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

Monday, January 26, 2009

In Ma Ying-jeou's brain, down is up (again)

Grand delusions

White = black; angel = devil; rioter = good citizen; law enforcers = police state
"Ma Ying-jeou course on political terminology"
An editorial cartoon from the April 16, 2004 edition of the Taipei Times

Taiwan's president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in his Lunar New Year's Eve speech yesterday that "[Taiwan's] international profile had been raised to a higher level and the public again had confidence in the judiciary." (See a Mandarin report here.)

I call horseshit.

Let's clear the air of this stink, shall we?
As for the part about the [Taiwanese] public's "confidence in the judiciary," on January 8, 2009 (less than three weeks ago), the Taiwan News reported that:
According to recent surveys conducted by Academia Sinica and the Web site Yahoo! Kimo, over 50 percent of the people do not believe in Taiwan's judicial system and over 75 percent have no confidence that the Judicial Yuan will undertake judicial reform [...]
That would mean that Ma is not telling the truth. (You decide if it's on purpose.)

As for "Taiwan's international profile," take a look at these indicators:
* November 6, 2008: Scholars and writers from around the world publish an "Open letter on erosion of justice in Taiwan."

* The same letter as an online petition has been signed by over 2,000 people so far.

* November 25, 2008: Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) calls the open letter "inaccurate."

* December 2, 2008: "Eroding justice: Open letter No. 2" counters Wang Ching-feng's claims.

* January 8, 2009: Over a month later, Wang Ching-feng comes up with "clarif[ications]" regarding the open-letter writers' so-called "misunderstandings."

* January 21, 2009: "Eroding justice: Open letter No. 3" is addressed to President Ma Ying-jeou.

* January 24, 2009: Two more "US-based Taiwan experts add [their] names to open letter [No. 3]."

* January 25, 2009: President Ma tells us that the situation is the exact opposite of what the information above tells us it is.
Nope. All of this evidence -- plus the notice taken by Amnesty International, Freedom House, the International Federation for Human Rights, and Reporters Without Borders -- points to a lowering of Taiwan's international profile, and it's precisely because of the behavior of Ma's government.

The Truth of Ministries
Can you say "Orwellian"? I knew that you could.

Caving in to pressure from China is not "peace," freedom is not slavery, and ignorance is not strength.
Not what the news tells you they are: , , , , ,

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

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