Chinese KMT gov't to the people: "It's our party, and you'd better not mock it!"

The latest example of Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government infringing on free speech (see earlier examples at the bottom of this post) involves a video parodying a campaign ad by incumbent Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡志強). After mocking a candidate from the ruling party, the creator of the video -- Kuso Cat (AKA 廖小貓) -- was threatened with a lawsuit by Mayor Hu and is being watched by all sorts of government eyes, and the media has been reporting it incessantly as a top story.

Here's the kuso version of the video:

4:00 YouTube video: "台中胡錢豹九週年慶_唬屎狗_廖小貓出品"
Translation: "Taichung Hu Qian-bao's [a play on the name of the 金錢豹 nightclub] 9th Anniversary - Hǔ Shǐ Gǒu [Bluff Shit Dog] - by Kuso Cat"
I don't completely agree with the Taipei Times' characterization that the video "portrayed the young women as working as hostesses at a nightclub in Taichung." An important bit of context that's missing from the related coverage is this this October 29, 2010 news story about police alerting the girls at a Taichung night club of an impending raid. The video of the girls sneaking around fits perfectly. In both the original video and the parody, Jason Hu calls these girls "Everybody's girls!" Although the vehicle for the parody is the video and the girls seen within, its real target is the public figure they're promoting: Jason Hu.

David Reid has a detailed intro to this incident and several related links in a blog post titled "KUSO and freedom of speech in Taiwan."

The sort of attention the government is giving this video (despite prosecutors' denial that there will be an indictment, the kinds of threats implied in the Ministry of Education's letter asking National Taiwan University to "carefully monitor" the political discussions on PTT's "Gossiping" forum) provides yet another example of how things that are critical of Chinese KMT politicians draw swift attention from the law while attacks against politicians from the pro-Taiwan/pro-democracy DPP are ignored. Because Taiwan suffered for decades under the Chinese KMT's martial law and White Terror (which ended not so long ago), and since so many setbacks to Taiwan's democracy have occurred so rapidly since Ma's inauguration in May 2008, it's easy to get the impression that we're very quickly returning to that kind of rule.

Questions to counter the media memes
* Who "portrayed the young women as working as hostesses at a nightclub in Taichung" first? Or should I say Hu "portrayed the young women as working as hostesses at a nightclub in Taichung" first?! (Hu: "Everybody's girls!")

* How could these girls -- who claim to have made this video just "with friends" -- get the chance to sit down with Mayor Hu and record him saying the things he says while their video camera is rolling?

* When businesses like the Golden Jaguar (金錢豹) are still flourishing -- despite promises by Hu that he would clean Taichung up -- doesn't this kind of parody practically write itself?

* Isn't the period of time just before an election the most likely time someone would mock a campaign ad? What kind of person would think there's anything at all "unusual" about the timing of the kuso video's appearance?

* On November 27, 2010, who will the citizens of Taichung elect to be their mayor for the next four years?

Remain alert!

Compare this!
Here's the source video for comparison. Note the multiple double entendres in the original title, including the play on Hu's Mandarin name:

3:14 YouTube video: "Hu's Girl MV-胡志強招募青年志工 "
Translation: "Jason Hu recruits young volunteers"
David Reid's post (linked above) also contains a video of Taiwanese bloggers in support of Kuso Cat.

A small sample of related incidents:
* December 9, 2008: The Chinese KMT "blatantly launched a drive to control the news reporting and programming of Taiwan's Public Television Service Foundation (PTSF), which manages the Taiwan Public Television Service (TPS) on behalf of our nation's citizens." TPS includes Taiwan Public Television, Hakka Television and Indigenous Television, and the China Television Service.

* December 10, 2008: Chinese KMT legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) -- bastard son of Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) -- speaks at Tainan's Chengkung University (成功大學), ROC flags are removed because Chinese students are present, a Taiwanese student protests, Chiang tells the student to "be open-minded" and LIES, saying that there wasn't a flag to begin with. But the removal of at least one flag was already captured on video. A woman on the stage asks the student to "be respectful" -- but what happened to respecting the students of the university who are citizens of Taiwan?

* December 11, 2008: Just four hours after Human Rights Day has ended, 200 or so police round up the Tibetans sitting in Liberty Square (自由廣場) and take them -- some who can't speak Mandarin -- off to the hills of Neihu and Guandu. The police also evict the students from the Wild StrawBerries movement (a group of students protesting the outdated Assembly and Parade Act [集會遊行法]) from the square. Check out some of the police violence that was caught on camera.

* December 17, 2008: The home of Chen Tsung-yi (陳宗逸) -- manager of the recently-demised New Taiwan Weekly (新台灣週刊) -- is searched by agents from the Taipei City branch of the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Chen claims that the agents attempted to intimidate him, and were deceptive about what they were looking for.

* December 19, 2008: The Wild StrawBerries' live broadcast disappears from the Justin.tv web site. A notice says that it was "for violating the Terms of Service." An inquiry I sent to Justin.tv gets me only a form letter reply.

* January 16, 2009: The large teapot-shaped object in Taipei which just over a year ago was renamed the "National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" (國立台灣民主紀念堂) is retrogressing to its original name of "Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall" (蔣介石紀念堂) to honor the late dictator and mass murderer that the Chinese KMT still worships. Here's a related editorial cartoon ("Out with the new, in with the old. More authoritarianism, less democracy.").

* March 6, 2009: An 18-year-old senior high school student in Chiayi shouts at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), telling him to "step down" (下台). He is taken in and fingerprinted by police. Taiwan Echo has another post on the subject.

* March 29, 2009: Police with video cameras intrude upon a private meeting of bloggers demanding personal information from attendees. The police were unable to explain their presence, and superiors denied having ordered the intrusion. Despite police "apologies" two days later, incidents which indicate a return to the days of White Terror continue to occur all-too-frequently.

And these were just a few examples I already had conveniently available…

The natural conclusion
Unless you pay close attention to these kinds of incidents, they will continue to happen, and your freedom of speech will continue to rapidly erode.

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Pixel chillers: Taiwan, 台灣, Kuso Cat, 廖小貓, Jason Hu, 胡志強, Hu's Girl, 唬屎狗, White Terror, 白色恐怖, martial law, 戒嚴

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Hu's Girl, Jason Hu, Kuso Cat, martial law, Taiwan, White Terror, 台灣, 唬屎狗, 廖小貓, 戒嚴, 白色恐怖, 胡志強

This can't possibly be the same film Ian Bartholemew reviewed Friday

The film Formosa Betrayed, whose screenplay amalgamates the tales of the 1980s murders of Carnegie Mellon University professor Chen Wen-chen (陳文成) and writer Henry Liu (劉宜良, AKA Chiang Nan [江南]), has been discussed publicly for almost four years, and it finally made it to general release at cinemas in Taiwan on Friday, August 6, 2010.

Yet Taipei Times movie critic Ian Bartholemew seems to think it was based upon the George Kerr book of the same name (it was not), that it was about the events surrounding the 228 Massacre (二二八大屠殺) of 1947 (even though that event -- which happened 36 years prior to our story -- is mentioned within, it's not part of the plot of this movie), and that "Retrocession" [sic] is the proper term for the occupation of Taiwan by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) (it is not).


Formosa Betrayed movie poster
outside of Taichung's Tiger City
Photo by Tim Maddog
(Click to enlarge)
I had awaited this film's arrival in Taiwan for such a long time, and having seen so many previews, reviews, and interviews, I was a little bit worried that there wouldn't be very much left for me to experience anew when I saw it in a movie theater. Fortunately, I was wrong.

Before I get to anything involving spoilers, let me tell you a few things about the movie in general.

It is what it is
So, what is Formosa Betrayed? The story centers around FBI Agent Jake Kelly (played by James van der Beek) and his search for the two gangsters who murder Taiwanese-American professor Henry Wen. The evidence brings Jake to Taiwan, where he meets waiter/independence activist Ming (明, played by Will Tiao [刁毓能], who also co-wrote and produced the movie) and uncovers more truth than his superiors ever wanted him to. The events take place in 1983, during the White Terror period and four years before the lifting of the Chinese KMT's 38-year-long imposition of martial law on Taiwan.

This is thriller
Beyond the film's historical implications (being the first American film to deal with Taiwan-US relations"), we are propelled through the story by our concern for the protagonists, Jake and Ming, by their struggles against bureaucracies, gangsters, police agencies, and even military officials, and by the hope that they will succeed and survive. It shouldn't matter if you are American, Taiwanese, or neither -- unless you hate one or both of those countries, you'll probably care for both characters, and you will feel their pain as you watch horrific events unfold.

The antagonists are everywhere. Watch the movie and see how almost every time Jake tries to do the right thing, someone delays him, finds his "target" before he does, or tries to bring him great harm. You might not even realize whether some characters are the good guys or the bad guys until near the end of the flick.

Production values
The film -- directed by Adam Kane (Heroes) and photographed by Irek Hartowicz -- has a gritty, desaturated look throughout much of it, creating an atmosphere appropriate to both the period and the content. The first image we see -- Jake's blood-splattered face in very shallow depth of field -- sets the tone for what's to follow.

The score didn't draw much attention to itself, remaining mostly way in the background except in some especially tense scenes. Two or three times during the film, I got quite a jolt from the audio-visual-story combo -- an excellent reason to see the film in a theater.

Other reviewers' complaints about the film being shot in Thailand instead of Taiwan drive me nuts. The reasons for it happening have been explained again and again, and even more detail has come out quite recently about the Chinese KMT's involvement. My wife -- Have I mentioned that she's Taiwanese? -- didn't have any complaints about the locations not looking enough like Taiwan in the eighties, so I have a hard time accepting that particular gripe.

Some of these complainers may merely wish to discredit Formosa Betrayed. Others may have unthinkingly been influenced by such thoughts and are repeating them. Whatever their reasons, it's as if everyone suddenly forgot how to suspend their disbelief for this particular motion picture. (Pssssst! You're actually sitting in a chair in an air-conditioned theater in the year 2010 in a city which may or may not be Taipei!) With the budget limitations, I would guess that telling the story took priority over adding a CGI recreation of Taipei.

So, while it may not be a state-of-the-art spectacle, it does a great job of doing what people go to the movies for: it tells a powerful story.

It ain't what it's not
Formosa Betrayed is not an allegory. It's basically a straight-up dramatization of events related to Taiwan's history -- a story which has needed to be told for a very long time. And Will Tiao, Adam Kane, and the rest of the cast and crew have done a formidable job of it.

What will I learn?
* The Chinese KMT is not protecting Taiwan from Commie bandits, and they never have.
* The United States' cooperation with the Chinese KMT ignores/involves lots and lots of evil.
* Good people standing up for basic human rights get called "gangsters" and "terrorists" by those responsible for mass murder of innocent civilians.
* Taiwan is not China, and despite frequent claims about the matter, Taiwanese are not treated like "brothers" by the Chinese.
* Others' admonitions which are supposedly "for your own good" are often ways for them to hold onto power while keeping you down.

Who should see this film?
Every single Taiwanese should see this film, whether they already know about this history or not. Anyone who has ever supported the Chinese KMT should see this film and open their eyes widely. Americans should see this film to understand what their government has done (and continues to do) to Taiwan.

If you enjoy thrillers, you should see Formosa Betrayed because it's an exciting story which, as Roger Ebert says, is "actually about something."

If you don't like mainstream Hollywood flicks, see it for its independent style.

If you don't fall into any of those categories, make like a Nike ad, and just see it!

Where to see it
I saw it at Tiger City in Taichung. Here's the page where you can find showtimes for all Vieshow Cinemas (威秀影城) in Taiwan. See it soon, as it probably won't be here for long.

Fiction vs. reality (SPOILERS)
Some people have said that the people and events portrayed in Formosa Betrayed are entirely imaginary. Those people are either lying or they're ignorant -- perhaps both. Here is a short list of some people/things in the film and the people/things they correspond to (or not) in real life:

* Wen Ming-hua (溫明華, AKA Henry Wen, the murder victim) = Chen Wen-chen + Henry Liu.
* Guy with camera at student protest = Student spies funded by the Chinese KMT.
* David Wu Da-wei + James Lee Shin-shen (the killers) = Chen Chi-li (陳啟禮) and others.
* Ming's sister, Maysing (美星): "Don't use your phone. They're listening." = Government phone tapping of political opponents/dissidents/competitors -- something which still happens quite frequently.
* The protest in Kaohsiung = The Kaohsiung Incident of 1979. (Note: Just a few months after Formosa Betrayed had completed filming, similar things happened during the protests against visiting Chinese envoy, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin [陳雲林]. including the brutal beating of an FTV [民視] reporter. Also watch Red Caution to see what happened to Taiwan in the first few months Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] was in office as president.)
* The murder of Ming's wife and daughter in their home = The murder of Lin I-hsiung's (Lîm Gī-hiông, 林義雄) family while their home was under 24-hour police surveillance.
* The way Ming's father was killed = The way many people were killed in the 228 Massacre: shot in the head and/or dumped in a river. (Others were buried alive.)
* Professor Wen and Ming being called "gangsters" and "terrorists" = A common tactic used by the gangster-affiliated Chinese KMT.
* 健康 (Health[y] brand cigarettes = The ironically-named Long Life (長壽) brand of cigarettes.
* The movie ≠ The book by George Kerr. Although it's got the same title, and it's about the same country and the same party-state, it's a different story.

Other interesting tidbits (minor SPOILERS)
* Jake is assigned Room 228 (a reference to the 228 Massacre of 1947) in his Taipei hotel.
* When Jake is at the airport leaving Taiwan, a voice is heard on the airport intercom announcing in English "China Airline[s] flight 1947 from Taipei to New York is now boarding…"

Just one thing…
As Michael Turton pointed out previously, that onscreen title at the end… it's wrong, and it should be fixed because it undermines the message the rest of the film tries so hard to get across. It says [highlight mine]:

Currently there are 23 countries that recognize Taiwan as an independent nation.

The United States is not one of them.

The problem is that the countries which have official relations with "Taiwan" recognize Taiwan as the "Republic of China" and its associated claim to represent -- y'know -- China. Because of the "one-China" policies of both the PRC and the ROC, not a single one of those countries recognize Taiwan's independence the way they should -- and that right there is the problem!

A whole spectrum of other reviews
* David Reid's review: "Formosa Betrayed: a quest for truth and justice."
* Jerome F. Keaton's review: "The Film 'Formosa Betrayed' Though Different from 'Cape No. 7' is Important for Taiwan Youth."
* Michael Turton's review: "The Gospel According to Will: Formosa Betrayed."
* Sheri Linden wrote a fair-even-if-not-entirely-postive review in The Hollywood Reporter.
* Despite the number of stars he gave it, Roger Ebert seems to have liked it.
* Ian Bartholemew wrote what could be the most uninformed movie review I've ever read.
* Does Vancouver's Katherine Monk think that watching Formosa Betrayed is as bad as being colonized and placed under nearly four decades of martial law? Her excessively negative review is titled: "Viewers are ones who are betrayed."

---

MacGuffins: Taiwan, 台灣, Formosa Betrayed, 被出賣的台灣, movie, 電影, Will Tiao, 刁毓能, White Terror, 白色恐怖, martial law, 戒嚴

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Formosa Betrayed, martial law, movie, Taiwan, White Terror, Will Tiao, 刁毓能, 台灣, 戒嚴, 白色恐怖, 被出賣的台灣, 電影

Another dark day in Taiwan's history

In yet another incredibly provocative move by the still-new Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) government, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was handcuffed by police and taken into custody this afternoon. A trial by public opinion has been conducted by leaking information and using the media to create an impression of guilt based on insinuation before actual evidence has been shown to the public.

Breaking News
Talking Show (大話新聞) just reported that Chen Shui-bian was beaten* (被打) by court bailiffs (法警) and that spokesman for the Wild Strawberries (野草莓) student protesters, National Taiwan University associate professor of sociology Lee Ming-tsung, (李明璁) was beaten by 4 police.

* UPDATE: This probably needs a clarification, but I'm not sure what kind yet. Reporters from ETTV and TVBS -- both very blue stations -- said that X-rays and other information indicated that Chen was indeed injured. Wednesday's Taipei Times mentions the claim that Chen "had been struck by a bailiff." [/update]

When they're at your front door, it'll be too late. Are you just gonna sit there, or are you going to go wake everybody up?

---

Blunt trauma wounds: Taiwan, 台灣, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, state affairs fund, 國務機要費, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, martial law, 戒嚴, police state, 警察國家, violence, 暴力

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chen Shui-bian, Ma Ying-jeou, martial law, police state, state affairs fund, Taiwan, violence, 台灣, 國務機要費, 戒嚴, 暴力, 警察國家, 陳水扁, 馬英九

Will the mainstream media do the right thing?

Coordinator: Taiwan Sovereignty Watch/ 台灣主權觀測站

Contact Info: Billy Pan 0968-718673、Michael 0935-156396、Luna 0917-228-367

Contact Email: ocotTaiwan@gmail.com

Who we are?

There are lots of bloggers and volunteers in Taiwan and overseas concern current Taiwan Police Violates Civil Rights When Maintaining Order during the Meeting of Taiwan's and China's Top Negotiators.

Due to most appeals and protests are blocked and distorted seriously on the mainstream media in Taiwan. Therefore, we set up the website and blogs delivering our press release, reports and so on. We continue watching these matters and offering different materials in other languages.

Please further visit our website or contact us directly. We really need you to help us to speak our voice out at this key moment. If you have any further questions, please be free to leave your messages on our website or reply to us. We will try to reply to you soon. Thank you so much.

Official website: That will be free to use or cite the documents or photos.

http://ocot.tw/ (一中一台 / One China, One Taiwan)

http://www.ocot.tw/blog/ (Taiwan Sovereignty Watch)

**More photos or news in Chinese，you may visit Billy Pan's Blog: http://www.wretch.cc/blog/billypan101/14367606


【Press Release】(English Version)

Taiwan Police Violates Civil Rights When Maintaining Order During the Meeting of Taiwan's and China's Top Negotiators

2008.11.5
Chen Yunlin, the chief of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, landed at Taiwan on November 3rd. He signed agreements on passenger-cargo flight, maritime shipping, mail service and food safety related issues with Chiang Pin-kung, the chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation. These agreements made Taiwan and China enter an age of three direct links. He would also meet President Ma Ying-Jeou of Taiwan.

For a long time, China has repressed any opportunities of Taiwan to participate international events. China neither recognizes Taiwan as a sovereign nation nor gives up its plan of making martial intrusion into Taiwan. Many Taiwanese people, including Taiwan's biggest opposition party, Democratic Progressive Party, were worried that Kuomintang government would not be able to defend for Taiwan's sovereignty during the negotiation. They also questioned that this meeting was not put under public examination. They are holding protests throughout Chen Yunlin's visit to Taiwan, expressing their claims, such as "One Taiwan, One China". Those people against China's forceful repression of Tibet's independence activities also joined the protests, holding "Free Tibet" slogan.



For Chen Yunlin's Taiwan visit, the Kuomingtang administration has specifically deployed some seven thousand policemen and special agents to cordon off the venues where Chen would appear in an attempt to prevent the public from raising protests. Measures employed by the police to guard Chen these days have, however, gone beyond the bounds of the law and the Constitution and seriously infringed on citizens' personal liberties and civil rights. Following are some instances:

1. The policy confiscated and damaged personal belongings of flags and balloons held by people at protest venues.

2. In the evening of November 2, four Taichung City Councilors, Chen Shu-hua (陳淑華), Chiu Su-chen (邱素貞), Chi Li-yu (紀麗玉) and Lai Chia-wei (賴佳微), checked in the Grand Hotel where Chen Yulin would stay during his visit. The next morning, they displayed protest banners from the balcony of their room. Within one minute, special agents broke in the balcony and entered their room, without their consent, to remove banners and restrain their actions.

3. Three bloggers with national flags of Taiwan and Tibet in hand were forcefully taken away by the police when walking southbound along Chung Shan North Rd and passing by the Taiwan Cement Building, where Chen Yunlin visited Cecilia Koo Yen, widow of the former chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation. The arrest caused the dislocation of fingers of one of the bloggers, but police refused to send her for medical treatment until she provided personal information.

4. Chen Yu-ching (陳育青), a photographer who visited friends near the Grand Hotel, was arrested and sent to the police station for interrogation for shooting the video of the banned area with hand-held camera.

5. Hung Chien-yi (洪建益), a Taipei councilman, entered the Ambassador Hotel, where Chen Yunlin's dinner reception was held, in the afternoon. When leaving by himself in the evening, he was dragged away on the ground for tens of yards by several police officers at the front gate of the hotel. He did not shout derogatory slogans or carry any dangerous items but only wore a T-shirt with the mark of "No Conspiracy with China" on it.

6. On November 4th, while Chen Yunlin was at the dinner reception hosted by KMT leaders at the Ambassador Hotel, a nearby record store was playing some Taiwanese song out loud. The police thought the song would stir up the feelings of the protesters on the scene, so they, in uniform or plainclothes, led by Beitou Police District Chief Lee Han Ching, broke into that record store, asked the store owner to stop the music, and shut the door.

7. On November 3rd, the Association of Taiwan Journalist issued that Cheng Chieh-wen (鄭傑文), a photojournalist from the Central News Agency, was dragged by the security police for 10 meters while he was doing his job at the Grand Hotel, and that an inappropriate press coverage area plan had caused quarrels between the press and the officials. ATJ declared that press freedom was under severe attack in Taiwan. Meanwhile, the government imposed such strict control over press coverage for this event that several reporters from Hong Kong said they failed to get press passes and had limited rights for coverage.

Protests are continuing, so are actions that invade human rights, actions that do harm to freedom of speech and personal liberty. These actions not only violated both Taiwan's criminal and civil laws but also contradicted the Constitution that should have protected the rights of people. We will be watching these events, and we want to raise our severe objections to the police in Taiwan.



(新聞稿，中文版)

台灣警方在江陳會談期間的維安工作，侵犯正常公民權利的行使

2008.11.5
中國海協會會長陳雲林在11月3日抵達台灣，預計和台灣海基會會長江丙坤簽署包括海運、空運、郵政、食品安全等事務性協議，並和馬英九總統進行會面，正式邁向大三通的時代。

由於中國政府長期打壓台灣在國際上的活動空間，不願承認台灣是一個主權獨立的國家，也不放棄武力犯台，包括台灣主要反對黨—民進黨在內的許多台灣民眾，憂心國民黨政府在無法在協商過程之中堅守台灣主權，並且質疑這次會談的透明度，他們預備在陳雲林的台灣行程之中，沿途抗議，表達「台灣中國，一邊一國」等訴求。抗議民眾也包括不滿中國鎮壓圖博的圖博人士，他們提出「Free Tibet」的口號。

國民黨政府為了這次的會談，部屬了七千名的警察與特勤人員，在每一個會談的場合，以優勢警力圍起了封鎖線，試圖阻止民眾的抗議。然而，警方在這幾天所執行的維安工作，卻有執法過當的嫌疑，嚴重侵犯人身自由與妨礙公民權利的行使。以下舉例部份侵權事件：

1、在抗議場合，警方強制沒收、損毀台灣民眾手持的旗幟、空飄氣球等私人物品。

2、台中市議員陳淑華等四人，11月2日晚間入住陳雲林下榻的圓山飯店。11月3日上午，陳雲林車隊抵達圓山飯店之前，這四名議員在自己的房間陽台，掛起大型抗議布條。在一分鐘之內，未經陳淑華等人的同意，特勤人員隨即闖入陽台，進入陳淑華等人的房間，強行拆除布條，並壓制陳淑華等人的行動。

3、三名部落客沿著中山北路向南行經台泥大樓（陳雲林拜會辜嚴倬雲地點），因為批戴台灣國旗與圖博雪山獅子旗，被警方強行帶離，並造成一名部落客手指脫臼。警方甚至要求先留下資料，才願意送其至醫院。

4、影像工作者陳育青因為前往圓山飯店附近探訪友人，途中使用小型手持攝影機拍攝圓山飯店的現場封鎖情形，隨即被警方強制押進警察，帶至警局訊問。

5、台北市議員洪建益下午進入國賓飯店（陳雲林晚宴地點），於晚間獨自一人從飯店大門離開，並無任何呼喊口號的舉止，也沒有攜帶任何不當物品，只因為露出外套底下「勿通匪類」的t-shirt，隨即在飯店門口被多名警員強行托行數十公尺離開現場。

6、11月4日晚間，當陳雲林和國民黨要員於國賓飯店飯店進行晚宴時，附近的一家唱片行播放台灣歌謠，警方認為該歌謠鼓吹煽動現場抗議民眾，北投分局長李漢卿帶領數名制服及便衣員警，強行進入該唱片行，要求店家關閉音樂，隨後並強制拉下店家的鐵門。

7、台灣記者協會發出於11月3日發出聲明，2日中央社攝影記者鄭傑文於圓山飯店採訪遭到維安人員推拉約十公尺，3日又因採訪動線規劃不妥，造成媒體與官員的口角衝突。台灣新聞記者協會表示，這些行為嚴重侵害採訪自由。同時，此次相關單位嚴格管制媒體採訪，多名來自香港的記者表示無法取得採訪證，採訪權利受到限制。

抗議事件目前持續發生中，類似侵權行為也沒有減緩的跡象，這些行為均傷害了言論與人身自由，甚至違反我國刑事與民事法條，且牴觸憲法對於人民正常權利的保障。我們會持續關注這些事件，並對台灣的警政單位表達嚴正的抗議。



Too many police in Taipei
(Click to enlarge)

The pain!
(Click to enlarge)

This woman's finger was dislocated by police because of the flag she was holding
(Click to enlarge)

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Pressure valves: Taiwan, 台灣, martial law, 戒嚴, police state, 警察國家, violence, 暴力, Chen Yunlin, 陳雲林, media, 媒體

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chen Yunlin, martial law, media, police state, Taiwan, violence, 台灣, 媒體, 戒嚴, 暴力, 警察國家, 陳雲林

Ma will bring peace? Get the fuck outta here!

Let me say it up front, and let me say it loudly:
THE PEOPLE OF TAIWAN DO NOT WANT A POLICE STATE! TAIWAN IS NOT PART OF CHINA!

I can also say without much doubt that they're already pretty fucking tired of Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) administration.

The blue and red elephants in the room
As I mentioned earlier, martial law is being reintroduced to Taiwan, and the philistine police response to protesters as well as to people simply expressing their feelings is a clear indication of this situation.

People walking in unrestricted spaces have been grabbed by police for merely carrying ROC flags or video cameras. A music store (Sunrise Records [上揚唱片]) playing patriotic Taiwanese music was shut down by police, injuring at least one person inside and damaging store property. Two women peacefully carrying ROC and Tibetan flags were arrested, at least one being injured by police in the process. The police didn't cite any laws in these cases.

DPP politicians Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄), Huang Hsiang-chun (黃向群), Wang Hsiao-wei (王孝維), and Liu Yao-ren (劉耀仁) were walking near the Grand Hotel (圓山大飯店). One of them was clearly pushed to the ground by police, despite the non-violent behavior of the entire group.

When four DPP city councilors from Taichung unfurled two banners from the window of a room they had booked in the Grand Hotel before the arrival of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), police forced their way into the room, removed the banners, and whisked the room's occupants away to the hotel's basement.


Pro-Taiwan banners are unfurled at the Grand Hotel ahead of Chen Yunlin's arrival
"Get out, commie bandit Chen Yunlin" and "Taiwan is Taiwan"
(Taipei Times photo)
(Click to enlarge)
Taxis are being asked by police to leave certain areas because of the flags on their roof lights.

Ma says he didn't hand down any such orders, but whether he did or not, he didn't express any opposition to the abusive actions of the police either.

Former DPP officials are also being rounded up and "being held incommunicado and without charge."

(It's kind of hard to finish this post because I've been watching police on TV doing things like punching people in the face, knocking them down, and dragging them along the ground.)

Wednesday's Taipei Times put the number of police personnel involved in this week's events at between 7,000 and 9,000.

Could this be the "anti-secession" law (which "legislates" the arbitrary use of "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan) coming into effect, as some have suggested? Chen Yunlin said that he "saw and heard" the protesters, after all.

Is everybody awake yet? How long have I been trying to alert the world? Don't wait until the bloggers, the Talking Show (大話新聞) hosts, and all of your friends get arrested before you do something. Immediately educate everyone you know about what's going on!

When the police enforce laws that don't exist, what else should you call it but (undeclared) "martial law"? You should acquaint yourself with some of its names:

Hanzi: 戒嚴

Pinyin: jièyán

Taiwanese/Hoklo/Holo: kaegiaam/kài-giâm

Hakka (客語): gai ngiam

---

Not-so-distant early warnings: Taiwan, 台灣, martial law, 戒嚴, police state, 警察國家, violence, 暴力, Chen Yunlin, 陳雲林, "anti-secession" law, 反分裂國家法, Social Order Maintenance Law, 社會秩序維護法

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: "anti-secession" law, Chen Yunlin, martial law, police state, Social Order Maintenance Law, Taiwan, violence, 反分裂國家法, 台灣, 戒嚴, 暴力, 社會秩序維護法, 警察國家, 陳雲林

And the winners are...

Taiwan Matters somehow managed to win the "Best Political Blog" category in Taiwanderful's Best Taiwan Blog Awards 2008. The other blogs in the running for this category were A-gu's (阿牛) That's Impossible: Politics from Taiwan, Robert Maguire's The Only Redhead in Taiwan, and two more recent entries into the Taiwan political blogsphere: DEMO! Taiwan Democracy Movement, and Daphne and two other Taiwanese-Americans write Taiwanese Heart, Global Perspectives (台灣心、國際眼).

Thanks to David and Fili for hosting the awards. Thanks also to everybody who voted for this blog.


Best Taiwan Blog Awards 2008
Here are the rest of the winners in all categories. Go there, and get to know many more Taiwan blogs.

Irregular scheduling
We now return you to the impending martial law. Also take a look at the "FAPA statement on recent arrests" and "Worrisome Trends in Politicizing Law Enforcement?" via Michael Turton's blog. J. Michael Cole's blog also covers this with a post titled "Young Taiwanese fear authoritarian revival." YouTube user cassidytw posted a video called "國家危機_馬娘娘的政治謊言_自我閹割" (National crisis: Empress ("wussy") Ma's political lies, self-castration).

好可惡！
(Click to enlarge)

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Somebody's trophies: Taiwan, 台灣, blog, 部落格, award, 獎, martial law, 戒嚴

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: award, blog, martial law, Taiwan, 台灣, 戒嚴, 獎, 部落格

Who's gonna react to this?

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) is having DTs about the lack of martial law in modern Taiwan. Friday's Taipei Times gives us the money quote:

In another development, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday condemned the DPP for accusing him and Ma of "selling out democracy," and dared Chen to declare martial law.

The DPP carried an advertisement in several Chinese-language newspapers yesterday featuring a wanted poster for Wu and Ma, portraying them as heads of a ring of swindlers selling out the country's democracy by urging voters not to cast referendum ballots. [IMAGE]

The ad called on voters to support the DPP.

"The KMT refuses to cast referendum ballots in order to simplify the election process. I call on President Chen not to play dirty tricks," Wu said yesterday while campaigning for KMT legislators in Kaohsiung City. "I dare Chen to declare martial law and bring me and Ma to justice under military rule."

I might hanker for a hunk o'cheese now and then, but never for martial law like these true junkies and their "True Believer" followers do.

Y'think the pan-blue media and the pan-blue blogs will be all over him for this? Naaaah!

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Martial McLuhans: Taiwan, 台灣, martial law, 戒嚴, Chinese Nationalist Party, 中國國民黨, Kuomintang, KMT, 國民黨, Wu Poh-hsiung, 吳伯雄, referendum, 公投, legislative election, 立委選舉, 立法委員選舉

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chinese Nationalist Party, KMT, Kuomintang, legislative election, martial law, referendum, Taiwan, Wu Poh-hsiung, 中國國民黨, 公投, 台灣, 吳伯雄, 國民黨, 戒嚴, 立委選舉

Reason vs. mere rhetoric

In the post I wrote yesterday marking the 20th anniversary of the end of martial law in Taiwan, I quoted DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) explaining that forgiveness of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) past offenses against Taiwan (which -- be honest -- continue to this very day) shouldn't include giving them another chance to be Taiwan's stewards. Here's the quote once more:

"We can forgive a 'caretaker' who harmed our people, raped our daughters and stole our property, but we can never allow him to be the caretaker again."

The quote is back in the news today, having started a debate of sorts (in which the participants were in different locations at different times). Reporters who had heard tell of each quote then asked the relevant candidate's opponent for his response. Or something along those lines.

Hong Kong-born KMT candidate Ma "There's-a-seriously-decomposed-corpse-on-the-balcony-of-my-City-Hall" Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- who announced his candidacy just hours after being indicted for misusing his "personal allowance" while he was mayor of Taipei -- responded to Hsieh's comment with the same kind of logic one would expect from a man who rode a bicycle around Taiwan for ten days and informed the world via his personal blog about not wearing underwear while doing so. (Could he be a "Britney Spears" fan?)

The article -- in which Ma wishes people would just forget all about martial law in Taiwan -- relates it like this:

Ma slammed Hsieh for his remarks, saying he "was surprised to hear Hsieh speak ill of others, because Hsieh is religious."

Ma also challenged Hsieh's idea of "reconciliation and coexistence," calling it "hollow words."

Speaking truth to authoritarianism (whether one is religious, agnostic, or atheist) doesn't count as "speak[ing] ill of others" (造口業) -- a phrase which implies unjust criticism. In the case of Hsieh's description of the KMT, it's simply truth that must be told because of the vast media conspiracy that would prefer for the public to ignore the dark past (and present) and focus on such hollow words (如空話) as "handsome" instead. Hey, Ma "Informed-on-his-Taidu-classmates-during-a-time-when-that-could-get-them-killed" Ying-jeou, people called Ted Bundy "handsome," too.

But the KMT's double-standard-bearer (Ma) didn't stop there. Continuing to avoid logic at all costs, he actually buttressed the validity of Hsieh's criticism with this next bit:

"The fact that the KMT was bad in the past doesn't prove the DPP is good now," Ma said.

First things first: "[T]he KMT was bad," and that's a fact, Jack!

But just in case your head is spinning from Ma's non sequitur, let's break down the "logic":

The fact that noun A was adjective B in the past doesn't prove that the opposite of noun A is the opposite of adjective B now.

Replacing those with some words chosen off the top of my head, I come up with this: "The fact that the dog was furry in the past doesn't prove that the cat is hairless now." Or, "The fact that Hitler was evil in the past doesn't prove that [choose your own contemporary opposite] is benevolent now."

As you can see, the statement is utter nonsense.

Ma "Foolishness-doesn't-prove-anything" Ying-jeou, therefore, can't even prove his own assertion (that the DPP is not good) -- but he does bolster my assumption above that the DPP -- despite all its faults -- is pretty much the polar opposite of the KMT. No wonder he never passed the bar exam.

The beleaguered former Taipei mayor (Ma) stumbles onward while gazing at himself in the rearview mirror:

"The KMT has stepped down [following the 2000 presidential election] and has reflected on its conduct during the martial law period," he said.

They love to claim that they "reflect" (反省) -- in a genteel and inscrutable Confucian manner -- on the errors of their murderous ways, but we still have Ma "Singapore-is-a-good-model-to-follow" Ying-jeou spewing nonsense. If any such "reflection" had actually occurred, the die-hard KMT members would have returned their stolen assets to the people of Taiwan, donated whatever was left to the victims of the "228 Massacre" and subsequent White Terror, and perhaps even gone home to the "motherland" to be with the ones they love. Whatever! Hsieh says to stay here and enjoy the democracy earned on the backs of the Taiwanese if you want -- just don't expect the people who call Taiwan their motherland to want you to be their president.

Hsieh puts the final nail in the conversation with this alliterative verse:

Hsieh said the victims [of political persecution during the martial law era] should forgive their persectors but never forget.

"Those who forget history will be forgotten by history. Those who abandon history will be abandoned by history," Hsieh said.

"Those who have harmed others are in no position to ask their victims to forget."

I can't wait to see these two go head-to-head in a real debate on live television.

FURTHER READING: For Hanzi versions of what was said by the two candidates, try here, here, here, here, or here.

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Pros and cons: Taiwan, 台灣, Republic of China, 中華民國, DPP, 民進黨, KMT, 國民黨, Frank Hsieh, 謝長廷, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, democracy, 民主, 228 Massacre, 二二八大屠殺, freedom, 自由, martial law, 戒嚴, Taidu, 台獨, White Terror, 白色恐怖

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: democracy, DPP, Frank Hsieh, KMT, Ma Ying-jeou, martial law, Taidu, White Terror, 台獨, 國民黨, 戒嚴, 民主, 民進黨, 白色恐怖, 謝長廷, 馬英九

Down with martial law

Today is the 20th anniversary of the lifting of martial law in Taiwan. That 38-year-long era was like a knife plunged into the hearts of the Taiwanese. And current members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have the nerve to call the removal of this knife a "gift to the Taiwanese."

WTF? That's almost like saying that their own raping of Taiwan prevented China from doing so. Oh, wait...

Today's Taipei Times brings us a bunch of good info. Here are the links along with some samples:

* A brief history of the martial law era

1980

Kaohsiung Incident leader Lin I-hsiung's mother and his twin daughters were brutally murdered on Feb. 28, while the elder daughter was seriously injured. The identity of the murderer remains unknown. [Maddog: Unknown to anyone outside of the KMT (whose secret police had the house under 24-hour surveillance), that is.]

1981

Carnegie University professor and supporter of Taiwan's democracy movement Chen Wen-cheng (陳文成) was found dead a day after he returned to Taiwan for a visit and was taken from his residence by agents from the Taiwan Garrison Command, a secret police and state security body.

1984

Chiang Nan (江南), a Taiwanese author writing a biography on Chiang Ching-kuo, was killed on Oct. 16 at his house in San Francisco by a Taiwanese gangster commissioned by the Military Intelligence Bureau. Chiang Ching-kuo started the second term of his presidency.

* Taiwanese society under martial law remembered

While celebrating the anniversary of the lifting of martial law in 1987, it is easy to forget what life was like at a time when many aspects of society -- including books, music and TV and radio programs -- were heavily censored and under the tight control of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime.

Dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) declared martial law on May 19, 1949, after his KMT troops lost the Chinese civil war to Mao Zedong's (毛澤東) Communist Party and withdrew to Taiwan.

Martial law was not lifted until July 15, 1987.

[...]

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has attributed the lifting of martial law to the social forces that came into effect following the Kaohsiung Incident, with the immediate cause being the founding of the DPP.

The December 1979 Kaohsiung Incident occurred when the KMT authorities broke up an anti-government rally organized by Formosa magazine.

Ten days after the DPP was founded, then president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) announced he would lift martial law and allow the formation of opposition parties.

* Chen, DPP re-enact martial law rally

"We can forgive a 'caretaker' who harmed our people, raped our daughters and stole our property, but we can never allow him to be the caretaker again," he [DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷)] said. "It is not a matter of right and wrong. It is a matter of defending the character of Taiwanese people."

* Nation vulnerable to 'three wars' plan: panel

The "three wars" strategy refers to Beijing's plan to threaten Taiwanese psychologically, block Taiwan's participation in international organizations and "brainwash" Taiwan and its allies through "united front" (統戰) propaganda aimed at extending its influence in Taiwan.

prevention

"The end goal of the Chinese government's 'three wars' is to make Taiwanese believe that Taiwan is part of China," said Chen Lung-chu (陳隆志), president of the Taiwan New Century Foundation think tank, which hosted the forum.

"Strengthening Taiwanese people's sense of national identification is the best defense against the threats post by China's 'three wars,'" Chen said.

Despite all the informative articles above, the same edition of the same paper sows seeds of fear, uncertainty, and doubt when they should be promoting bravery, dedication, and clarity instead. There's a really bad editorial today (Could Antonio Chiang [江春男, AKA 司馬文武] be the "concern troll" writing this garbage?) equating two things which are actually quite different:

* Editorial: Two fumbling political parties

With the public spotlight on the end of the martial law era, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) finds itself in an awkward position, being the sole political party responsible for subjecting Taiwan to 38 years of martial law that brought the violence of the White Terror and other tragedies.

The KMT's quandry [sic] lies partly in the fact that the victims of the dictatorship are still around to recount their stories. This is exacerbated by the fact that many of the party's heavyweights today also played important party roles during the latter part of the martial law era. They were part of and upheld an oppressive system. They were silent on the issue of oppression then, but present themselves as champions of democracy now.

[...]

But the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) may not be in a position to boast either. Although it deserves praise for the actions of its members at crucial points in the past -- the Kaohsiung Incident and the struggle for democracy, for example -- the DPP should not, twenty years after martial law has ended, still be relying on Taiwan's collective memory of dark and painful days to win votes.

The DPP should be concerned that it's [sic] biggest contribution continues to be achievements from two decades ago. During the seven years of its administration, the DPP has made little progress in switching from an opposition party mentality to that of a governing party. Unfortunately, the DPP has far fewer laurels to show for its time in the presidential office than it gathered on the road to democracy.

I guess the writer of that piece forgot that the KMT controls a big chunk of the legislature to this very day. There's nothing at all disingenuous or unseemly about the DPP's use of the topic to gain the votes it needs in order to get things done. The editorial's comparison about "laurels" earned by the DPP now versus the leaps made 20 years ago reminds me of the inaccurate comparison made between the steady progress of Taiwan's well-developed economy and China's burgeoning economy. The Frank Hsieh quote from above bears repeating: "We can forgive a 'caretaker' who harmed our people, raped our daughters and stole our property, but we can never allow him to be the caretaker again."

Fellow Taiwan Matters blogger Michael Turton was up early on this Sunday morning publishing some goodies of his own over at The View from Taiwan -- including something which may further elucidate my comment about the economy just above:

* Taiwan's Economy: What's Going On?

Taiwan's "problems" are the problems of any advanced economy, complicated by the political threats from China, and perceived through the strong cultural belief here that life is a zero-sum game and if you're not at the top of the heap, you must be at the bottom. Most nations would take joy in Taiwan's 4% annual growth rate and strong electronics sector. Instead, we have angst. Some of it is justified, given the decline in purchasing power faced by the middle and working classes, but it is also true that the public in Taiwan could stand a little education in the problems of growth when your economy is already quite wealthy.

* Revolting Story of EU Kow-tow to China

So what is Beijing up to? They know from their pals in the KMT that the UN referendum is an election year ploy that will have no real effect on anything. So this isn't about "Taiwan independence" really. It's about stopping or defusing an election year ploy, on behalf of its allies, the KMT. It is also part of its long-term policy of making Chen Shui-bian look like a "radical."

A Maddog or a stray dog?
"And where have you been for the past couple of months, Maddog?" you may ask. Some of that time has been taken up tracking some of the anti-Taiwan memes in the Western media which fly in the face of reality. Here are the pages I've posted so far:

* Memes: Taiwan provoke China
* Memes: Taiwan "renegade province"
* Memes: [Taiwan and China] "split in 1949"

Due to the sheer volume of these memes, it's difficult for me to keep those pages completely up-to-date, but I'll do my best. Referring to them from time to time should be a real eye-opener, and I hope you will pass the information on to others in order to counter the effect of the memes.

During my time away from this blog, I've been active in other prominent places. At Jerome Keating's request, I did some graphics to accompany his piece called The KMT and Their Flag: Is Puyi Power Better than None? Fellow Taiwan Matters bloggers Michael Turton and Feiren joined me in smacking down Beijing correspondent Richard Spencer of Telegraph.co.uk for publishing a big, stinking pile of lies about Taiwan. Last weekend, I wrote to the people at LiveEarth.org to demand that they change their listing of Taiwan on their pledge page as being a "Province Of China." (Some of you should write to them, too.) And I have been going over lots of declassified documents from the CIA's archives.

I hope all you readers have been active, too, even if it's behind the scenes.

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Bullet points: Taiwan, 台灣, Republic of China, 中華民國, ROC, Chiang Kai-shek, 蔣介石, martial law, 戒嚴, democracy, 民主, memes, 大腦模仿病毒

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chiang Kai-shek, democracy, martial law, memes, Republic of China, ROC, Taiwan, 中華民國, 台灣, 大腦模仿病毒, 戒嚴, 民主, 蔣介石