"Taipei" Welcomes the NBA

The TaipeiTimes caption reads:
"IDENTITY CRISIS
Workers at the Taipei Arena yesterday replace the word “Taiwan” with the word “Taipei” ahead of tomorrow’s Indiana Pacers vs Denver Nuggets NBA basketball game.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES"

On Thursday, two NBA teams, the Denver Nuggets and the Indiana Pacers will play against each other in Taipei. Besides the fact that it will be the first NBA game ever to be played in Taiwan, not too much to say on this event. It will be a great opportunity for the people in Taiwan to see a live NBA game. I'm sure as the NBA continues its work in Taiwan, it'll find it has a large market in Taiwan as well.

While nothing is wrong with either "Taipei welcomes..." or "Taiwan welcomes...," it seems like another case of appeasing China at the expense of "Taiwan." After all, "Taiwan" was already placed on there, and yet there is this last minute change to "Taipei."

Taipei, a city looking to put itself on the international map? Or another instance of Taiwanese unable to take a stand, and placating to China. I'll go with the latter. The Taipei Arena, Taipei Mayor, Minister of Sports Affairs Council, and the President of the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association all dropped the ball here.

In other, more interesting news, an interesting response to an Op-Ed, "Rebiya Kadeer and Taipei," in the WSJ, by Su Jun-pin, Minister of the GIO:

On behalf of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan), I would like to comment on a number of mistaken notions contained in the editorial "Rebiya Kadeer and Taipei" (Review & Outlook, Sept. 29).

First, the decision of not allowing Ms. Kadeer to visit Taiwan has been made in accordance with Article 18 of Chapter 4 of the Immigration Act, "Entry of Aliens and Exit of Aliens." This article stipulates that the National Immigration Agency shall prohibit an alien from entering the ROC if he/she is believed to endanger national interests or public security. This does not mean, however, that the ROC government disrespects freedom of expression. Indeed, the documentary about Ms. Kadeer's life has been shown at many venues in Taiwan.

Further, the editorial states that President Ma Ying-jeou was elected to improve Taiwan's economy through closer links with mainland China, but "is misinterpreting that mandate to include closer ties with [mainland] China's authoritarian politics, too." This is a gross misconception.

The Ma administration, it must be stressed, has turned a new page in relations across the Taiwan Strait. Since taking office in May 2008, cross-Strait tensions have eased, and the prospects for lasting peace in the Asia-Pacific region are improving, a trend affirmed by governments around the world. Our cross-Strait policy is premised on safeguarding our sovereignty and putting Taiwan first for the benefit of its people. That means insisting on freedom and democracy in Taiwan while promoting cross-Strait peace and prosperity.

We believe this is the right course to take and that observers who look closely at Taiwan will concur.

Su Jun-pin

Minister

Government Information Office

Republic of China (Taiwan)

My basic response to this, as you will see in the comments on the WSJ page as well, is that here and in the past week, the Ma administration has continued to state this fact that they can deny entry to a person who is deemed a threat to national interests or the public. But, they have continued to be silent on exactly how is Ms. Kadeer a threat to Taiwan? That is the question we all would like to know. Perhaps the real answer is what we already suspected, that Ms. Kadeer is a threat to China, and the Ma administration is once again letting China stomp all over us.

EWT Trade (10/07/09): Stopped out of my EWT trade for a loss of $0.35 per contract. As I recently mentioned, TA works until it doesn't! Minimizing losses is part of the game.