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"Pay close attention to that man behind the curtain!"

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Deep thoughts, August 3, 2008

Using the "N" to shift into gear "C"?

In the language of the Chinese Nationalist Party* (KMT) the word "neutrality" means "going after the DPP." See for yourself how the person they chose to preside over the Control Yuan (監察院)** uses the word:
Wang [Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien (王建煊***)] has said in media interviews that the Control Yuan will initially probe cases involving senior officials of the DPP administration, including the Papua New Guinea diplomatic scandal and the controversial arms firm Taiwan Goal.

"To begin with, there are more cases regarding the DPP as it is the former ruling party, but it's likely that we will also handle cases involving the KMT in the future," Wang was quoted as saying at the time.
Dig that bullshit reasoning for the obviously non-neutral approach to the cases. The DPP held the office of the presidency for 8 years (compared to the KMT's half century), but the DPP has never held a legislative majority when compared to the pan-blues. Wang is dissembling.

Further reading in the "Taiwan vs. China" genre:
+ Taipei Times, August 2, 2008, page 1: Taiwan Post to dump new moniker

+ Taiwan News, August 2, 2008, page 1: Taiwan Post will revert to 'Chunghwa' in name

+ China Post, August 2, 2008, page 1: Company name reverts to 'Chunghwa Post Co.'

+ Taipei Times, August 3, 2008, page 8: Beijing politicizing the Olympics, by Richard Halloran
China appears bent on regaining its place as the "Middle Kingdom," a concept formed in the Han Dynasty (206BC to 220AD). In that scheme, China is the center of the world and its neighbors are vassals who pay court and make no move of consequence without Beijing's permission. Other nations, particularly those in the West, are barbarians to be fended off.
+ Taipei Times, February 12, 2007, page 1: Then-KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) calls "localization" moves (such as changing the name to "Taiwan Post") "meaningless"

FOOTNOTES:
* The Mandarin word for "neutral" (中立的) sounds too much like "standing on China's side" to me -- especially in the language of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). If you were on trial in Taiwan, wouldn't you prefer a judge who is "impartial" (不偏不倚的, 公正的, 無偏見的) to one who is supposedly "neutral" (中立的)? Whether that's the particular word Wang used or not, check this out, from the June 4, 2008 edition of the China Post, to get a closer look at Anhui-born Wang's Chinese characteristics:
[Wang's] Heart of Love Cultural Foundation started opening 53 "Pearl Classes" in 23 provinces in China to provide full scholarships for high school students.
How do you write "neutral" in Chinese again? Oh, yeah. It's "stand" next to "China" -- and that mandates opposing the DPP.

** Wang himself is a founder of the pro-unification New Party, which split from the KMT because of Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).

*** The third character of Wang's name is an uncommon character that combines the two elements -- 火 and 宣 -- into the single Hanzi character "煊." According to this Wikipedia article, it is sometimes written as 宣.
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Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

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