with Taiwan's eventual (formal) independence. The results were as follows:<br /><br /></span></span><center><table border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="3"><tbody><tr align="right"><td width="32"> </td><td width="75"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">02/2006</span></span></td><td width="75"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">09/2008</span></span></td><td width="75"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">05/2009</span></span></td><td width="75"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">10/2009</span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">44.3</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">50.6</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">48.5</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">47.2</span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">D</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">40.3</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">34.1</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">35</span></span><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.0</span></span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">34.1</span></span></td></tr><tr align="right"><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">TT</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">84.6</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">84.7</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">83.5</span></span></td><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">81.3</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></center><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Notice that the people who want unification (SU + UI) would answer "disagree" to this question while the people who would like to maintain the status quo forever would answer either disagree or would simply not give an answer to this question. Therefore, the percentage of "disagree" here contains (SU + UI + some SF), and the "no answer" would contain (NA + some other SF).<br /><br />Notice also that the total percentage of respondents to the second question dropped slightly -- from 84.7% to 81.3%. One explanation for this could be that some respondents thought that once they had provided their answer to the first question, it would not be necessary to provide their answer to the second question, viewing the answer to the second one as obvious or redundant once they had answered the first question. The immediate effect of this is that the second question got a higher non-response rate.<br /><br />Since the same people (samples) had answered both questions plus the question contained in the chart at the very beginning, we can analyze further.<br /><br />If we take the percentage who disagree with eventual unification (69%) minus the percentage who agree with the eventual independence (47.2%), it will give us the percentage of people who want SF (status quo forever) since the same people (samples) had answered both questions:</span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">69 - 47.2 = 21.8%<br /><br />i.e. (SI + II + some SF) – (SI + II) = some SF, and the remaining SF are hidden among the non-responses (NA)<br /><br />The SF should therefore be greater than 21.8%</span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On the other hand, if we take the percentage who disagree with eventual independence (34.1%) minus the percentage who agree with eventual unification (15.7%), it will also give us the percentage of people who want SF (status quo forever) for the same reason stated above:</span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">34.1 – 15.7 = 18.4%<br /><br />i.e. (SU + UI + some SF) – (SU + UI) = some SF, and the remaining SF are hidden in the non-responses (NA)<br /><br />The SF should therefore be greater than 18.4%.</span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In either situation, the SF (those who wish to maintain the status quo forever) cannot be less than 18.4%, but the chart at the very beginning has the SF at 11%.<br /><br />This shows us that the survey actually gives three widely-differing figures for SF: 11%, >21.8%, and >18.4%. It is quite inconsistent to have three different figures in one survey obtained from the same samples. Could it be because this figure was intentionally kept low by the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Global Views</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> pollster in order to give a higher percentage to the SD (thereby creating the false impression that many people want to keep the status quo now and decide later, including the option of unification), but in reality the 47.2% (assuming this percentage is not an underestimate) itself tells us that the SI + II = 10.3 + 19 = 29.3% from the first chart is an underestimate of people who want eventual independence. The rise from 29.3% (the chart at the very beginning) to 47.2% (the second question) is a difference of 17.9%, hidden in the SD.<br /><br />The SU + UI = 4.3 + 4 = 8.3% from the first chart compared to the MAC result of 10.4% in September and the earlier trend suggests that there is a slight drop in the percentage of people supporting eventual unification (Could recent cross-strait exchanges have made some pan-blue supporters want to maintain the status quo forever?), but when given no such choice of maintaining the status quo, the percentage of people who want eventual unification rises from 8.3% to 15.7%, the difference in the rise is 7.4%, hidden in the SD.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Comparing the 17.9% (two paragraphs above) with that 7.4%, one can see that the increase in support for independence is more than twofold that of the increase in support for unification (hidden in the SD).</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />If we add the percentage of people who agree with eventual unification (15.7%) and the percentage who agree with eventual independence (47.2%), it is 62.9%, and if a person neither agrees with unification nor agrees with independence, the person must be SF or NA, meaning 37.1% (100 – 62.9 = 37.1) of the people who either want to maintain the status quo forever or who don't know or refuse to answer. Since the percentage of people who either don't know or refuse to answer does not usually exceed 15% (as a matter of fact, under normal circumstance and from past trend it ranges from about 7% to 12%), that leaves the percentage of people who want to maintain the status quo forever to be at minimum 22.1% (37.1% - 15% = 22.1%). Comparing this figure to the first chart of SF 11%, the figure of 11% is clearly an underestimate. This conservative figure of 22.1% can be compared with the MAC figure of 28% in September 2009 or with past trends ranging from 19.25% in 2007 but increasing yearly. This group (possibly wanting to avoid war with China) has the biggest percentage increase and the implication has been discussed in </span></span><a href="http://tktw.blogspot.com/2009/10/statistics-on-taiwans-independence-or.html" title="Thursday, October 22, 2009"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">my previous post on this subject</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.<br /><br />Finally, let's look at yet another question on the same survey (also from page 3 of the survey linked at the very top of this post). If the two sides [Taiwan and China] come to have similar conditions, 68.3% still deemed it unnecessary to unify with China while only 11.7% said it would be OK to be unified. And the total response rate for this question is only, 68.3 + 11.7 = 80%. It's interesting that the response rate nicely and coincidently adds up to the round figure of 80% and that the response rate is even lower than that of the second question above, which was 81.3%. This 68.3% figure may likely have suffered an underestimate because the response rate was limited to 80% when in reality the actual response rate was probably higher. How could anyone explain this 11.7% (yet another inconsistency) in light of the SU + UI = [only] 8.3% in the first chart?<br /><br />To sum it up, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">there is no consistency in the figures in this survey</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.<br /><br />The trend can only be observed when we compare the statistics over a number of years. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There is no actual increase in the percentage of people who want eventual unification -- as a matter of fact, that number is dropping</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. And most people who answered that they wish to maintain the status quo now and decide later (SD) are actually people who want to choose independence later.<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">References:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />* My previous post on </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Talk Taiwan</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: "</span></span><a href="http://tktw.blogspot.com/2009/10/statistics-on-taiwans-independence-or.html" title="''Most people in Taiwan would rather choose de facto independence than unification if formal independence is not possible.''"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Statistics on Taiwan's Independence or Unification opinion polls - Part 1</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"<br />* American Association for Public Opinion Research: "</span></span><a href="http://www.aapor.org/Do_Response_Rates_MatteR_/1285.htm" title="Normally higher response rate on a randomly selected population would give better accuracy in a survey."><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Do Response Rates Matter?</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"<br />* Oxford University Press' </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Public Opinion Quarterly</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: "</span></span><a href="http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/72/1/6" title="''researchers are evaluating different survey designs (i.e., sampling frame and survey mode combinations) as complements or alternatives to RDD''"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A Comparison of Address-Based Sampling (ABS) Versus Random-Digit Dialing (RDD) for General Population Surveys</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"<br /><br /></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This post was edited by Tim Maddog.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></span></span>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-44173280246363414502009-10-22T13:04:00.074+03:002009-10-28T00:41:29.289+02:00Statistics on Taiwan's Independence or Unification opinion polls - Part 1<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did some brief study of the statistics <a href="http://www.gvm.com.tw/gvsrc/200910_GVSRC_others_E.pdf">published by the Global View Magazine</a>, the <a href="http://www.mac.gov.tw/english/index1-e.htm">ones commissioned by the "Mainland" Affairs Council (MAC)</a>, and the <a href="http://www.taiwanthinktank.org/ttt/attachment/article_696_attach1.pdf">one from the Taiwan Thinktank</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following abbreviations are used throughout this post to simplify typing and save space:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SD: Maintaining the <span style="color: red;">s</span>tatus-quo now and <span style="color: red;">d</span>ecide later</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SF: Maintaining the <span style="color: red;">s</span>tatus-quo <span style="color: red;">f</span>orever</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SI: Maintaining the <span style="color: red;">s</span>tatus-quo now and <span style="color: red;">i</span>ndependent later</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SU: Maintaining the <span style="color: red;">s</span>tatus-quo now and <span style="color: red;">u</span>nification later</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">II: <span style="color: red;">I</span>ndependent <span style="color: red;">i</span>mmediately or as soon as possible</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UI: <span style="color: red;">U</span>nification <span style="color: red;">i</span>mmediately or as soon as possible</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NA: <span style="color: red;">N</span>o <span style="color: red;">a</span>nswer or don't know</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The time the poll was taken will be denoted with MM/YYYY</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, I will table the one from the Taiwan Thinktank because there was only one, so it is simple to be tabled, and I hope we can see another more recent poll from this organization before the end of this year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Taiwan Thinktank opinion poll taken from 08/2007 to 09/2007:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">SD 44.9%, SF 11%, SI 14.8%, SU 5.1%, II 15%, UI 1.9%, NA 7.3%</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good thing about this poll is that it accounted for all and the total percentage did add up to 100%.</span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Second, I will table the ones from the MAC from 2007 onwards, for English-only speaking readers, the line chart can be obtained by going to the MAC link, then click "opinion post" on the left of the page, then choose the "2009" year, click "statistics chart", I chose the "line chart" to study because it gave us an overall presentation over a number of years.</span><br />
<br />
</div></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The MAC polls results (in %, but I omit writing the % sign below)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> 08/2007 12/2007 03/2008 08/2008 10/2008 12/2008 04/2009 09/2009</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">SD 34.9 44.9 43.5 34.4 36.2 40.9 35.0 35.4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">SF 17.9 20.6 20.0 22.4 25.5 25.5 27.0 28.0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">SI 16.5 11.8 17.1 17.5 12.5 16.4 15.1 14.9</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">SU 12.2 9.2 10.5 8.3 4.4 9.0 7.6 8.7</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">II 10.3 7.3 6.0 8.6 14.8 6.0 6.7 5.0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">UI 2.2 3.2 1.7 1.5 1.8 2.0 1.2 1.7</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">TT 94.0 97.0 98.8 92.7 95.2 99.8 92.6 93.7</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My immediate observation is:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The NCCU <span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: monospace; white-space: pre-wrap;">國立政治<span style="white-space: normal;">大學,<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which conducted the 08/2007, 08/2008, 04/2009, and 09/2009 polls on behalf of the MAC has always displayed the lower total percentage of overall responding answers (94.0, 92.7, 92.6, 93.7), lower than the other two companies. Since, the no answer or don't know category is not listed here, it is quite reasonable for the total percentage to be lower than 95%, the other polls seem unreasonably high on the total percentage. The Taiwan Thinktank has 7.3% of participants either don't know or no answer.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: monospace; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="white-space: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next, the different opinion polls conducted by different organizations / companies plus the dates when some events / news may have affected people to choose their categories differently, so I take an average for each category per year.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">2007</span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SD (34.9+44.9)/2 = 39.9</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">SF (17.9+20.6)/2 = 19.25</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">SI (16.5+11.8)/2 = 14.15</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">SU (12.2+ 9.2)/2 = 10.7</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">II (10.3+7.3)/ 2 = 8.8</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">UI (2.2+3.2)/2 = 2.7</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">2008</span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SD (43.5+34.4+36.2+40.9)/4 = 38.75</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SF (20+22.4+25.5+25.5)/4 = 23.35</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SI (17.1+17.5+12.5+16.4)/4 = 15.875</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SU (10.5+8.3+4.4+9)/4 = 8.05</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">II (6+8.6+14.8+6)/4 = 8.85</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UI (1.7+1.5+1.8+2.0)/4 = 1.75</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2009</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SD (35+35.4)/2 = 35.2</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SF (27+28)/2 = 27.5</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SI (15.1+14.9)/2 = 15</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SU (7.6+8.7)/2 = 8.15</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">II (6.7+5)/2 = 5.85</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">UI (1.2+1.7)/2 = 1.45</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An overall yearly comparison table is the following</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 2007 2008 2009</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SD 39.9 38.75 35.2</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SF 19.25 23.35 27.5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">SI 14.15 15.875 15</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">SU 10.7 8.05 8.15</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">II 8.8 8.85 5.85</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">UI 2.7 1.75 1.45</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">And I have reached some conclusions which were left at <a href="http://a-gu.blogspot.com/2009/10/on-those-latest-unificationindependence.htm">A-Gu's blog post</a>, and is repeated (with slight additions) here:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have compared the Global View Magazine polls with the ones commissioned by the "Mainland" Affairs Council's chart (thru NCC University, or other private companies). MAC's results as I calculated the average for each year from 2007 (2 polls), to 2008 (4 polls), and to 2009 (2 polls so far), <span style="color: red;">there is no increase on immediate unificatio</span><span style="color: red;">n, I only observe a slight drop,</span> <span style="color: red;">it never exceeds the 3% in recent years</span>, from 2007 average at 2.7%, 2008 average at 1.75%, and 2009 average at 1.45%. So, the 4% here by the Global View Magazine is questionably high. Only 3 times out of 28, this figure had ever exceeded 3% in the MAC line chart, but recently it has stayed stably below 2%.<br />
<span style="color: red;">There is also a slight drop on the status quo now & unification later</span>, with the average from 2007 to 2009 respectively at:<br />
10.7%, 8.05%, 8.15%.<br />
<br />
Maintaining the status quo forever actually is the biggest change, the average from 2007 to 2009 respectively at:<br />
19.25%, 23.35%, 27.5%.<br />
<br />
The status quo forever could mean refusing to be part of China, therefotre wanting to be the way it is now forever if not being able to become independent. Otherwise, the people who want to be part of China later would have chosen the maintaining the status quo and unification later category.<br />
<br />
The maintaining the status quo and decide later also has a slight loss, the average from<br />
2007 to 2009 respectively:<br />
39.9%, 38.75%, 35.2%.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">The drop here di</span><span style="color: red;">dn't go to those people who support unification</span> (either immediately or later <span style="color: red;">because ju</span><span style="color: red;">st above we found out that </span><span style="color: red;">both categories slightly dropped</span>), so it has contributed to the gain in the status quo forever category.<br />
<br />
The significant increase (19.25% to 27.5%) in the category of "maintaining the status quo forever" can be interpreted as people who would rather stay as citizens of an unrecognized (or should we say few recognized) nation if not being able to become independent (due to threats from China or pressure from the US), <b>but would never want to become citizens of the People's Republic of China.</b><br />
<br />
Or in Chinese: 寧可當不被承認的國家之國民也不願當中華人民共和國之國民<br />
<br />
Also, I wonder if the <b>more exchange</b>, co-op, engagement between Taiwan's mainlanders with the Chinese, the <b>more mainlanders or pan-blue people are afraid of going back to embrace their "motherland"</b>?<br />
<br />
I have observed some interesting statistics from the Global View Magazine, but don't have time to write it up now, the total percentage of all categories for the 05/2009 is 90.1%, and 09/2009 is 89.3%. More detailed observations will be posted when I have time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reference:</span><br />
<span style="color: #551a8b; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.gvm.com.tw/gvsrc/200910_GVSRC_others.pdf">2009 10 遠見雜誌民意調查結果</a></span></span>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6422770419209270162.post-46616785888557090602009-10-20T10:51:00.004+03:002009-10-22T13:14:54.544+03:00China exporting censorship to Europe<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Read </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.feer.com/politics/2009/october54/Chinas-Export-of-Censorship">China's Export of Censorship</a></span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> from the</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Far Eastern Economic Review</b> about China's suppression of open expression has now reached Europe to the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Frankfurt Book Fair</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> and pay special attention to the comment left by <o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Alexander Lugg @ 2009-10-13 12:41:59<o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><blockquote><span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">A similar event occurred in Melbourne, where the Melbourne International Film Festival was pressured to drop the film '10 Conditions of Love' with the threat to withdraw all Chinese films. The director of the festival refused to cave. More interesting is the context in which this happened. <span style="color: red;">At the same time, Australian Stern Hu, an executive with mining company Rio Tinto, was detained by Chinese police for an alleged fraud. When the Australian government attempted to intervene they were told not to meddle in Chinese domestic affairs.</span> I understand that several businesses are now reviewing their engagement with China as a result.</span></span><br />
</blockquote></span>Άλισονhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05409063245062952864noreply@blogger.com1