... or should I say "is still doing so"?

Answering a question from an Associated Press reporter about a 2005 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the People's Republic of China (PRC), Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) had this to say (paraphrased here in the pro-unification China Times [中國時報], translation mine):

是否有這份備忘錄，從未獲得證實 [...]

The existence of this MOU hasn't yet been confirmed.

For them to not know about this MOU could only be the result of pure willful ignorance.

Read this, and know more than they (say they) do
The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) has posted the text of a WHO document titled "Implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the WHO Secretariat and China" online where the whole world (except for the Ma administration?) can read it. The document refers to Taiwan by the bizarre name of "Taiwan, China." Since the MOU was signed with the PRC, it doesn't require logical superpowers to deduce that they don't mean "Taiwan, ROC."

Page 1	Page 2	Page 3
Page 4	Page 5	Page 6

Click thumbnails to enlarge
(I've re-uploaded the pages to a
server separate from FAPA's)
CleverClaire has links to several documents hosted on Google Docs which are related to the Ma administration's belittling of Taiwan's sovereignty, including a text-based version of the one linked in image form above. That document contains this:

7. Participation by Taiwanese medical and public health experts in technical activities is subject to the following conditions:

* The experts shall participate in their personal capacity. When designations are used (e.g. on conference badges or list of participants), reference shall be made to "Taiwan, China";

Then-PRC Minister of Health Gao Qiang (高強) also discussed the existence of the MOU in the Chinese media and elsewhere in May 2005. "Unconfirmed"? 才怪!

And, wait just a minute! Didn't Ma's Minister of Health, Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川), claim that they "broke through" the "Taiwan, China" formula of the MOU? [alt. link] Sounds to me an awful lot like they did know.

Truly, madly...
Really -- can the Ma administration be trusted about anything, much less with Taiwan's sovereignty?

Ma Ying-jeou has changed the status quo. Why isn't the US State Department raising a stink? Oh, that's right. All that stuff about the previous president's "changing" of the status quo was but a ruse.

FURTHER READING:
* Check out Jerome F. Keating, PhD's latest: "Dumb and Dumber, the Naming of Chinese Taipei and its Acceptance."

* An article in today's Taipei Times reveals contradictions between the statements of Minister of Health Yeh and WHO spokesman Thomas Abraham.

* Michael Turton has a discussion of swine flu, er, H1N1, uh, swine flu "fever" with news of a new test kit developed in Taiwan and links to related discussions by CFR and Bruce Jacobs. My wife has also scoured local pharmacies and been unable to purchase protective masks at any of them. The much higher-priced ones that can be found in convenience stores are the only ones that seem to be currently available.

---

Temporary participants: Taiwan, 台灣, World Health Organization, 世界衛生組織, Memorandum of Understanding, 備忘錄, MOU, People's Republic of China, 中華人民共和國, PRC, 中共, Formosan Association for Public Affairs, 台灣人公共事務會, FAPA

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: FAPA, Formosan Association for Public Affairs, MOU, PRC, Taiwan, World Health Organization, 世界衛生組織, 中共, 備忘錄, 台灣, 台灣人公共事務會

What's in a name, huh?

Perhaps Taiwan's new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊), is not aware that the United States has a Taiwan Relations Act -- not a "Republic of China Relations Act."

Even Thomas Christensen (remember him?) has the sense to call Taiwan "Taiwan" -- at least he does when the context includes the PRC (AKA "China").

---

Beyond Francisco's grasp: Taiwan, 台灣, Republic of China, 中華民國, ROC, 華, China, 中國, People's Republic of China, 中華人民共和國, PRC, 中共, deep thoughts, 深思, Francisco Ou, 歐鴻鍊, Taiwan Relations Act, 台灣關係法

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: deep thoughts, Francisco Ou, PRC, Republic of China, Taiwan, Taiwan Relations Act, 中共, 中華民國, 台灣, 台灣關係法, 歐鴻鍊, 深思

Shifty in Shanghai

If Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) were an agent of the PRC government, would it be any easier for him to just shuffle off to Shanghai, China to "investigate" the Papua New Guinea diplomatic fund scandal and "uncover" info related to the case in less than 12 hours?

Wouldn't these "investigative" "duties" further explain why Xinhua (新華) likes to put quotation marks around the word "legislator" when they write about Taiwan?

Even if Chiu isn't an agent of the PRC government, can you say "Really big shew"?

I bet the real answers are far, far away from where Chiu Yi is telling the media and the public to look. After all, the suspect in question, Ching Chi-ju (金紀玖) was said to have been in the US at last sighting.

Link details (plus one):
* May 9, 2008, Central News Agency (Taiwan's national news agency): Diplomacy scandal suspect will consider returing to Taiwan: lawyer

Lawyer Chang Hsiu said Ching will hold a news conference in Los Angeles prior to May 20, when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration steps down, to provide a clear picture of what happened, and specifically to give the media a clearer picture of who received funds and in what amounts.

He added that Ching's top concern now is his personal safety.

* May 9, 2008, China Times (中國時報): 邱毅：將到上海追查金紀玖女友帳戶 [Translation: Chiu Yi says he'll go to Shanghai to investigate the account of Ching Chi-ju's girlfriend]

* May 10, 2008, ETToday via qlife.com.tw: 外交醜聞／邱毅：金紀玖上海存款100萬美金　應先扣押 [Translation: Foreign affairs scandal / Chiu Yi says "Ching Chi-ju has US$1 million in Shanghai, account should be frozen"]

到上海不到十二個小時，邱毅已經找到金紀玖在上海的不動產登記 [...]。

[Maddog translation:]
Within 12 hours of arriving in Shanghai, Chiu Yi had already located Ching Chi-ju's real estate records [...]

* Additional article, May 11, 2008, United Daily News: 邱毅：搓巴紐案翌年 金紀玖在滬置產 [Translation: Chiu Yi says "After dealing with the PNG case for one year, Ching Chi-ju owns property in Shanghai"]

* May 12, 2008, Sydney Morning Herald: Taiwan issues warrant over funds scandal

Taiwan's police department said it discovered through intelligence sources that Ching first fled to China before going to Canada earlier this month. He was found on the US West Coast last week, they said.

---

No, not "deep throats"!: Taiwan, 台灣, deep thoughts, 深思, distractions, 分散注意的事物, Chiu Yi, 邱毅, China, 中國, People's Republic of China, 中華人民共和國, PRC, 中共, Papua New Guinea, 巴布亞紐幾內亞, PNG, 巴紐

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: China, Chiu Yi, deep thoughts, distractions, Papua New Guinea, PNG, PRC, Taiwan, 中共, 中國, 分散注意的事物, 台灣, 巴布亞紐幾內亞, 巴紐, 深思, 邱毅

Tanks in Tibet?

A few things to remember:

* May 23, 1951: Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet

* March 10, 1959: Anti-CCP sentiment results in the Tibetan uprising and a counterattack by the Chinese military kills tens of thousands of Tibetans.

* March 5 - 8, 1989: Thousands march in Lhasa to protest Chinese rule. Hu Jintao oversees imposition of martial law and "introduce[s] a system of control which permeate[s] all aspects of Tibetan life that [is] unprecedented since the Cultural Revolution in Tibet."

* June 4, 1989: The Chinese army kills an unknown number of student democracy activists in and around Tiananmen Square by shooting them with machine guns and running them over with tanks. Countless others are beaten, and jailed.

* April 4, 1990: The Seventh National "People's" Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China adopts the Hong Kong Basic Law, which says that "the previous capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years" after the July 1, 1997 handover.

* July 1, 1997: Hong Kong's sovereignty is returned to China.

* July 1, 1999: Just two years after the Hong Kong Basic Law went into effect, Beijing has already reversed the decision of the Court of Final Appeal in an immigration case, casting doubt upon China's definition of "50 years."

* March 14, 2005: China enacts a so-called "anti-secession" law which "legislates" the arbitrary use of "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan.

* March 2, 2008: Icelandic singer Bjork performs "Declare Independence" in Shanghai, China and chants "Tibet, Tibet, raise your flag." The crowd goes wild. The UK Guardian portrays the event differently. (Of course "concertgoers hurriedly left" -- it was the last song of the show. Duh!)

* March 12, 2008: Chinese police fire tear gas on protesting Tibetan monks

* March 15, 2008: YouTube blocked in China, Tibet content likely to blame

* March 15, 2008: CNN is blocked in China.

* March 15, 2008: Hu Jintao re-elected as president amid Tibet turmoil, as if there's some kind of democracy in China. Even though he was the only "candidate," he somehow lost 0.3 percent of the "vote."

* March 15, 2008: China accuses 'Dalai clique' of masterminding Lhasa violence

* March 15, 2008: China gives Tibetan protesters surrender ultimatum

* March 15, 2008: "Witnesses said tanks and soldiers were out in force in Lhasa."

* March 15, 2008: In pure Orwellian form, Xinhua says Armed police rescue 580 people from Lhasa riot

* March 15, 2008: Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) says that the "ROC" government "is willing" to "give" Tibet autonomy (1:11 mark in the video behind that link), as if he actually has the imperial powers he imagines that he does. (Maybe he'll "grant" already-independent Mongolia "eventual independence" [終極獨立], too.)

* News reports are saying that "Chinese police have killed about 100 Tibetan demonstrators and injured many more," according to the Tibetan government-in-exile, while Xinhua is still reporting the number of casualties as "10."

* March 15, 2008: The ever-kowtowing Ma Ying-jeou -- perhaps more confused than usual because of the presidential campaign and his thugs getting caught -- chooses the strangest time to bring up a "peace treaty" with China. Anybody in their right mind would use this opportunity to put some political pressure on these lying murderers who have repeatedly demonstrated that they will kill you in the blink of an eye.

* August 8, 2008: Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, AKA the Genocide Olympics. Will people around the world open their eyes and boycott the world's largest, most horrific example of propaganda ever? Or will the "if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em" attitude allow them to gain the hegemony they've always desired?

With that information before you, you must wonder, what do the words "peace," "autonomy," and "50 years" mean to the government of China? They apparently have different definitions than the rest of the world.

HEY, WORLD! WAKE THE FUCK UP!

FURTHER READING:
* English translation of Tibet's version of the Seventeen-Point Agreement.

* English translation of China's version of the Seventeen-Point Agreement. (Note the use of the words "ethnic group" where Tibet's version uses the word "nationality.")

* A Simplified-Chinese version of the Seventeen-Point Agreement via gov.cn.

* "Nine Years After Hong Kong's Handover: An Analysis" (via mac.gov.tw) [.PDF, .HTML]

* Read how Hong Kong was originally supposed to be able to "cast ballots for their chief executive as early as 2007," but that's since been "reinterpreted" as maybe "2017."

---

Flags raised: Taiwan, 台灣, Tibet, 西藏, Hong Kong, 香港, China, 中國, People's Republic of China, 中華人民共和國, PRC, 中共

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: China, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, PRC, Taiwan, Tibet, 中共, 中國, 中華人民共和國, 台灣, 西藏, 香港