Goodbye democracy, hello dead-dictator worship


Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (臺灣民主紀念館)
Photographed in December 2007 by Tim Maddog
(Click to enlarge)
The Saturday, May 30, 2009 edition of the Taipei Times brings us the details of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) plans to reverse Taiwan's democracy all the way back to how things were when they were the only party that was legal and memorializing dictators was de rigueur:

Old CKS plaque to be reinstated at Memorial Hall

[...]

The [KMT] government has decided to remove a plaque bearing the name "National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" from the main building of the hall and would reinstate the "Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall" plaque in July, Minister Without Portfolio Ovid Tseng (曾志朗) said on Thursday.

The decision was made after coordination meetings between different government branches, Tseng said.

As for the inscription on the memorial hall's entry arch, the Ministry of Education said yesterday it would hold three public forums next month to discuss whether to reinstate the four-character inscription, dazhong zhizheng (大中至正), which means "great neutrality and perfect uprightness."*

Participants at the forums will include academics and experts, while elected representatives and government officials will be excluded from the meetings, the ministry said.

Tseng said the government would not replace the "Liberty Square" inscription at the hall entrance until after gauging public opinion on the matter during the ministry-sponsored forums.

[...]

During the review of the central government's budget request for the current fiscal year in January, the KMT-controlled legislature passed a resolution stating that "the name of National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall shall be changed to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall."

Note carefully how they say they won't replace the "Liberty Square" sign "until after they gauge public opinion." According to experience, that means that no matter what the public has to say about it, they will do it, perhaps after pretending to do a survey.


A closer shot of the plaque which reads
"Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall"
Photographed in December 2007 by Tim Maddog
(Click to enlarge)
* NOTE: The second and fourth characters in "dazhong zhizheng" form two-thirds of one of Chiang Kai-shek's (蔣介石/蔣中正) names. Every city in Taiwan has a Zhongzheng/Jhongjheng/Chungcheng Road (中正路).


The gate at Liberty Square
Photographed in December 2007 by Tim Maddog
(Click to enlarge)

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Directional indicators: Taiwan, 台灣, Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, 臺灣民主紀念館, Chinese Nationalist Party, 中國國民黨, Kuomintang, KMT, 國民黨, Chiang Kai-shek, 蔣介石, CKS, 蔣中正, Liberty Square, 自由廣場

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chiang Kai-shek, CKS, KMT, Liberty Square, Taiwan, Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, 台灣, 國民黨, 自由廣場, 臺灣民主紀念館, 蔣中正, 蔣介石

Remove that thing from public places, or...

On the morning of Tuesday, May 26, 2009, Taipei City councilor Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) and a couple of his colleagues climbed the scaffolding surrounding Taipei's Jingfu Gate (景福門) and covered the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) emblem with white paint. The KMT symbol had been painted -- in grand dictatorial fashion -- on the historical monument on or around May 18, one day after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest the pro-China, anti-Taiwan policies of president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his party.


Jingfu Gate is corrected (left) after being defaced by the KMT government (far right)
Screenshot from SET's (三立新聞) Talking Show (大話新聞)
(Click to enlarge)
A bridge in Yonghe City (Taipei County) has also been recently decorated with publicly-funded golden horses, mirroring Ma's family name (Ma [馬] means "horse"). The bridge has nine arches, and "nine" (九) is the third word in Ma's name. Talk about a culture of flattery!


Kissing Ma's ass from every angle
Screenshot from SET's (三立新聞) Talking Show (大話新聞)
(Click to enlarge)
On May 20, 2009, state-owned Taiyen (台鹽) put bottled water on the market with a jogger on the label, reflecting one of the activities Ma is best-known for. It came in 520 ml bottles, reflecting Ma's inauguration date (5/20/2008). After Ma got in office, Kuo Su-chun's (郭素春) husband Hung Hsi-yao (ph) (洪璽曜) became the company's chairman. Kuo is (in-)famous for shouting 「 選舉無效！」 ("Annul the election!") alongside sore loser Lien Chan (連戰) before the riots began. Could there be a connection between these things? Hmmmm...


A humid homage to "the Great Jogger," Ma Ying-jeou
Screenshot from SET's (三立新聞) Talking Show (大話新聞)
(Click to enlarge)
And in conjunction with the anniversary of Ma's inauguration, public funds were spent by the state-owned Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Company (TTL, 台灣菸酒公司) on a newspaper ad praising Ma for his "erudition" (博學), "extraordinary ability" (宏才), and "love of Taiwan." Doesn't that make you sick?


Your money paid for this propaganda
Screenshot from SET's (三立新聞) Talking Show (大話新聞)
(Click to enlarge)
Or did you hear about the fountain in Beitou -- costing around NT$30 MILLION -- with a design that looks like the KMT's party emblem? (That article is in Chinese, but even if you can't read it, go there to see the image.)

And don't forget the article about "Sunny (as in 'positive'), healthy Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou" in the children's publication, Mandarin Daily News (國語日報). NOTHING of this sort happened during former president Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) eight years in office -- a time in which KMT (as part of a neverending smear campaign) constantly called Chen a "dictator" and a "populist." Ma has been in office for exactly one year and six days so far, and look what we get. It's "拍馬屁" in the extreme.

What now?
First, tattoo the above incidents onto your brain with a friggin' laser beam. The next time something similar happens, you will be able to recite them by heart to everyone you talk to.

But if you get creative, there are other ways to deal with this kind of situation.

One way would be to get rid of all such emblems, and that would look something like this:


I know, I know. There's a slight difference between the KMT's party emblem and the knockoff they call the "national emblem," but if the two emblems were the topic of a trademark infringement lawsuit, somebody's ass would get sued into the ground.
(Click to enlarge)
... or we could put them everywhere. Here's a good place:


Modification of an Olivier Morin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Image
(Click the above image to enlarge)
(See what the original image looked like)
Mr. Chang from Kaohsiung suggests "Ma Ying-jeou toilet tissue," and he has a variation of the idea you see being carried out in the above image:


0:44 YouTube video: "Flush Ma Ying-jeou down your toilet"
UPDATE: From the June 9, 2009 edition of the Liberty Times (自由時報) comes this article about someone putting KMT party emblem stickers in urinals in Taichung's Chungshan Park (中山公園):


Liberty Times photo by 蘇金鳳
公廁貼黨徽 「方便」也能表不滿
Translation: Stickers bearing the [KMT] party emblem appear in public restroom --
"taking a leak" can also express your dissatisfaction
(Click to enlarge)
[/update]

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Reachers en regalia: Taiwan, 台灣, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, Chinese Nationalist Party, 中國國民黨, Kuomintang, KMT, 國民黨, propaganda, 宣傳, parody, 戲仿

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chinese Nationalist Party, KMT, Kuomintang, Ma Ying-jeou, parody, propaganda, Taiwan, 中國國民黨, 台灣, 國民黨, 宣傳, 戲仿, 馬英九

Ethnically-divisive paper lacks mirrors, points fingers at others

An editorial in the Thursday, May 21, 2009 edition of the logically-, geographically-, and factually-challenged China Post demonstrates once again how fucked up they are.


This is the only way to understand what is written within
(Click to enlarge)
Here are some excerpts from that editorial [the blockquoted sections below] followed by my commentary [the non-blockquoted sections]:

[p. 1]

[...]

The Blue Camp's Chinese nationalism may be bad nationalism. But the Green Camp's "Taiwanese" nationalism is a far worse nationalism.

Chinese nationalism, to its credit, was purely defensive in nature. It was a defensive reaction to western and Japanese colonialism and imperialism, specifically Britain's two Opium Wars, and Japan's relentless attempts at territorial conquest.

The editors have already set up a double standard regarding nationalism: "Chinese may be bad. No! Chinese, good! Taiwanese, bad. Very bad!"

They also ignore the "colonialism and imperialism" exhibited by Chinese towards Taiwan. But saying so would justify the Taiwanese fighting back against the behavior of the colonialists on their own side.

Let's continue on the next page of idiocy.

[p. 2]

Chinese nationalism, to its credit, is also highly inclusive. Minorities, providing they do not agitate for political secession, have been treated comparatively well by both the KMT and CCP governments.

[...]

Sure, Chinese nationalism is "inclusive" -- it tells us that everyone is "Chinese" (as long as they want to make you part of their empire) and that all others are "barbarians."

But the China Post can't explain why the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) forbade speaking Taiwanese in school and on TV or why they're doing it again. In fact, the editors won't even mention it. That would knock their own argument down, and it might remind people that there are indeed Taiwanese in Taiwan.

Furthermore, you'd better not disagree with these "superior" Chinese (on either side of the Strait), or they'll kill a whole bunch of you like they've done in Taiwan and Tibet.

Let's get back to the total nonsense.

In real world practice, Green Camp "Taiwanese" nationalists are seemingly eager tools of U.S. hegemony and Japanese colonialism.

Is the U.S. trying to absorb Taiwan? Didn't the Japanese sign treaties regarding Taiwan, and aren't they sticking to those treaties? Also, isn't Japan friendly to Taiwan now?

And the repeated use of the word "colonialism" shows just how un-self-aware the editors of the China Post are.

Back to the logically-challenged editorial.

Paradoxically, the Green Camp's "Taiwanese" nationalism is also among the more virulent forms of nationalism, one that places an inordinate stress on ethnic identity.

This is exactly the opposite of the reality. The greens place no emphasis on "ethnic" identity. Anybody who identifies with Taiwan or the cause of protecting Taiwan are welcomed by our side. Have the editors ever heard of these people: Ruan Ming (阮名), Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), Robin Dale (羅賓漢), Lynn Miles (梅心怡), Linda Arrigo (艾琳達), the 26 foreign scholars and writers who wrote to President Ma, etc.? I bet they have. Do they want you just to forget? Supporting Taiwan has nothing to do with "ethnic" identity -- it's entirely political. It's about identifying with Taiwan as one's home, whether you were born here or are an immigrant like myself.

The most ethnically divisive people you can find -- for example, Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英) and Hsing-yun (星雲) -- are KMT officials and supporters.

And if the word "virulent" reminds you of the way Nazis portrayed the Jews, get ready for the nastiest, most ironic bit in the piece.

Joyce Huang, a prominent Taiwanese liberal reformer, is an outspoken critic of KMT authoritarianism and "Taiwanese" nationalism. Huang accurately characterized the Green Camp's "Taiwanese" nationalism as "Hoklo Chauvinism" or "Hoklo Fascism." She compared "Taiwanese" nationalism to German Nazism.

The problems within that paragraph are myriad -- not being limited only to the mendacious Nazi comparisons and to the scare quotes on the word "Taiwanese," once again pretending that Taiwanese don't exist.

The China Post is totally obfuscating Joyce Huang's (黃智賢, Huang Chi-hsien) actual political position.

Joyce Huang is outspoken all right, but in sharp contrast to her estranged brother, DPP legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃智賢), Joyce Huang cannot be described by a truthful person as "neither blue nor green" (不分藍綠).

She is deep-blue, and you might find her being "outspoken" on the 100% Chinese-funded TVBS (AKA BS-TV) smear-fest "2100全民開講" ("Let's All Talk Bullshit"?).

A blast from the not-so-distant past
You might remember people like Emile Sheng (盛治仁), whom the media painted as a "neutral observer" during the administration of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Sheng somehow ended up with a job as chairman of the Taipei Deaflympics Organizing Committee under the administration of Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

By painting Huang as "neither blue nor green" ("Look! An outspoken critic of KMT authoritarianism!"), the China Post is doing the same thing the media did with Sheng.

But don't you believe their bullshit for even one minute! Open your eyes and be clear about these "tools of authoritarianism."


"Ma Ying-jeou course on political terminology"
An editorial cartoon from the April 16, 2004 edition of the Taipei Times
FURTHER READING:
* See how the kids' paper, the Mandarin Daily News (國語日報) is inflating Ma Ying-jeou's image for the kiddies the way students of my wife's generation were forcefed bullshit about the murderous dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) being the "greatest man in the world." The article there is titled 「陽光健康的台灣總統馬英九」 ("Sunny [as in 'positive'], healthy Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou"). Interesting how they don't let the kids know that when Ma says one thing, it's a pretty good idea to doubt his sincerity. Here's a semi-English-y Google translation for those who need it.

* Here's a blog post which reprints the original article (including pictures) and another English-y Google translation.

* Another mirror of the article can be found at NewsRumble -- just in case.

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Hammers and nails: Taiwan, 台灣, media, 媒體, China Post, 英文中國郵報, Joyce Huang, 黃智賢, Huang Chi-hsien, ethnic divisiveness, 族群分裂

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: China Post, ethnic divisiveness, Huang Chi-hsien, Joyce Huang, media, Taiwan, 台灣, 媒體, 族群分裂, 英文中國郵報, 黃智賢

Justice and human rights continue to erode

Yet again, an estimable group of scholars and writers -- 26 in all, and each one with a deep understanding of Taiwan and the surrounding facts -- has composed an open letter addressed directly to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

The letter addresses the ever-increasing problems with judicial fairness, press freedom, the lack of transparency in the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) rapprochement with China, the loss of Taiwan's sovereignty, and the loss of human rights. The argument the letter makes is rock solid. It is based on demonstrable facts, and if Ma or his administration responds with more denials as they have done with the previous open letters, they will only be make things look even worse than they already are.

Without further hot air from me, here's number four in the series as it appeared in the Thursday, May 21, 2009 issue of the Taipei Times:

Open letter to Taiwan's president

Dear President Ma,

On the occasion of the first anniversary of your presidency, we, the undersigned, scholars and writers from the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, wish to publicly address our concerns to you about a number of trends in Taiwan, as well as several specific developments.

We raise these issues as international supporters of Taiwan's democracy who care deeply about the country and its future as a free and democratic nation-state. As you recall, we voiced concerns on three previous occasions, most recently in a letter to you, Mr President, dated Jan. 17, 2009, in which we expressed our concern regarding the fairness of the judicial system in Taiwan.

These concerns have not been alleviated by either the response from Government Information Office Minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) or the cessation of troubling, flawed and partial judicial proceedings, in particular involving the case of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

We reiterate that any alleged corruption must be investigated, but emphasize that the judicial process needs to be scrupulously fair and impartial. In the case of the former president, it is evident that the prosecution is heavily tainted by political bias, and that the former president is being treated badly out of spite for the political views and the positions he took during his presidency. Such retribution does not bode well for a young and fragile democracy, as Taiwan is.

The second issue that we feel we need to highlight is press freedom. In spite of earlier expressions of concern by international organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Freedom House, there continue to be reports of impingement on press freedom by your administration. A case in point is the recent disturbing report that Central News Agency staff were instructed to write only "positive" stories about the policies of your administration, and that reports containing criticism of your administration or China were excised.

As supporters of a free and democratic Taiwan it is disheartening to see that in the annual report on press freedom by the New York-based Freedom House, Taiwan dropped from 32nd to 43rd place. In addition, it is disconcerting to see reports that groups with close ties to China are buying their way into Taiwan's media circles, gaining a controlling voice in major publications such as the China Times. We need to remind ourselves that China is still an authoritarian state with a long history of control of the news media. Its financial influence in Taiwan's free press will in the long run be detrimental to hard-won freedoms.

This leads us to a third general issue: the means by which rapprochement with China is being pursued. While most people in Taiwan and overseas agree that a reduction of tension in the Taiwan Strait is beneficial, it is crucial to do this in a manner befitting a democratic nation: with openness and full public debate. Only if there is sufficient transparency and true dialogue — both in the Legislative Yuan and in society as a whole — will the result be supported by a significant majority of the people.

Transparency and true dialogue have been lacking in the process. Decisions and agreements are arrived at in secrecy and then simply announced to the public. The Legislative Yuan seems to have been sidelined, having little input in the form or content of the agreements, such as the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA). The administration simply sends to the legislature the texts agreed to in the negotiations with the People's Republic of China, allowing virtually no possibility of discussion of the pros and cons of such agreements. This undermines the system of checks and balances, which is so essential to a mature democracy. We may mention that recent opinion polls show overwhelming support for a referendum on an ECFA and for better legislative oversight of China policy.

Mr President, as international scholars and writers who have followed Taiwan's impressive transition to democracy during the past two decades, we know the sensitivity in Taiwan of the issue of relations with China. Rapprochement needs to be carried out in a way that ensures that the achievements of the democratic movement are safeguarded, that the political divide within Taiwan is reduced and that Taiwan's sovereignty, human rights and democracy are protected and strengthened.

However, during the past year we have seen that the policies of your administration are being implemented in a way that is causing deep anxiety, particularly among many who fought for Taiwan's democracy two decades ago. This was evident in the large-scale rallies held in Taipei and Kaohsiung on Sunday.

We have also seen a further polarization in society due to the lack of transparency and democratic checks and balances. Many observers believe that the rapprochement with China has occurred at the expense of Taiwan's sovereignty, democracy and freedoms. To some, the judicial practices and police behavior toward those who criticize your policies are even reminiscent of the dark days of martial law.

In this respect, symbols are important. It does not help that your administration has renamed National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall in Taipei back to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. It doesn't bolster your case that the funding for the Chingmei Human Rights Memorial in Sindian (新店) has been cut drastically and that the location is being turned into a "cultural" park. It doesn't help that changes are being made to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) that infringe on freedoms of protesters instead of enhancing freedom of speech.

Mr President, we appeal to you to take measures that alleviate these concerns. A first step would be to initiate and implement reforms in the judicial system that safeguard the human rights of the accused and ensure a fair trial. A second step would be to guarantee complete press freedom, and instill in those engaged in the media the determination to live up to the highest standards.

Thirdly, rapprochement with China needs to be brought about in such a way that the people of Taiwan have a full say in determining their future as a free and democratic nation. Closed-door deals that bring Taiwan increasingly into China's sphere of influence are detrimental to Taiwan's future and undermine the democratic fabric of society.

Due to its complex history, Taiwan has not had the opportunity to be accepted as a full and equal member of the international family of nations. We believe the people of Taiwan have worked hard for their democracy, and that the international community should accept Taiwan in its midst. Your actions and policies can help the island and its people move in the right direction. We urge you to do so.

Respectfully yours,

NAT BELLOCCHI
Former chairman, American Institute in Taiwan

COEN BLAAUW
Formosan Association for Public Affairs, Washington

STÉPHANE CORCUFF
Associate Professor of Political Science, China and Taiwan Studies, University of Lyon

GORDON G. CHANG
Author, The Coming Collapse of China

JUNE TEUFEL DREYER
Professor of Political Science, University of Miami

MICHAEL DANIELSEN
Chairman, Taiwan Corner, Copenhagen, Denmark

TERRI GILES
Executive Director, Formosa Foundation, Los Angeles

BRUCE JACOBS
Professor of Asian Languages and Studies, Monash University

RICHARD C. KAGAN
Professor Emeritus of History, Hamline University

JEROME F. KEATING
Author and associate professor (ret.), National Taipei University

DAVID KILGOUR
Former Canadian member of parliament and secretary of state for the Asia-Pacific

LIU SHIH-CHUNG
Visiting Fellow, The Brookings Institution, Washington

MICHAEL RAND HOARE
Emeritus Reader at the University of London, Great Britain

VICTOR H. MAIR
Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Pennsylvania

DONALD RODGERS
Associate Professor of Political Science, Austin College

TERENCE RUSSELL
Associate Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Manitoba

CHRISTIAN SCHAFFERER
Associate Professor, Department of International Trade, Overseas Chinese Institute of Technology; and Editor, Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia

MICHAEL STAINTON
York Center for Asia Research, Toronto, Canada

PETER CHOW
Professor of Economics, City College of New York

PETER TAGUE
Professor of Law,Georgetown University

JOHN J. TKACIK JR.
Former senior research fellow, The Heritage Foundation, Washington

ARTHUR WALDRON
Lauder Professor of International Relations, University of Pennsylvania

VINCENT WEI-CHENG WANG
Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

GERRIT VAN DER WEES
Editor, Taiwan Communiqué

MICHAEL YAHUDA
Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics, and Visiting Scholar, George Washington University

STEPHEN YATES
President, DC Asia Advisory, and former deputy assistant to the US vice president for national security affairs

I'm hoping this will be online as a petition soon, at which time I will tell you how you can add your name.

The prequels
Don't forget the earlier parts of this long-running series, listed here in chronological order:

* 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 more than 2,000 people.

* 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 claims the public had gained confidence in the judiciary in 2008 -- the exact opposite of what this Taiwan News article tells us they actually felt:

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 [...]

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Dotted lines: Taiwan, 台灣, open letter, 公開信, human rights, 人權, sovereignty, 主權, Jerome Keating, 祁夫潤, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: human rights, Jerome Keating, Ma Ying-jeou, open letter, sovereignty, Taiwan, 主權, 人權, 公開信, 台灣, 祁夫潤, 馬英九

Who loves Taiwan, crybaby?

WHO's reckless and disgraceful and causing Taiwan to lose face? That would be the Minister of Health Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川).

What happened? Some Taiwanese students studying in Europe, including Huang Hai-ning (黃海寧) -- the good-looking 30-year-old who is a PhD candidate in France and the daughter of former Taichung County councilor Huang Pin-huang (黃丙煌) (DPP) -- caught up with Yeh in Geneva and wanted to make sure he wouldn't sell out Taiwan to China.

They had a pretty good reason to worry.

Taiwan is already listed as "China (Province of Taiwan)" on the World Health Organization (WHO) web site -- clearly the result of a 2005 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between China and the WHO. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) implausibly denies having any knowledge of this MOU.

It's more than just "implausible." Chang Jung-Kung (張榮恭), then-spokesman and director of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT -- y'know, Ma's party?) department of mainland China affairs said that he had "obtained the contents of the memorandum through China's relevant institutions in charge of Taiwan affairs," according to a May 29, 2005 CNA article republished on GlobalSecurity.org.

Getting back to the events at hand, Huang repeatedly asked Yeh what name Taiwan would be using at the World Health Assembly (WHA), but Yeh refused to give a direct answer to any of her questions. He could only shout insults and try to run away. Eventually, he made his way to a waiting vehicle and took off.

Can you guess what happened just a short time later?

Yeh held a press conference and... cried! zOMFG!!!!111!

What Luby said
Instead of trying to describe my own incredulous reaction to this scene, let me just quote something I received in the mail today which says it much better than I could [from Luby Liao's blog, presented here with minor edits]:

Some thoughts:

1. [Yeh] could not talk coherently.

Student: What title are we using to participate in the WHA?

Yeh: Please have self-respect... Can you speak Taiwanese? ... We must have dignity... What do you want?... Why do I need to answer your question?... I love Taiwan....

2. Not only did he NOT answer legitimate and intelligent questions, he mumbled irrelevant (We must have dignity) and offensive (Why do I need to answer citizens' questions?) gibberish.

3. He became foul-mouthed, using language[] that made me shudder.

4. Michael Turton: Afterwards he convened an instant press conference (using taxpayers' money), where he sniffled and whimpered. He never answered the question: What title are we using to participate in the WHA?

Isn't a Minister supposed to be an outstanding citizen, capable, ethical and patriotic? Why is this Minister incoherent, evil, and openly selling out his country?

Take a look at the 5-minute video, with no edits, and see everything the pro-blue media left out:


5:01 YouTube video: "葉金川失控飆罵愛國學生 保證一刀未剪完整版"
Translation: Yeh Ching-chuan loses control, unleashes a whirlwind of abusive
language when confronted by patriotic students: the complete, uncensored version

I hereby declare Huang Hai-ning a National Treasure!

The same footage can be seen here with Hanzi subtitles added and a discussion by the Talking Show (大話新聞) panel:


10:36 YouTube video: "09-05/19 SET-大話新聞( DaHwa News)14/6"
Translation: May 19, 2009, SET Talking Show, part 6 of 14 [of that evening's show]
If anybody finds a version with English subtitles, let me know so I can share it with readers who might not understand the Mandarin and Taiwanese in the ones above.

FURTHER READING:
* In today's Taipei Times, Yeh's 'heckler' shares her story

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Supermodels and douchebags: Taiwan, 台灣, Huang Hai-ning, 黃海寧, World Health Organization, 世界衛生組織, World Health Assembly, 世界衛生大會, Yeh Ching-chuan, 葉金川, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, Memorandum of Understanding, 備忘錄, MOU

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Huang Hai-ning, MOU, Taiwan, World Health Assembly, World Health Organization, Yeh Ching-chuan, 世界衛生大會, 世界衛生組織, 備忘錄, 台灣, 葉金川, 黃海寧

An amazing success -- except for the two guys that a cop put in the hospital and the black-shirted instigator in Kaohsiung who provoked a reaction (before crying like a stuck pig when he got what was coming to him and returning to Taipei today for more of the same)

I was there at the Taipei protest, but since I'm getting to this a bit late, I'll mostly just provide some relevant links.

But first, here's a photo I took on Ketagalan Boulevard (凱達格蘭大道):


The crowd on Ketagalan Blvd. #4
(Click to enlarge)
* The DPP says that 600,000 attended in Taipei (along with another 200,000 in Kaohsiung), but Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) puts the Taipei number at a mere 40,000. Doesn't he wish?!

* I shot some video at the 517 protest. This one shows a small portion of the crowd. The question isn't "Is Hau Lung-bin lying?" It's "How big of a liar is he?" Read the full desciption on its YouTube page for more info.


1:04 YouTube video: "517 raw video - Walking past NTU Hospital"

* An Associated Press piece by Annie Huang (unfortunately repeated without editing by the Taiwan News and expectedly by the China Post) not only refers to "Tens of thousands" of attendees, it inexplicably repeats the big, fucking lie that "China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949." Can you say "zombie lies"?

* J. Michael Cole does an even more thorough takedown of the mess of lies within that piece.

* The regularly-mendacious China Post still diminishes the number of attendees, saying there were "200,000."

* David Reid blogs that DPP reclaims the streets, reminding readers about the DPP's new English-language blog which regular readers of this blog or David's should go see.

* Speaking of which, here's the DPP International photostream on Flickr and their English translation of chairperson Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) speech at the rally.

* David Reid's photos from the 517 protest as well as from the DPP's 24-hour sit-in also appear on the "citizen-journalism website and photo agency" Demotix.

* Michael Turton was in Taipei, too, and he calls the protest a "roaring success." He includes lots of photos, as you'd expect. But I disagree with one thing he says. I saw plenty of young people at this protest.

* A post on SocialForce.net (媒抗) leads to live streams of FTV and SET news coverage -- very useful for those outside of Taiwan (or even just without cable TV) who want to keep up with things.

* My Flickr photostream of images from the 517 protest begins behind the link.

* Luby Liao sent a link to a photo gallery.

* More images from the 517 嗆馬大遊行 and DPP and Free Taiwan Flickr groups. Some of my own photos are in those three groups.

* The Taiwanese Identity blog has a short post with photos on a specific theme: The Clarity of Taiwan's Identity.

* A 21-year-old police officer, said to have been driving 80 to 90 km/hr. in an area with many protesters, smashed his police car into two men in their sixties, injuring one severely and smashing half of the windshield on his vehicle. Last I heard was that he may have to have a foot or leg amputated and then cranial surgery.

* Talking Show (大話新聞), whose weekend time slots had been canceled since December 2008, had a special broadcast Sunday night covering topics such as the media's lies and the "accident" involving the police car.

That's all I've got.

---

Addends: Taiwan, 台灣, protest, 抗議, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, media, 媒體, China Post, 英文中國郵報, Taiwan News, 台灣英文新聞, YouTube, photos, 相片

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: China Post, Ma Ying-jeou, media, photos, protest, Taiwan, Taiwan News, YouTube, 台灣, 台灣英文新聞, 媒體, 抗議, 相片, 英文中國郵報, 馬英九

Who's the "party of violence" again?

This video first came to my attention via the Letters from Taiwan blog, and it made me want to vomit (on the crosswalk-hogs within):


7:53 YouTube video: "總統牆內簽公約 政府牆外侵人權"
Translation: Behind the wall, the president signs human rights agreement,
outside the wall, the government infringes upon human rights
Oh, the irony is too much to endure!
Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was across the street signing two United Nations (UN) human rights covenants, but police outside were ironfistedly enforcing the unjust Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) when Ma himself said he would return the streets to the people.

Do you need even more reasons to attend the 517 protest?

Or are you going to just let this kind of thing get worse and worse?

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Red flags, warning beacons, boots to the head, whatever you want to call them: Taiwan, 台灣, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, authoritarianism, 權力主義, violence, 暴力, human rights, 人權, irony, 嘲諷的話

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: authoritarianism, human rights, irony, Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan, violence, 人權, 台灣, 嘲諷的話, 暴力, 權力主義, 馬英九

When they come for you, will there be anyone left to speak up?

Friend of Taiwan Luby Liao has a petition online demanding the immediate release of former President Chen Shui-Bian (陳水扁). The text of the petition reads as follows:

We the undersigned decry the increasing abuse of power by Taiwan's Ministry of Justice and its prosecutors as they violate the human rights of Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian and deny him due process of law in the current case against him. While neither making a judgment as to the guilt or innocence of Chen, we are appalled at the way that he is being unduly imprisoned (over 160 days and counting) as well as how his attorney-client privileges have been violated. In contrast to numerous past violators of money-laundering from the opposite political camp who have either never been detained or have received only a slap on the wrist by the courts when found guilty, Chen is being hounded and persecuted in what is an apparent political vendetta.

We hereby condemn the persecution and the violation of human rights conducted by the justice system and demand that Chen be released immediately.

Here's my own contribution (I'm #43) plus links that I didn't include in the original [as usual, hover your cursor on the links for more info]:

From the recording of Chen's conversations with his lawyers, to the judges' skit mocking Chen, to the one-sided leaks of information to the pro-KMT-dominated media, to the release of a wanted criminal who made statements against Chen, to the switching of the presiding judge to the same one who declared Ma Ying-jeou innocent (in a case where Ma admitted to depositing around NT$15 million of what he called "public funds" into his personal bank account) [Correction: "only" about NT$11 million went into his and his wife's accounts, but another NT$80,000/month (times eight years = NT$7,680,000) was used "to reward staff members," too], to the latest tacked-on charges, to punishing Chen for using hunger strikes to protest this kangaroo court, this has been a total travesty of justice.

On the blog with the petition, you can also sign up for the "I Love Taiwan" Google Group.

Why should I speak up?
If you have any doubts whatsoever, perhaps a reminder of the words of Martin Niemöller will help you make up your mind:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me.

Now's your chance. Say something.

---

John Hancocks: Taiwan, 台灣, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, special allowance fund, 特支費, petition, 簽署

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chen Shui-bian, Ma Ying-jeou, petition, special allowance fund, Taiwan, 台灣, 特支費, 簽署, 陳水扁, 馬英九

Hungry for justice and democracy?


0:59 YouTube video: "517 Protest Ad - 呷飽沒？ 特權呷飽飽 台灣去了了"
Translation: Have you eaten yet? [a typical Taiwanese greeting]
The privileged fill their bellies while Taiwanese starve
What's a "517"?
On May 17, 2009, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨) will hold a rally on Taipei's Ketagalan Blvd. (凱達格蘭大道) to protest the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) government's pro-China policies which continue to hurt the people of Taiwan.

Since Ma took office in May 2008, 1 million people have lost their jobs, raising the measurable unemployment to 6 percent. But that doesn't tell the whole story.

Still others (like my wife) are "partially unemployed" -- that is, their hours have been cut. Others have it worse than that -- they are on forced unpaid leave.

Claiming that they want China to help rescue the economy, the Ma government continues to push policies that the public has no information about, and they keep bringing Taiwan closer and closer to being annexed by authoritarian China. They even want to sign an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA, 經濟合作架構協議) with China, even though China will only use such an agreement to trap Taiwan and gain benefits exclusively for themselves.

Read more about that here:
EDITORIAL: ECFA: An instrument of betrayal

At the same time, the Ma government continues pushing for changes to the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法), but their proposed changes to the current law will make it more like the even more oppressive laws of Singapore.

The "fortunate sons" (and daughters and spouses) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT, 中國國民黨) aristocracy (貴族, the so-called "high-class mainlanders") get all the benefits while the people of Taiwan are growing hungrier and hungrier -- and not only for food.

Are you just gonna sit there and take it?!

Get it while it's hot!
Use your right to protest while you still can! Show the world that all the news that paints Ma Ying-jeou as "China-friendly" in contrast to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) -- whom the media constantly painted as a "troublemaker" merely because he tried to protect Taiwan's sovereignty -- is pure propaganda to cover Ma's betrayal of Taiwan.

The only way to change things is to let the world see with their own eyes that Ma is not a "popular president."

Get your asses out there -- by the millions! -- on Sunday, May 17, 2009, and be an important part of Taiwan's history.

Times, places, themes...
Here's a map and some info about the routes:


517 march route map
(Click to enlarge)
* Route 1 (Guard Sovereignty) begins on Zhongxiao E. Rd. at the Dinghao Shopping Plaza

* Route 2 (Protect the Unemployed) begins on Minzu W. Rd. at the Zhongshan Soccer Stadium

* Route 3 (Secure Taiwan) begins at the corner of Xinsheng and Roosevelt Roads at the main gate of National Taiwan University

* Route 4 (Help the Underprivileged) begins on Bangka/Manka Avenue (in Mandarin, it's "Mengjia," but it should be pronounced in Hoklo) at the Wanhua Train Station

Here's a Google map showing all four routes.

Here's more info from the DPP web site which includes other ad spots, images, maps, and English translations of the slogans related to the themes of the protest:

「馬英九 你吃飽沒？」Are you satisfied?/Are you stuffed?

「保台灣 顧主權 救失業 護弱勢」Secure Taiwan, Guard Sovereignty, Protect Unemployed, Help Unprivileged

「反傾中 護台灣」 China no! Taiwan yes!

「反對無能政府」KMT, Kick out!/Kick out the KMT!

「反對一中市場」One China market, Go Away!

「ECFA要公投」E-C-F-A! We want a referendum! / Referendum! E-C-F-A!

「堅持主權 守護台灣」Stand for Sovereignty, Take care of Taiwan

「台灣 加油」 Viva Taiwan!

「民進黨 加油」Gear Up, DPP!

Marchers should gather at 2:00 PM and begin marching at 3:00. This will conclude with a rally on Ketagalan Blvd. (in front of the Presidential Office) at 5:00. After the rally, DPP members will stage a 24-hour sit-in.

Got posters?
Check out the designs on this page, or create your own and mail them to me (address is in the sidebar).

FURTHER READING:
* Lyrics to "Fortunate Son" on the Creedence Online web site

* A Wikipedia article about the song

* Snopes disproves the meme that the song was inspired by Al Gore, Jr. in an article which contains this poignant quote from John Fogerty himself:

Nixon was always saying 'peace with honor' and 'my country, love it or leave it,' but we knew better 'cause the guy was obviously evil.

Remember that Dick, Nixon -- the crook who sold us all out to Mao Zedong? Ma Ying-jeou is the new Nixon.

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Pixels for your brainscreen: Taiwan, 台灣, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, 經濟合作架構協議, ECFA, Assembly and Parade Law, 集會遊行法, protest, 抗議

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Assembly and Parade Law, ECFA, Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, Ma Ying-jeou, protest, Taiwan, 台灣, 抗議, 經濟合作架構協議, 集會遊行法, 馬英九

Are Taichung and Kaohsiung part of this so-called "Chinese Taipei"?

The word "although" is the least important part of this quote regarding the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) [bold and highlighted emphasis mine]:

Although China succeeded in having Taiwan's membership status downgraded, the OIE agreed to change Taiwan's title from "Taipei China" to "Chinese Taipei" after the intervention of the US, Japan and the EU.

Rhetorical question
Why is it so goddamned hard to just call Taiwan "Taiwan"?

If you really don't know the answer, don't wait until death's at your door to figure it out.

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Rhethorical rhizomes: Taiwan, 台灣, deep thoughts, 深思, Chinese Taipei, 中華台北, World Organisation for Animal Health, 世界動物衛生組織, OIE, swine flu, 豬流感, A(H1N1), 新流感

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: A(H1N1), Chinese Taipei, deep thoughts, OIE, swine flu, Taiwan, World Organisation for Animal Health, 世界動物衛生組織, 中華台北, 台灣, 新流感, 深思, 豬流感

Who will protect us from the protectors?

The Taiwan Shadow Government (台灣維新影子政府) web site has a post about people wearing black T-shirts and vests bearing the name of the Matsu Temple (大天后宮) physically removing college students from a demonstration yesterday against the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) government's policies regarding students from China (where fake educational credentials are easy to come by) entering Taiwan's schools and being able to use their degrees to find jobs here. Watch as police allow the ones committing violence to just walk away:


1:18 YouTube video: "20090503台南市天后宮反對承認中國學歷．大學生嗆馬遭暴力"
Translation: May 3, 2009, Tainan City, Matsu (Tianhou) Temple,
opposing the acceptance of Chinese diplomas, university
students protesting Ma Ying-jeou encounter violence
The Taiwan Shadow Government site also posted this video of the incident which was shot from another angle by FTV News (民視新聞). In this video, you can see one of the temple thugs tackle two protesters:


1:32 YouTube video: "學生台南嗆馬英九被帶進警局 2009 05 03 民視新聞"
Translation: Students protesting Ma Ying-jeou in Tainan carried into police station
May 3, 2009, Formosa Television (FTV)
The students weren't caught in flagrante delicto committing a crime -- they were exercising their right of freedom of speech.

Déjà vu all over again
Remember what happened when anti-Taiwanese Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英) returned to the Taoyuan International Airport? Gangster-affiliated men dressed in black accompanying Kuo roughed up DPP politicians, reporters, and several people who were there demanding an apology from Kuo for his insults of the people of Taiwan. In that case, the police stood by doing nothing but holding up signs declaring the protests illegal, and they said later that they "didn't see any violence." See the "invisible violence" for yourself, and be amazed at your own superpowers:


4:25 YouTube video: "高級外省人郭匪冠英返台成「郭街老鼠」-抱頭鼠竄!還有黑衣暴民護送!"
Translation: "High-class mainlander" Commie bandit Kuo Kuan-ying
returns to Taiwan, becomes a "rat crossing the street," covers his
head and runs away! Black-shirted gangsters aide his escape!
Remember what happened when people who were protesting former V-P Lien Chan's (連戰) visit to China in April 2005 were beaten up by gangsters affiliated with pan-blue politicians? Same violent shit, different day.

Such injustice cannot be tolerated. Remember who the party of violence and gangsters is. Wake up!

UPDATE: Claudia Jean has more, including details of what the police were asking the students, and the excuses they made to Tainan City councilor Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) for taking them in.[/update]

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Go to jail free cards: Taiwan, 台灣, protest, 抗議, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, violence, 暴力, Kuo Kuan-ying, 郭冠英

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Kuo Kuan-ying, Ma Ying-jeou, protest, Taiwan, violence, 台灣, 抗議, 暴力, 郭冠英, 馬英九