Interesting Taiwan articles
Of Language and Culture
It is common knowledge that studying a foreign language involves studying a culture. Consciously or not, that is the main reason why people enjoy it. If it weren’t for its cultural content, a language would be little more than an empty set of code-words and rules designed with an exasperatingly faulty logic. And learning languages would be just like memorizing the phone directory, useful knowledge in some situations, sure, but hardly worth years of study.
But languages are vehicles of culture, and that is why we find them fascinating. When you study a language, and especially when you study it in its natural habitat - in a country where it is the mother tongue - you are continuously absorbing the elements of that country’s culture. At the surface level, these learnings are obvious, like when your local barber tells you the story of the Old Fool and the Mountain. But there are deeper levels where the language in itself, through its structure and its semantic relations, carries a cultural load that may go unnoticed by all but the most careful students.
During my practice for the HSK exam these last months, I went through thousands of new words and hundreds of chengyus (the ubiquitous 4-character constructions/idioms that Chinese use almost like words). And when I was fed up of memorizing I would let my mind drift for a while, musing over the learnt vocabulary, and sometimes I ended up finding unexpected meanings.
Here and (perhaps) in future posts I will copy some of the notes I did while studying. Some are just funny misunderstandings, some come loaded with philosophical connotations, and some are surely just the result of my own imagination. Warning: I will indulge in some vast generalizations and home-made anthropology, please bear with me and add your righteous insults in the comments section. Here’s the first three expressions, all baidu linked for examples:
下不了台 - Xia bu liao tai
This is an expression in Chinese that literally means: Cannot get off the stage. It is used when somebody is embarrassing you in public, particularly when somebody says things that make everyone focus their attention on you. Then he is scolding you, or praising you, or otherwise treating you ”xia bu liao tai”.
It struck me as very Chinese in the way it is used as a negative expression, similar to the English to embarrass. But in English the negative expression is more often the opposite, to be “upstaged” (ie. sent to the back of the stage). Which comes to illustrate this difference between Western and Chinese individuals, the former generally enjoying some degree of public attention while the latter prefer to pass unnoticed and blend in the crowd.
英伦三岛 - YingLun San Dao
This is one of the most perplexing expressions I have come across in Chinese. It literally means “The three islands of England”, using a phonetical approximation of England (”Yinlun”) that strikes me as pedantic, as it is not the usual name Yingguo 英国.
But the pedantic speaker (or the “Autentic Engrish Vila” advert) is, I am afraid, making a fool of himself. I might be missing something, but last time I checked England was not an island, nor were there three islands in the British Isles, however you look at it. The garbled definition on Baidupedia doesn’t help much either.
This seems to be an old expression, so my guess is someone in the times of the Qing decided thatEngland was a Kingdom of 3 islands. And no amount of insistence nor letters from ambassador Macartney would change the minds of the mandarins. So I believe this expression shows another particular trait of Chinese culture, and particularly of Chinese politics. It can be summarized in the phrase ”This is what the party says, and we don’t care what reality thinks”. A nice little example with pigeons can be found here.
北京，背景 and the tones of English
This one is a problem of pronunciation. I have observed that everytime I hear the word bèijǐng (背景), meaning “background”, I automatically think of běijīng (北京), meaning “Beijing”. And even though I am perfectly aware of the tones employed by the speaker (the 4th tone in bei is usually very obvious), I still can’t help myself from thinking of the city of Beijing, and often pushing the misunderstanding to absurd extremes.
After many times of unconsciously making this mistake, I came to the consclusion that I was influenced by the English pronunciation: Usually when we say Beijing in English we tend to pronounce it in a way that sounds almost like a 4th tone/3rd tone, that is “Bèijǐng”. So inevitably my brain is hard-wired to associate this sound with the capital of China, and I am lost in conversation everytime it comes up.
And one question in case somebody knows: what tones do we normally use when speaking in a non-tonal language like English? My guess is that most of the times, in neutral, non interrogative sentences, we use a combination of the 4th and the light tone for the stressed and non-stressed syllables respectively.
And more to come
I still have lots of notes in my studybooks so if I get some good feedback I will roll them out little by little. Let me know what is your interpretation of the above.
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Of Language and Culture
It is common knowledge that studying a foreign language involves studying a culture. Consciously or not, that is the main reason why people enjoy it. If it weren’t for its cultural content, a language would be little more than an empty set of code-words and rules designed with an exasperatingly faulty logic. And learning languages would be just like memorizing the phone directory, useful knowledge in some situations, sure, but hardly worth years of study.
But languages are vehicles of culture, and that is why we find them fascinating. When you study a language, and especially when you study it in its natural habitat - in a country where it is the mother tongue - you are continuously absorbing the elements of that country’s culture. At the surface level, these learnings are obvious, like when your local barber tells you the story of the Old Fool and the Mountain. But there are deeper levels where the language in itself, through its structure and its semantic relations, carries a cultural load that may go unnoticed by all but the most careful students.
During my practice for the HSK exam these last months, I went through thousands of new words and hundreds of chengyus (the ubiquitous 4-character constructions/idioms that Chinese use almost like words). And when I was fed up of memorizing I would let my mind drift for a while, musing over the learnt vocabulary, and sometimes I ended up finding unexpected meanings.
Here and (perhaps) in future posts I will copy some of the notes I did while studying. Some are just funny misunderstandings, some come loaded with philosophical connotations, and some are surely just the result of my own imagination. Warning: I will indulge in some vast generalizations and home-made anthropology, please bear with me and add your righteous insults in the comments section. Here’s the first three expressions, all baidu linked for examples:
下不了台 - Xia bu liao tai
This is an expression in Chinese that literally means: Cannot get off the stage. It is used when somebody is embarrassing you in public, particularly when somebody says things that make everyone focus their attention on you. Then he is scolding you, or praising you, or otherwise treating you ”xia bu liao tai”.
It struck me as very Chinese in the way it is used as a negative expression, similar to the English to embarrass. But in English the negative expression is more often the opposite, to be “upstaged” (ie. sent to the back of the stage). Which comes to illustrate this difference between Western and Chinese individuals, the former generally enjoying some degree of public attention while the latter prefer to pass unnoticed and blend in the crowd.
英伦三岛 - YingLun San Dao
This is one of the most perplexing expressions I have come across in Chinese. It literally means “The three islands of England”, using a phonetical approximation of England (”Yinlun”) that strikes me as pedantic, as it is not the usual name Yingguo 英国.
But the pedantic speaker (or the “Autentic Engrish Vila” advert) is, I am afraid, making a fool of himself. I might be missing something, but last time I checked England was not an island, nor were there three islands in the British Isles, however you look at it. The garbled definition on Baidupedia doesn’t help much either.
This seems to be an old expression, so my guess is someone in the times of the Qing decided thatEngland was a Kingdom of 3 islands. And no amount of insistence nor letters from ambassador Macartney would change the minds of the mandarins. So I believe this expression shows another particular trait of Chinese culture, and particularly of Chinese politics. It can be summarized in the phrase ”This is what the party says, and we don’t care what reality thinks”. A nice little example with pigeons can be found here.
北京，背景 and the tones of English
This one is a problem of pronunciation. I have observed that everytime I hear the word bèijǐng (背景), meaning “background”, I automatically think of běijīng (北京), meaning “Beijing”. And even though I am perfectly aware of the tones employed by the speaker (the 4th tone in bei is usually very obvious), I still can’t help myself from thinking of the city of Beijing, and often pushing the misunderstanding to absurd extremes.
After many times of unconsciously making this mistake, I came to the consclusion that I was influenced by the English pronunciation: Usually when we say Beijing in English we tend to pronounce it in a way that sounds almost like a 4th tone/3rd tone, that is “Bèijǐng”. So inevitably my brain is hard-wired to associate this sound with the capital of China, and I am lost in conversation everytime it comes.
And one question in case somebody knows: what tones do we normally use when speaking in a non-tonal language like English? My guess is that most of the times, in neutral, non interrogative sentences, we use a comnbintion of the 4th and the light tone for the stressed and non-stressed syllables respectively.
And more to come
I still have lots of notes in my studybooks so if I get some good feedback I will roll them out little by little. Let me know what is your interpretation of the above.
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Analysis on the Web
There's been a flood of stuff out there recently. In addition to the recent pieces offering shocked American views that China has not reduced its missiles aimed at Taiwan -- a clear signal that the US Establishment thinks it would be a really good idea that China do that -- there is also a mixed bag of articles looking at the Cross-Strait march toward Anschluss.First the awful. Over at Huffington Post Eric Anderson has another one of his excrutiating pieces on "cross-strait reconciliation." Anderson lauds Ma as a "master politician" -- no, I'm not making that up -- and thinks it is just peachy that Taiwan is being sold out:
Over the last year Ma has succeeded in reopening direct links to the mainland, facilitated implementation of military confidence-building measures, and won a place for Taiwan in the World Health Organization. All unprecedented developments. Furthermore, Ma's administration has fostered a "mature" conversation with their mainland counterparts thereby opening the door to reciprocal outreach from Beijing. For the first time in almost 20 years cross-Strait relations seem destined to yield more than heated name-calling and threats of armed intervention.Spot the usual Establishment tropes of "Taiwan the toddler", referring to Ma's approach as "mature" and dismissing the last twenty years of negotiations to hold China at arms length by two presidents as "name calling"? Down the memory hole with ye, Chen Shui-bian! Those of you wishing to wallow in this may read it yourselves. I left extensive remarks there but Huffington Post moderators killed them, as they have before when I have pointed out how wrong Anderson is.
International Security 33:4 brings Saunders and Kastner envisioning "a peace agreement" between China and Taiwan. The strongly pro-Beijing article is mainly an intellectual exercise, since no "peace agreement" will be made without Taiwan admitting it is part of China.
Suzanne Peppers offers a very interesting article in Hong Kong Journal on the inapplicability of Hong Kong's system of Chinese rule to Taiwan. Strongly pro-democracy, sometimes missing a point on Taiwan, but in the main good, she observes:
Other indications of Beijing’s intentions include: the refusal to allow universal suffrage elections for the legislature until 2020; reneging on earlier promises that decisions to hold such elections would be made locally; community-wide national patriotic education that introduces concepts heretofore little-known in Hong Kong, like the Chinese constitution’s proviso for universal suffrage under CCP rule as an alternative to Western-style adversarial democracy; a lower tier of 18 District Councils that is beginning to look like the lowermost rung of China’s CCP-led People’s Congress system; the assertion of Beijing’s “substantive” right to make all the top appointments in Hong Kong’s government; and an “underground” or unacknowledged local CCP branch that is acknowledged in all but name.7 Beijing could have loosened the bonds on any one of these points. In particular, Beijing might have allowed Macau’s new law to decouple national and political security. Instead, efforts by local democrats to deflect the progression toward mainland-style governance are derided as unpatriotic and blocked at every step.
The moral of this story is that the two-systems solution is not what it seems from a distance. Although carefully written and promoted to obscure the endgame, Hong Kong’s Basic Law authorizes all the means necessary to facilitate integration within the national political system and that process is well advanced. Even the staid South China Morning Post has begun slipping lines about full integration by 2047 into its editorials. Letters-to-the-editor also occasionally question the value of an independent Western-style judiciary or electoral system when neither will be needed “after 2047.” The forecast is a given but such real-life implications have yet to be elaborated.
Now apply that to Taiwan.....enjoy that whole piece, quite interesting.Finally, Asia Policy has a Cross Strait Roundtable this month on defining a healthy balance in the Taiwan Strait. Bruce Jacobs, longtime democracy supporter here, and my former prof Robert Sutter, both have strong pieces in it. Explore, and enjoy
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[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Two More DPP Politicians Indicted
The prosecution of DPPers continues unabated....from KNN:Taichung District prosecutors indicted DPP secretary-general Wu Nai-jen and former DPP legislator Hong Chi-chang on charges of perfidy as prosecutors concluded that Wu, while chairman of Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC), had authorized TSC to sell land it owned under market value to a company that had close connections with Hong Chi-chang. The land deal, according to the prosecutors, caused TSC NT$ 400 million in losses.
......
Regarding the reports that CLD had served as Hong Chi-chang’s long-term bankrollers, Wu explained that CLD had made political contributions to both the Blue and Green camps, and not just to Hong Chi-chang. Wu said, “Since the prosecutors have already investigated CLD’s operations, they must have seized CLD’s accounting books.” Wu stressed that it would take a stretch of the imagination to characterize CLD as bankrollers of the Green camp.
Two more DPP politicians victims of a witch hunt?
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[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Meeting with the military
From Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association
On 2 June, representatives from Wild at Heart, Changhua Environmental Protection Union and Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union met with officials from the Ministry of National Defense to begin discussing ways to reduce the risk of impacts of military activities on Taiwan’s Critically Endangered humpback dolphins and other marine mammals.
Live-fire exercise at Dachia River estuary on 17 June 2009
At the meeting, chaired by Legislator Tien Chiu-chin, the groups emphasized that, while their concerns had been heightened by the direct bombardment of humpback dolphin habitat from the shore near the Dachia River estuary in May and June, the potential impacts of other activities, including military sonar, on marine mammals also need to be addressed as soon as possible.
Mid-frequency sonar has been shown to have caused fatal mass strandings of four species of whale in the Bahamas in 2000, and possibly in other locations including the Canary Islands, Greece and Hawaii. Mass cetacean strandings have also occurred in Taiwan, including incidents in 2004 and 2005 that coincided with large-scale naval exercises in the region.
Wild at Heart proposed that Taiwan’s military design and implement a standard operating procedure (SOP) to protect marine mammals, as exists in various forms in countries such as Italy, France, Australia, the US and the UK.
MND representatives explained ways in which the military could improve protective measures during exercises next year, such as by moving the target several kilometers further from the shore. However, no response was given regarding sonar or other sources of noise and other disturbance.
The conservation groups and the MND agreed to continue discussions.
On 2 June, representatives from Wild at Heart, Changhua Environmental Protection Union and Matsu’s Fish Conservation Union met with officials from the Ministry of National Defense to begin discussing ways to reduce the risk of impacts of military activities on Taiwan’s Critically Endangered humpback dolphins and other marine mammals.
Live-fire exercise at Dachia River estuary on 17 June 2009At the meeting, chaired by Legislator Tien Chiu-chin, the groups emphasized that, while their concerns had been heightened by the direct bombardment of humpback dolphin habitat from the shore near the Dachia River estuary in May and June, the potential impacts of other activities, including military sonar, on marine mammals also need to be addressed as soon as possible.
Mid-frequency sonar has been shown to have caused fatal mass strandings of four species of whale in the Bahamas in 2000, and possibly in other locations including the Canary Islands, Greece and Hawaii. Mass cetacean strandings have also occurred in Taiwan, including incidents in 2004 and 2005 that coincided with large-scale naval exercises in the region.
Wild at Heart proposed that Taiwan’s military design and implement a standard operating procedure (SOP) to protect marine mammals, as exists in various forms in countries such as Italy, France, Australia, the US and the UK.
MND representatives explained ways in which the military could improve protective measures during exercises next year, such as by moving the target several kilometers further from the shore. However, no response was given regarding sonar or other sources of noise and other disturbance.
The conservation groups and the MND agreed to continue discussions.
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Five For Friday – Night Markets
The night market is an important facet of Asian lifestyle and this weeks 5 takes a look at some of Taiwan’s night markets. Ranging from a few tables on a sidewalk to closed off streets and purpose-built marketplaces, night markets are an essential part of Taiwan’s xiaochi (small eats) culinary culture.
In general, most night markets have a mixture of stalls with snack food, drinks, clothing, toys, games and entertainment. Staple foods abound, such as stinky tofu and oyster omelets, and there are almost always crowds of people strolling, shopping and eating.
Some night markets have achieved a level of fame that makes people travel long distances just to visit. Famous ones include Shilin and Raohe night markets in Taipei, Fenjia night market in Taichung, Liouhe in Kaohsiung, Miaukou in Keelung and Siaobei night market in Tainan.
At certain night markets, or at certain times of year, specialty foods are offered. During dragon boat festival, rice dumplings known as zongzi can be found at night markets everywhere.
For anyone living in or visiting Taiwan, a trip to a night market is a must and they can be found in all cities and towns.
Don’t forget to come back on Sunday for another photographer spotlight. Until then, feel free to share this post with family and friends.
Related Posts:- Scenes From A Night Market
- Taiwan Photos and Links
- 5 For Friday - Bog Log III
- Taiwan Stories - The Lifesaver
- 5 For Friday - Computex 2009
This is a post from: CraigFergusonImages
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Five For Friday – Night Markets
The night market is an important facet of Asian lifestyle and this weeks 5 takes a look at some of Taiwan’s night markets. Ranging from a few tables on a sidewalk to closed off streets and purpose-built marketplaces, night markets are an essential part of Taiwan’s xiaochi (small eats) culinary culture.
In general, most night markets have a mixture of stalls with snack food, drinks, clothing, toys, games and entertainment. Staple foods abound, such as stinky tofu and oyster omelets, and there are almost always crowds of people strolling, shopping and eating.
Some night markets have achieved a level of fame that makes people travel long distances just to visit. Famous ones include Shilin and Raohe night markets in Taipei, Fenjia night market in Taichung, Liouhe in Kaohsiung, Miaukou in Keelung and Siaobei night market in Tainan.
At certain night markets, or at certain times of year, specialty foods are offered. During dragon boat festival, rice dumplings known as zongzi can be found at night markets everywhere.
For anyone living in or visiting Taiwan, a trip to a night market is a must and they can be found in all cities and towns.
Don’t forget to come back on Sunday for another photographer spotlight. Until then, feel free to share this post with family and friends.
Related Posts:- Scenes From A Night Market
- Taiwan Photos and Links
- 5 For Friday - Bog Log III
- Taiwan Stories - The Lifesaver
- 5 For Friday - Computex 2009
This is a post from: CraigFergusonImages
Five For Friday – Night Markets
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Weekly Links – July 2, 2009
- Jim on the sad state of beer in Taiwan.
- MJ hosts a BBQ party on the roof.
- Craig introduces readers to the familiar yet mysterious Eight Generals.
- Rachel goes zorbing in Kending.
- Stu takes a short hike to the Silong Waterfall.
- Is ‘adoah’ a humorous word used to refer to Westerners or insulting and offensive? I simply find it annoying.
- Fili covers Chinese censorship and online social movements.
- Arthur Dent posts entries for a short paragraph the international press could use when describing the political situation of Taiwan.
- A-gu on former President Chen’s letter to President Ma asking him to lift the travel ban on his daughter. Also, A-gu’s 2009 County magistrate and mayoral elections map. Speaking of which, Michael Turton provides an overview of the mergers and upgrades.
- On the book front: J. Michael Cole announces the release of Democracy in Peril: Taiwan’s struggle for survival from Chen Shui-bian to Ma Ying-jeou. David reviews Austronesian Taiwan, a collection of papers on the Austronesian speaking peoples of Formosa, and Scott introduces readers to Caroline Tsai’s book Taiwan in Japan’s Empire Building: An Institutional Approach to Colonial Engineering.
EVENTS: The Taipei Film Festival runs from now through July 12. Dems Abroad with a Fourth of July fundraiser in Kaohsiung. Photowalks in Taipei and Taichung on July 18. The 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung July 16-26. Cosplay at NTU July 25-26. More events at Taiwanderful. Looking for a concert? David has a round-up of upcoming summer music festivals. Also check out GigGuide Taiwan!
I’ve been busy planning my honeymoon so I’ve been terrible about posting daily photos, but Darren never misses a beat!
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Stanton for AIT head
AP reports...The United States on Thursday named a career diplomat with wide-ranging experience in East Asia to be the new head of its de facto embassy in Taiwan.
The American Institute in Taiwan said William Stanton, currently the No. 2 U.S. diplomat in South Korea, will replace outgoing institute head Stephen Young in August.
Previous Taipei Times articles on Stanton here and blog post here. Take all gossip about Stanton's political stances with a massive grain of NaCl. The previous AIT head, Steve Young, has done a bang up job, and there's no reason Stanton won't as well.
UPDATE: Taipei Times has longer piece on it today. Didn't realize it but AIT head is appointed out of State Department w/o Congressional oversight.
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[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Preliminary analysis on 2009 elections
Things are not looking good for the DPP at the county magistrate/mayoral level.
Worst case scenario would involve being completely wiped off the map. Success means holding on to their current count of three seats. Best case scenario for the DPP is winning 5 of the total 17 contested positions, picking up Yilan and Penghu.
First, keep in mind [pdf] that party I.D. tracking polls by Global Views Monthly show about 40% of voters consider themselves pan-blue leaning versus 20% who call themselves pan-green leaning. Another 35% consider themselves centrist. So, despite the current rather grim figures that the Ma administration and the KMT legislative caucus can show for their support, the DPP has a lot more work cut out for them in any election.
Second: County commissioner elections are local elections and, unsurprisingly, result hinge on local issues and individual popularity. That is why you can see overwhelming victories for candidates in some counties, with upward to 70% of the vote going to the winner; he's well known and well liked. More like a club president than a politician at that stage, really.
Third: the DPP positions in Yunlin and Chiayi county are likely threatened by the corruption charges pending against those incumbent county commissioners, who have already been renominated. Chiayi is probably a little safer. Pingtung seat could be lost if the KMT holds down the number of popular blue-leaning candidates to just one. Losing those three seats could mean the whole map is painted blue.
On the potentially positive side, The DPP's Penghu candidate, Cai Chien-hsing (蔡見興), is native to the offshore islands and was a former KMT member who went rogue and then flipped to the green side in 2004. He's been on the Kaohsiung City Council, and a personality like his may be able to win in Penghu, especially considering the KMT incumbent there did not win by much last time around.
The DPP's Ilan candidate Lin Tsong-shyan (林聰賢) is a former Luodong township chief (that's an urban township) who won by large margins. He is also an ancient rival of the current incumbent. He seems like a reasonable choice by the DPP to run and has some shot at winning a seat.
===============
You can expect similarly abysmal results for the DPP at the city council and township chief level, where the KMT and non-partisans have dominated since the days of martial law. Here are the percentage break downs of seats won the level last time elections were held, based on CEC data:
KMTDPPInd.
OtherTownship/village chiefs54%
11%
34%
1%
City/county councils45%
21%
28%
5%
Although redistricting will have some effect on exactly who runs and wins in what areas, we can't expect the over all numbers to change a great deal.
So, there you have it! And having taken a hard look at the numbers, I will now go cry a little bit.
Worst case scenario would involve being completely wiped off the map. Success means holding on to their current count of three seats. Best case scenario for the DPP is winning 5 of the total 17 contested positions, picking up Yilan and Penghu.
First, keep in mind [pdf] that party I.D. tracking polls by Global Views Monthly show about 40% of voters consider themselves pan-blue leaning versus 20% who call themselves pan-green leaning. Another 35% consider themselves centrist. So, despite the current rather grim figures that the Ma administration and the KMT legislative caucus can show for their support, the DPP has a lot more work cut out for them in any election.
Second: County commissioner elections are local elections and, unsurprisingly, result hinge on local issues and individual popularity. That is why you can see overwhelming victories for candidates in some counties, with upward to 70% of the vote going to the winner; he's well known and well liked. More like a club president than a politician at that stage, really.
Third: the DPP positions in Yunlin and Chiayi county are likely threatened by the corruption charges pending against those incumbent county commissioners, who have already been renominated. Chiayi is probably a little safer. Pingtung seat could be lost if the KMT holds down the number of popular blue-leaning candidates to just one. Losing those three seats could mean the whole map is painted blue.
On the potentially positive side, The DPP's Penghu candidate, Cai Chien-hsing (蔡見興), is native to the offshore islands and was a former KMT member who went rogue and then flipped to the green side in 2004. He's been on the Kaohsiung City Council, and a personality like his may be able to win in Penghu, especially considering the KMT incumbent there did not win by much last time around.
The DPP's Ilan candidate Lin Tsong-shyan (林聰賢) is a former Luodong township chief (that's an urban township) who won by large margins. He is also an ancient rival of the current incumbent. He seems like a reasonable choice by the DPP to run and has some shot at winning a seat.
===============
You can expect similarly abysmal results for the DPP at the city council and township chief level, where the KMT and non-partisans have dominated since the days of martial law. Here are the percentage break downs of seats won the level last time elections were held, based on CEC data:
KMTDPPInd.
OtherTownship/village chiefs54%
11%
34%
1%
City/county councils45%
21%
28%
5%
Although redistricting will have some effect on exactly who runs and wins in what areas, we can't expect the over all numbers to change a great deal.
So, there you have it! And having taken a hard look at the numbers, I will now go cry a little bit.
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Kaohsiung City World Games 2009 : 7 Days Suggested Travel Itinerary
Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan is hosting this year’s World Games 2009 global event. Taiwan and Kaohsiung are now in final preparations for the games, starting in less than 2 weeks. Following a number of queries by email, following are some personal recommendations for a Kaohsiung itinerary for those planning to visit Kaohsiung to see the World Games and a bit of the area. There are still alot of tickets and available accommodation options all over Kaohsiung City and County - BTW.
If you’re looking for things to do in Kaohsiung, other than the World Games, following is a suggested 7 days itinerary for Kaohsiung City and the area:
Day 1 - Explore Kaohsiung City
- Zuoying and Love River (visit the lake at evening time) : FengShan West Gate, Chi Ming Tang Temple, Spring and Autumn Pavilion and Love River and ZuoYing Lotus Pond - Tiger Dragon Pagoda, Emperor of Dark Heaven, Confucius, and Old City FengShan
- Great views from ShouShan Martyrs’ Shrine in Kaohsiung and "Monkey Mountain"
Day 2 - More of Kaohsiung City
- Cijin Island
- Museums, Cijin island-lighthouse-fort and the Takao British Consulate
- If you have the time and looking for a beach - Sizihwan
Day 3 - Day Trip to Kaohsiung County
- Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Cultural Park (more info).
- Visit local Aboriginal villages.
- Soak in the Maolin Baolai Hot Springs.
Day 4 - Day trip to Kaohsiung County’s Fo Guang Shan
- Touring Kaohsiung County on Tomb Sweeping holiday : The majestic Fo-Guang-Shan temple & Revisiting Fo Guang Shan Monastery with a monk tour-guide . Be sure to book your personal monk guide tour in advance.
- Evening back - Urban Spotlight in central Kaohsiung
Day 5 - Chill out with family & friends
- Blue Lagoon Water Park (more info)
- Evening/dinner time - Fishermen Wharf and/or Cheng Ching Lake
- Kaohsiung’s Dream Mall and the terrific Ferris-wheel ontop of the mall with terrific views of Kaohsiung
- Explore one of Kaohsiung’s night markets - Guanghua Tourists’ Night Market / Singjhong Tourists’ Night Market / Nanhua Tourists’ Shopping Center
Day 7 - Day trip to Little Liu Chiu
- Kaohsiung County : The beautiful Little Liu Chiu Island
- Grab terrific fresh seafood at the nearby Dong Gang
- (More info on the area from China Post)
Still got some extra time? More about the Kaohsiung attractions and hot spots on the Taiwan government travel website. Feedback and other ideas are very welcome.
(Update : I’m not very familiar with accommodation in Kaohsiung, but since a few of you asked - Taiwanderful has a few recommendations for budget accommodation in Kaohsiung, and you can also check Agoda for a few more)
© - visit fiLi's world for more great content.
Related posts:
- Hong Kong visit summary and a 7 days suggested itinerary
- Happy New Year 2009 : Kaohsiung Dream Mall Celebrations
- The 2009 Kaohsiung Song-Jiang Jhen Battle Array in Neimen
- World cultural experiences: global personal travel connections with Couchsurfing and Hospitality Club
- Top Asian Academic Universities in World University Rankings 2009
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Kaohsiung City World Games 2009 : 7 Days Suggested Travel Itinerary
Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan is hosting this year’s World Games 2009 global event. Taiwan and Kaohsiung are now in final preparations for the games, starting in less than 2 weeks. Following a number of queries by email, following are some personal recommendations for a Kaohsiung itinerary for those planning to visit Kaohsiung to see the World Games and a bit of the area. There are still alot of tickets and available accommodation options all over Kaohsiung City and County - BTW.
If you’re looking for things to do in Kaohsiung, other than the World Games, following is a suggested 7 days itinerary for Kaohsiung City and the area:
Day 1 - Explore Kaohsiung City
- Zuoying and Love River (visit the lake at evening time) : FengShan West Gate, Chi Ming Tang Temple, Spring and Autumn Pavilion and Love River and ZuoYing Lotus Pond - Tiger Dragon Pagoda, Emperor of Dark Heaven, Confucius, and Old City FengShan
- Great views from ShouShan Martyrs’ Shrine in Kaohsiung and "Monkey Mountain"
Day 2 - More of Kaohsiung City
- Cijin Island
- Museums, Cijin island-lighthouse-fort and the Takao British Consulate
- If you have the time and looking for a beach - Sizihwan
Day 3 - Day Trip to Kaohsiung County
- Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Cultural Park (more info).
- Visit local Aboriginal villages.
- Soak in the Maolin Baolai Hot Springs.
Day 4 - Day trip to Kaohsiung County’s Fo Guang Shan
- Touring Kaohsiung County on Tomb Sweeping holiday : The majestic Fo-Guang-Shan temple & Revisiting Fo Guang Shan Monastery with a monk tour-guide . Be sure to book your personal monk guide tour in advance.
- Evening back - Urban Spotlight in central Kaohsiung
Day 5 - Chill out with family & friends
- Blue Lagoon Water Park (more info)
- Evening/dinner time - Fishermen Wharf and/or Cheng Ching Lake
- Kaohsiung’s Dream Mall and the terrific Ferris-wheel ontop of the mall with terrific views of Kaohsiung
- Explore one of Kaohsiung’s night markets - Guanghua Tourists’ Night Market / Singjhong Tourists’ Night Market / Nanhua Tourists’ Shopping Center
Day 7 - Day trip to Little Liu Chiu
- Kaohsiung County : The beautiful Little Liu Chiu Island
- Grab terrific fresh seafood at the nearby Dong Gang
- (More info on the area from China Post)
Still got some extra time? More about the Kaohsiung attractions and hot spots on the Taiwan government travel website. Feedback and other ideas are very welcome.
(Update : I’m not very familiar with accommodation in Kaohsiung, but since a few of you asked - Taiwanderful has a few recommendations for budget accommodation in Kaohsiung, and you can also check Agoda for a few more)
© - visit fiLi's world for more great content.
Related posts:
- Hong Kong visit summary and a 7 days suggested itinerary
- Happy New Year 2009 : Kaohsiung Dream Mall Celebrations
- The 2009 Kaohsiung Song-Jiang Jhen Battle Array in Neimen
- World cultural experiences: global personal travel connections with Couchsurfing and Hospitality Club
- Top Asian Academic Universities in World University Rankings 2009
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Open The MRT Doors, HAL
A few kinks still need to be worked out on Taipei's new Neihu Mass Rapid Transit line. Perfectly understandable, and no one's at fault for that.
Except -- just a few years ago, Taiwan's High-Speed (bullet) train experienced SIMILAR growing pains. And back then, Taiwan's pro-KMT news media fell all over themselves blaming former President Chen for the problems.
No doubt, the media's collective conscience will be stricken by the unfairness of their previous coverage, and we'll soon hear a crescendo of criticism directed at Taiwan's current KMT president about these Neihu mishaps.
(cue the crickets)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POSTSCRIPT: As I said, no one's to blame for the Neihu MRT glitches, so I'll not ape the sleazy pro-KMT media and blast President Ma Ying-jeou for this.
One thing Mister Ma doesn't deserve a pass for though, is the Maokong Gondola, which was built on his watch as Mayor of Taipei. Hizonner wanted a piece of infrastructure on his political resume (which always looks good when you're running for president) so he rushed the project through.
Rushed it through -- without permitting an environmental impact study.
Ma's piece of crap ran for 3 whole months, then was shut down after a freak meteor strike utterly predictable typhoon-related mudslide undermined one of the support pillars.
(Typhoons in TAIWAN? Why, whodathunkit !)
Now, bear with me for a moment. Imagine you're an upper-middle manager in a major corporation. You're given 39.3 MILLION U.S. dollars for a project. A factory . . . or a gondola, let's say. So you cut corners, finish the job, and get that big promotion. Three months later though, your factory has to be shut down for safety reasons. The good news is, you've got your promotion. The bad news is, it'll take TWO YEARS to get the thing up to code.
Thanks to your fine managerial skills, the company's stuck with a 39.3 million dollar white elephant. At least if you'd stuffed the money under a mattress, the company would still have its capital. Better yet, if you'd put it into bonds, the company'd still have its capital, plus interest.
Instead, they've now got to throw good money after bad to fix YOUR idiotic mistakes. Heckuva job there, Sparky.
(Ma Ying-jeou on Maokong Gondola image from the Taipei Times)
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Photography from Taiwan
Here’s the latest of my occasional offering of Taiwan photography. It’s just a few random photos that I took in the past few weeks.
But first, I have an announcement that I’m quite proud to make (so I’ll set aside the little dignity that I have and toot my own horn!): This month, I was lucky enough to be selected to have a photo in a special edition of National Geographic! I haven’t seen it in print yet, but here’s the online gallery (mine is the first one).
Enough about me, here’s my offering of random pictures from Taiwan:
An electrical storm lingers over Taipei, Taiwan.
While I’m Tooting my horn, this next one found it’s way to the cover of Centered on Taipei:
Fulong, Taiwan - Sometimes a cool photo comes along even when you're laying flat on your back!
One of the stranger things that has happend to me in the past few months: I let Koi fish eat from my toes.
My buddy Ed has some strange ideas... Always a good time though!
Thanks for all the support!
-neil
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
J Michael Cole's New Book Out! (and other announcements)
I am honored to count among my friends the incisive and perceptive commentator and analyst J Michael Cole of the Taipei Times, who has just published a new book on Taiwan. He says of his new book:
+++++++++++++++++++
I am thrilled to announce the release of my book Democracy in Peril: Taiwan’s struggle for survival from Chen Shui-bian to Ma Ying-jeou! More than two years in the making, Democracy in Peril comes at a critical period in Taiwan’s history, and its release could not be more timely. Over the next few weeks, my book will start being available at various bookstores and online. Already, it can be purchased at Amazon.com and barnes&noble.com, and the e-book can be directly purchased from the publisher at www.iuniverse.com. As bookstores may not have it in stock, you may have to special order it from them. Hopefully, it should also eventually be available at bookstores in Taiwan as well as on www.books.com.tw. Please spread the word! This nation is worth it and the rest of the world needs to know what's going on.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Despite the warm reception in world capitals and favorable press coverage the cross-strait policies of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou have received since he came into office on May 20, 2008, there is something rotten in Taipei. In just one year, the cost of closer relations with Beijing has become increasingly obvious in Taiwan, the small, officially unrecognized democracy of 23 million people, where police brutality, government meddling in the media and political persecution are reawakening the specter of its authoritarian past.
In a timely collection of essays and reportage written during the last18 months of the Chen Shui-bian administration and Ma’s first year in office, Democracy in Peril offers a history of the present in Taiwan as this vibrant democracy and economic powerhouse strives for international recognition under the constant fear of Chinese invasion. It shows how the greatest threat to the nation’s survival now possibly comes from within, under a government that has proven divisive and whose efforts to improve relations with China could come at an unbearable price — not only to Taiwanese, but to the entire world.
Paperback: 440 pages
Publisher: iUniverse.com (June 25, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1440150591
ISBN-13: 978-1440150593
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
Price: Trade Paperback US$27.95 (e-book US$6.00)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J. Michael Cole is a former analyst at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and has a Master’s Degree in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada. He currently lives in Taipei, Taiwan, where he works as a columnist and editor at the English-language Taipei Times newspaper. He is the author of Smokescreen: Canadian security intelligence after September 11, 2001, published by iUniverse in 2008.
You can learn more about recent developments in Taiwan and articles by J. Michael Cole at http://fareasternpotato.blogspot.com/
Panorama of the Lanyang River in I-lan.
The Lung Ying-tai Cultural Foundation announces its July 18th lecture:
On July 18th, we will be hosting an all English "Taipei Salon" named "Denmark: Small yet Super?" with Mr. Flemming Aggergaard, the Director of the Danish trade Organization Taipei Office, as our speaker.
This event will be conducted in English with no entry free required. We will look into the success of Denmark: how does such a tiny state take on world affairs with such grace and self-confidence and achieve the reputation as the happiest and least corrupt nation with the highest income equality? Is there possibly a price to pay in order to achieve such success?
For more information, our website is http://www.civictaipei.org/activity/meat/153.html
_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Status Quo Forever
KNN passed around this Global Views survey on how China and Taiwan see each other...1. Do you like Hu Jintao? (Question asked in Taiwan)
Yes 30.4%
No 44.2%
Don’t know 25.4%2. Do you like Ma Ying-jeou? (Question asked in China)
Yes 71.5%
No 15.2%
Don’t know 13.3%
That one was kinda predictable... but a couple of other questions are more interesting...
3. How do you regard the people on the Mainland? (Question asked in Taiwan)
They are business partners 53.6%
They are friends 13.3%
4. How do you regard the people on Taiwan? (Question asked in China)
They are family and relatives 52.3%
They are business partners 16.2%
7. Do you want to buy products from the Mainland? If so, what do you want to buy? (Question asked in Taiwan)
Yes 43.9%
Foodstuff or local specialties 4.2%
Art work 3%
No 56.1%
8. Do you want to buy products from Taiwan? If so, what do you want to buy? (Question asked in China)
Yes 99.9%
Local specialties 53.2%
Garments and name-brand goods 27.3%
Electronic products 24.9%
Cars or motorcycles 15.9%
Books or CDs 10.8%
No 0.1%
The question on Taiwan's "ultimate destiny" revealed the most, I think. While just 16.1% thought Taiwan would be "reunified", and less than 10% said we'd wind up independent, some 60% thought the status quo be the ultimate destiny of Taiwan. Apparently a large chunk of the electorate thinks that tomorrow will be just like today, only more so.
_____________
Daily Links:
- Another KMT legislator's election annulled for hijinks.
- Acer featured in NYTimes.
- Seriously: people out there appear to be concerned that their children will be corrupted by being in class with Chen Shui-bian's 6 year old grandchild.
- Local photographer Craig Ferguson does a photo critique on how to process a photo.
- No, I don't think "adogah" is a racist term, but Dan Bloom does.
- The Northwest Pacific region, including Taiwan, may face fewer typhoons this year.
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
remove evil dictator images from among Eslite merchandise
The following is a video by ahbying that shows how Eslite bookstore has put out some giftshop items including even t-shirts that express endearment to the evil dictators of Taiwan. If you go to Eslite bookstore and department stores -- look for them and when you find them call the manager to complain. Abying calls for a boycott -- whether you do so or not, you must first go complain in loud voices to the managers of each store.
Ahbying says: "蔣友柏 has made some "pop art" shirts with 蔣介石 and 蔣經國. It takes no creativity to take one of the biggest murders of all time (CKS: 蔣介石) and put his pictures in color. How many people were killed because of these two dictators."
Ahbying says: "蔣友柏 has made some "pop art" shirts with 蔣介石 and 蔣經國. It takes no creativity to take one of the biggest murders of all time (CKS: 蔣介石) and put his pictures in color. How many people were killed because of these two dictators."
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Yunlin is just the tip of the iceberg
You knew I would get all hot and bothered by this story:
The Tainan branch of the Taiwan High Court yesterday annulled the election victory of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文).
The ruling is final. Chang may not appeal....
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said that the party would choose a candidate for the by-election in Yunlin within a week, adding that the party was confident of winning the legislative seat.
Several people within the KMT are interested in the seat; the Liberty Times reports two people are gunning for the DPP nomination, namely Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) and Yunlin County Deputy Commissioner Lee Ying-yuan (李應元).
Expect infighting; Yunlin is a faction-ridden place, like most districts in Taiwan. This particular district is the coastal district, so fisherman's organizations will be at least as important as farmers' organizations.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway to begin radically re-mapping Taiwan's townships, villages and cities thanks to the redrawing that will be triggered by the creation of more special municipalities. That will probably in turn trigger redistricting at the legislative level, which will create new opportunities for gerrymandering.
The redrawing process will be messy and full of intrigue, folks!
The Tainan branch of the Taiwan High Court yesterday annulled the election victory of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文).
The ruling is final. Chang may not appeal....
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said that the party would choose a candidate for the by-election in Yunlin within a week, adding that the party was confident of winning the legislative seat.
Several people within the KMT are interested in the seat; the Liberty Times reports two people are gunning for the DPP nomination, namely Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) and Yunlin County Deputy Commissioner Lee Ying-yuan (李應元).
Expect infighting; Yunlin is a faction-ridden place, like most districts in Taiwan. This particular district is the coastal district, so fisherman's organizations will be at least as important as farmers' organizations.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway to begin radically re-mapping Taiwan's townships, villages and cities thanks to the redrawing that will be triggered by the creation of more special municipalities. That will probably in turn trigger redistricting at the legislative level, which will create new opportunities for gerrymandering.
The redrawing process will be messy and full of intrigue, folks!
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Quote of the Week
Freedom of speech in Government? (From the Taipei Times)
A Hakka Journalism Award recipient yesterday accused the Council for Hakka Affairs (CHA) of restricting his freedom of speech after it refused to show a recorded message about his nomination at the award ceremony. Yeh Jih-chia (葉日嘉), a freelancer, received this year’s Hakka Journalism Award for his report on the Miaoli County Government’s demolition of historic kilns in Houlong Township (後龍), which was published in Hakka Magazine earlier this year. As Yeh is also a member of the campaign to save the kilns, in the video clip he held up signs asking Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) to apologize and Miaoli International Culture and Tourism Bureau director Lin Chen-feng (林振豐) to step down.
“I sent my video on Tuesday [last week] and received a telephone call from an official asking if I could change the content because they considered it inappropriate,” Yeh said after receiving the award yesterday.
“The official said they were afraid showing the video could create conflict between the council and the Miaoli County Government,” he said.
The council’s Public Media Center deputy director, Andrew Yu (游進忠), said it was his decision to block Yeh’s video.
“If we showed the video at an award ceremony organized by the council, it would be like a government organization attacking the head of another government organization — that’s something we simply cannot do, otherwise we would upset people,” Yu said. “There’s no freedom of speech at a government agency.”So the Hakka Council is happy to give Yeh Jih-chia (葉日嘉) an award for journalism for a report on the demolition of historic monuments but it allow him to lead the Miaoli Government to feel that the Central Government is criticising it by proxy. Why give the award then? - "Well done on your work Mr Yeh, now be a good boy and settle down and let's all put this behind us. There's nothing to see now and really no point upsetting anyone by holding anyone to account. Afterall, we have OUR reputations and relationships to think of"
A Hakka Journalism Award recipient yesterday accused the Council for Hakka Affairs (CHA) of restricting his freedom of speech after it refused to show a recorded message about his nomination at the award ceremony. Yeh Jih-chia (葉日嘉), a freelancer, received this year’s Hakka Journalism Award for his report on the Miaoli County Government’s demolition of historic kilns in Houlong Township (後龍), which was published in Hakka Magazine earlier this year. As Yeh is also a member of the campaign to save the kilns, in the video clip he held up signs asking Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) to apologize and Miaoli International Culture and Tourism Bureau director Lin Chen-feng (林振豐) to step down.
“I sent my video on Tuesday [last week] and received a telephone call from an official asking if I could change the content because they considered it inappropriate,” Yeh said after receiving the award yesterday.
“The official said they were afraid showing the video could create conflict between the council and the Miaoli County Government,” he said.
The council’s Public Media Center deputy director, Andrew Yu (游進忠), said it was his decision to block Yeh’s video.
“If we showed the video at an award ceremony organized by the council, it would be like a government organization attacking the head of another government organization — that’s something we simply cannot do, otherwise we would upset people,” Yu said. “There’s no freedom of speech at a government agency.”So the Hakka Council is happy to give Yeh Jih-chia (葉日嘉) an award for journalism for a report on the demolition of historic monuments but it allow him to lead the Miaoli Government to feel that the Central Government is criticising it by proxy. Why give the award then? - "Well done on your work Mr Yeh, now be a good boy and settle down and let's all put this behind us. There's nothing to see now and really no point upsetting anyone by holding anyone to account. Afterall, we have OUR reputations and relationships to think of"
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
Announcement: Book Release
Dear friends of Taiwan,
I am
Announcement: Book Release
Dear friends of Taiwan,
I am thrilled to announce the release of my book Democracy in Peril: Taiwan’s struggle for survival from Chen Shui-bian to Ma Ying-jeou! More than two years in the making, Democracy in Peril comes at a critical period in Taiwan’s history, and its release could not be more timely. Over the next few weeks, my book will start being available at various bookstores and online. Already, it can be purchased at Amazon.com and barnes&noble.com (links below picture of the book, right), and the e-book can be directly purchased from the publisher at www.iuniverse.com. As bookstores may not have it in stock, you may have to special order it from them. Hopefully, it should also eventually be available at bookstores in Taiwan as well as on www.books.com.tw. I will try to organize a book launch in Taipei at some point. Please spread the word! This nation is worth it and the rest of the world needs to know what's going on.
Book description
Despite the warm reception in world capitals and favorable press coverage the cross-strait policies of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou have received since he came into office on May 20, 2008, there is something rotten in Taipei. In just one year, the cost of closer relations with Beijing has become increasingly obvious in Taiwan, the small, officially unrecognized democracy of 23 million people, where police brutality, government meddling in the media and political persecution are reawakening the specter of its authoritarian past.
In a timely collection of essays and reportage written during the last 18 months of the Chen Shui-bian administration and Ma’s first year in office, Democracy in Peril offers a history of the present in Taiwan as this vibrant democracy and economic powerhouse strives for international recognition under the constant fear of Chinese invasion. It shows how the greatest threat to the nation’s survival now possibly comes from within, under a government that has proven divisive and whose efforts to improve relations with China could come at an unbearable price — not only to Taiwanese, but to the entire world.
Paperback: 440 pages
Publisher: iUniverse.com (June 25, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1440150591
ISBN-13: 978-1440150593
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
Price: Trade Paperback US$27.95 (e-book US$6.00)
Dear friends of Taiwan,
I am thrilled to announce the release of my book Democracy in Peril: Taiwan’s struggle for survival from Chen Shui-bian to Ma Ying-jeou! More than two years in the making, Democracy in Peril comes at a critical period in Taiwan’s history, and its release could not be more timely. Over the next few weeks, my book will start being available at various bookstores and online. Already, it can be purchased at Amazon.com and barnes&noble.com (links below picture of the book, right), and the e-book can be directly purchased from the publisher at www.iuniverse.com. As bookstores may not have it in stock, you may have to special order it from them. Hopefully, it should also eventually be available at bookstores in Taiwan as well as on www.books.com.tw. I will try to organize a book launch in Taipei at some point. Please spread the word! This nation is worth it and the rest of the world needs to know what's going on.
Book description
Despite the warm reception in world capitals and favorable press coverage the cross-strait policies of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou have received since he came into office on May 20, 2008, there is something rotten in Taipei. In just one year, the cost of closer relations with Beijing has become increasingly obvious in Taiwan, the small, officially unrecognized democracy of 23 million people, where police brutality, government meddling in the media and political persecution are reawakening the specter of its authoritarian past.
In a timely collection of essays and reportage written during the last 18 months of the Chen Shui-bian administration and Ma’s first year in office, Democracy in Peril offers a history of the present in Taiwan as this vibrant democracy and economic powerhouse strives for international recognition under the constant fear of Chinese invasion. It shows how the greatest threat to the nation’s survival now possibly comes from within, under a government that has proven divisive and whose efforts to improve relations with China could come at an unbearable price — not only to Taiwanese, but to the entire world.
Paperback: 440 pages
Publisher: iUniverse.com (June 25, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1440150591
ISBN-13: 978-1440150593
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
Price: Trade Paperback US$27.95 (e-book US$6.00)
Categories: Interesting Taiwan articles
