Stocks and Politics

Dick Muri - Running for WA State 9th Congressional District US Representative

2010-10-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

After receiving my ballot a few days ago, I had the idea to once again e-mail the candidates for the 9th District (as I did for the WA State Senatorial Race) on their stance on Taiwan. Of course it seems like the incumbent (Adam Smith) is way too busy for any sort of questions from his constituents, but I did manage to get a hold of the Republican candidate, Dick Muri. In my e-mail, I asked similar things that I did in the e-mail to the senatorial candidates. Questions such as what do they know about Taiwan, what do they support in terms of China/Taiwan, etc.

Here is what he had to say:

Richard,

I have always been a fan and supporter of Taiwan. They are a nation that cherishes freedom and liberty. That is one reason they have prospered. Taiwan should be a member of the United Nations. The 23 million citizens of Taiwan deserve to be represented. I have only been to Taiwan once, that was in June of 1978. Flew my C-141 into Taipei with a load of military hardware. We were one of the last flights into Taiwan before those flights became restrictive. As you next congressman, I hope to visit Taiwan!

Sincerely,
Dick Muri

When asked if he had anything more to add, as I did let him know that I might be publishing some or all that he had to say on Taiwan on this blog, he added:

I will sponsor and vote for all bills that support Taiwan's liberty and independence.

All Americans should support freedom and liberty, it is the essence of our countries foundation and character.

Thanks,

Dick

On top of that, he added that he would stop by my blog and perhaps make some comments as well!

In his second response, I pressed him about whether he would be willing to say that he would cosponsor any future bills that are in support of Taiwan's democracy and human rights. I mentioned to him how Adam Smith had not responded to me e-mailing him to cosponsor the HCR316 bill I mentioned a few weeks ago.

I believe Mr. Muri's responses to be quite standard in terms of view of Taiwan, but his one trip to Taiwan does make Taiwan more personal to him than those who haven't. On top of that, he has unofficially stated that he would sponsor/support "all bills that support Taiwan's liberty and independence."

Something interesting that I have noticed in my many contacts with fellow politicians and hopeful politicians, is that in regards to Taiwan, many have visited Taiwan. Whether it be for personal reasons, business ventures, or past military posts/stops in Taiwan, it seems like Taiwan was definitely a go-to place in Asia before official diplomatic relations ended.

As I stated in the past and will continue to do so - there are many more pressing issues at hand for us today as Americans, but that does not mean we should lose sight of potential issues that will arise in the future. For many Taiwanese-Americans, U.S. support for Taiwan is an important one, and one that I hope many of us will continue to consider in one way or another when we vote for candidates. So while I assume many voters will not vote for Muri merely because of his stance on Taiwan, I do hope that voters who are concerned about Taiwan recognize that Muri is supportive of Taiwan's liberty and independence.

Economic Integration Leads To Political Integration

2010-10-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

I came across this article in Canadian Business Online on how some Taiwanese businessmen view Taiwan as just a stop on their way to making fortunes in China. It's a short article, but interesting to see how some Taiwanese are not shy at all about their intentions with China. That is, their intentions to fully disregard Taiwan's current political status as an independent democracy, in favor or making an extra buck or two (or three).

"Economic convergence will gradually lead to political convergence," says the straight-talking chairman of the Taiwan Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Council. "You give the Taiwanese people enough candy and they will surrender in the end."

Huang's belief in economics as a prologue to politics is shared by many members of Taiwan's powerful business community, which provides key backing for President Ma Ying-jeou's signature policy of linking Taiwan's high tech economy to China's lucrative markets.

Since Ma took office in May 2008, Taiwan's economic connection to the mainland — already robust even under the pro-independence regime of his predecessor — has moved into high gear, spurred by this year's signing of a partial free trade agreement between the sides, and the rapid acceleration of direct flights and shipping across the 100-mile- (160-kilometer-) wide Taiwan Strait.

Huang is certainly on the same page with those in China; seeing not only that economic integration is just a means for them to bait Taiwan into political integration, but also that Ma Ying-jeou is a key player in Beijing's plans for Taiwan.

The article makes a point that is often portrayed incorrectly in that economic cooperation between Taiwan and China was already happening and increasing every year under the presidency of Chen Shui-bian. While it was at a much slower-pace, one must view the slow pace in a favorable way. As the "high gear" approach that Ma Ying-jeou has undertaken is something that has basically happened without any sort of oversight by the legislature, as well as the people of Taiwan.

Furthermore, a large part of the reason for the quick economic agreements that have taken place is due to the fact that Ma has no longer maintained Taiwan's sovereignty in negotiating with China. Whereas, during the Chen Shui-bian era, the DPP would only negotiate with China if China did not have the prerequisite of coming to the table under the agreement of the One China Policy - that is, Taiwan and China are both one country.

Another interesting thing that Huang stated was on the future of Taiwan and China:

Still, the business community is convinced that time is on the side of eventual union.
"I think it will take about ten years for a political arrangement to take place," said Huang, who believes that Ma will be re-elected in 2012 "because people will think twice" about sacrificing the benefits of their China economic connection.

Personally, I have been under the belief that the longer Taiwan and China remain separate, the harder it will be for China to bring Taiwan under their umbrella under favorable circumstances. Perhaps even under unfavorable circumstances (by force), it may become harder as the years progress. The way I look at it is like this:

1) During the 8 years under Chen Shui-bian, Chen did a great job in cultivating a pride in Taiwan, domestically and abroad. Now with 2 years under China-leaning Ma, polls have continued to show a continual move towards favoring independence and status-quo, and a lower amount of those supporting unification. The numbers run similar for considering oneself as Taiwanese and/or Chinese. With that said, it does not make sense that even under further KMT-rule, that the people of Taiwan would revert back to pro-unification and pro-not Taiwanese thinking.

2) The result of #1 is that it inevitably affects how Ma can run the government on Taiwan (especially in terms of cross-straits policy). The problem for Ma right now is that while he wants to push his agenda with China faster and quicker, the Taiwanese are pushing back. They are doing this on the streets in protests, and at the ballots. This results in a sort of stand-still for Ma in which he can't push too far towards China without losing credibility on Taiwan.

3) Consider this as well. China is very much aware of how the relationship between Taiwan and China did not progress in their favor under the Chen administration. Any hopes of pursuing unchecked economic integration under the One China Principle was totally hopeless to them. Naturally, any hopes of pursuing political integration would be out of the question. Thus, it's reasonable to assume that China would like to continue to see their willing partner in Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou, continue to remain in office through 2016. Otherwise, under another DPP administration, their efforts over the past 2 years (4 eventually) in furthering a Taiwan-China inseparable integration, will likely have gone to waste.

The only reason I can think of at this point that would allow China to have an easier time as time goes on for unification, is via force and military means. Within the next decade, China should have their aircraft carriers and other marine forces up and running - able to compete and perhaps deter the U.S. from entering into the area to protect Taiwan. We've seen many times in the past where China has backed down after the U.S. got involved in the area. If China can contain the U.S. involvement, politically as well as militarily, between Taiwan and China, then their chances of succeeding in unifying Taiwan with China by force, greatly increases.

"Taiwan's" National Day

2010-10-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

As with previous posts on this topic, I always have to have a * to remind people that this day, while popularly recognized as the national day of Taiwan and is legitimately the national day of "Taiwan," is also legitmately the national day of the Republic of China.

As most of you know, the R.O.C. is a Chinese government formed in China back in 1911. It should strike you as awkward that people on Taiwan are celebrating the national day of their government, which never existed on Taiwan until 1945. Anyways, just as the R.O.C. term and all the things that come along with it (government, constitution, etc) are basically established by both pan-green and pan-blue sides as legitimate on Taiwan, it's hard to address this issue.

What I want to bring attention to today though is this article in the Taipei Times today.

A majority of Taiwanese said they did not feel more proud to be a citizen of the Republic of China (ROC) after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008, a poll released by the Taiwan Thinktank ahead of Double Ten National Day showed yesterday.
The poll showed that 65 percent of respondents said they had not felt their sense of pride as an ROC citizen grow after Ma assumed office, while 31.3 percent said they had.

It's nice to see that the blatant disregard for freedom of speech that has been violated in Taiwan since Ma has come to power has impacted Taiwanese citizens' views of Ma and their proud-ness to be "R.O.C." I do wonder though if the numbers might have been more in favor of "yes, I'm more proud to be a citizen of the R.O.C." if the term "Taiwan" was substituted in place of "R.O.C." I know many Taiwanese who would be proud to say, "Yes I'm proud to be Taiwanese," but instead say something closer to, "No, I'm not proud about the R.O.C." when asked about each respectively.

This lack of support for Ma's presidency is cross-party lines, and it has definitely showed up when Ma's government has attempted to regress on the right of freedom of speech. I encourage the young generation in Taiwan to remember those times (Chen Yulin visit to Taiwan (errr ROC), Wild Strawberry Movement, disregard for public opinion on ECFA, and the recent collegiate basketball incident) and take their disappointment with Ma and the KMT to the ballots in November.

Check Out Taipei Times

2010-09-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

Looks like they finally revamped their website to be more "Web 2.0"-like. Although I'm no web expert, so I'm not even sure if that's the correct term. But, nonetheless the greatest part for me is that it loads at least 100% faster than before. For some reason, it used to take 20-30 seconds to load the page whereas now it takes less than 1-2 seconds.

Here's what their front page used to look like before:

A couple interesting bits from today's news on there:

A mistake on U.S. Department of Homeland Security misstating Taiwan as a Province of China. Also includes some comments on what the interactions between Taiwan and the U.S. are to be.
U.S. would "reassess Taiwan's military needs" if China removes the missiles pointed at Taiwan. Also in the article is some spot-on insight on the "improving relations" between Taiwan and China:

Writing in the Washington Post this week, Robert Kaplan, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said: “We underestimate the importance of what is occurring between China and Taiwan.
“With 270 flights per week between the countries, and hundreds of missiles on the mainland targeting the island, China is quietly incorporating Taiwan into its dominion,” he wrote.
“Once it becomes clear, a few years or a decade hence, that the US cannot credibly defend Taiwan, China will be able to redirect its naval energies beyond the first island chain in the Pacific to the second island chain and in the opposite direction, to the Indian Ocean,” he said.

Be sure to check out the editorial cartoon s, always a good laugh. While the Taipei Times always had them, they are in a more accessible and visible spot now on the front page I believe.

Another good laugh as always are the cartoons that the media/news stations in Taiwan put out. Here's a recent one, starring a couple of America's most notable political players.

Calling On Adam Smith

2010-09-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

to support HCR316 of the 111th congress. As I shot off an e-mail to Congressman Adam Smith of the 9th District in WA, I did some more sleuthing on my representative. On previous HCR's involving support for Taiwan, Adam Smith did vote yes, such as HCR200 of the 110th congress. But as this page notes:

This resolution passed in the House of Representatives by roll call vote. The vote was held under a suspension of the rules to cut debate short and pass the resolution, needing a two-thirds majority. This usually occurs for non-controversial legislation. The totals were 413 Ayes, 2 Nays, 17 Present/Not Voting.

Of the 2 nays, one of which was Ron Paul (which isn't a surprise if you know his platform). Ron Paul is one I can agree with for the most part on domestic issues and things related to our own country, but when it comes to foreign policy, Paul basically wants to withdraw from everywhere and focus on our own country. This of course has its goods and bads.

Anyways, back to Adam Smith. For a non-controversial legislation, it doesn't really say much about Smith's stance on Taiwan by voting yes on it. It would be something else if he co-sponsored a bill supporting Taiwan though (see below for the recent HCR316 bill).

Also, I found this site that lists donations/contributions for their election races. Adam Smith's contributions from PAC's were 55% of his total raised. Conversely, Dick Muri's contributions from PAC's were a measly $221 dollars, or 0% of his total raised. Instead, 96% of his contributions came from individuals. I'll leave this at that, as the numbers speak for themselves.

H. Con. Res. 316:

111th CONGRESS

Supporting Taiwan's membership in appropriate international organizations such as the United Nations.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Supporting Taiwan's membership in appropriate international organizations such as the United Nations.

Whereas for more than 50 years a close relationship has existed between the United States and Taiwan, which has been of major economic, cultural, and strategic advantage to both countries;
Whereas the 23,000,000 people in Taiwan are not represented in the United Nations and their human rights as citizens of the world are therefore severely abridged;
Whereas Taiwan has over the years repeatedly expressed its strong desire to participate in the United Nations;
Whereas Taiwan has much to contribute to the work and funding of the United Nations;
Whereas the world community has reacted positively to Taiwan's desire for international participation, as shown by Taiwan's membership in the Asian Development Bank, Taiwan's admission to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group as a full member, and Taiwan's membership in the World Trade Organization;
Whereas section 4(d) of the Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3303(d)) declares, `Nothing in this Act may be construed as a basis for supporting the exclusion or expulsion of Taiwan from continued membership in any international financial institution or any other international organization.'; and
Whereas the United States has supported Taiwan's participation in international organizations including the World Health Organization: Now, therefore, be it

      Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) Taiwan and its 23,000,000 people deserve membership in the United Nations; and
            (2) the United States should fulfill the commitment it made in the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review to more actively support Taiwan's membership in appropriate international organizations.

China's Business Potential

2010-09-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

There's been a common opinion in the past decade, especially within college graduates, about how China is the place to be to make money. Proponents of this claim that the ~1.3billion population of China represents a huge untapped market from which money can be made.

While doing business and making money do not necessarily go hand-in-hand, Forbes magazine has come out with their annual list of "Best Countries for Business." Notable countries and where they rank in the list are: Hong Kong (2), United States (9), Taiwan (25), and China (90). Forbes ranks countries based on several criteria, of which a few are:

Denmark scored in the top five among all countries in four of the 11 categories we considered as part of the ranking, including property rights, technology, corruption and personal freedom.Our ranking examines 128 economies. Other factors we looked at besides the above include red tape, investor protection and stock market performance.

So what about China's potential? Forbes ranks China at 90, well outside of the Top 10 or 25, of which Taiwan managed to crack this year. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has been keeping up with news this past year. GE's CEO, whose company was once one of the top sponsors for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is now openly criticizing China and their government for essentially taking GE's technology and proceeding to produce their own copy through their state-owned companies. And of course there is Google, whose exit from China was due to allegations of hacking and ultimately their censorship of Google's searches. These are a couple very large companies that have openly decried China's unfriendly business practices with foreign companies, and there are likely more to come - Toyota's production line was shut down earlier this year due to a strike in a factory in China.

Business opportunities don't look to be abound in China these days, especially long-lasting and positive ones. While I have no doubt there is money to be made there, China should no longer be considered a go-to-place for businesses. Along with these stories from large corporations, numerous personal accounts from relatives and relatives of relatives exist, especially within the Taiwanese community about their ultimately unsuccessful business adventures in China (these accounts usually end with them fleeing China due to ridiculous taxes or demands placed on their business, having to leave everything behind in an instant).

Besides China, Hong Kong makes a mark at #2 in the list. What strikes me the most about Hong Kong's high ranking is their decently high ranking (12) in the area of corruption. In comparison, Taiwan is #32 in corruption. I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise as corruption has especially been recently highlighted within Taipei mayor, Hau Lung-bin's circle.

Politicizing The Olympics

2010-08-31T01:17:00.000-07:00

Came across an article/top-ten-like-list on athletes who made "major political and social statements." Interestingly, Taiwan came up as one of the "athletes" who made a political statement during the Olympics. Of course we all know how today China blocks Taiwan from entering international organizations and sporting events under the name Taiwan or R.O.C. Taiwan is forced to represent themselves under the name of Chinese Taipei, because everyone in Taiwan is in Taipei or something like that.

Controversy erupted in the days before the 1960 Olympics.
At that point in history, the United States and most western countries, did not recognize the communist government in mainland China. Instead the US and others viewed the leaders and people on the island of Taiwan as the deposed and rightful rulers of mainland China.
This was a problem for the International Olympic Committee.
In 1958, China withdrew from the 1960 Rome Olympics because they wanted Taiwan banned from participating.
In response the IOC, with the support of the Soviet Union but in opposition to US wishes, asked that Taiwan no longer march under the name "The Republic of China," but use the name of Taiwan or Formosa.

At that time, the government on Taiwan was still insistent on the idea of unifying with "the mainland," or "taking back the mainland." Most importantly, the government on Taiwan still claimed sovereignty over all of China, essentially saying that government on Taiwan was the legitimate government of "China." The sad part is that when given the chance back in 1960, Taiwan could have been able to enter the Olympics under the name "Taiwan" or "Formosa." Instead they decided to participate in the games under protest:

When they marched into the Olympic stadium for the opening ceremony the lead Taiwanesse athlete held a sign reading, "Under Protest." IOC President Avery Brundage had to be talked out of banning the Taiwannese delegation from participating in the games.

[Yes, the people at bleacher report need better copy editors -- note the misspellings of "Taiwanese" multiple times] From this we can see how China's comments during the 2008 Olympics telling others not to politicize the Olympics, is utterly a joke. One could say that China started the whole "politicizing" of Olympics, especially when it comes to Taiwan and "Chinese Taipei."

This other 9 athletes are a good read too. The most recent being a few baseball players participating in the "Restoring Honor" rally at the Mall in Washington DC this past weekend.

Another more recent one? The Phoenix Suns protesting the immigration law that was passed in Arizona.

Reviewing Senator Patty Murray's Visit To China

2010-08-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year in January, WA State Senator Patty Murray visited China as the head of a three-member group called the "Senate's United States-China Inter-Parliamentary Group." According to this Seattle Times article back when Senator Murray was just about to embark on her trip, it cites the groups purpose as:

to foster better relations with China with the aim of improving cooperation on issues such as human rights, trade and security.

Now fast forward and lets look over what Senator Murray did on her "China 2010 Visit" as seen on her own website. Despite the group's purpose being 3-fold, Senator Murray admitted that her discussions were "largely focused" on trade issues:

As the head of the U.S. delegation, I chaired the afternoon's session which largely focused on a wide range of economic and trade issues. This is the second IPG session I have attended in China, in addition to attending IPG meetings in Washington, DC. One thing that I have noticed is that the tone is much different than in the past. Previously discussions were more relaxed. Today we had intense and much more passionate exchanges. A key issue for the Chinese was weapons sales to Taiwan.

The issue of Taiwan of course came up, and Senator Murray merely stated that it was a key issue for the Chinese. The question that we would have wanted to know is, is Taiwan is key issue for the U.S.? Is it a key issue for you, Senator Murray?

On the issue of security, Murray did have one line about that:

We raised the need for continued engagement with North Korea and Iran as well as protection of intellectual property.

But other than that, it seems as if economy and trade issues simply dominated the talks. I would say that Senator Murray's group failed on getting the message about human rights and security across to the Chinese. Human Rights? What human rights (see this report on China's continual "dismal and not improving" record on human rights)? And security talk with China about engaging with North Korea? China says definitely, we'll engage but not in the way you want us to. North Korea remains as one of China's main allies - after all, if communists can't stick together, how can you expect western democracies to get along with China? Just the past week or so, Kim Jung Il visited China for who knows what, but it certainly doesn't seem like beneficial news for the rest of the world... two of the world's most well-known communist leaders getting together to discuss their transition to democracy? I think not.

Patty Murray's ties with China should mean she has greater leverage with them, or so you would think. Instead, abroad in China we have the communist party threatening to boycott Boeing due to them manufacturing arms that would eventually be sold to Taiwan. And at home in Washington, we have Patty Murray unable to keep the additional manufacturing jobs for Boeing 787s in Everett.

I think it's time to put your party preference aside and just get someone new in there. Yes, that means Republican Dino Rossi. And if he doesn't serve us well, then vote in the next new guy.

According to Wikipedia, Senatory Murray is currently the 4th highest-ranking democratic senator in the senate. That should give you an idea of how long she's been in the senate.

For full disclosure, yes I would consider myself a Republican. But, had Rossi been the incumbent with this track record, I would be saying the same thing for him to go.

Taiwan Cross-Straits Research Project - Participate!

2010-08-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

This was forwarded to me as a opportunity to share your knowledge and experience of Cross-Straits history. See below for more information:

Hi everyone!

My name's Alina and I'm currently a rising junior at Brown University, pursuing a research project about how youth in mainland China and Taiwan (ages 18-30) look at cross-strait history.

Here's what you do
1) Take this survey.
2) Investigate your own history and share it on our website.
3) Take this other survey.
4) Continue the conversation.

Cross-Strait Passages seeks to work towards cross-strait peace by starting a conversation about our past. Find out more about your grandparents' generation. If we don't record their stories now, who will?

So from now until August 10th, we will be having a summer feature contest. The winner will be have their work undergo post-production processing, have four CDs of their work to share with family and friends, be featured on our website, and provided he or she lives in Taipei or Beijing, be eligible for a 2000 NT or 400 RMB cash prize.

So start now. Tell your friends and share this message! This project will be most meaningful if we have as many people as possible participate.

Look forward to hearing from you,
Alina

Cross-Strait Passages
http://www.cs-p.org
cspassages@gmail.com

*** http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=135709056467783

大家好！我是怡文，來自美國布朗大學。我正在進行一項名為「海峽通道」的和平計畫，需要你們的協助。「海峽通道」是一個收集歷史故事的網路空間。讀者可以透過此空間中世代交錯的內容，認識四零及五零年代台灣和中國，也可開啟並培養出對於兩岸事務的敏銳度。

1）做個簡單的問卷，大約花您10分鐘。
2）追尋自己的歷史，跟大家在我們網站上分享。
3）做另位一個問卷。
4）持續網壇的討論。

海峽通道透過大家討論以往的方法來追求未來的兩岸和平。探索您爺爺奶奶的那一代。如果我們不現在把他們故事錄下來，那誰會呢？
即日起到八月十號晚間11點59分前接受作品繳交。我們會為獲選作品做簡單的後製，並展示在我們的網站。選擇的對象是十八到三十歲並居住台北或北京，就有機會可以獲得兩千塊台幣或者四百塊人民幣。

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很期待輿您的聯繫，
龔怡文
海峽通道｜http://www.cs-p.org｜cspassages@gmail.com

Musings of the Future

2010-08-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

It's quite hard to digest all the contradictory and ironic talk that comes out of Taiwan's government these days. I was thinking about writing about another ridiculous statement a former KMT chairman stated on the ECFA, but decided it wasn't worth my time. After all, it's been pretty much all the same over the past year - say one thing to the person on your left, and another to the person on your right, and what actually happens is neither what you told the left nor right.

So, I was thinking about the endless possibilities that could turn out in Taiwan over the next two years and wondered if what some other people have stated could be true - that is, Taiwanese will be just as quick to "punish" the KMT at the polls as they did the DPP in 2008, if the KMT swing way too far into the hands of China. So far, the small signs point to this being a real possibility - and the November elections will further cement this hypothesis for the 2012 presidential elections if the DPP come away with wins.

What I think would really boost the DPP in the upcoming elections are the votes from the younger Taiwanese (those in the 20s to 30s). Though if not properly informed, this block of voters could potentially lift the KMT to another win quite easily. The negative image that Chen Shui-bian left on the many young Taiwanese my age is quite deep and hard to reverse. Especially because this group of voters are already quite apathetic to politics in Taiwan, so for the most part all they still know about DPP and the KMT is that Chen Shui-bian was a horrible corrupt president, and Ma Ying-jeou was voted in with great popularity and that's it. They hardly know of the implications surrounding the ECFA or Ma's mishandling of Typhoon Morokat, and all his other blunders.

I say this because my generation of Taiwanese and Taiwanese-Americans have already got the Taiwanese identity down. The issue during the 90s and early 2000s of Taiwanese not recognizing themselves as Taiwanese is a forgotten past by now (ironically, much to do with Chen Shui-bians efforts). What likely concerns these Taiwanese are the social and economic future of Taiwan. Do they know that Taiwan != China? Yes. Do many consider themselves Taiwanese, not Chinese? Yes. But does that translate to voting for the DPP? No.

Not sure where I'm going with this, but just felt like putting it down in writing. You must understand that China's ultimate goal is the unification of Taiwan with them. There is a reason they have 1500/1800/2000 missiles pointed at Taiwan this very moment. So do not be so naive in thinking that China has signed this ECFA with Taiwan (and claiming Taiwan is getting more out of it than China) knowing that they received the short end of the stick. Trust me, they aren't. Being a communist does not mean you aren't smart; they are, and they know exactly what they are doing.

WA State Senatorial Candidates, Part 4: Schalk Leonard

2010-08-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

Here is Schalk Leonard's response to my e-mail regarding candidates' stance on Taiwan:

Richard:

Thank you for writing.

I agree with you - Democracy is precious and must be protected.

I believe that the relationship between Taiwan and China must be resolved primarily by the two - through peaceful means which respect the voice of the people.

Sincerely, Schalk Leonard

P.S. Have you seen my Chinese-language campaign video on YouTube?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBha2qB_EfA

~~I'm beginning to sense a bit of complacency within the Republican camp in their responses to my questions regarding Taiwan.~~ While Mr. Schalk Leonard is running under no party affiliation, his response is similar to what the other Republican candidates (Paul Akers & James (Skip) Mercer) have stated - that they see Taiwan as a friend and must be protected. To that I say, by what means and to what extent. Perhaps I indeed needed to guide them more than I had, by asking specific questions in regards to arms sales, support for Taiwan on the international scale, and China's intimidation tactics.

Nevertheless, Mr. Leonard was able to touch on something that none of the previous responses had mentioned - the resolution of the Taiwan issue should be decided primarily between Taiwan and China. When you hear this, you often get a mixed response due to the intricacies of the relationship, often involving a third party - Japan or the US. I do believe that Taiwan's future ultimately needs to be decided by Taiwan themselves, not by China nor by the US. At the same time, the "One China" issue will have to be settled by China and Taiwan (specifically the KMT) as these are the two main parties that still maintain "One China" in one sense or another. But lastly, I do hope and see that the US maintains a part in this relationship and ultimately the resolution of the stand-off between China and Taiwan. History has shown that without the US involvement in the Taiwan Cross-Straits, Taiwan may already no longer be "Taiwan" as we know it today.

So while it sounds "right" for Mr. Leonard to state that this needs to be settled by China and Taiwan through peaceful measures, he may be overlooking the problem that a majority of Taiwanese already see themselves separate from China. Thus, a joint resolution of this issue is not in the best interest of Taiwanese, as the Chinese are not Taiwanese.

In regards to his statement in the voter's pamphlet, Schalk Leonard sort of vaguely describes America as a country in "deep pain." His statement does not really get into any specifics of today's issues, so it's a bit hard to understand what he's getting at. For the most part, it comes across as a, "we're in trouble, come lets get together and rebuild this great nation," type of hope speech. Here's an example:

As for our neighbors of the wider world? The peoples of the old countries from whence our forefathers came? They know to find their way in their own time and own way. They always have and always will. And we honor them as our neighbors. We join them for mutual endeavors, when they stumble and fall we lend them a hand, and we respect the fences they have built. Good fences make good neighbors.

I think he's talking about immigration issues here, but at the same time talking about allies across the world. If so, it makes me wonder if what he means when he stated that the Taiwan issue must be primarily decided between China and Taiwan, is that he hopes the U.S. stays out of it as, "they know to find their way in their own time and own way." Might be a stretch though, since he mentions right before that about the countries from "whence our forefathers came."

Anyways, that's Schalk Leonard on Taiwan for you! Oh, and do check out his video in Chinese, his pronunciation is quite clear... that is the Chinese zh ch sh.

For which candidate will I be spotlighting next, I'm not sure. That's all the responses I've received thus far. Those that have not responded for whatever reason are: Dino Rossi, Clint Didier (only sent an automated response saying he might not respond to every e-mail due to time), Mike Latimer, Charles Allen, and Senator Patty Murray. I hope to get at least one more, but this may be it.

Make sure to return your ballots before Aug. 17, 2010 as I believe that's the last day to do so. Please feel free to circulate these responses to anyone who may be interested in hearing what they had to say about Taiwan. All links have been updated on the first post.

WA State Senatorial Candidates, Part 3: Bob Burr

2010-08-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the spotlights on the senatorial candidates, Democratic leaning Bob Burr and his wonderful response to my e-mail:

Hi Richard:

Thanks for the inquiry. I agree with you that this issue is off the radar screen of most people in Washington D.C. but that it could re-emerge big time. Taiwan is small, with less than 2% of the population of China; yet, on most economic measures, it is more like a country 20% China's size. One of my earliest political memories is of Quemoy and Matsu and that left a lasting impression.

While I was at Prudential, I was instrumental in setting up agencies designed to serve the Chinese communities and worked closely with several immigrants from both Taiwan and the mainland. The work ethic, value of education and family orientation that I observed was something that I wish was more widespread in American society. It came as something of a surprise to me--and a revelatory one at that--that the Taiwanese immigrants were more favorable towards reunification than the Chinese. I am hardly an expert in the area. I do believe that the United States should try to have friendly relations with both countries and do not believe the Hong Kong model will work for Taiwan. I don't want to see something doing well subverted nor its people subjected to restrictions. Thus, if the Chinese got to the point of playing the "it is us vs. them" card strongly, I would choose "them"--the Taiwanese. Unfortunately, I have limited confidence that our government would take such a stand if its hand was forced.

I believe that the People's Republic of China and Taiwan are two separate entities and that neither holds rightful dominion over the other. Taiwan should be a member of the United Nations. I am not a fan of United States arms sales to the world, but approve of sales to Taiwan. I approve of the growing trade and movement towards rapprochement between the two countries.

In summary, I would hope not to have to be moved from a position of neutrality/fence sitting an China vs. Taiwan and have the two entities amicably resolve their long-standing differences; however, in a serious showdown situation, my support would be to Taiwan.

楚简康万年，闻雷。

Bob

Simply, wow. His depth and candor in his response is quite refreshing to hear. Mr. Burr starts off with acknowledging my statement that the Taiwan issue is currently on the back-burner, but at the same time realizes that this issue can and likely will be a potential flash-point in the future. This is one of the vital points about discussing Taiwan, China, and U.S. relations - realizing that this delicate dance between the three is a big deal. Having someone know a lot about the history between the three and the current situations doesn't do much if that same person does not feel like it is a potential area for "big" things to happen on an international scale.

Mr. Burr moves on to discuss more of his past experiences with both Taiwanese and Chinese, and includes an interesting comment of which I'm not sure how to take. Burr states,

"It came as something of a surprise to me--and a revelatory one at that--that the Taiwanese immigrants were more favorable towards reunification than the Chinese."

Overlooking the error of him in saying reunification rather than unification, this is quite a revelatory one as well to me. While I'm not sure during what time he was at Prudential working with these Taiwanese and Chinese, but from what I've seen is that a lot of those Taiwanese that immigrated to the U.S. between the 70s to 80s are those that were negatively affected by the martial law era of the KMT in Taiwan at the time. As a result, they likely have a negative view of the KMT and of China in general. But, I do not doubt Mr. Burr has come across Taiwanese that view unification favorable.

The latter half of his response, Mr. Burr wraps up by basically saying were it to come down to a showdown, he would support Taiwan. This definitely sounds good actually hearing him say it, but also I believe most politicians would support this notion if it really came down to it in the end. But at the same time, he is frank in saying that he has limited confidence in the U.S. actually holding up with Taiwan against China.

All in all, Mr. Burr left a great impression on me - not only being one of the first to respond back but also with honesty and knowledge of the situation. While some of his analysis may be different than what the majority of Taiwanese want (Taiwanese supporting unification vs not & Taiwanese supporting ECFA and not- his comment about rapprochement) I believe he definitely has a better handle on the Taiwan & China issue than incumbent Patty Murray.

For his statement on the voter's pamphlet, Mr. Burr is a strong proponent of changing up the current senate in a big way - eliminating private financing for elections, eliminating the excessive lobbying that results in "earmarks, tax breaks, and legislative concessions," and basically calling for the removal of all incumbents. In short, Burr's closing line is, "Say no to the status quo. Vote Bob Burr."

While I may still receive a few more responses from other Democrats, but for those Democratic leaning voters of Washington who also want to see the best for Taiwan, take a good look at Bob Burr and consider him instead of Patty Murray for the 2010 Primaries.

P.S. Not sure what the Chinese at the end means, anyone care to chime in?

Edit 8/9/10: Thanks to Henry for providing a translation for the Chinese in Bob Burr's response:

"The last two words; Un-Lei is his family name Burr - Famous Blast (Thunder). The first five; not so sure- could be said a foreign person with simplicity and robustness sustaining ten thousand years."

WA State Senatorial Candidates, Part 2: Paul Akers

2010-08-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

Continuing with this mini-series on Washington State Senatorial Candidates, here's Republican Paul Akers, in response to my e-mail:

Richard,
Hello, I am Jeremy, volunteer coordinator for Paul Akers’ campaign, and I am following up with your e-mail because Paul is out of the office. .
Paul supports the Taiwan Relations Act that gives the United States an important legal commitment to this vibrant democracy. The U.S. provides tangible security and stability to the Taiwan Straits which helps Taiwan interact with China on its own terms. This act requires the United States "to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character", and "to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan." China’s communist party should not be supported in anyway.
If you would like to know Paul better, you may call him personally at his direct cell line at 360-941-3748.
Thank you,
Jeremy Jasman
Paul Akers for US Senate

From a volunteer coordinator for a candidate, this is probably what I would have expected. Although the last line about not supporting China's communist party "in anyway" probably tilts his campaign stance towards something that supporters of Taiwan would be more comfortable with.

Besides that, the beginning and middle are pretty much standard responses - recognizing and/or supporting the T.R.A. and all the sub-acts within it. The problem with these types of responses is that they do not delve into the real problems at hand. For example, the T.R.A. states that the U.S. should provide arms of defensive nature; but we have seen that it isn't just a simple "I want this, I'll sell you it" relationship going on between Taiwan and the U.S.

Something I would look to see in comments about the arms sales would be along the lines of, support for newer F-16s and advanced combat systems (Aegis), as well as commenting on the root of the problem - China's missile build-up against Taiwan.

I do believe that if Mr. Paul Akers were to be able to respond personally, he might have more to offer than his volunteer coordinator. Still, thanks to Jeremy for responding as I have not received responses from Dino Rossi and Clint Didier.

As far as his statement in the Voter's Pamphlet, Akers is big on small government and bringing back power to the local level. He places emphasis on balancing the federal budget by cutting taxes and spending.

Up for tomorrow, Democratic leaning Bob Burr - and it's a good one.

Lastly, all signs point to a Murray (incumbent) v. Rossi showdown in November. Murray because she's incumbent, Rossi because he's gotten the name recognition down over the past 6-8 years due to his race for WA State governor. It is quite disappointing, since I believe both of these two may actually be the same in terms of what they would do with Taiwan as they are largely supported by the "establishment" Democrats and Republicans. In fairness to Patty Murray, I will send her an e-mail about this again. Maybe she will surprise me (us) and respond?

Edit: Paul Akers and Clint Didier came out with a new type of campaign ad today, aimed at taking down the two front-runners, Murray and Rossi. It's an interesting strategy, take a look at this link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TWAyQbS5PQ

WA State Senatorial Candidates, Part 1: James (Skip) Mercer

2010-08-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

I received a few responses to my e-mail to senatorial candidates over the past few days in regards to their position on Taiwan. Here's the first of them, James (Skip) Mercer.

Hi Richard,

I have been to Taiwan twice in the last 15 months conducting research for
the US Navy. I believe that friends and commitments are important.
Taiwan is a friend and our commitments must be honored before our
fears.

Skip

Not exactly much at all in terms of depth in his answer, but it's quite possible that the short and simple answers are the most concrete ones. While his first sentence about him being to Taiwan really does not bear much on his position on Taiwan, his stance (I believe) on Taiwan shows in the last two. A simple statement like, "Taiwan is a friend and our commitments must be honored before our fears," is reassuring to voters who have at least some part of their mind on Taiwan.

Looking into the Voter's Pamphlet that gets sent out to the households, James (Skip) Mercer is stated to be a professor at the University of Washington in the Applied Physics Laboratory. Interesting tidbit: I did some work for a graduate student who was working on underwater acoustics for the APL as well. He claims that his work doing research for the U.S. Navy over the past 40 years has, "prepared me for the challenges that face this nation, including energy independence, the truth about global warming, education, identifying key innovations, and national defense."

The most striking thing that I find in his statement in the pamphlet is that he states he will only serve one term (six years), as he is not looking to make this a career. For that I think that makes him a great candidate that, as he says, "will not be answerable to any corporation, union, or PAC."

Next up, Paul Akers.

Also, I have sent similar e-mails to Schalk Leonard, Mike Latimer, and Charles Allen.

WA State Senators Race - On Taiwan

2010-07-29T20:20:00.001-07:00

With the Washington State Primaries happening over the next couple weeks, I wrote to Paul Akers, James (Skip) Mercer, Clint Didier, Dino Rossi, and Bob Burr about the issue of Taiwan and what their stance is on Taiwan (and as a result, China). Because the primaries send the top two vote-getters to the final round in November, I did not send e-mails to the Democratic candidates (except Bob Burr) because of the high likelihood that one of the top two will be incumbent Patty Murray. Despite the low popularity of Democrats and incumbents around the nation at this time, I'm still fairly certain a large percentage of voters don't know what's going on and will send Murray back to the November ballot just because they voted for her in the past. As a result, it will likely be Murray vs a Republican - thus my reasoning for only e-mail Republicans. Here's what I sent to each one:

Mr. Senatorial Candidate,

My name is Richard, a resident of City in Washington, WA. As a constituent of Washington state, and a Taiwanese-American who values supporting democracies worldwide and on Taiwan, I write to you asking what your position is regarding China and Taiwan. While there are many issues that may be more pressing to our country at this moment such as the economy, I believe that the issue of Taiwan may once again come to the forefront of U.S. foreign policy in the next few years.

Our current senator, Patty Murray, has often promoted business opportunities with China while staying on the fence about Taiwan - careful to not anger China, but at the same time not fully supporting Taiwan. It is this type of action that leads China to believe they can do as they please in terms of their responsibilities as a growing power in the international landscape. And so I kindly ask, in regards to the usual issues that come up for the United States in terms of Taiwan, what is your stance?

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Richard

You may wonder why I did not get into specifics, such as arms sales to Taiwan, or support for Taiwan's international recognition, or China's missiles pointed at Taiwan. The reason for this is I did not want to give them an easy response and be done with it. For one, I want to see what knowledge of the Taiwan issue they already know, and two, to leave it open for them to say as little or as much as they feel like.

While I do not expect each of them to respond (especially the more popular candidates who may not have time to respond), I'm hoping to at least get one or two responses. And for those wondering what Patty Murray is about on Taiwan? Well I already covered that last year. Senator Murray is silent on Taiwan.

I will update if and when I receive responses from the candidates.

Edit: This post will be continuously updated with the candidate responses:
Part 1: James (Skip) Mercer
Part 2: Paul Akers
Part 3: Bob Burr
Part 4: Schalk Leonard
Part 5: Dino Rossi, Mike Latimer, Clint Didier, Charles Allen, Senator Patty Murray - May or may not be coming soon

Taichung MRT

2010-07-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

With Taipei and Kaohsiung both having their MRT's up and running, one must reasonably ask when the Taichung one will be up. While I wasn't thinking of the Taichung MRT randomly, I did randomly decide to use the Flickr search to find some photos of Taiwan. I eventually decided to search for photos of Fengyuan and came across this visual mock-up of the planned elevated station for Fengyuan.

That got me searching for more information on it, which led me to the Taichung MRT situation as a whole. According to to the Wiki, the Taichung MRT was originally approved in 2006, and scheduled to begin construction in 2007, it was eventually pushed back to late 2009. Even then, I'm not sure what was exactly started. In any case, I came across this press release for Taiwan's "Railway Reconstruction Bureau" dated for June 1st of 2010.

The current status of implementation of this project is as follows:
　 1. A new electrical room has been completed for the Fengyuan Section Temporary Engineering. A temporary station platform underground pass and connecting pass have been completed for the Tanzi Section Temporary Engineering. Full casing-piles are currently being under construction on the Taiyuan-Jingwu Station Elevated Railway Engineering.
　2. Detailed design currently includes stations and bridge bids and design/inspection of the Songzhu-Daqing Section Elevated Railway Project.
　3. Changes to the Taichung County/City Railway Urban Corridor Plan were reviewed and approved by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI), and have been publicly announced for all areas other than the Taichung Station Special District, and ground object investigations have been completed.
　　The Taichung Elevated Railway Project is scheduled for completion by 2014, and will remove 17 level crossings, 18 underpasses, and 3 land bridges in Taichung City and County, relieving traffic congestion caused by the railway. It will also integrate stations and elevated railway sections along the line, connecting the city and improving the cityscape, improving livability and providing residents with convenient transportation.

This PR states 2014 as when it will be completed, but most of the other articles I've seen including the Wiki state 2015 as when the green line will be completed. What is the green line? Take a look at this map here, with the MRT lines in thin dotted lines. From the map, I can't tell if you would actually be able to take the MRT starting at the Fengyuan station all the way into Taichung, as the red and green lines don't seem to reach all the way up there to the north. That would be quite disappointing to have to transfer, but it looks like if so, it would only be one stop before being able to hop onto the MRT lines.

Having already been 4 years since it's been approved and not much groundwork has actually been done, I really question their ability to meet the 2015 deadline. Perhaps if Taichung gets a new mayor, things might actually speed up (or not).

Taiwan's Jeremy Lin to Golden State Warriors

2010-07-21T20:46:00.001-07:00

The Golden State Warriors have signed Harvard grad Jeremy Lin. This should be a great opportunity for the Asian-American community as well as the Taiwanese community to get excited about a hard-working player in the NBA.

Lin, on the other hand, is Asian-American. He was born in California. His parents are originally from Jiaxing, China, and emigrated from Taiwan. Lin making it to the NBA is truly a milestone. Should he make the Warriors’ final roster, he will become the first Asian-American to play in the NBA since Wataru Misaka, whose career consisted of a mere three games with the New York Knicks in 1947.

Pretty solid reporting on Lin in the several articles I've read, in terms of his "origins" - originally parents from China, emigrated to Taiwan, then to U.S. during the martial law era. I'm actually excited to go to an NBA game now --- wait, oh yeah, the Seattle Supersonics doesn't exist anymore.

Taiwan Quick Hits

2010-07-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

69.9% of Taiwanese do not want to unify with China - highest since the poll started in 2006.
Approval ratings of Ma remain low while ECFA is about even at 47%.
Taiwan now looking to procure tanks and torpedoes.
Ma sees greater international respect now that ECFA is signed. What?

Let's review that last one, from the article:

Ma said that the biggest benefit of the ECFA is that it will give Taiwan a more favorable position to get involved in the world and that the government is seeking to establish free trade agreements or economic cooperation pacts with other countries that could benefit Taiwan.

One would have thought that the ECFA would benefit Taiwan economically via trade from China, and yet here Ma is saying the biggest benefit is that it can get more involved with the world? So basically what Ma is confessing is exactly what we all feared - Taiwan's sovereignty was downgraded such that only through an "ECFA" with China, can we possibly (not even guaranteed) sign FTAs with other countries. The sad part is that officials in China have already let the cat out of the bag in saying that the ECFA being signed does not change anything - they will still unfairly block FTAs being forged between Taiwan and other countries.

Is Ma being tricked, or are the Taiwanese being tricked? I think the latter, and Ma is knowingly throwing Taiwan into China's hand.

A Cause For Concern

2010-07-13T15:02:00.001-07:00

Rumors are coming out of Washington that the Obama administration may be shifting their policy on Taiwan to that which would be less favorable to Taiwan. This is a continuation of the news over the past week or so since the ECFA has been signed that the U.S. may be halting (at least temporarily) arms sales to Taiwan. A Randy Schriver, formerly from inside the Dept of State at Washington has, "strongly hinted that it could result in a Taiwan arms sale freeze."

This is one of the problems that have come out of the ECFA signing that may not have been obvious to all parties involved. While the KMT side has heralded the ECFA as a purely economic arrangement without political motives, the CCP has made no mistake their intentions in using the ECFA as a means to an end (unification).

While the news of a potential "freeze" may not mean a permanent freeze, it would likely start something that could cascade into an era of relations with Taiwan where "freezes" are the norm, and the arms sales are few and far between. The Taiwan Relations Act stipulates that the U.S. policy in regards to Taiwan involves providing Taiwan with arms sales. This can not be changed as part of the Six Assurances given to Taiwan by Reagan. Therefore, please continue to write, e-mail, call, or fax to your senators and representatives about the need for Taiwan to procure defensive arms sales from the U.S.

Keep in mind though that these arms sales may not actually be used for actual use. What I mean by that is that these arms sales are more of a symbol of the United States continued support for Taiwan and as a deterrent against the P.R.C. Taiwan cannot negotiate with the P.R.C. from a position of weakness. And as we've seen in the past, the P.R.C. does take notice when they are responding to in force (95-96 Cross Straits Crisis).

I have posted this on my blog before, but here's a report on arms sales to Taiwan since the 1990s. Lots of background information about the past and current situation, including the flip-flop attitude that the KMT has shown about the arms sales. A must read for anyone interested in this topic.

Happy [Early] Independence Day!

2010-07-02T00:11:00.001-07:00

Taking a short vacation this weekend, so to my readers - Happy 4th of July! Let us celebrate with family and friends with lots and lots of food and fireworks.

Also remember our troops across the world fighting for the independence we have today!

P.S. That negative divergence I pointed out in my last post is playing out real nicely :)

Lu Dat!!

2010-06-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

Whatever "Lu Dat" means, regardless, everyone in Taiwan is cheering for Lu right now. Andy Roddick was just defeated by Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan (not TPE (Taipei)) who will now move onto the quarterfinals. Great day for Taiwanese tennis, as Lu was not shy to promote Taiwan before this match as well as in the post-match interview. Here's a snippet of what he said last week:

The result wrote Lu's name in the Asian tennis history books and he expressed his pride about putting Taiwanese tennis on the map.
He added: "There is probably a lot of news coming out right now in Taiwan. I am happy to have done it for my country, for my family, for my friends and for all the people that have supported me.
"But I don't want them to call me the Pride of Taiwan or anything - I am the same as I was before."

Recaps are just starting to come out, but for the most part I have not seen any refer to him as from Chinese Taipei or some ridiculous name like that. Edit: Just saw one out of the LA Times that states "Lu of Taipei." Oh well... as long as international sports organizations keep allowing China to dictate what Taiwan can be called, you can't really expect much from the media.

ECFA News: With the ECFA likely to be signed within the next 24 hours (one of the saddest moments in Taiwan history), I remain quite bearish on the TAIEX. Take a look at the leading indicator for the TAIEX that I have been using (the Shanghai Composite) and tell me that is not a negative divergence showing on the TAIEX. But of course there is the possibility that the indices are decoupling from this previous correlation.

Ma on Taiwan Province, Part II

2010-06-25T22:12:00.001-07:00

It would be hard to find Taiwanese who support Taiwan that would shrug off the meaning of the president & leader of Taiwan using "Taiwan Province." Indeed President Ma did that this past week (see previous post here), showing his true colors, mainly red. Well, there's many places you can find this type of error where someone or something incorrectly states that Taiwan is a part of China.

The latest one I've found on a large website? Wikipedia! It's pretty bad to see the main encyclopedia resource that kids and students use these days stating that Ma Ying-jeou is the president of Taiwan Province of the P.R.C.

Not sure how to work Wiki cause I've heard it's quite a mess to edit it, especially if you aren't one of the "super editors" or something like that, but I hope someone sets that right. Edit: Thanks to thegreensquirre1 for taking care of that - it now correctly states that he's the "president of the Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan."

In other news, being a tennis player myself, I will have to report that a Taiwanese (Lu Yen-hsun) has made it into the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Awesome!

The Road Back to ... The "Double-dip" Recession

2010-06-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

Well what do you know, those artificially inflated "good" housing numbers over the first half of 2009 and late 2008 are just that - inflated. May's housing numbers are not what you would expect in a recovery, no not even close. [Emphasis from me in bold]

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new single-family home sales dropped 32.7 percent in May from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted a decline of 18.7 percent.

The percentage drop was the largest monthly decline since the government started tracking the numbers in 1963. The annual rate also ranked as a record low. New-home sales fell by double digits in every part of the country, led by a 53 percent drop in the West.

If you had gotten in a conversation with me anytime over the past year about buying a house, you would have heard me tell you not do it as an investment, nor to do it for the $8000 credit. If you were to buy one, buy one because you found a house you loved and it was a good deal (without taking the $8000 credit into consideration).

Despite what the media has been telling you constantly over the past year about our V-shaped recovery and that we are on our way out of this recession, the truth is the job growth is still not there.

While I basically erased my 180% gains on the year [and proceeded to further decimate my account] over the last two weeks due to this false-rally, I will be back. And when I do, I will not make this same mistake again. Note to traders: Shorting with vigor and tenacity requires exactly that. On the flip-side, it also requires you to be prepared to get a full-on beating with similar vigor and tenacity. That said, it was a great experience (positioning 100% long/short in trades) as I believed I picked up some nimbleness in my trading.

P.S. If 109 breaks on SPY, not a good sign for the bulls!

Ma's Stance on Taiwan: Simple and Clear

2010-06-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

If you have any questions as to what a person means when they say, "Taiwan Province," let me assure you that they mean Taiwan is a province of China. Thus, they mean that Taiwan is a part of China.

It should be infuriating to the people of Taiwan and Taiwanese abroad to hear their elected-presidential-leader call their own country, not a country. From the Taipei Times:

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) referred to Taiwan as a “province” yesterday while describing the sister-state relationship between Taiwan and Texas, rekindling the controversial issue of his perception of Taiwan’s status.

From statements like this, if you have not already, you should begin to understand why and how most of Ma's foreign policy (specifically regarding China-Taiwan) are shaped. That is, they are shaped with the mindset that Taiwan is a part of China and that any relationship must be held in that regard.

While he may say that it is the constitution of the R.O.C. that states this, then we must also ask why he does not also recognize that the constitution states that the people have the right to a referendum. While I am no law/constitution buff, it seems that to have a constitution that is not consistent with the current reality is not really a viable constitution at all. What is the current reality though? The reality is that an overwhelming percentage of Taiwanese on Taiwan do not consider themselves Chinese, instead as Taiwanese. Furthermore, they do not consider Taiwan a part of China. Either follow through with the constitution completely, or the constitution is simply just another document with no meaningful value at all.

Here's an editorial on this issue in the Taipei Times as well. An excerpt:

Ma rationalized his reduction of Taiwan to an “area” by stressing his government’s adherence to the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution, which states that the ROC is an independent, sovereign state whose territory includes China. Hence, Ma said the relationship between Taiwan and China is one of two regions, with Taiwan, a province, known as the “Taiwan area,” and China as “the mainland area.”

Interestingly, Ma does not refer to Taiwan as a province when talking to local audiences. Whenever elections are closing in and campaigning steps into high gear, voters can hear Ma, along and other Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) heavyweights, roaring slogans that trumpet the name Taiwan. Whenever they mention Taiwan in their campaign speeches, the electorate assumes that the word “Taiwan” implies the country for which the official name is the ROC.

Given that his definition of the word “Taiwan” seems to depend on the occasion, it is no wonder there is continued public doubt over Ma’s dedication to safeguarding the country’s dignity as a sovereign state. If Ma wants to be clear about his meaning, in future whenever he talks to the people of Taiwan and uses the appellation “Taiwan,” he should not do so in shorthand, but rather use the term “Taiwan Province,” as he so clearly did with the Texas governor.

Foxconn's Troubles

2010-06-11T00:48:00.000-07:00

Great editorial piece in the Taipei Times on the possible effects that Foxconn's pay raises may hav e on manufacturing plants and on labor in general in China.

When a market leader such as Hon Hai offers such massive salary increases, it puts great pressure on other electronics companies and might even force competitors out of the market. In addition, the increased expenditure can be passed on to US, EU and Japanese companies so that it does not affect Hon Hai’s profits. The move could even turn out to be a crucial first step toward the transformation of China’s labor-intensive industries.

Another side effect of the big raise could be that some Taiwanese companies see more clearly the uncertainties of the Chinese market and decide to return to Taiwan to invest in automated plants. If that is the case, then Taiwan should thank Terry Gou (郭台銘) for such an unexpected gift.

It indeed will be interesting to see what the effects of this are, not only to the companies down the line from Foxconn (most notably Apple and their iProducts), but also the impact on "cheap Chinese labor" that has governed the way we think of labor in China. Optimistically speaking, this could serve as a reminder to those in Taiwan that doing business with China in China comes with a lot of baggage, especially concerning labor laws and the inability for companies to control their workforce in China (i.e. Honda's manufacturing plant in China).

More on this issue @ Michael Turton's blog, where he also covers some quote-un-quote conspiracy theories on what is actually happening in China between Foxconn and the government.

BP & Things

2010-06-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

With all the recent support for crucifying the company BP to the cross for its part in the accident that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, I can't help but say no thanks. When everyone is piling onto the train, I usually have to take a step back and reassess things.

First off, it was an accident. And secondly, they are doing everything they can to try and stop it. An accident like this has never occurred and despite our technological and engineering prowess that we believe to have, tackling this engineering problem involves careful planning and execution, which takes plenty of time. Furthermore, as engineers know, there will always be bugs and unknown variables that will affect your design negatively. So for all you who think BP or Obama are not doing enough to stop it, why don't you get yourself an engineering degree before we hear from you again.

For the Republicans, please stop getting on Obama's back for "not doing enough." These are international waters, and as such I believe it should be a joint effort between nations in order to help BP solve this problem. Now is not the time to play politics either.

For the Democrats, you need to realize that taking the company BP out to backyard for a genuine beat down is not in the best interests of this country. With BP being one of the largest companies in the world, and it being not only an oil company but also an energy company, the number of employees a company like that employ should be a staggering amount. Attempting to bring down a company of that size will wreak havoc on the economies of the world.

As I mentioned, BP is not just an oil company that does nothing but find oil, refine, and sell. Indeed it is not. It is an energy company that does commit millions if not billions of dollars into research and development. If you fail to understand the significance of R&D in a company, then it is likely that you fail to have an engineering degree.

Lastly, if you still feel that BP needs to be punished, then why the hell are you not calling for the crucifixion of all the banks that stole your money in 2007-2008, and likely will continue to do so this year. My point it this: BP has problems in the Gulf it needs to take care of. It is doing so and has pledged to do so with their own money. That's all we can ask for.

As far as the BP stock goes... well, let's just say it's best to not be in that stock. I would be wary of shorting BP on the idea that they are going to get kicked in the groin by the public and government. Why? Because that's what everyone thinks! I'd be more inclined to watch for a potential short-term bottom and go long for a short squeeze. In other stock news, much to the chagrin of iLovers, I have a bearish view on AAPL. My reading of AAPL charts tells me that AAPL could be trading at the price of a new iPhone 4 16GB model (with an AT&T 2-year subscription agreement). For those of you not in the know, that would be $199.

P.S. If you ever have any questions or would like to see a chart of what I'm talking about, let me know!

TAIEX Outlook - Week of June 6th

2010-06-08T23:20:00.000-07:00

Apologies for not getting this out on the Sunday as I originally planned. So, without further adieu:

First off, let's check how the markets unfolded after my last update:

Looking at the $SSEC that has already begun a bounce off the lows, it would make sense that the TAIEX follow similarly. Targets for a bounce are a 50% retracement from recent highs to lows at around 7400, which also coincides with a gap fill. Above that, the 200DMA could be within reach at the 7600 price level.

I specifically noted the 7400 level as an area to watch for the first signs of distribution. While the TAIEX did not quite hit 7400, it came mighty close to that level, at 7373.98. Good enough for me! Now here comes the tricky part - where do we go from here. Here's a current chart of the TAIEX:

I'm afraid this week I'm actually at quite a loss for where it might be headed. The chart certainly looks a bit more volatile, with gap downs and gap ups a-plenty over the past couple weeks. At the least, I would be looking at a range-bound market between 7000-7400. Until the Taiwanese markets decide to break out of this range, I foresee more choppy prices.

Lastly, what does the trusty Shanghai Composite forebode for the TAIEX?

What we see here is orderly selling, something that is not indicative of a bottom. Short term and intermediate term bottoms usually occur on climatic selling. Accordingly, I would not be surprised if there was more downside for the Shanghai Composite in the near future.

The interesting thing is that most experts including your local investment adviser at your bank will likely tell you that this sell-off is just part of a normal correction that happens all the time in bull markets, and that they foresee higher prices. While I certainly don't know what the future may hold, neither do they. All I know is that the economy is worse than everyone thinks, and as such you should trade the markets accordingly.

Human Rights in China

2010-06-05T01:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident (6/4), in which Chinese students and intellectuals protested against the Chinese government. Originally to mourn for Hu Yaobang, the protests proceeded onto calls for reform using slogans such as "No corruption," "Rule by law," "Human rights," and eventually "Democracy." In the end, there was a swift and violent crackdown on those in the square, and unofficial numbers (more accurate than the "official" numbers) go into the thousands for the number of deaths.

Fast forward 20+ years, and it seems as if the CCP has not changed at all. Suppression of basic human rights, freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom to assemble and protest are all still illegal today in China. Moving beyond the normal suppression of human rights, China has continued to censor speech on the web.

It's interesting to note that many "experts" and "scholars" continue to see Taiwan as a mediator for western democracy and human rights to enter into China. The idea that Taiwan can influence China to become "westernized" is a dangerous road for Taiwan to consider. While Taiwan can definitely try, the results thus far have usually been the other way around - China affecting Taiwan.

Even more of concern is the human rights in Taiwan today, and the apparent regression of human rights in Taiwan. How can one call on another to do this and that, when they themselves do not even adhere to the same principles. What do I mean?

For one, the continual rejection of referendums being proposed by groups in Taiwan to ask the Taiwanese public if they really want an ECFA or not is a clear sign of the current KMT government restricting the voice of the people.

Secondly, the suppression of press via the confiscation of radio equipment from Ocean View, a pro-democracy radio station located in Taichung, is another clear sign that the current KMT government is violating the freedom of press.

Thirdly, the bullying tactics by police in Taiwan against e-users who are vocal about Taiwan's democracy should be raising a flag to any human rights watchers. People's rights to privacy and their right to express their opinion are being violated by the government and the seemingly police-state government.

The list goes on and on. While most of us hope for a more open and democratic China in the future, perhaps we should work on keeping Taiwan a free and democratic country first. After all, you will hear Chinese say often, "western-style democracy is not for us." Then the appropriate response to anyone who tells you that is, "Taiwan is a western-style democracy, and it's been working for them for almost 20 years now." And the kicker? It shows you right there that Taiwanese are not the same as the Chinese, when they say "us."

I will have an update on the TAIEX and markets in general on Sunday.

TAIEX Outlook - Week of May 23rd

2010-05-26T23:47:00.001-07:00

Not to say I'm good at this stuff or whatever (because I'm not), but it just shows that "fundamentals" and "news" does not really matter when trading stocks. I simply look at a chart, see support and resistance levels, trend lines, volume, and Fibonacci numbers.

What did I say back on the May 9th update when the TAIEX was hanging right at the 200DMA @ 7600 and change?

From here, I'm looking for some consolidation (sideways movement) before a lower high before moving lower once again. Again, looking at the Shanghai Composite Index, as long as it continues to slide, so goes the the TAIEX and likely the U.S. markets.

Well what do you know, it was as if the markets were listening to me. While I wasn't completely spot-on (the day after I posted that, the TAIEX dropped below the 200DMA before assuming the sideways consolidation). What did proceed after that was the lower high as well as the moving lower once again. Here's a snapshot of the market of where it stands now:

As you can see, the lower high was made at 7782.32, followed by lower lows. So that's that. Did I know about any earnings that may have "caused" Taiwanese stocks to go down or other "news" that experts claim have caused the markets to go lower? Not in the slightest.

So where to now? As I've mentioned before, I look at the Shanghai Composite Index for indications of where the TAIEX may be headed.

Looking at the $SSEC that has already begun a bounce off the lows, it would make sense that the TAIEX follow similarly. Targets for a bounce are a 50% retracement from recent highs to lows at around 7400, which also coincides with a gap fill. Above that, the 200DMA could be within reach at the 7600 price level.

Keep in mind that all markets have been under heavy selling pressure over the last month, and that it pays to be cautious being long. I firmly believe we will still see lower prices across world markets later this year. As a result, I am cautiously long SPY calls as of this moment and looking for an exit around SPX 1106-1117.

Snapshot of Taiwan News

2010-05-17T13:39:00.001-07:00

Have been a bit busier than usual lately (odd since I'm unemployed), but anyways, I digress. Feel like I need to update with some quickies on what's going on in Taiwan. Although, I feel like not much of anything is going on as everyone is pretty much waiting upon actual ECFA news or the year-end municipalities elections.

News stories:

Continued support from U.S. congressman for F-16 sales to Taiwan. Making it even more urgent, the F-16 C/D line that are being requested by Taiwan is set to be phased out of production sometime in the next two years.
ECFA potentially affecting trade outside of the Taiwan Strait? Business opportunities between Taiwan and Argentina think this might be so. But of course, this is all just conjectures.
Lin Yu-Chun (小胖) is signed by Sony Music. Look for his first album to drop in July. I'm pretty sure my dad will be ordering that CD...
Foxconn of Taiwan is again tied into rumors of who/what/where/when/why the next Apple iPhone will be released.

Editorials:

A senior research fellow at the Taiwan Brain Trust in Taipei has a hard-hitting piece on Ma Ying-jeou and his first 2 years as president. Wonder why Ma never talks about his famous 6-3-3 promise anymore?
Excellent points brought up in this Taipei Times piece on why a peace accord between China and Taiwan is irrelevant. Basically he points out correctly that Taiwan does not equal the KMT/Republic of China. Any peace accord that may or may not happen should be negotiated between the CCP and the KMT, who happen to be residing on Taiwan.

As always, check out the Taiwan blog roll on the right side of the page; lots of great bloggers and a plethora of Taiwanese stuff!

TAIEX Outlook - Week of May 9th

2010-05-07T00:44:00.001-07:00

My previous post indicated my belief that the TAIEX would soon be under more selling pressure. Why? The potential setup was the double top forming, as well as the Shanghai Index leading the way down. Furthermore, the past week or so has started to see some distribution in the U.S. markets. The result is a swift move back to the 200DMA for the TAIEX:

From here, I'm looking for some consolidation (sideways movement) before a lower high before moving lower once again. Again, looking at the Shanghai Composite Index, as long as it continues to slide, so goes the the TAIEX and likely the U.S. markets.

For the 6th of May, the U.S. markets got shaken up quite a bit, with the DJIA down over 1000 points at one point today. It was definitely one crazy market, and one that I even got burned in. If you need anymore reason to not be invested in the markets, today is the prime example. Whether you believe it was actually a trader error (which I don't really believe) or not, the fact is that there is no one really trading this market anymore. It's all machines and "high-frequency trading" that is going on. How can your money be safely invested in the markets when the potential for a 1000 point drop in less than 5 minutes can occur?

Anyways, here's a live clip of the crash occuring on CNBC, followed by this funny video of a guy going crazy during the crash (live as well):

Formosa Betrayed Ending in Seattle; Shows in Taiwan in August

2010-05-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

Got a press release from the Formosa Betrayed Facebook group a few days ago. Great news for those in Taiwan, it's headed your way in early August! They are also planning a DVD release for this summer (sort of odd that they might release a DVD before showing in Taiwan, but in the end I doubt it will impact the numbers in Taiwan that much).

Here's an excerpt from the Facebook "press release," on the Taiwan release:

TAIWAN DISTRIBUTION FOR FORMOSA BETRAYED

Formosa Films and Screen Media Ventures are proud to announce an agreement with IPA Asia Pacific and Sky Digi Entertainment Co for theatrical distribution of Formosa Betrayed in TAIWAN!!!! Since before the film was completed, thousands of fans have been wondering when the film will be released in Taiwan. Now, we are excited to announce that the film is scheduled to be in Taiwanese theaters beginning the weekend of August 6, 2010.

Actor/writer/producer Will Tiao, director Adam Kane, and several of the actors from the film have been invited to promote the film in Taiwan prior to its release. Please find attached the official press release in Mandarin Chinese and English that has been released to media outlets in Taiwan, the United States, and worldwide. Any press inquiries regarding the Taiwan release of Formosa Betrayed should be directed in the United States to Michael Dwyer at Screen Media Ventures at (212) 308-1790 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (212) 308-1790 end_of_the_skype_highlighting and in Taiwan to Tiffany Wang at Sky Digi Entertainment at 886-2-2231-1010.

Here's the rest of the press release, including information on how you can request to see Formosa Betrayed at a theater near you (if your city wasn't on the original release schedule).

Also, this is the last week for Formosa Betrayed in Seattle (showing only at the AMC Loews Uptown 3).

For those who have or have not seen it and would like a preview (minor spoilers, but not really) on what I thought of it, here's my review of Formosa Betrayed.

Amanpour Questions President Ma on CNN

2010-04-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

Interesting interview on CNN, with world famous CNN reporter Christine Amanpour interviewing Ma on a variety of current issues in and around Taiwan.

Here's a link to the video and article.

Just a few points....

Amanpour starts out asking Ma about his stance on Taiwan's "independence." President Ma cleverly side steps this question by saying that the Republic of China on Taiwan has been an independent sovereign state for 99 years.

The problem here is that supposed independence is not recognized by many countries. This problem is also blatantly seen whenever Taiwan attempts to join an international organization and is either blocked out of the organization by China, or is forced to enter under the name "Chinese Taipei."

The second question Amanpour asks is about Ma's push for closer relations with China, and in doing so jeopardizing Taiwan's sovereignty. Again, Ma sort of side steps this question by only addressing the first half of the question on the agreements he has accomplished, instead of perhaps explaining how the direct flights between Taiwan and China are not classified as international flights (as a result, R.O.C. (Taiwan) passports cannot be used by Taiwanese to enter China).

While I applaud Amanpour for trying to ask the tough questions that most of us have been asking, she doesn't quite push Ma for clarifications/explanations on his answers. An example of this is when Ma talks about the "improved relations" between the two sides - Amanpour should have asked why China's missiles pointed at Taiwan are increasing at the same time. I think the weirdest part for viewers of this video who may not know much about Taiwan is the fact that he states at the beginning how the R.O.C. is independent and sovereign, yet later is asked about attending APEC, and Ma simply cannot answer that question because of the truth that China is blocking Taiwan from these summits and organizations.

How can a country be independent and sovereign if another country is able to dictate what you can do on the international stage? Quite frankly, Ma says it himself at the very end when he describes his "3 no's" policy of, "No unification, No independence, No use of force." What? Did not Ma state at the beginning of the interview, "there's no reason to declare independence twice." Listening to this cluster-fudge of an interview is really confusing. One minute Taiwan is independent and sovereign, then seemingly not, then seemingly yes.

What Amanpour needs to do is get Tsai Ing-wen in an interview. Actually, she should have gotten Tsai and Ma on at the same time.

TAIEX Outlook - Week of April 25th

2010-04-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for a potential double top here on the TAIEX. Chart below:

Adding to my belief that the TAIEX may soon be under more selling pressure, here's the Shanghai Composite Index chart, where it looks like the bears are in complete control:

Keep in mind that the Shanghai Index was the first to bottom during the global meltdown in the markets in late 08 and early 09, leading the U.S. markets up, and now perhaps leading the way down.

Lastly, the U.S. markets took a plunge today, down more than 2% in one of the largest down moves in recent memory. While there's still a lot for the bears to prove before things get rolling to the downside, it's a reminder that being long in this over-extended market can be brutal.

Ma vs Tsai Debate

2010-04-25T13:31:00.001-07:00

A lot of good analysis on the debates going on:

@ Taiwan Matters
@ Kyodo News
@ That's Impossible: Politics from Taiwan w/ A-gu
@ eTaiwan News

Links to videos of the actual debate are on Taiwan Matters, but here's a link to Part I.

As well as a transcript of Part I and Part II (English translation) of the debate.

As far as what I thought from the transcript of Part I, the best points were made by Tsai when she challenged Ma on the secretive contents of the ECFA and how could the Taiwanese public possibly support an agreement of which contents they know nothing about. To that, Ma responds:

The list has not been finalized yet, that’s why we can’t show it at the moment. We try to keep everything behind closed doors during negotiations, but we will make the results public. I promise that I won’t only publicize the list when it’s sent to the legislature.

What Ma fails to mention is that by the time the list is sent to the legislature, it is too late. Negotiations will have been over and the agreement will be well on its way to being inked in.

For most of the other counter-arguments, Ma basically ripped the DPP administration of 2000-2008 as reason for why he is pushing the ECFA as he is now. Arguments Ma made, such as the DPP not getting anything done with China, totally ignores the remarks made by Tsai. Tsai's main points were that this ECFA may be reducing Taiwan's sovereignty; the DPP in the past did not agree to trade agreements because they insisted on Taiwan's sovereignty.

Lastly, Ma's use of the Taiwanese language in certain parts of his arguments was quite demeaning. Does he really believe that inserting a few phrases in Taiwanese will all of a sudden convert these non-ECFA-believers to pro-ECFA-believers just because he spoke in Taiwanese? Gimmicks, gimmicks, gimmicks. To further underline this point, Tsai did not use Taiwanese at all (at least from what I saw from the first part of the video), who would have been the more likely person to do so.

For those who may not know all the past details and comments made by Ma and Tsai, it would seem as if Ma was the winner here. But for those who have been keeping up with all the developments with ECFA, it's clear that Ma's responses just touch the surface of the murky waters beneath.

What's your take on the debate? You can vote in this on-going poll on Yahoo:

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/poll/poll_question.html?catid=578

The numbers are currently (for who had a better performance?):

1.馬英九	37.1%	2433票
2.蔡英文	59.4%	3895票
3.都不好	3.5%	230票

Chinese Tourists

2010-04-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

My friend posted a video of what happened recently on Kinmen, where a group of Chinese tourists got into scuffles with the Taiwan police. It really is a sham that they can come to Taiwan and act like they are entitled to whatever they feel like they want or need, all at the cost of Taiwanese citizens.

Look at this YouTube video:

No one likes to wait at an airport, for whatever reason. But look at all those travelers stuck around the world, especially in Europe, due to the volcanic ash hovering in the atmosphere. It's been more than a week since the delays and grounding of flights have occurred, and while the travelers are certainly angry and frustrated, they don't have the problem of acting out on it.

Dozens of angry Chinese tourists clashed with police Friday at two airports in Taiwan after bad weather caused repeated delays of their flights, police said.
About 30 mainland tourists were involved in a brawl at the airport on Kinmen island, which had been shut for three days due to heavy fog, said an airport police officer.

While this kind of immature and disrespectful attitude is sort of expected from these Chinese tourists, it's also frustrating to see that the Taiwan government (police) did nothing basically. If it was in almost any other airport, the people that got into fights with police would likely have been detained. Instead, look who are the ones getting pushed around like little school-boys:

Unbelievable. The TaipeiTimes has more coverage on this here. The clincher?

A group of Chinese tourists were caught on television slapping a female Taiwanese tour guide on Thursday after she informed the tourists that their flight had been canceled.

Bureau officials said they had sent their regards to the tour guide, adding that it had also reported the names of the Chinese tourists involved in the incident to China’s Cross-Strait Tourism Association and asked the association to demand that the tourists not slap people again.

Yes. Slap a tourist agent in a different country, and all you get served with us a verbal "asking" to not do so in the future.

The more you think about this, the more it will anger you. Why? Think about what if those Chinese tourists weren't Chinese tourists, but instead... say pan-green Taiwanese being angry (but likely not acting out like the Chinese did). Do you believe that this hypothetical situation of pan-green Taiwanese being the angry ones, would have received similar treatment by the police? A simple verbal slap on the wrist for slapping and basically pushing around police? Or would they have been swiftly shut-down? That is something to ponder.

Lin Yu Chun: Taiwan's Singing Sensation!

2010-04-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

Video of the Day: Taiwan's Singing Sensation!

Taiwan's "Susan Boyle" makes it out to the Ellen Degeneres Show on 4/20/10.

Goldman Sacked!

2010-04-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

SEC charges Goldman Sachs with fraud. I think most people knew something was fishy and wrong with GS, but I never thought something would come of it. GS has high people in high places, so I still wouldn't call it justice-served just yet.

Just to show how ridiculous and gamed this market is right now, this announcement came on the heels of April OpEx. Because of that, you can easily double/triple/20x your money overnight with options, but at the same time, get slaughtered.

But when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the bank with fraud and the stock price dived to an intraday low of $155.55, the April $170 puts and April $160 puts are suddenly “in the money” and could very well be exercised by investors who own them.

Just to show you how ridiculous it is, I happened to purchase a couple GS April 175 puts earlier this month for $1.88 per contract. I ended up getting stopped out that same day for a small loss. Here's my purchase ticket:

Now take a look at the options table for GS April puts today (with the 175 puts highlighted):

So, $1.88 puts on April 7th was worth up to $19.00 at some point this morning, and settled at around $14.00. For me, it could have been 7x or 9x my money. Did I miss out? Sure, maybe. But I would have sat through more pain watching those puts basically go worthless as of yesterday (see the low of $0.01 print for those puts).

Here's an article on the Goldman, Abacus, Paulson story that puts it in easier terms to understand.

PBS Frontline Video: Obama's Deal

2010-04-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

For some political news outside of Taiwan (for once). I picked up on this through the usual Facebook feeds. It's a worthy watch for anyone, as it gives insight into how politics works in Washington. Change? Hardly. Just more of the same under a different mask.

Excerpt from this description of the video off the website:

On March 23, 2010, after a bruising year of debate, negotiation and backlash, President Barack Obama finally signed the health reform bill that he had promised more than a year before. But at what cost to his popularity and to the ideals of bipartisanship and open government that he'd campaigned on?

In Obama's Deal, veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Bush's War, Dreams of Obama) takes viewers behind the headlines to reveal the political maneuvering behind Barack Obama's effort to remake the American health system and transform the way Washington works. Through interviews with administration officials, senators and Washington lobbyists, Obama's Deal reveals the dramatic details of how an idealistic president pursued the health care fight -- despite the warnings of many of his closest advisers -- and how he ended up making deals with many of the powerful special interests he had campaigned against.

Click here for link to Frontline Video, Obama's Deal.

The biggest surprise for me was that despite knowing that Obama was not the real deal that he made himself out to be, was that Obama ended up making backroom deals with those he criticized the most. If you watch the video, this is the part where they talk about how Obama blasts Billy Tauzin during his campaigning in 2008 for his lobbyist activities, and then later signs a secret deal with Tauzin in order to push through health-care reform.

The sad part about this all is that it was not what the American public wanted. Polls after polls showed that the American public did not want the current health care bill. We end up with a broken bill that is not what Obama wanted, but in his effort to just get it done for the sake of claiming he got it done, this is what we are left with.

This should serve as a warning for Taiwan. Currently, President Ma is trying to push through an ECFA with China despite poll after poll showing the Taiwanese public having many concerns over an ECFA agreement. Furthermore, a lot of Taiwanese don't even know what the ECFA will contain. You must continually ask this question: Why does President Ma not wish to hold a referendum on whether to pass an ECFA or not? I believe there is no viable answer for this question that upholds Taiwan's democracy and best interests at the same time. If you have one that does, please let us know. Here's a good post from A-gu about what's going on with the referendum issue, past and current.

'Formosa Betrayed' Leaves You Unsatisfied - In A Good Way

2010-04-11T01:53:00.001-07:00

... and rightfully so - here's why.

** May contain spoilers **

I showed up with some family and friends at the 10:00PM showing of 'Formosa Betrayed' at one of only three theaters in Washington state. April 9th was the opening weekend for 'Formosa Betrayed' in Seattle, and this was the second night. But much like the empty theater that we sat in (more or less 15 people total), the movie left me empty inside as well. It was as if there was no ending and something else needed to wrap things up. After each scene faded to black and the next scene emerged, I kept hoping that the next fade-away would be followed by another scene.

So why do I think it was a good movie? It is because of this feeling of the lack of fulfillment that makes this film worth watching. For most other films, this may be a bad thing. After all, why would a story that leaves you hanging give the viewer satisfaction? But in this case we are left unsatisfied because of the fact that this story is yet unfinished.

This point is highlighted in the ending seconds of the movie where the screen goes to black with text appearing, highlighting the current situation of Taiwan: There are currently 23 countries that recognize the country of Taiwan, "The United States is not one of them."

The injustice to Taiwanese of the past, continue to occur to this day. Whether it be on the international scale or domestically in Taiwan, the internal struggle of Taiwanese is still there. While there may be no blatant executions of political dissidents and torture of Taiwanese intellectuals, instead what we have is fear and bullying tactics by the same secret police state that existed before. Stories such as this: Police in Taiwan asking for registration details of political activists that use Plurk. Things don't need to happen on the surface for it to be real; often times it's what happens underneath that is even scarier.

Anyways, as far as the actual acting and etc...

3 out of 5 stars. Entertainment value-wise, it was average. The acting was okay, but at times I just grimaced at the use of non-native Chinese speakers (sorry Will Tiao). The saving grace for Will Tiao was the fact that his lines were mostly in English and Taiwanese, otherwise I may never have gotten past that issue. The use of simultaneous time-lines was at first confusing, but after a couple flash forward and backs I realized what was going on. The action scenes were pretty underwhelming, but I found it quite appropriate for the setting (set in the 1980s).

But, the thing that bothered me the most after leaving (other than that unfulfillment) was that I felt I had already seen the movie. The most powerful scenes in the movie were basically the same scenes used in the theatrical trailers, which is quite genius if you think about it. But, it leaves you with just fillers for the actual movie, in between those powerful scenes.

Nevertheless, it's a story that needed to get out, and I applaud Will Tiao and the rest of his crew for being able to generate the investment needed to put out this film. All that, despite the likelihood that they knew they wouldn't have a spectacular box office run. When you have a film about Taiwan, and yet Taiwanese as a group have a hard time getting out to watch it, you know you are in for trouble.

All in all, 'Formosa Betrayed' was a film that needed to be done. And as a film that needed to be done, it's a film worth being seen. If you are in the Seattle area, get out to watch it ASAP! If you did not know (as I did not know originally), it's having a limited release in both location as well as time-wise. I believe it's only showing here in the Seattle area until this coming Thursday, April 15th.

Edit: While I was unable to make it to the Q&A session with producer and actor, Will Tiao, of Formosa Betrayed at the Seattle Taiwan Center on April 8th, someone (ryl0911) was able to record it on video and put it up on YouTube (Thanks!). There's 13 parts in total, so check it out. A lot of interesting information about him and the movie, with answers to "FAQs" that most of you probably have thought of (When is it showing in Taiwan?, Why is it shot in Thailand?, etc.)
You can view the rest of the 12 of 13 parts by going to this playlist, and you can set it to auto-play through the rest (top right-hand side).

TAIEX Outlook - Week of April 11th

2010-04-10T00:36:00.000-07:00

Another month has passed since I last checked up on the TAIEX, and it is currently hanging out just below the 8100 mark I mentioned in my previous post here.

Above 8100, a good long setup is in place for a run to the recent highs at 8395.38, if not new highs (if you are not already long).

A look back at what I said a month ago:

Above 7900 on strength, there's not much resistance above, and could quite easily make a run for the '10 highs at 8395.38, with a test of 8100 gap resistance first

And while the chart above does not have volume indicated, the ETF for Taiwan (EWT) had that "strength" that I talked about - it traded 60 mil shares on the day of the breakout, 4x the average volume of ~15 mil.

For those in the U.S., you should note of days around April 15th as a potential top in the markets as that is the last day for individuals to fund their IRAs for the 2009 tax year. Until then, there is that possibility of the additional inflow of cash into funds to continue to prop up this market. Just so happens OPEX is April 16th, and things tend to get crazy on those days.

And oh look, someone else also had mentioned the resistance level of 8100. This is another good reason to have knowledge of technical analysis when you invest/trade. Whether you actually "believe" in TA or not, it is nice to look at a chart and see price levels that everyone else is looking at. In a way, it's like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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In lighter news, Taiwan's "Susan Boyle" has become viral. I'm a day or two late, but if you are somehow in an e-cave, here you go, so you can be in the know.

Google: A Warning for Taiwan and Ma's ECFA

2010-04-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

An article in the April 5th issue of Business Week targets China as a manipulator and a country where countries are starting to realize the lack of business potential there. It was a refreshing read in that until recently (with the Google vs China fiasco), the way to make money was to head east to China. I happened to pick up the paper magazine of this issue, but you can also read it here online.

All of the issues raised in this piece point to the same problems that the U.S. has been facing in regards to China. China has consistently struck deals with countries and organizations, only to renege on them.

Nearly a decade after China's entry into the World Trade Organization, many foreign companies say the warm reception they once received has turned frosty. While China can still be highly profitable, some question how long that will last as Beijing changes the rules to give a lift to its domestic companies, especially state-owned enterprises. A new government procurement program known as "indigenous innovation" features rules favoring local firms: It could block sales worth billions of dollars a year, says Joerg Wuttke, director of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. Beijing has written strict standards for everything from cell phones to cars, often couching them in a way that gives an advantage to domestic producers. A recently revised patent law could force foreign companies to hand over key technologies to Chinese bureaucrats.

Their strategy was simple, and the rest of the world was naive in its thinking. China sucked in all these global companies to create offices in China and spur growth. Meanwhile these companies from all over the world, the innovators, start making profits and just as they think all is well, China comes in with their own companies that do the same - but as fabricators and duplicators rather than innovators.

What then? As the article mentions, there is the potential that China could force these foreign companies into handing over patents if they basically don't make China happy. These foreign companies can't do much in a communist country, where in the end - these Chinese bureaucrats have the last say.

A couple more points that the article makes on how China has policies that could force foreign businesses out of business:

Standards: China issues more than 10,000 product standards each year, some written to keep foreigners out of the market. Several Italian appliance manufacturers were shut out by rules requiring hotter-burning gas stoves. And tiremakers say the rules make it less profitable to sell in China.

Approvals: Bureaucratic foot-dragging on licensing for foreign banks and insurers restricts access and boosts Chinese rivals. One insurer says he can apply to open only one branch at a time and that it takes more than 18 months to get the green light. So some foreign companies have no more than a handful of branches.

As we are seeing with Google, who courageously took the stand against China, despite the potential for the money to be made in China - you either get in bed with their policies or you fall to the wayside and get kicked out.

What does this mean for Taiwan and the ECFA? If you feel like Ma is pushing the ECFA faster than his declining approval rating, well you aren't alone. It feels rushed, it feels sloppy, it feels like a gimmick to get Taiwan in bed with China. A trade agreement between two countries should not be rushed, especially in this context where Ma wishes to put all of Taiwan's eggs into the China basket.

Some Westerners believe all these troubles can be traced to China's negotiations to join the WTO. In the rush to gain access to the huge market, many corners were cut, and trade officials simply hoped Beijing would interpret the deal in a way outsiders would consider fair. "People were focused on the enormity of what was being accomplished just by bringing China into the WTO," says an executive with a Western bank in Shanghai, who says capital requirements and recalcitrant bureaucrats have restricted his company's expansion. "They thought they could take care of [the details] later."

Does the above sound eerily similar to what's occurring in Taiwan? Ma and his cronies are trying to fast-track ECFA just so that he can claim he got it done. Well, what exactly will it be? If the end result is a trade agreement with details as vague as Ma Ying-jeou's birth records, then shouldn't all of Taiwan be concerned?

We already know what China does in deals. It makes promises and then "interprets the deal" in a way that benefits themselves.

There's something that has always irked me. Call China for what it is - communist. Ever heard of the Chinese Communist Party? So what if they have a pseudo capitalist economy, you can be communist and love money. What you can't deny is they have a one-party dictatorship that does whatever the hell they want, how they want, to whoever they want. Let's not deceive ourselves into believing you can have fair free trade agreements with a country that doesn't give a damn about any rules or agreements, except their own.

In other news, just wanted to point out that the Taiwanese drive for the 2010 Census is not the only group of people pushing for their own "write-in." Despite what a lot of Debbie Downers are saying about how Taiwanese people are trying to create division, being trouble-makers, and being non-American, this article points out that Muslims, Sir-Lankans, and Indonesians among others are having their own census push also.

Anyways, April 1st was the day to get your census form in by, so for the most part the talk about the 2010 Census is over! That is, until we start seeing some of the statistics come out and see how much us Taiwanese were actually underrepresented.

Taiwan Job's Websites: 104, 123, etc.

2010-03-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

Been busy the past few days working on a resume for these types of websites. Any of you have experience in applying to jobs on these websites? I'm specifically working on the http://www.104.com.tw/ website.

Would like any tips on this, especially as my Chinese is not that great - so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Such as, is it customary for people to put a picture on their resume? On the 104 website when setting up your information, education, background, etc., it also asks if you would like to upload a picture of yourself. Is it preferred, necessary, a bonus?

Thanks! And apologies for the lack of updates!

A Confused Ma

2010-03-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

As Ma Ying-jeou was wrapping up his tour of Taiwan's allies in the Pacific, he commented that checkbook diplomacy is no longer being used, and that countries such as Australia should start up relations with Taiwan (read trade agreement) just as a trade agreement is on deck for Taiwan and China. Furthermore, he uses China as an example of how countries should have closer contact with Taiwan and have better relations, just as China has done.

What? To most of the world outside of the Taiwan Straits, in general China is viewed as a threat to Taiwan. We all know about the media propaganda that the minute Ma Ying-jeou stepped into office, relations between the Taiwan straits have improved. You know what actually has improved? China's military advantage against Taiwan. The latest U.S. military report on the regional area in Pacific Asia is:

The build-up of Chinese armed forces is continuing "unabated" and Beijing's goals appears to be power projection beyond Asia and to challenge America's freedom of action in the region, a top US admiral has said.

So how exactly are ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan good for Taiwanese? If this is the type of "better relations" that Ma thinks of, perhaps he shouldn't be president in 2012.

The "Taiwanese" Check-box that never was? (Census 2010)

2010-03-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

There is chatter (love using that word in this kind of context, so secretive) on the internet about the fact that the U.S. Census Bureau was willing to include a "Taiwanese" check-box for citizens to check instead of writing in Taiwanese. This supposedly happened last year, but the KMT sat on this and did nothing (no response to the U.S.). Still trying to get a news piece on this, but that's all for now.

Update: Here's an article saying that the Premier backs the "Taiwanese" drive in the U.S. Census. The question is, then why did they sit on the possibility of having "Taiwanese" included as a check-box?

During a visit to TECRO's Seattle branch office last year, U.S. census officials indicated their intention to include "Taiwanese" on the list of options but somehow this was not done because TECRO officials messed up, Kuan claimed.

Also this news clip from SET:

Finally, we have awkward wording, or perhaps misinformation on the TECRO website:

At the next US census in 2010, Taiwanese Americans will - for the first time - be given the choice to distinguish themselves from Chinese Americans.

Oh really? The first time? I wonder how those phantom Taiwanese were able to be counted as Taiwanese in the 2000 census...

You Know You're Taiwanese...

2010-03-17T20:19:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you have seen the lists where it gives you a bunch of reasons why you know you're [enter ethnicity here]. If you haven't, here are a couple examples:
You know you're Taiwanese when... (taken from Occasional Ramblings),
Some highlights from this one:

51.You beat eggs with chopsticks.
55.If you are male, you clap at something funny and if you are female, you giggle whilst placing a hand over your mouth. (although I didn't know this was a Taiwanese thing)
77.Even if you're totally full, if someone says they're going to throw away the leftovers on the table, you'll finish them. (but I've come to drop this habit, most of the time)

Also this variation which I find much more interesting:
You know you've been in Taiwan too long if...
A few highlights which I found more true for myself:

24. The shortest distance between two points involves going through an alley.
46. You're always the first on the elevator to hit the "door close" button.

and my favorite...

90. You don't feel comfortable using a urinal unless there's a woman mopping the floor behind you.

Anyways, here's one to add concerning to 2010 Census:

You know You're Taiwanese when... your dad is the first to open the 2010 Census form and goes straight to Question 9 and writes in "Taiwanese," skipping the first 8 questions.

Lastly, sent to people in the Facebook group for the Taiwanese Census 2010:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact
March 17, 2010 Leona Chu
leona.chu@tacl.org
(626)551-0227

ASIAN AMERICANS ASK, WILL CENSUS EVER GET IT RIGHT?
The missteps and causes of recurring undercount of Asian Americans in the U.S. Census

Within the Asian American community, there are genuine concerns that minorities will not participate in the Census. Some of those reasons include unawareness of inclusion, language barriers, and fear of the government. Individuals whose race(s) are not listed as check-boxes, such as Indonesian, Sri Lankan, and Taiwanese would not automatically assume the option of writing in an unlisted response. "I didn't know there was a choice, I just marked off the next best option by default," said actor Adam Wang from the feature film, Formosa Betrayed.

Although the Census form will be offered in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese has been dropped from the in-language forms mailed to households. This neglects a number of Asians who do not read Simplified Chinese; for example individuals from Taiwan and older overseas Chinese schooled in Traditional Chinese, such as community members from Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Singapore.

In another effort to reach out to underrepresented minority groups, Census 2010 ran in-language public service announcements on TV, online and the radio. Unfortunately, the PSA targeted to the Taiwanese community did not use a native speaker, making the ad largely incomprehensible to those it was targeting.

Non-profit organizations such as, Taiwanese American Citizens League (TACL), an official Census partner since 1990, were not contacted for the official Census 2010 “Taiwanese” PSA. TACL in conjunction with TaiwaneseAmerican.org, Slideshow Pictures and several second generation Taiwanese American organizations have come together to create its own PSA on YouTube. Since the launch in early March, the "Write In Taiwanese" PSA has gone viral and generated over 150,000 hits. In addition, t-shirt orders for the TACL "Check Other Asian" t-shirt have spiked. Orders from across the country, even overseas countries such as Canada, Singapore, Taiwan, and United Kingdom, have been pouring in.

Despite the popularity of the Write in Taiwanese PSA on YouTube, some regard the campaign as being controversial. Heated discussions on the YouTube message board have sprung up with debates on the validity of a Taiwanese identity being the main argument. However, this is a moot point, since the choice to check a race box, or check "Other Asian," will come down to the individual. Census Day is April 1, 2010.

Data obtained from the Census Form’s race question are necessary for (1) evaluating racial disparities, (2) assessing the characteristics and needs of particular communities, (3) implementing laws and programs that promote equal opportunity, and (4) allocating funds and other resources.

TACL is a non-profit organization of education, public affairs and human rights representing Americans of Taiwanese ancestry. The mission of TACL is to enhance the well being of Taiwanese Americans and to promote Taiwanese American's participation in American democracy.

For more information please find us online at:
TACL Census 2010: http://census2010.tacl.org
TACL Census PSA: http://taiwaneseamerican.org/census2010

###
If you'd like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Leona Chu, please call: (626)551-0227, or email leona.chu@tacl.org.

Physical press-kits are available upon request.

So there you have it. Write in Taiwanese if you consider yourself Taiwanese. I can attest to the nastiness that is going on in that YouTube video comments. There's a lot of Chinese and even a few Taiwanese telling others to not write in Taiwanese, but to just write mark Chinese. Of course there's the usual "it's all the same" and "you are all from Han Chinese" and the "how are you Taiwanese if you are American" idiocy.

Anyways, the point comes down to this. Taiwanese are born into a life of struggle. We struggle for our identity because of others that force the label "Chinese" onto us. So what is our fight? The fight for self-determination. As such, I don't care if other "Taiwanese" that are from Taiwan write in Chinese, all I care is that I can write what I want - Taiwanese. So please, go ahead and write "Chinese" if you are Chinese, "Iranian" if you are Iranian, "Thai" if you are Thai, and yes, "Chinese" if you feel like you are Chinese even though you are from Taiwan.

See the difference now between Chinese and Taiwanese? One side wants to tell you what you are, the other side just wants to speak for themselves. They may say the PSA is divisive, but the whole point is to inform the public that they can write whatever they want, and not be limited to the races listed next to the check boxes.

Say It Ain't So: Dodgers Love Taiwan Over China

2010-03-14T00:26:00.000-08:00

The L.A. Dodgers have just finished up their ~~three~~ two-game stint in Taiwan (due to a rainout) and will leave Taiwan with only positive impressions of her. If you are not in Taiwan and didn't know the Dodgers were playing a couple exhibition games against Taiwanese "All-Star" players, well now you do. Not only that, but what originally had been negative stories leading up to the event (due to the Dodgers' starting line-up being a no-show for the trip) has turned into probably the best outcome that could be had for Taiwan - "Rave" reviews for Taiwan.

The major story on MLB.com is of the Dodgers in Taiwan, including the "Rave" review for Taiwan.

You don't realize how you touch people the way we do, even when they don't know your name, just the uniform," said catcher Lucas May, one of six Dodgers who also made the 2008 goodwill trip to China.
"The people here love baseball and are in awe of the Dodgers. The history of China was interesting, with the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square. But here, the people know their baseball and are so friendly and respectful. They're always smiling and that goes a long way."

No real surprise here. Accounts after accounts from my white friends who have visited Taiwan is that they have found Taiwanese to be very friendly to foreigners while being able to communicate in English. That is definitely a plus for any visitor/tourist in a foreign country. The article goes on with more quotes from players basically commenting on how pleasantly surprised they were with Taiwan and the people, and how stark the difference was with Taiwan and China.

James Loney said he's not surprised that players had a better time in Taiwan than China.
"The people here were excited to see us play. I didn't really hear that from the guys coming back from China," said Loney. "I guess it's not as intense there as it is here. I feel the people here look to us as important to them. The fans are very knowledgeable about the game. They know our team pretty well.
"I'm glad I came, I enjoyed it. A lot of guys didn't want to go after the China trip. I knew Taiwan as a country is a little ahead of China as far as the economy has developed. In China, most people are still trying to become more advanced. Here they have a TGIF and a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. We went to the Nike Store, normal things you would do back home. Most people I encountered knew English. And they were real friendly people."

Not only do the players comment on the differences, but show their knowledge of Taiwan being a country. Bravo to the Dodgers and to their management for giving up their time for the Taiwanese fans. But, leave it to Manny to rake in $170,000 for some appearances that may have been the tipping point in him deciding to come to Taiwan.

Regardless, I think everyone was a winner here. The Dodgers leave Taiwan with lasting positive memories, the MLB gets some promotion in Taiwan, the Taiwanese fans get to see MLB players in their home country, and China... well they weren't even in the picture until the Dodgers started making comparisons... but I guess they got the short end of the stick here.

Taiwanese Americans in the U.S.

2010-03-11T00:09:00.001-08:00

Came across this website, listed as the Taiwanese American Heritage Week Homepage, with a lot of information on Taiwanese in the U.S. Not sure if the numbers in the main diagrams in the front page are actual/projected numbers, or numbers reported in the 2000 Census. In any case, they should be representative in terms of relativity between states.

For example, it shows that the top three states with the highest number of Taiwanese Americans are California, New York, and Texas (with California being #1). New Jersey comes in 4th, followed by Washington in 5th. Not sure where the large Taiwanese presence in NJ comes from, as I would have thought Washington would have more. Nice to know though!

Most interesting is that while Taiwanese command the second highest Per Capita Income only behind Japanese, that Taiwanese are also the least represented group within the "Asian Americans." Taiwanese Americans, the few and not so proud? Hopefully that will change this year.

TAIEX Outlook - Week of March 7th

2010-03-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

With the recent correction in the markets across the world over the first two months of 2010, many traders are wondering where we go from here. As far as the TAIEX is concerned, it is coming up on overhead resistance in the 7800-7900 area. I would watch what happens in this distribution area for signs of where the next couple months may have in store for the Taiwan markets.

Above 7900 on strength, there's not much resistance above, and could quite easily make a run for the '10 highs at 8395.38, with a test of 8100 gap resistance first.

As of now, going long or short is not the right move. The right move is to wait for the market to reveal itself.

Beijing: A Bunch of Crocks

2010-03-04T15:47:00.000-08:00

Every time I read another article about how Beijing/China warns or protests against some other country (usually the U.S.) about some "internal matter" (in their minds, Tibet and Taiwan), I get just a bit more negative about those communists over there in China. On a larger scale, while maybe not fair, towards Chinese people as a whole. If you are Chinese and reading this, perhaps you should start speaking up for your Chinese community and saying that while you are Chinese, you may not necessarily agree with the actions the Chinese government does.

The latest warning from China about Tibet and Taiwan (nothing new actually, just more deceit and rubbish):

He said it was “totally unacceptable” for foreign governments to interfere in China’s affairs by selling arms to Taiwan, adding: “At a time when the Chinese people across the Taiwan Strait are carrying out friendly exchanges as brothers, the advanced arms sales to Taiwan by a certain country is like handing a dagger to one person when he is hugging his brother.”

What this official from Beijing does not understand is that what they believe does not mesh with what the U.S. believes. While the U.S. simply acknowledges China's stance on Taiwan and Tibet, it does not hold this stance as the U.S.'s own.

Furthermore, his comment regarding how the arms sales are akin to "handing a dagger to one person when he is hugging his brother" is quite retarded actually. Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised that he is purposefully leaving out the fact that there are 1500+ missiles pointed at Taiwan right now. I believe a better analogy would be something like, "advanced arms sales to Taiwan by a certain country is like handing a dagger to one person when he is holding off his greedy neighbor who has a gun pointed at him."

This is exactly the situation that China has put Taiwan in. China is envious of Taiwan's success, such that it has basically held-up Taiwan in a stick-up, threatening to blow off her head if she decides to run. So the U.S. comes to provide a dagger (arms sales that are incomparable to the firepower that China currently has against Taiwan), in order to deter China.

Unfair? Yes. The reality? Yes. It is simply the reality that Taiwan faces every day. Not only the pressure from China, but the lies and deception that bleeds out of Beijing and into the mainstream media today.

Another 2010 Taiwanese Census Plug

2010-03-02T23:03:00.000-08:00

Check out this PSA vieo released by "the Taiwanese Census Campaign, in conjunction with TACL, TaiwaneseAmerican.org and other 2G groups" :

Capital Losses

2010-03-01T18:04:00.000-08:00

Decided to glance out the tax situation for myself and my parents this year, and would just like to say, the $3,000 capital loss limit per year is absolutely absurd. Perhaps for someone like me, I have many more years in my life to write off those $3,000 losses every year for maybe the next 30-40 years. But, for my parents who are certainly closing in on the years of retirement, tell me how in the world are they going to write off all those years of only $3,000 capital losses per year?

Here's a recent article on this issue. At the bottom are senators you can contact who are the main players on tax issues. Also, please write to your own senators.

DPP Rollin'

2010-02-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

3 out of 4 by-election seats, with a close race in Hualien which the KMT took. Not to discredit the Taiwanese voters who came out today, but Tsai Ing-wen has really put the DPP on the right track. Despite many forces going against the DPP (continued vote-buying that isn't being acted on, remnant displeasure of the DPP from the A-bian debacle, as well as being low on party cash), the DPP are looking to set up real nicely for the year-end elections as well as a 2012 run for presidency. Once or twice may be a fluke, but three times most certainly makes it a trend.

As I've mentioned in the past the similarities between the US political atmosphere and that of Taiwan, it seems it is following in similar paths (see Barack OmaYingJeou, and might I note the "two plays I'm 100% sure of, long commodities and oil" - too bad I didn't heed my own words). Obama's push for health care reform has caused a significant divide even within his own party. Similarly, Ma's push for the ECFA has done so as well. The two countries' presidents have suffered dwindling approval ratings ever since they were sworn in as presidents, and the opposition parties have gained in local legislature and mayoral elections.

As such, I wonder if it could really be as easy (although it won't be as easy as I make it seem to be) as simply garnering up the youth vote in Taiwan to push the DPP to victory. I firmly believe Obama won because of the youth vote in 2008, yet that has been the missing voting block in Taiwan. I would say 4 out of 5 Taiwanese youth that I know, or even more conservatively, 3 out of 5, have "green" tendencies and would inevitably vote for the DPP if given the choice.

The problem is the youth vote is not getting out on voting day! Perhaps Tsai Ing-wen's next undertaking could be to find a way to mobilize the youth in Taiwan. I'm not going to lie, as a young Taiwanese-American who sees and hangs out with other Taiwanese young 'ins, it's probably one of the greatest hurdles that faces Taiwan today. Set aside voting, if there are no youth who want to stand up to be political leaders in Taiwan, there is going to be a void in leadership in a couple decades. I'm sure we do not want to find out who is going to fill that void.

228 Events

2010-02-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

Just a couple reminders:

Formosa Betrayed opening in select theaters in NY, CA, MA, NJ today - Review from FilmCritic. Review from the NYTimes.

From FilmCritic:

There are times when the film stumbles over dialogue, which isn't as well-written as the action, and the final scenes are overly melodramatic. But overall, Formosa Betrayed is engaging and informative, and it leaves you with a sense that you did something productive while watching a movie…you learned something.

Regardless of whether it turns out to be entertainment/theatrically worthy, it's a movie worth seeing just so you can learn more about the history of Taiwan. For those in Seattle who can't see the movie just yet, make it to the 2/28 discussion this Sunday at Kane Hall (see below). Learn about Taiwan, and perhaps you will get a glimpse of why I feel the need to run this blog.

2/28 Discussion at the University of Washington this coming Sunday at Kane Hall 110, 3:00PM - 5:00PM

Also, election day in Taiwan. From Hsieh Chang-ting's Plurk:

投票日.有人問::國民黨已連敗三次,還要給他教訓嗎,?答:問題不在幾次,而在有沒有改正
Translation:
Election day. People have asked, "the KMT have lost 3 times already, do we still need to punish them? Answer: The problem isn't how many times, rather have they or have they not changed.

More Analysis of a Substantial Shift in the Taiwan Straits

2010-02-23T20:54:00.000-08:00

"The elections could decide Taiwan's destiny." - Soochow University political science professor Lo Chih-cheng

Which elections do you think Lo is talking about here? The 2012 elections? How about the end of the year municipalities elections. Lo is on spot with his analysis here, as he believes that the year end elections will essentially pave the way for a DPP victory in 2012, or a defeat. Furthermore, a victory year-end will further cement the growing consensus that Ma Ying-jeou's China-obsessing policies are not what the majority of Taiwanese want.

Michael You (游盈隆), another professor at Soochow University and former vice chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, said: “If the DPP loses the 2012 election, there would be only one result for Taiwan, it would end up in the hands of the Chinese communists.”

These findings all fall in line with the potential for a substantial shift in the Taiwan Straits sometime before 2018 (my original time line for a substantial shift). It further reinforces the notion that the time to once again and speak out on behalf of Taiwan is quickly coming. I know many young Taiwanese (my generation) who simply are apathetic towards politics (due to the history in Taiwan). That may have been fine a decade ago, even five years ago, but with all the recent findings of China's attempt to take over Taiwan by 2012, the rapid pace of Ma's One-China policies, as well as the growing economic pains within Taiwan and globally, all point to a deteriorating situation for an autonomous and democratic Taiwan.

One comment I saw that really pissed me off during the University of Washington, "Taiwan, province of China" issue over the last couple weeks, was by someone that claimed to be Taiwanese, and yet basically said, "Who cares if Taiwan becomes a part of China. People will go on living their lives, partying, playing, drinking, KTVing."

Just because you see those kids in China partying, drinking, KTVing, does that necessarily mean that is all they want in life? Sure, if all you are concerned about in life is going to your Luxy and then hopping over to the local KTV, perhaps maybe so, Taiwan won't change much if it was under China. But for everyone else, real changes will occur for the worse. Take for example, internet usage. I know many friends who have studied abroad in China, or spent a week or so there and loved how they had to go through proxy servers just to connect to Facebook. Forget Facebook, I wouldn't even be able to blog on my own site. Sure, an inconvenience you may say - so what?

How about getting detained and arrested at the airport for carrying an "Alice in the Wonderland" book? And then proceeding to have to pay some ungodly amount to them just to let you be set free and shipped back to wherever you were coming from?

How about running your own business and one afternoon a couple PLA officers stroll by your store and basically tell you to give them free stuff or they will give you a hard time? Like that? I sure as hell wouldn't. Who would? Oh, communists.

Puh-lease. Are you kidding yourselves? Who in their right mind would rather have Taiwan under the control of China instead of being an independent and sovereign country? Let's leave the unification of Taiwan with China for another dimensional word and keep Taiwan as it is now.

Ask And 'Ye Shall Receive

2010-02-21T23:37:00.000-08:00

From the Facebook image comments:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We believe the source of the error was new address verification software used by our online application vendor. It seems to be an address field dropdown menu where the error is showing. We have not been able to see it in our residency fields. Only the student address field. We have contacted the vendor and asked them to fix the error immediately.

We are very sorry that this happened. Again, than you for bringing it to our attention.

Paul... See More

__________________________________________
Paul Seegert
Associate Director for Operations
University of Washington
Office of Admissions

As well as this one, noting that the applications are closed, and thus the "fix" wasn't actually implemented, but should be there next year. Hopefully they actually come through and fix it for the next application period. Keep us posted if it doesn't!

We recently learned that there was an error on the University of Washington undergraduate online application form. The error was in an address field where it listed Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China".... See More

We believe the source of the error was the new address verification software used by our online application vendor. Our online applications are now closed because our deadlines have passed. We will have the company correct the error so it will be listed as "Taiwan" on future applications.

We are very sorry that this occurred, and we appreciate that it was brought to our attention.

Thank you,

Paul

I never actually got a response to my own letter - but I was late in sending it, as I was typing out my 700 word letter on why it should be Taiwan and not Taiwan, province of China.

Reminder: 2/28 Event at Kane Hall next Sunday! (See a couple posts down for more information)

China's Plot to Takeover Taiwan by 2012

2010-02-20T13:50:00.000-08:00

A week or two ago, I saw this news popping up around the blogs about a new book by a Yuan Hongbing, a former Dean (of School of Criminal Law) at Beijing University, which reveals the steps that China is hoping to take in order to bring Taiwan under its control by 2012. Yes, 2012 as in within the next two years. Included is information classified as top-secret and confidential by the Chinese government. It should definitely be a worthy read, especially if you can read Chinese.

As of now I believe the book, English titled, "Taiwan Disaster," is currently available in Chinese - so English readers will have to wait. I was hoping to get a copy of this book as it certainly falls in line with what I believe will be happening. That is, that a significant change or move in the Taiwan Straits will occur sometime within the next 10 years - and keep in mind that I stated that when Ma Ying-jeou became Taiwan's president. So, the time frame I was looking at was between 2008 - 2018.

My reasons for such? The pace at which Ma Ying-jeou is bringing the two sides together is much too fast for there to be proper safeguards and special considerations in place for Taiwan to protect its sovereignty and democracy. Furthermore, the deteriorating global economic conditions will further put strain on China as well as Taiwan. What I fear the most is that with China's bubble economy and the possibility of Taiwan becoming a "One-China" economy, the potential for Taiwan to be taken down when China's bubble pops will be exponentially increased. At that point, it will be extremely hard for the Taiwanese side to make a stand when they are struggling economically. You may ask, what is the first step in China's evil plan? ECFA.

The book above will likely describe the ECFA is being one of those first steps, and that is why although Ma Ying-jeou continues to claim that this economic agreement is simply an economic agreement, nothing is ever that simple.

Free Speech Friday (the 19th) (Updated)

2010-02-18T00:13:00.000-08:00

Just a heads up for those who attend UW. I submitted my letter regarding the UW listing Taiwan as a province of China. It's similar to the letter I wrote in the previous post, with some slight additions and tweaks to make it more publish-worthy.

I hope all of you will pick up a copy of The Daily this Friday, the 19th! It should appear in the "Free Speech Friday" section (barring the potential for too many letters to be submitted, and mine being ousted because of it being a response to something that has not appeared in The Daily.

02/19/10 Update:

Here's the online version of my letter as it will appear in today's print version. Thanks for the support everyone. Unofficially, someone else has posted that the UW Office of Admissions has contacted the vendor they use to fix this error - they have yet to personally respond to me, but I was likely not the only one to let them know about this error. Just goes to show that we can get things done with simple things like e-mails and letters.

'Tis a good day to be part of the Taiwanese community at UW.

228 Event at University of Washington

2010-02-17T01:46:00.000-08:00

Something for all my friends and those of you in the Seattle area. For 228 (last day of February), the Washington chapter of FAPA and UW TOSA is hosting a seminar/discussion on the historical significance of 228, as well as the current relationship between US-Taiwan and what still needs to be done. I personally met Brock Freeman, I believe one of the original founders of the Human Rights for Taiwanese (Seattle) organization, at the recent Lunar New Year Celebration for TAGS (Taiwanese Association of Greater Seattle). He is an American (caucasian) that is a strong supporter for Taiwan's democracy and self-determination.

If a non-Taiwanese can find the need to join in Taiwan's fight for democracy and self-determination, I believe that we as Taiwanese and Taiwanese-Americans need to show our own desire to see a democratic, sovereign, and prosperous Taiwan. So, I urge not only Taiwanese, but also all my friends (regardless if you are Taiwanese or not) to come join this discussion. If you've always wondered what the big deal about Taiwan is, here's your chance to get a glimpse of the current issues that Taiwan currently faces, as well as its history and fight for freedoms and democracy.

Here's the official press release for this event:

Reexamining Taiwan’s 228 Massacre: A discussion on the U.S. role in Taiwan then and now

When: Sunday, February 28, 2009; 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Where: University of Washington, Kane Hall 110, Seattle, WA 98195

EVENT SUMMARY

On February 28, the Washington Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) will host a discussion to examine the importance of the "228 Massacre" to the understanding of present-day Taiwan, the US Government’s relationship and culpability, as well as what needs to be done today to deliver on the promise made to the Taiwanese during WWII.

Participating on the panel is Jonathan Manthorpe, author of Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan and International Affairs columnist for the Vancouver Sun; Dr. Sam Small, Vice-Chairman of the Taiwan Veterans Badge of Honor Association; and Bryan Chou, second-generation Taiwanese-American, active in the Taiwanese-American community and in the group, Human Rights for Taiwanese.

ABOUT THE 228 MASSACRE

On February 28, 1947, the arrest of a cigarette vendor in Taipei led to large-scale protests by the native Taiwanese against the corruption and repression of Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese Nationalist government, which had come over from China with the U.S. Government’s blessing after Japan's defeat by the Allied forces in 1945. Citing the glorious Revolution of 1776, the Americans promised freedom to the Taiwanese from Japanese rule. However, following the unarmed protests, troops that Chiang's government secretly sent from China rounded up and executed an entire generation of leading figures, including students, lawyers, and doctors. Scholars estimate that up to 28,000 people lost their lives in the turmoil.

The U.S. Consulate in Taipei reported back about these events, but was told by Washington to do nothing. During the "White Terror" of the subsequent years, the Nationalists ruled Taiwan under martial law, which ended only when democratization began during the mid-1980s. The "228 Massacre" remains a defining event in the political divide that exists in Taiwan today.

To imagine for Americans what this “228 Massacre” meant for Taiwanese, picture the British, after the Boston Tea Party, then rounding up all of who we now view as the founding fathers and summarily executing them. The ramifications of this on democracy and human rights in America would have been profound, perhaps to the point of America still being under British rule.

Biographies

Jonathan Manthorpe

Jonathan Manthorpe has been The Sun's International Affairs columnist and a foreign correspondent for nearly 25 years. He came to Vancouver in 1998 after five years as the Southam News Asia correspondent based in Hong Kong from where he travelled and wrote on events throughout the Far East, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Manthorpe and his family were posted to Asia direct from Africa where he spent nearly five years as the regional correspondent for Southam News based in Harare, Zimbabwe. During this time Manthorpe reported on the transition from apartheid to majority rule in South Africa and covered major wars, famines and social upheavals across the continent. This posting followed nearly a decade in Europe where Manthorpe was sent in 1979 as the Toronto Star's European Bureau chief. In the early 1980s Manthorpe spent two years as a special adviser in London to then prime minister Pierre Trudeau during the campaign to patriate Canada's constitution. After the completion of that project Manthorpe became the European Correspondent for Southam News. For most of the 1970s Manthorpe was a political correspondent for the Globe and Mail and then a daily columnist for the Toronto Star.

He grew up in Toronto, but trained as a journalist in Britain where he won the national prize for the top graduate of the year in 1969. Manthorpe has won the Mitchener Award for journalism and several international prizes for his writing.

Dr. Sam Small

Dr. Sam Small is currently the Vice Chairman of the Taiwan Badge of Honor Association (BOHAUSA) and is currently working on a book about the Taiwan China unification question. He is a Vietnam veteran decorated with a Purple Heart and the Gallantry Cross Campaign Medal; assigned to the Shu Lin-Kou airstation outside of Taipei in 1971, he served two years in Taiwan. Returning to the United States, Dr. Small entered the University of Washington, earning a Bachelors of Science degree in International studies focusing on the China region; he went on to earn an MBA in in global business sustainability, then obtained his Ph.D. in International Business Sustainablitiy in 2005.

Dr. Small has spent a total of twelve years working in Taiwan and another four in China, including visits to both the Tibet and the Uighur regions currently controlled by the Beijing government. As a front-line witness to the 1989 Tienanmen massacre in Beijing, he met and talked with many of the student leaders of the China democracy movement.

As a member of BOHAUSA, Dr. Small was an official guest of the Taiwan presidential innauguration of both Chen Shui-Bian and Ma Ying-Jeou. As Vice Chairman of BOHAUSA, he has met President Ma, expressing concern about Taiwanese concerns, and has worked to promote Taiwanese concerns in the United States Congress.

 Bryan Chou

Bryan Chou was born in Seattle, Washington to Taiwanese parents who immigrated to the United States. Bryan is active in the Taiwanese-American community; he has served as President of the Taiwanese American Student Association (TSA) at the University of Washington, is a member of the National Board for the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Student Association (ITASA), and member of Human Rights for Taiwanese in Seattle.

Chou holds a Bachelors degree in Community and Environmental Planning from the University of Washington and a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design.

I will be there, and I hope you can join us there as well! RSVP here, http://www.socializr.com/event/fapahrt/nomore228

Here's a few more flyers that Brock Freeman provided me to help promote this event - take a look, especially if you are interested but not sure if you'd like to come!

Uphold Democracy Flyer
Taiwan Background Flyer

The "Chinese Taipei" Conundrum

2010-02-16T01:04:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe it's already been two years (more or less) since the Summer Olympics. Of course, when talking about Taiwan in the Olympics, the topic of "Chinese Taipei" always comes out. This time around, whether it be because Taiwan only has one athlete participating this year, or because it's not in China's home-turf (Beijing Summer 08 Olympics), but it hasn't received much press and "noise" as in 2008.

Regardless, a few smaller media news outlets have covered it - once again reminding us that despite the claims that the Olympics are a non-political event, it inevitably is because of China.

Chinese Taipei, what Americans call Taiwan, marched out into BC Place to the cheers of some 60,000 Olympic fans during the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies Parade of Nations on NBC Friday night. The name Chinese Taipei has a very convoluted history that has to do with its long, historical conflict the People's Republic of China and its relationship to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), according to Wikipedia.

I found a couple other articles that show quite the stark differences in reporting on Taiwan. This is the issue that is constantly being brought up in regards to Taiwan. Within Taiwan, there will always be "blue" and "green" biased news, and on the international stage, "China" and "Taiwan" biased news. Although, I will have to make the argument for being one being propaganda, and the other being real news. Take the following two articles for example, both reporting on similar things, but with a very contrasting tone:

This one with a China-slant:

The controversy has ever been there after the 1971 loss of seats by Republic Of China (ROC). The name Taiwan has been rejected by the Republic Of China as its participating name as it feels that people of both the parts of divided China are Chinese and no one is less Chinese than the other.

This one with a Taiwan-centric tone:

Chinese believe to be the rulers of Taiwan which they call as Chinese Taipei while Taiwan, on the other hand, is fighting for freedom. They want to be known as Taiwan instead of Chinese Taipei.

The above clearly shows why we need to be able to question and evaluate statements in the media independently, and not take things at face value. The first tells the world that Taiwan (grouping all Taiwanese together) believes that they are also Chinese. This is clearly untrue, as polls after polls starting from when A-bian came into office in 2000, show a continual growing trend in the people in Taiwan identifying themselves as being Taiwanese. By the way, this is one of the accomplishments that A-bian is often overlooked for - that is organizing and driving the Taiwan-centric mindset not only in Taiwan, but outside of Taiwan as well.

The second article gets it right: We want to be known as Taiwan, not Chinese Taipei. But, it ain't about politics right?!

University of Washington: Taiwan, Province of China

2010-02-13T19:47:00.000-08:00

Saw this on Facebook via my friends being tagged on this note (thanks to a Spencer Chen who posted it originally). Basically the University of Washington's transfer student admissions website lists Taiwan as, "Taiwan, Province of China." As an alumnus of UW, I was deeply troubled and of course, had to send off an e-mail to UW to notify them of this error. I hope all my UW friends, will take 5-10 minutes out of their day to do so also. It is something that we should not simply say "wtf," and proceed to go on with the rest of our day.

There is a reason we have Taiwanese student organizations on campus, because we have our own distinct culture and country. Take this opportunity to raise up this issue to your own university by sending an e-mail here, and marking it "Other questions, error reports." Even the shortest one paragraph will do. Feel free to take words from my letter (below), but I believe that we each have our own opinions and should speak freely as such. Please remember to be respectful and courteous in your letters. I will likely also fire off an e-mail to the UW Daily, and see if they will write an article on this as well, you can help by letting them know about this issue as well.

Lastly, this is not a one-time issue. If you've been reading my blog for any sort of time, I've likely highlighted a similar problem where a company or website lists Taiwan as a Province of China. It is an uphill battle, but that does not mean we should take a back seat and let the world run over us. Our parents or grandparents are from Taiwan, or even you were born in Taiwan, or perhaps like me, parents from Taiwan, but born in the U.S. Regardless, We are Taiwanese. Don't let anyone ever tell you what you are or aren't. You and I both have the right to decide for ourselves what we are or aren't, what we can and cannot do, what we believe and do not believe in.

This e-mail is in regards to a recent finding among a group of Taiwanese, University of Washington students. It has come to our attention that on the UW's website for transfer applications, during Section 4 of the Application Progress (Address & Residency), it lists the country of Taiwan, as "Taiwan, Province of China." This is a problem for many Taiwanese, including those that are students at UW. As an alumni of the UW Electrical Engineering department, and as an alumni of the UW, I find it hard to believe that the UW would like to promote this kind one-sided view on Taiwan. If I recall correctly on my undergraduate admission application to the UW, there was a question on diversity - how I may have experienced diversity/differences and how it has applied to my life. Therefore, I believe it is also the UW's goal to attract, pursue, foster, and teach students in a way that promotes independent thinking and diversity.

One aspect of diversity is respecting the differences between countries, as well as differences in people's opinion. While it is certainly some peoples' opinion that Taiwan is a province of China, I assure you, there are a great number of those (Taiwanese and non-Taiwanese included), that would say that Taiwan is not a part of China. It is for this reason that the University of Washington has a couple student associations that exist to help promote and spread the word about Taiwan's distinct culture and country- the Taiwanese Student Association (TSA), as well as the Taiwanese Overseas Student Association (TOSA).

I know that there are many bright and smart Chinese students that also attend the University of Washington, and while their upbringing may cause them to believe in error that Taiwan is a part of China, it should be the University's goal to help create an environment where they question what they've "grown up with," and learn to think independently. I find it unfair to them, as well as those that may not be too knowledgeable about the Taiwan issue, for them to glance at some application page and see, "Taiwan, Province of China" and reinforce a common misconception that should be corrected.

In parting, I know that the University is a public institution, and that may mean adhering to certain laws and certain regulations that we may not know of. But, may I remind you that the current position of the United States is that it simply acknowledges China's position on Taiwan, but does not bring that position into their own. The US position is that Taiwan's status is undetermined, and as such, I believe it should not be difficult for the University of Washington to maintain even that position (If you check the US Department of State website, for countries and regions, it lists Taiwan, simply as "Taiwan"). To say that Taiwan is a Province of China in your application process is wrong and forcing an identity on a group of people that may not identify with that position.

I hope this e-mail finds its way into the right hands (until it does, please keep forwarding until the person who is in charge of this can make a decision), and this error will be corrected to that of just, "Taiwan" rather than "Taiwan, Province of China." At the very least, I hope that a review of this issue will be conducted. I believe the Taiwanese students at UW (and elsewhere) deserve this at the very least, and for everyone else who may not have knowledge of this issue. Higher education is here for us to reason, question, and think critically. Give the students the opportunity to examine and fact-find for ourselves, rather than giving us this one-sided erroneous view of Taiwan.

Thank you,
xxx

The Lone Taiwan Olympian

2010-02-12T23:47:00.000-08:00

Another Winter Olympics, and another lonesome Olympic for Ma Chih-hung being the only representative athlete from Taiwan to participate in this year's 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Here's an interview by the Taipei Times with Ma (the athelete):

TT: Will you carry the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag?

Ma: I will carry the flag. [He was also the only athlete and the flag bearer at the Turin Olympics.]

TT: What are your feelings about that?

Ma: It’s a huge honor. But it’s only me [on the team] right now, so I hope other sports can qualify in the future. I hope by holding the flag, people will focus on our sports. I have to keep this going, so that [Taiwan] can compete in every [Winter] Olympics.

Considering he hails from Pingtung, it's more likely he's a "green" supporter, so I was sort of disappointed with his response to these questions. He basically sidestepped the issue, but I can't really blame him (since it could cause a lot of unneeded stress/attention) considering he's the only athlete from Taiwan to participate. He'd much rather devote his time and energy to winning a medal- something I understand coming from one who played sports as well.

Nevertheless, for those of you who are able to make it to Vancouver for the Olympics either tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday, bring out your Taiwan flags! Let everyone know that Taiwan does have a national flag (albeit the R.O.C. flag) because it is a sovereign country. Any other flags that represent Taiwan will do also (DPP flag, World Taiwanese Congress flag, etc), considering the "Chinese Taipei" flag is just about "Taiwanese" as Ma Ying-jeou claims to be.

Here's the luge schedule (Run 4 is medal round, so only if he makes it that far will he be in it):

February 13, 2010

Scheduled 17:00 - Men's Singles Run 1

Scheduled 19:10* - Men's Singles Run 2

February 14, 2010

Scheduled 13:00 - Men's Singles Run 3

Medal Event

Scheduled 15:10* - Men's Singles Run 4

More on Chinese

2010-02-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

This time from the view of Chinese 'dissidents,' aka exiled Chinese who are no longer welcome in China, and would likely be imprisoned or put to death if they returned.

Chinese dissident Yang Jianli (楊建利) yesterday urged Taiwan not to forget about democracy, freedom or its sovereignty when pursuing closer relations with China.

“I would like to call on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to use the language of democracy and freedom when developing closer ties with China. Taiwanese should pay more attention to their sovereignty so that it won’t be damaged when interacting with China,” Yang told a press conference coorganized by domestic civic groups to voice their support for democracy and human rights activists in China.

“Taiwanese should defend Taiwan’s sovereignty and make Taiwan’s democracy more mature so that it can become a role model for China to follow,” he said.

This reminds me of the expression, "You don't know what you've got, until you lose it." Although these Chinese dissidents may have never had the human rights and a democratic country to grow up and live in, they've experienced the world outside of China and understand that what countries like the U.S. and Taiwan have, is something that should not be taken for granted.

Why can these Chinese dissidents so easily recognize the growing problem under the Ma administration, and yet those in Taiwan can't wrap their heads around it. Hopefully not, but perhaps it really will need to take another setback in Taiwan's democracy and sovereignty in order for the Taiwanese people to wake up and realize that what they have needs to be protected and cherished.

While these Chinese dissidents have the right idea for supporting Taiwan's independent and democratic country, they still are short-sighted in thinking that Taiwan can serve as a "role model" for China to follow. If we have learned anything from the relationship between China and Hong Kong, it is that Hong Kong did not serve as a "role model" for China. Instead of influencing China, Hong Kong was influenced by China (for worse).

Taiwan needs to take note of what is happening in Hong Kong. Voter dissatisfaction with the unelected leaders is widespread(they are instead appointed by China, and/or large corporations that are largely influenced/controlled by the Communist Party). Calls for total democraticization of Hong Kong's political system is totally shut down. See this recent article in the NY Times for more on this.

In any case, the situation for Taiwan is not the same as the situation for Hong Kong. A "One Country, Two Systems" approach as it is in Hong Kong currently, would fail in Taiwan. Taiwanese would not stand for any sort of appointed positions to govern Taiwan, let alone allowing half of their lesgislature/congress to be appointed by the Chinese government (as it currently is in Hong Kong).

As a reminder, the movie Formosa Betrayed, is debuting Feb 26th in select cities (New York, LA, Boston, and a few other California cities), with it making its debut in the Seattle area quite a bit later, April 5th.

A Reminder of What People in China Think

2010-02-09T23:56:00.000-08:00

Back from my vacation to the snow-torn DC/Maryland area, dubbed "Snowmaggedon" or "Snowpocalypse." It was actually quite a sight to see 2-3 feet of snow, as I don't think I've experienced that much snow in the city. Anyways, the recent arms sales to Taiwan has once again, "angered" China. Here's a piece from China's propaganda newspaper, China Daily.

The United States is going ahead with its plan to sell arms to Taiwan despite the Chinese government's repeated warnings and protests. Though this is not the first outrageous act of the US administration after Barack Obama assumed office just over a year ago, it definitely is one of the most provocative. Besides, it ridicules the so-called "strategic partnership" between China and the US.

Let's keep in mind how China loves to renege on trade agreements (agreements between U.S. to open markets and to regulate exports to the U.S. better), as well as the Copenhagen climate talk disaster. See how China can throw up their arms in anger over what the U.S. is simply obligated to do (sell arms to Taiwan as needed), while China should be obligated to follow through on trade agreements, and yet the U.S. has yet to thoroughly enforce those agreements.

Is the US move appropriate for a strategic partner? The US recognizes that Taiwan is an integral part of China. Then why does it have to sell arms to Taiwan? How would it react if China were to sell weapons to Alaska or Hawaii?

Does the US actually recognize that Taiwan is an integral part of China? No. What the U.S. position is, is quite ambiguous- strategic ambiguity, such that the U.S. can maintain relations/semi-official relations with both China and Taiwan. The U.S. acknowledges that China sees Taiwan as it's own- that is all. It does not formally accept this claim as the U.S. position though. See the difference? Basically the U.S. is saying, "Yes, we know your position on Taiwan." But does not carry that position for themselves.

On the question of why the U.S. has to? Because it is our law, passed by elected leaders in Congress- something that China knows nothing about. So I'm not surprised that this person does not know why the U.S. has to sell arms to Taiwan.

People both in the north and the south of the 38th parallel are Koreans, just as we across the Taiwan Straits are Chinese. And just like the Koreans, we are one family.

And here's the obligatory "we are one family" line that always appears when Chinese talk about Taiwan. Terms such as, "compatriots" and "comrades" are their favorite terms to use when talking about both sides. The issue here is quite simple. Taiwanese have cultivated their own unique culture, drawing from Japanese and American cultures, to create one that is quite different from that in China. So here we are today, with an independent country called Taiwan, with a country filled with people who recognize themselves as Taiwanese, and not Chinese.

To borrow a line from the upcoming movie, Formosa Betrayed, "The Chinese say we are their brothers, but if we are their brothers, why do they treat us like this?"

As a Chinese who has relatives in Taiwan, I can claim to know people on the both sides of the Straits well. I can say with certainty that we are one family and that outside interference, like those by the US, will not bring about the reunion we desire. We have differences, but we also have the capability to settle them peacefully, without external interference.

As a Taiwanese who has no relatives in China, I can claim to know people on Taiwan, only. I can say with certainty that my family and I have no relations with China, and outside interference from China, will not bring about the "reunion" they desire. We have differences, and so we should have the capability to respect each others differences peacefully, without external (China) interference.

One does not need to be an expert in Sino-American or international relations to see what the US arms sale to Taiwan reflects.
It shows America has no respect for relations, including its strategic partnership with China, cares little about diplomacy, is uncomfortable with peace and hence ready to instigate trouble at the slightest chance it gets.

What China is showing is that is has no respect for U.S. laws, and no respect for Taiwan and her democracy. This person goes on to claim that the U.S. is uncomfortable with peace and wants to instigate? Let's set the facts straight right here, right now. The only reason the U.S. is providing arms to Taiwan is because of the Taiwan Relations Act. What is the Taiwan Relations Act for? To help Taiwan, because China (Taiwan's enemy) is holding Taiwan hostage with well over 1500+ missiles aimed at Taiwan. Perhaps the real instigator is... China? No missiles aimed at China, means no need for the U.S. to provide arms to Taiwan to defend itself.

This is the sad truth about those in China. Unable to get out, unable to get the real facts. And yet, these types of people are more sure than ever about Taiwan being a part of China, and will harass, push, fight, shove, taunt, and resort to other violent acts before ever saying that Taiwan is an independent country.

Another Vacation

2010-01-25T19:45:00.001-08:00

Back around Feb 10th!

China, Taiwan, and Haiti

2010-01-15T23:36:00.001-08:00

As everyone is well aware, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti about 2 days ago, and aid has continued to pour into the country from all over the world. I wish the best for those in Haiti and a swift and uplifting recovery to those that are left behind.

In regards to China & Taiwan, what's interesting to note is the aid that has been pledged towards Haiti. Taiwan has pledged to donate US $5 million to relief efforts in Haiti, while the supposed current/future global superpower China, has also pledged US $1 million as well as US $4.4 million in supplies to Haiti (total of around US ~$5.4 million). Keep in mind, China has a GDP of about 10x as large as Taiwan's.

It is of note that Taiwan does maintain official diplomatic relations with Haiti (one of the few countries that recognizes Taiwan), and thus China does not. So, there's two ways you can look at this- sure, you can say, "Wow, even though China does not maintain official relations with Haiti, it still decided to help them out!" Or, you could say, "Wow, China is the up and coming global superpower and it comes up with a measly $5 mln, while countries like the U.S. are donating over $100 mln."

You decide how you want to view this situation, but it seems like China continues to play the role of a spoiled child in a big world, with things like the China-Google fiasco, as well as the disaster in Copenhagen showing just how disappointing they can be. China just can't seem to shoulder the responsibilities that comes with trying to assert itself as a global superpower. This is why there is such great applause for Google, deservedly or not, Americans feel like China is that little kid trying to grow up, but wants everything their way, like a spoiled brat. And this is what separates true superpowers from those like China- ones like the U.S. will utilize the resources and manpower that they thankfully have, towards helping others in a big way. On the other hand, a booming Chinese economy and a Chinese government with an increasing clout over global politics, fails to utilize their resources in a similar fashion.

Call it selfishness, call it cautiousness. In the end, it's simply what we've come to know, as China.

US Lawmakers Urging Other US IT Companies to Follow Google

2010-01-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

It sure would be nice to have a mass exodus of businesses exiting China. It would be a good sign for Taiwanese businesses to see that after years of fighting with the regulations of the Chinese government, many US IT Tech companies are exiting due to their inability to operate freely and also competitively, in an environment where the Chinese government has stakes in many of their companies.

Specifically, Republican lawmakers have called on CSCO, MSFT, and YHOO to review their operations in China and perhaps take similar steps that Google has taken.

Over the years, there have been cases after cases of how intellectual property was stolen in China, remember the Plurk incident? Only companies that truly are "evil," would continue to operate in China, knowingly supporting a Communist regime and their propaganda (via obeying China's rules on filtering, etc.). The bottom line for those companies that remain in China is, well, the bottom line- $$$.

While it has been known that Google certainly hasn't been doing that well in search engine market share in China (lagging behind Baidu), had they stayed, their presence would likely grow over time.

Microsoft has already responded, with CEO Ballmer stating he is maintaining their China operations, [filtering everything the Chinese government wishes.] Perhaps this is just another step in the demise of Microsoft, and a continuation of the ingenuity and leadership of Google in the IT industry.

Another good editorial on this here, at All Things Digital, a short excerpt:

What he said then must have finally sunk in: “Your abhorrent activities in China are a disgrace. I simply don’t understand how your corporate leadership sleeps at night.”

How far Google execs are willing to take this fight with China will determine how well they sleep in the future. But good for them for beginning this move, which is critical to the Web evolving globally as a free, unfettered and transparent force.

Most of all, we should only hope that Google’s actions spur other tech companies to try to change China the only way its government understands: By saying enough is enough regarding how China behaves in the digital community, and finding a “spine,” as Lantos called for, to actually do something that will make a difference.

Because, let’s be honest, enough was enough a very long time ago.

Further Arms Sales Announcements On Deck?

2010-01-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

Reports today are that Obama will likely announce further arms sales to Taiwan in the upcoming months (which could mean anytime until Dec this year). While it is likely part of the U.S. Military's best interests in keeping China at bay from Taiwan, it is nevertheless a good thing for Taiwan. More arms means a better position to negotiate and defend from, if it comes to that.

Also part of these reports, are that China is possibly boosting their arsenal for a "short" term strike against Taiwan, and thus prompting these discussions of more sales to Taiwan. From the Taipei Times:

Speaking to US lawmakers at a congressional hearing, they said that China was boosting preparations for a short, intense fight against Taiwan. Its military buildup, which includes more than 1,000 ballistic missiles deployed opposite Taiwan, is in stark contrast to the improved ties between the rivals since the March 2008 election of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

Also, Taiwan's MAC's response to these reports, "beneficial to Taiwan."

Google to Quit China Operations?

2010-01-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Rather interesting development from Google about its operations in China. See their official blog here.

Basically some Chinese hackers have attempted to access account information via Gmail for Chinese human rights activists. These attacks also seem to have been launched via Taiwan, and so this news will sort of hit Taiwan in a negative way (just as China had earlier used a Taiwanese company as a conduit to ship parts/devices that may be used in nuclear weapons). Just goes to show how getting into ~~bed~~ business with China may not be the strongest and smartest move for Taiwan. Also, I believe I read comments that say that Google has already turned off filtering on its Google China website- the ball is in China's hands now.

Good commentary/analysis on this development at Michael Turton's Taiwan blog, as well as these two other tech blogs: Wordpress Marketing & Tipstech.info

I like the comments from Tipstech, hitting the key issue in my opinion:

I’ll give Google this much: They’re taking a bad situation and making something good out of it, both from a human and business point of view. I’m not saying human rights didn’t play into the decision, but this was as much about business. Lest we get too self-righteous as Westerners, we should remember three things:

Win-win situation for Google. I wouldn't be so naive as to think they are doing this purely on "principle" rather than "profit," but it sure does seem like it's a step in the right direction that neither the U.S. government or other Forture 500 Companies have/are willing to take in regards to China.

In other news, Taiwan maintains its "FREE" rating, given by the Freedom House, in it's 2010 Freedom in the World Report. The gist of the report on Taiwan is in these two paragraphs:

While Taiwan’s overall ranking remains unchanged from last year’s, it registers both gains and losses. In individual categories, its political rights rating improved from 2 in 2009 findings to 1 “due to enforcement of anticorruption laws that led to the prosecution of former high-ranking officials, the annulment of several legislators’ elections owing to vote-buying, and the investigation of over 200 candidates for alleged vote-buying in local elections.”

On civil liberties, however, the report indicates Taiwan’s rating suffered a decline from 1 to 2 because of “flaws in the protection of criminal defendants’ rights that were exposed during anticorruption prosecutions and a high-profile murder case, as well as a law that infringes on academic freedom by barring staff and scholars at public educational facilities from participating in certain political activities.”

China's Increasing Clout in the US

2010-01-10T13:27:00.001-08:00

As I don't have a physical Washington Post paper, I can't verify- but no reason to doubt the Taipei Times, but the Taipei Times reports that the WaPo's Saturday issue had a front-page story on China's increased lobbying efforts in Washington, to the extent that previous congressman that were pro-Taiwan, are now leaning towards China. Here's the link to the actual WaPo story, "China's lobbying efforts yield new influence, openness on Capitol Hill."

It's quite sad that our politicians are quite easily moved in one direction:

Del. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a nonvoting, 11-term member from American Samoa, is the influential chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment and for years was considered a solid backer of Taiwan. But over the past year, the Democrat has watered down or killed pro-Taiwan legislation and resolutions.

Faleomavaega partly credited China's improved lobbying for the shift. "Our friendliest allies -- Germany, Great Britain, France and Japan -- know how to work the system," he said. "China is just trying to catch up."

Because of this, I think writing to your congressman and representatives that represent your county/district is still very important. I have done so on numerous times, and have received responses from them. While it may not seem like it will do anything, you never really know. Even more sad, Rep. Rick Larsen from Washington is one of the pro-China representatives, leading a "60-member U.S.-China working group."

Larsen is pretty much the representative for anywhere above Everett and northward, and an incumbent since 2000. So voting him is out is going to be quite tough, but he's up for re-election in 2010 I believe. Write to him if you are in his district!

A Fortnight of Taiwan News

2010-01-10T01:51:00.000-08:00

Back from my vacation to Texas. Interestingly, it was quite colder there than in Seattle. Add to that, they received snow twice there, and I don't think Seattle got any.

Late, tired, and my blogging engine is still being dusted off- so for those who semi-rely on my blog for news about Taiwan, here's some of the major developments:

The Legislative Yuan reverses the un-ban on US Beef; Ma reneges.
China balks over the recent U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. Note the error that shows up consistently in Taiwan articles, "Communist-ruled China split with Taiwan amid civil war in 1949..." Fact: China and Taiwan did not split in a "civil war" in 1949; Rather, the Communist Part of China regained control of China, and forced the losing Nationalists to flee to Taiwan, and setup their temporary-turned-permanent government on Taiwan.
DPP gains 3 more seats in legislative by-elections; Taiwan's press, comments on Ma's future. Note that these by-elections are mainly due to the KMT's previous winners being annulled for vote buying.
Apple Tablet PC pretty much on schedule for release this year, as a Taiwan manufacturer steps up to make those cases.

Not much to say tonight, but that Tsai Ing-wen is moving the DPP on the right track. Let's hope this momentum can continue well into 2012. More elections later on this year will likely give the clearest indication as to whether Ma will see a second term.

On Vacation

2009-12-29T21:32:00.001-08:00

:)

Back around the 10th of January.

Raytheon Missiles to Taiwan

2009-12-24T13:41:00.000-08:00

U.S. defense company, Raytheon, has been awarded a $1.1 billion contract for supplying Patriot Air and MDS to Taiwan. As this Taipei Times article states, it's been a long and drawn out process (as with all other arms procurements between Taiwan and the U.S. have been), taking 14 months from when President George W. Bush first gave the go ahead to this sale.

As I mentioned in a post on my Facebook, arms sales are good for everyone- that is everyone except China, which is good in my books. Arms sales will give Taiwan more leverage in negotiating with China, because the only negotiation China truly knows is with a big stick. So how can Taiwan negotiate on an even playing field if it has a twig? Furthermore, procurement from the U.S. will help U.S. defense companies, and in turn, help or at least maintain job growth within this sector. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop, Raytheon, L-3, etc, all these companies can and may be helped by sales to Taiwan.

Last but not least, sales to Taiwan are more of a sign of commitment by the U.S. that they will continue to stand by Taiwan, for now. And that's really the best we can hope for.

6.4 Earthquake in Taiwan

2009-12-19T11:51:00.000-08:00

Thank you for scaring everybody who wanted to know more news about the earthquake in Taiwan, Google News. Take a look at this screen shot when searching for news on Taiwan this morning:

News about earthquake, great! Oh wait, collapsed building on the side- "Oh no, looks real bad, hope everyone's okay."

Then you get into the article and says it was not that bad. The picture is actually from the 1999 earthquake.

In more pressing news, interesting comments from Taichung Mayor Jason Hu.

Hu described the upcoming protests as “typhoons,” while promising not to treat the protesters as a “mob.”

“It’d be best if typhoons never hit, but we should be prepared for the worst situation. However, we will not treat the protesters as a mob,” Hu said yesterday in Taichung when asked to comment on the planned protests by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Let's set some things straight. Typhoons are never welcome. Doesn't matter what time of the year, where it is at, typhoons do damage to people, buildings, nature, you name it. On the other hand, a part of democracy is the right to freedom of speech, protest, and assembly. Especially when you feel the need to let your voice be heard, a protest is called for.

This just goes to show how many in the KMT continue to have lack of regard for the true meaning of democracy and human rights. More baffling comments from Taipei KMT Mayor, Hau Lung-bin, being quoted as saying that Taiwan is a "region," and not a "country" or "nation."

Furthermore, Jason Hu makes the pledge that he will take "full responsibility" for what happens during the protests (if violence occurs, police brutality, etc.). I still don't understand, as it is probably a Taiwanese political custom, why politicians continue to stick their neck out for things they cannot control. This is why I continue to see DPP Chairwoman, Tsai Ing-wen, as forward looking and "thinking out of the box." Her comment on this subject was very practical, and much more like what a "smart" politician would do:

Tsai went on to say that rather than focusing on whether physical clashes would occur during the demonstration, more attention should be focused on whether the government hears what the demonstrators want to say.

“It’s the Chinese Nationalist Party’s [KMT] mentality that those who take part in a demonstration in which physical clashes occur are rioters, and rioters should not go on the streets — this is just wrong logic,” she said. “Violence does happen in rallies from time to time, but random and isolated incidents of violence should never be used as a reason to restrict people’s freedom of expression.”

There will always be bad apples that can spoil the whole, but it shouldn't be that way. And Tsai Ing-wen sees this.

Video on YouTube...

2009-12-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

"Depicting how most Taiwanese feel about the newly elected president."

A good chuckle for the TGIF:

MSFT China "Stealing" Code?

2009-12-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

Screenshot of the Plurk that went out to all users of this incident.

The Plurk blog has been updated with a post claiming that Microsoft China's recently released blogging service, similar to Plurk, has been built largely upon code that Plurk uses.

Here’s the short of what we think has happened:

Microsoft China officially launched its own microblogging service, MSN Juku/Hompy/Mclub, some time in November, 2009.
The service’s design and UI is by and large an EXACT copy of Plurk’s innovative left-right timeline scrolling navigation system. (see screen captures below)
Some 80% of the client and product codebase appears to be stolen directly from Plurk! (see evidence below).
Plurk was never approached nor collaborated in any capacity with MS on this service.
As a young startup, we’re stunned, shocked, and unsure what to do next and need your support and suggestions.

Not sure what Microsoft is doing over there, as the post mentions how Microsoft has tried to combat piracy in China by lowering the prices of the OS to ridiculously low prices ($30USD). But this is quite astonishing. I would expect something like this from a company coming out of China, but Microsoft? Perhaps it was a local engineer who made the decision to go ahead with "borrowing" code from Plurk.

In any case, they are asking Plurk users to make this known so that they can seek a solution to this.

To our millions of loyal users: We also need your sincere help. We need your loud and emphatic voices. We need you to help us get out this important story to anyone and everyone you know who can raise awareness on what has taken place. Please translate this story into your respective languages, share it with local media, bloggers and friends, and help us fight the good fight for your beloved Plurk.

Update: It appears that Microsoft has confessed that their service, Microsoft Juku did indeed take code directly from Plurk. But, their Juku was developed under a third-party vendor. You can likely guess where that vendor is from- China, just as I said would be something to be expected of companies in China.

Taiwanese Are Not Ready For an ECFA

2009-12-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

If you need any more evidence (as it continues to pile up) that a majority of Taiwanese do not want, or feel like an ECFA should not be rushed as it is, new poll numbers from Taiwan ThinkTank, reported on Taipei Times:

The survey showed that 62.5 percent of respondents agreed that “the December [5] election results showed that many people in Taiwan still have doubts about an EFCA plan and thus the [President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)] administration should put off signing the deal with China and rather seek consensus within the country.”

Even among Pan-Blues, they are almost evenly split on this issue, showing a great rift within the Pan-Blues. What it shows is that there is no consensus on passing an ECFA.

On the question, among those who identified themselves as supporters of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led pan-blue camp, 46.3 percent agreed and 43.4 percent disagreed, while among those who said they have no party affiliation, 56.1 percent agreed and 26.8 percent disagreed.

President Ma needs to take a step back and re-evaluate. There is mounting evidence that the course that Ma is paving is not what Taiwanese are looking for. When you consider the numbers for "independents/non-party affiliates" that show a majority disapprove of ECFA and of Ma's performance thus far, adding in the obvious disapproval from the Pan-Green side, and finally the evenly split approval/disapproval of Ma by the Pan-Blues, it should be clear that Ma Ying-Jeou is not on the same page as the rest of Taiwan.

About 30 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the government’s performance since Ma took office, while 65.6 percent said they were dissatisfied.

Ma’s disapproval rating among non-party affiliated respondents was 66.9 percent, while his approval rating was 23.5 percent.

Among pro-pan blue camp supporters, his disapproval rating and approval rating were 44.6 percent and 54 percent respectively.

Asked whether they worried about the future of Taiwan under Ma’s leadership, 50.2 percent of non-party affiliated respondents said “Yes,” while 45.3 percent said “No.”

The result was nearly identical for all respondents — with 51.8 percent saying “Yes” and 46 percent saying “No.”

As the article mentions, it is likely Ma is doing this, all the while knowing the non-approval of ECFA and his actions, in order to put the China-Taiwan issue on the fast track. This track is likely being orchestrated by Beijing in order to "lock-down" Taiwan into a bind where it cannot be independent from China- whether it be economically, politically, socially.

Both sides would like improved relations with China, but what Ma is doing is simply giving away Taiwan without regard for Taiwan's sovereignty and self-dignity. Exactly what has Ma helped gain for Taiwan? I would say absolutely nothing. What he thinks he has done is promoted Taiwan in the international arena, but in fact he has promoted a "Chinese Taipei" that is continually being regarded as a Province of China.

In other news, a lot of chitter chatter about Tsai Ing-wen possibly running for positions in next year's county/city elections, in a run-up towards the 2012 presidential elections. In my very honest opinion, Tsai should focus on continuing to unify and solidify the DPP as the Chairwoman. A lot of other problems start to arise when you have the situation of the party chairwoman/chairman holding high public positions (as Ma Ying-jeou has done).

And you may say, well why not have her run, and put in a new chairman? The problem I see is, why mess with something that isn't broke? She has proven thus far to be putting the DPP on the right track for contention in next year and 2012 elections. Removing her and possibly putting back in some DPP "old guard" may setback the vision of a rebuilding DPP. What the party needs is fresh, young, politicians that can think outside of the box.

As far as 2012 presidential elections, I still believe Hsieh Chang-ting should be the DPP's best candidate. He has a great grassroots following going on via Plurk. Claudia Jean mentioned his Plurk-ing back in April when he first started.

Arms Talks Back On The Table

2009-12-09T22:25:00.000-08:00

Breaking news is that Obama is very close (within a couple weeks) of submitting a proposal to congress for Taiwan to purchase arms- these would include Blackhawk helicopters as well as Advanced Patriot Missiles. Currently, notably missing would be the F-16s and diesel-electric submarines. The F-16s have long been on Taiwan's wish list, and after 10 years, they still aren't being given the green light.

Here's an "exclusive" from Reuters on this development:

"We decided that trying to make up for the delays in the arms sale package in one fell swoop was potentially destabilizing to the improvements in cross-strait relations that occurred during the first year" of President Ma Ying-jeou's administration, Dennis Wilder, senior director for East Asian affairs on Bush's National Security Council staff, told Reuters in March.

I would say that having sold Taiwan the arms it wanted, including the F-16s in "one fell swoop" may have been a better move than dipping our toes in every few years and inevitably "upsetting" China. But who knows, perhaps China may actually have been more angry if there was one large arms package.

In any case, more arms sales is not only good for Taiwan but also the U.S. You may wonder how it bodes well for the U.S.? Actually quite simple, U.S. seeks to keep Taiwan as one if its unofficial allies and potentially as a "bargaining chip" (although I hope they never use Taiwan as such) against a rising and imperialistic China. Furthermore, more defense sales means more local jobs being put to work on these defense systems and weapons. Specifically of note: Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon.

It has been a frustrating game of cat and mouse, with each side saying they want x and y one year, with the U.S. saying it will give z; and then the next time the U.S. says they won't give z but y instead, but now Taiwan has no longer budgeted for y. The madness of it all can almost be squarely blamed on U.S. President Bush and the trifecta of KMT/PFP leaders, Ma/Soong/Chan (Lien).

See this report for extensive historical background and information on U.S.-Taiwan Arms Sales. A very detailed and worthy read for anyone interested in more on this.

"Made in China" Ad

2009-12-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Going off-topic for today, sort of... spotted this in my news feed on Facebook:

Apparently it was supposed to be released last year during the melamine debacle, but delayed for whatever reason until now (right before Christmas season?). Basically the ad, which is funded and created by the Chinese government (can you say propaganda?), is trying to show that despite these items (Nike shoes, electronic items, clothes) being "Made in China," they are designed by "the world." This ad has appeared globally, and in the U.S. specifically, on CNN.

The thing that this ad fails to do is address the crux of the problem that the "western" world sees in products made in China, which is that they are made in China. Regardless of who designed it with what technology from where, the end product is still made in China.

Perhaps think of it like a recipe. I'm not sure this is the best metaphor, but I'll use it anyways. A recipe is designed, founded, usually by one chef. People then go on and buy that recipe (from a book, or from some collection, etc.), or perhaps simply ask for the recipe from them for free. While the recipe is the same, and for the most part, the end product will be the same, each person that makes that recipe ends with a slightly, and sometimes greatly different food at the end. It could be because they substituted dark meat for white meat, or because they chose a cheaper version of that flour than the brand-name one in the name of cost-cutting. For whatever reason, it most likely will come out different than the original chefs'.

So does it matter whose recipe it is? In a way, it really doesn't matter since the ending taste of the recipe is who makes it.

Products made in China are products made by cheap labor, which inherently doesn't give the workers a good incentive to do their job well, and after all that's what Communism promotes. Work hard or slack-off, you pretty much get the same at the end of the day. Even if you take out the notion of Communism, the fact that labor is cheap gives a worker little incentive to work hard. Think of your first few jobs, and when you were given a raise, did you feel like you wanted to stay at that job, work harder, perhaps attain another raise? I don't know about you, but that was my mentality. Of course there are a plethora of other reasons why you may or may not choose to work hard, but compensation is one of them.

Also, an interesting point which I saw in the comments about this ad. That is, it indirectly, sort-of, states the lack of ingenuity and creativity coming out of China. It might be a stretch, but I can sort of agree with their point here.

When I saw this ad the only thing I could think is how it highlights China’s lack of innovation, creativity, and design.

Lastly, this ad fails to recognize that for the majority of Americans, especially in a recession, we have no concern over where the product was made- as long as it is cheap. And it's certainly understandable. But for those who go out of their way to avoid China products (especially/mainly food products), it is unlikely that this advertisement will "turn on the light bulb" in their brain.

In news related to Taiwan, Chinese students attacked a Taiwanese study abroad student in South Korea for displaying the Taiwan (R.O.C.) flag. If you've been keeping up with related Taiwan news over the past couple years, you will know that this is not an isolated incident. If this makes you mad, irritated, angry, frustrated, then you should ask yourself why their wasn't a larger uproar when Ma Ying-jeou basically did the same thing when Chen Yunlin came from China and the Taiwan (R.O.C.) flag was barred from being displayed in the streets of Taipei. Talk Taiwan writes about this in his recent post, with images and video of Taiwanese who displayed the Taiwan (R.O.C.) flag, being basically assaulted and attacked as well. Don't be fooled, Ma Ying-jeou may talk the Taiwanese talk, but he certainly isn't making the case for walking the walk.

Election Day!

2009-12-04T13:27:00.001-08:00

Update: Election Results - "DPP gains, KMT wins"

From the bullet points below:

Current political map for these 17 positions have 14 going to the KMT, and 3 to the DPP. I think most people would deem the DPP as "winning" if they take any seats away from the KMT. --- CHECK! The KMT lost 2 seats - one to the DPP, and one to an Independent. ---
This election is also being seen as the half-way verdict on Ma Ying-jeou's presidency thus far. We will see how the Morakot disaster as well as the ignoring of the public's non-approval of the ECFA plays in. --- Half a check. The DPP has up-played the fact that the overall voter % for the DPP has risen, citing disapproval of Ma, while the KMT and Ma will downplay the connection between these local elections and a "mid-term" test of Ma's presidency. ---
Yilan County is being touted as the county election to watch. --- CHECK! Yilan returns to the DPP after a 'one and done' term by the KMT candidate. ---

One would be hard pressed to say that the KMT had an "overwhelming" victory as I've seen some news articles say. Most reports that have come out so far have given the DPP wins a positive spin, and rightfully so. Taitung and Penghu counties were won by the KMT by razor thin margins (reports of a KMT win in Penghu by only 600 votes), and the big run for Yilan went to the DPP. Of note is seeing that Penghu rejected the KMT referendum on casinos a couple months ago rather decisively, and yet continue to vote for the KMT on a pretty 1:1 ratio with the DPP. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this, as their has been calls to "review" the votes for the Penghu County election.

I will let eTaiwannews.com take it away with some ending details:

Of 4.09 million valid votes, the DPP received 1.98 million or 45.36 percent compared to 2.09 million or 47.87 percent for the KMT, 0.36 percent to the Hakka Party and 6.41 percent to independent candidates.

In addition, the DPP expanded its number of grassroots township mayors by 29.8 percent from 20 to 34 and boosted the number of its city or county assembly seats from 107 in December 2005 to 129 for a 15.1 percent increase.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just dropping in to say that today is the day that a lot of Taiwanese have been waiting for, for a good 6 months, hoping to see the DPP start to rebuild itself. The polls should open in about 3 hours or so. Just a few points:

Current political map for these 17 positions have 14 going to the KMT, and 3 to the DPP. I think most people would deem the DPP as "winning" if they take any seats away from the KMT.
This election is also being seen as the half-way verdict on Ma Ying-jeou's presidency thus far. We will see how the Morakot disaster as well as the ignoring of the public's non-approval of the ECFA plays in.
Yilan County is being touted as the county election to watch.

As far as the markets, the TAIEX jumped back inside the 50DMA, but the recent intraday moves on the U.S. side continues to caution of going long (two consecutive days of gap up, with no follow through and ending lower on the day). I remain cautiously short.

Taiwanese Gamers Continue To Prove Their Own

2009-12-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

If you recall in late 2007, at the World Cyber Games in Seattle, a Taiwanese placed Bronze in an event and was true to himself and his country by displaying the flag of the R.O.C. (which is being used for Taiwan), and as a result the insults from Chinese came. Read about it here.

While this time there are no naysayers and foul-mouthed Chinese threatening to kill him, a "Taiwanese man" as the article describes, has completed World of Warcraft- likely the game that has the most playability over the last 5 years.

A Taiwanese man has reportedly completed all 986 of the game's achievements. He's shown Azeroth's critters how much he loves them (To All The Squirrels Who Shared My Life), equipped an epic item every available slot (Epic), and slain 15 turkeys in three minutes (Friend or Fowl?)

Congratulations to this Taiwanese man! I know a lot of Taiwanese boys are gamers, and being one myself, I know the glory you feel when you achieve being #1 in the rankings. I was once #1 on the Diablo II USWest Ladder after a reset-- up to level 13 or so, and then I had claimed my fame and proceeded to call it a night and went to bed.

I don't know how many hours he spent on WoW in order to achieve what he did, but it must have been a lot. If you haven't seen that South Park episode sometime in the last 2 or so years about the kids playing WoW- you should, it's pretty funny and may be something close to what this guy was doing (although I hope not- in that episode they were gaming so hard that they were becoming obese).

In other news, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu says that there will not be any designated areas for the protests for the upcoming ECFA meetings. I would applaud this move by him, and it's a step in the direction of freedom of assembly and speech, but being the skeptic I am, can't help but think this is just another pawn move to help boost opinion of the KMT right before the December elections, which should be happening in 24 hours or so!

Taiwanese Census 2010: Vote on Facebook

2009-12-02T22:10:00.000-08:00

Received this message from the "Taiwanese Census 2010" group on Facebook. See this post for more information: U.S. Census 2010: Taiwanese-Americans

Subject: Taiwanese Census Campaign, Volunteers, & Vote for TACL!

Hi everyone:
Thank you for joining this group for Census 2010. We've grown quickly in the few weeks the group has started. Please help to continue to invite friends to join, to spread the word so that people are both aware of the Census, and that "Taiwanese" or any other ethnicity can be written in. This is extremely important for our community as well as any other community to be accurately counted and recognized.

TACL (Taiwanese American Citizen's League) is one of the non-profit organizations behind this campaign, and has formed a taskforce creating promotional materials to pass out, such as postcards, flyers, T-shirts, pens, etc. We also are preparing a PSA, to be shown on TV, youtube, etc, and creating a youth contest.

Therefore, we still need the help of VOLUNTEERS! If interested in helping with the campaign, feel free to message me back directly.

Also, since all of the above things also cost money, especially TV airtime, we still need financial support, and are continuing to try to FUNDRAISE.

Therefore, TACL is trying to get a $25,000 grant through Chase's Community Giving Program on Facebook. However, we can only win this grant if you and your friends get on Facebook and VOTE FOR US!!!! The top 100 receive $25,000.

Please take a second to cast a VOTE!
As a nonprofit organization run completely by unpaid volunteers, TACL definitely needs the community's support! These funds could go a long way, not only towards Census outreach, which would mainly help to pay for promotional materials, and advertising, but would also go towards continuing our youth scholarships, internships, camps, and young professional leadership development adjunct (TAP), which all serve to help to preserve and promote Taiwanese American IDENTITY.

Click here:
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/816777

You may think your vote doesn't count but if we can get all our
supporters and your friends to vote, it'll make a difference! All
you've got to do is vote and ask 10 other friends to do the same!
Help TACL in 4 easy steps:

1. Become a fan of Community Giving:
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/
2. Search for "Taiwanese American Citizens League" where it reads "Enter your charity".
3. Vote for us! Afterwards, under "Help this charity by spreading the word" you can post it on:
* Twitter
* Your Facebook wall & newsfeed or
* Invite a friend to vote!
4. Here's the text you can copy and paste to post on the walls of your friends:
"I just cast my vote for TACL! Please help support my charity by voting to give them a chance to receive $25K! Voting ends December 11, so please vote now!

Click here:
http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/816777

To know more about what TACL does, and where the funds would also go towards, you can click here to see our Leadership Development programs:
http://www.facebook.com/l/a728f;tacl.org/programs/tacl-leadership-development/.

Thank you for your time and support!

Ben Ling
TACL National President
http://www.facebook.com/l/a728f;tacl.org
http://www.facebook.com/l/a728f;census2010.tacl.org

You can click the button right below this sentence as well to join and vote:

Editorial in WSJ on Obama & Taiwan

2009-12-02T00:06:00.000-08:00

Saw this piece by Parris H. Chang, a former DPP legislator, whereby he proposes that Obama is "giving up" Taiwan. Not much "new" revelations in his editorial, but it provides a decent overview of what has been happening as far as the US-China-Taiwan relations, as well as Obama's recent visit to China. Here's a snippet, and probably the most important part of it:

Now is not the time to repeat Mr. Clinton's mistakes. It is morally and politically wrong for the U.S. to oppose the right of Taiwan, a democratic and open society of 23 million people, to determine its own future. President Obama may be leaning in that direction by not supporting an independent Taiwan and backing China's opposition to Taiwan independence. Beijing has long tried to isolate Taiwan in the international community, lock the island into the framework of a "one China" policy, pave the way for Taiwan's eventual unification with China, and most importantly, seek Washington's support for its maneuvers.

The author goes onto state how previous administrations did or didn't treat Taiwan well. President Bush Jr. comes up as a very pro-Taiwan president in this piece, and while the two facts he stated make it seem true- I will say that I believe that President Bush was a real letdown in how he handled Taiwan during his 8 years. While he did come out early on in his tenure and say the US will do "whatever it takes" to defend Taiwan, his actions thereafter spoke of a different tone- a much softer tone. Only during his last few months did he push through that arms package as an outgoing gesture, for whatever reason.

As far as the current situation, I find that Obama might be mistakenly taking the Nobel Peace Prize at face value, and focusing on this imaginary "peace" that China and Ma Ying-jeou have been touting, in the face of a majority of Taiwanese who oppose this sort of pseudo-peace that may lead to unification of the two sides.

Perhaps Obama should use his apparent world-respected image to give some face to Taiwan. Would it really hurt that much?

Been busy at home... sorry for infrequent thoughts! But sometimes, there just isn't much that catches my eyes these days. Just more of Ma giving up another piece of Taiwan, and China happily taking it in exchange for, well, really nothing at all.

TAIEX : 4th Break of 50DMA

2009-11-27T21:23:00.000-08:00

On the news of potential defaults by Dubai, the world markets sunk over Thanksgiving and into black friday. Glancing at the TAIEX, which along with the other Asian markets, has lead the way up in this rally since March, we should note what happens over this next week. Here's a 6 month daily chart of the TAIEX- take note of the times that the 50DMA was breached, and then taken back within the next 3-5 trading days.

If the TAIEX fails to regain the 50 within this next week, I will be looking in greater interest to establish a good short position on the markets. Careful out there! The markets have come a long ways since the lows in March, and a correction should be anticipated.

Update on "Global Views" Numbers

2009-11-25T16:52:00.001-08:00

So apparently it looks like there are multiple departments/agencies/whatever you name it, under the "Global Views" name. Today's article in the Taipei Times cites the "Global Views Survey Research Center," giving DPP Chairwoman, Tsai Ing-wen, a higher "trust" % than President Ma. That is, higher than what the previous article I found stated.

Public trust in the DPP also surged to a new three-year high, the survey showed.

The poll, conducted by the Global Views Survey Research Center, put Tsai’s trust index at 46.2 on a scale of 0 to 100, up 0.1 points from last month, while Ma’s dropped 2.6 points from last month to 43.9 this month.

Tsai’s trust index has risen to its highest level since she took over as DPP chairwoman in May last year. Ma became the KMT chairman last month.

That, compared to my previous blog, where Tsai and Ma's "trust" percentage were at 35.4% and 38.6%, respectively. Whatever the case, it numbers are still pretty tight, and not to mention that when the article compares trust of the DPP and to the KMT, the DPP is slightly lagging.

The level of trust in the DPP stood at 39.4 points, just below its record high of 39.5 set in August. The center began conducting the polls in June 2006.

The KMT’s trust index was 41.5 this month, a drop of 0.6 points from last month and just 2.1 higher than that of the DPP.

At this point, and from the general "feel" of the mood in Taiwan, I would say that a tie in these numbers is just as good of news for the DPP as they could hope for. I would think that the usual independents and light-greens and light-blues may be more inclined to side with the DPP in next week's local elections, when you consider the large fallout from Typhoon Morakot, as well as the distancing of many candidates from the "central" KMT administration (including President Ma), in their campaigning.

While the DPP may be gaining some ground in their domestic battle, I just hope that on the international level, with all the commotion about US Beef imports, that the ties between DPP and the US do not take a step back.

P.S. Thanks for subscribing people!

Taiwan's Dissastisfaction with Ma, Then What?

2009-11-22T01:44:00.000-08:00

This month's polls show President Ma still struggling to regain the confidence of the Taiwanese after the Morakot disaster. From the Global Views Magazine:

The unpopularity of Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou remains significantly high, according to a poll by Global Views. 58.6 per cent of respondents are dissatisfied with Ma’s performance, down one point since September.

From the low of about 23% approval rating right after the Morakot diaster, his approval rating has barely gained 6 points, now hanging at 29.5%, according to the article.

In another article that gives some other numbers, what's interesting to see is that the DPP still has work to do in giving the Taiwanese a different option than the KMT. Note that this piece also says the numbers are from the Global Views magazine, so I'm not sure where the discrepancy in the numbers are coming from (in the approval % of Ma Ying-Jeou).

The telephone survey of 1,004 adults by the Global View monthly magazine found that only 38.6 per cent trust President Ma Ying-jeou, who lags well behind Obama's 46.1-per-cent trust rate.

While 35.4 per cent trust Tsai Ying-wen, chairwoman of Taiwan's pro-independence opposition Democratic Progressive Party, only 17.5 per cent trust Hu.

Here, it has Ma's "trust" at 38.6%, which possibly could be different from the "satisfaction/approval" rating of the earlier article. I think more importantly is the number of Tsai Ing-wen, whose "trust" rating is still lower than Ma's. Rightfully so, Hu Jintao of the Communist Party of China is the lowest, but not nearly as low as I would have thought most Taiwanese would see him.

These numbers should be a reminder for the DPP that they still have a lot of work to do leading into the December local-elections, as well as the 2012 presidential election. Even with the "feeling" in the air that the majority of Taiwanese are upset or unsatisfied with the performance of Ma and his administration, the polls show that it might not necessarily translate into actual numbers in the elections.

Whether it's a problem of complacency, political bribery, political oppression, or something else, the next movement in the political theater of Taiwan must and can really only be initiated and sustained by the younger generation of Taiwanese. Our fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers have done their part, and with each passing of the elder, there needs to be one of us who steps up to take their place.

While I may have an opinion on gay marriage that certainly isn't "popular" these days, and not to take anything away from the homosexual communities' efforts to attain similar rights as heterosexuals, there is a deep pain and inability to understand why the recent march for gay pride/marriage in Taiwan can bring us (the "Gen Y") out in droves, along with the support of celebrities, while the most basic human rights and safeguarding those rights via democracy, garners little excitement among us.

Is it because we are taking the rights that our parents and grandparents secured for us, for granted? Is it because we are too caught up with ourselves and what our selfish wants are, that we can't think for anyone else other than ourselves? Is it because we are in the now, and our complacency leads us to be blinded from the future consequences that being apathetic will do to us, to Taiwanese, to Taiwan? How can we be so proud of being Taiwanese, and yet don't give a damn about the problems that Ma Ying-Jeou is bringing upon Taiwan.

It is a problem that has crossed my mind many times over and over, and something that I hope my blogging helps to mend, especially to those of my generation. Even if it's just one person that gets a glimpse of what I mean, at least I can say I did my part. Can you?

P.S.: I know my blogging is intermittent and definitely not consistent, but a good way to keep up with me if you have a blogger account (you can use your GMail account to sign-in), is to click on "Follow" at the top of the page, and you can set your settings to get e-mail updates. If you don't have a blogger/blogspot account, you can subscribe to my posts via the "E-mail Subscription" box on the top right, below my banner. I say this because I know a lot of you (especially my friends) have expressed positive remarks about my blog and I feel like I'm doing a disservice to you guys by not blogging regularly. And from that, it inadvertently causes you to not check back regularly. So, one way to help alleviate this is to get a subscription!

Applying for Jobs in Taiwan, Province of China?

2009-11-20T00:34:00.000-08:00

For whatever it's worth, many company websites list Taiwan as a Province of China, if you poke around in the job application area of their websites. I believe Qualcomm and Verizon are just a couple that do so, and here is what NSA shows when you select TWN during the process of filling out the forms online:

It probably wasn't intended, and from my many job applications, it seems like a similar type of application system is used by each company/entity. So, it may very well be that these companies are sort of just "borrowing" the system to use for their job application process. Nevertheless, this is the type of ignorance than Taiwanese must continue to fight against and make known. What may be harmless to those that know, may give the wrong information to those who don't- and in turn spread these lies.

Inquiries Of Insider Trading: Taiwan & US

2009-11-15T18:48:00.001-08:00

Anyone who has been watching stocks over the past year surely must have noticed all the blatant insider trading going on during the day/hours leading up to an announcement. What has been a large problem that continues to be unchecked by the SEC in the US, looks to be plaguing the Taiwan Stock Exchange as well.

The Taipei Times reports of possible insider trading in the Chimei-Innolux merger deal. Things such as this are a huge tip-off that someone was "tipped-off" about the deal:

Two days before the merger was announced, Chi Mei trading volume spiked to 142 million shares on Thursday and 184 million shares on Friday, four times and five times higher than its averaged daily turnover of 34.7 million shares in the first eight trading days of the month respectively, information on TWSE’s Web site showed.

Similarly, in the recently announced buyout of 3COM buy HPQ, the day of the announcement had 3COM (COMS) trading on heavy volume of around 22 million shares, with historical average volume at just around 9 million. Furthermore, there was heavy trading in the options on 3COM where a large lot of calls were bought on the front month options. Keep in mind that this was only about 7 trading says until November OPEX. As most traders know, buying front month options is a disaster in the making, unless you are expecting a large move that the market is not expecting. The time decay in the options in the last 2 weeks will kill your potential for a profitable trade if the direction and movement are not what you fully expect. The WSJ has a good wrap on this here:

Yesterday, options traders scooped up 8,000 near-term “call” options that allow them to buy stock in 3Com at fixed prices. Specifically, they bought November options that allow them to buy the stock for $5 a share, below the $7.90 a share that H-P offered for 3Com. Overall, 22 million 3Com shares changed hands on Wednesday, compared to its 52 week average of about $5 million, according to Bloomberg.

“Somebody knew something was coming,” said Stefen Choy, founder of Livevol, a San Francisco provider of options-market data and analytics, told Bloomberg. “It looks like very unusual call buying. I see this very frequently when there’s a takeover.”

The fact the same company involved in the Galleon case is again being mentioned for unusual trading activity shows how pervasive and persistent insider trading may be. It also shows the endless battled the Securities & Exchange Commission faces in trying to stamp this out. (The SEC, 3Com and H-P have all declined comment on the matter).

As much as I'd like to believe that the bad guys will always get caught, it seems like the SEC is simply looking the other way.

US Census 2010: Taiwanese-Americans

2009-11-09T16:47:00.001-08:00

A reminder to all you Taiwanese-Americans that the 2010 US Census is coming up. Not only a great chance to get a high-paying part-time job (if you're still looking by then), but also a good chance to make the Taiwanese population in the states count.

These are official numbers that will be used in things such as federal funding allocation towards communities and social programs, as well as determining the number of representatives that each state gets to the House of Representatives, etc. I assume these numbers may also be used by politicians to determine how much influence a specific demographic (Taiwanese-Americans?) may have on a politician's chance of (put bluntly) being elected (if they support that group of people's concerns, etc.).

More information can be found below:

http://census2010.tacl.org/

and a Facebook group to join, to help spread the word:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=185788971053&ref=nf#/group.php?gid=185788971053&v=wall&ref=nf

Continued 'Bull' on TAIEX

2009-11-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

“Taiwan is a buy story as the economic and commercial assumptions from cross-strait ties are positive for the market,” he said in a phone interview today. “Asian markets will rely on company earnings beating expectations in 2010 as good year-on-year economic data in the first half of 2010 is mainly discounted.”

This above quote from this bullish article on the TAIEX. The author claims that increased cross-strait agreements and potential upcoming ECFA and MOUs and whatever other agreements they come up with, will strengthen the position of Taiwan equities.

Consider these few points, and take from this what you will.

The article mentions Ma Ying-jeou took office in May 2008 (specifically the 20th of May), and whos' platform consisted of "easing curbs on investments and increasing transportation links with China." May 20, 2008 marks the high over the past 2 years on the TAIEX. Despite all the "fanfare" over increased links and cross-strait agreements, the TAIEX has never seen those prices since.

What does this say? Well, it goes along with the saying, "Buy on rumor, sell on the news." Buy on rumor that Ma is likely to win, sell when he actually does. If you did? You made out like a bandit.

Furthermore, it sort of shows that fundamentals and the news that supposedly drives stocks, doesn't really drive price. If so, why did TAIEX trade down after news of the oncoming "Chinese stimulus" into the Taiwan economy? If so, why are global markets trading up since March, despite worsening economic numbers (U.S. "official" unemployed now over 10%!).

I will continue to watch the TAIEX carefully, as it may well turn out to be another "buy the rumor, sell the news" opportunity. Of course, higher prices are definitely possible, but my point here is to not trust these so-called "experts" and "analysts" at face value. How many can you recall, actually came out and downgraded stocks and called for the crash of 2008?

"God works in weird ways, markets work in twisted ways, to accomplish the most obvious in the most unobvious ways."

More On Happy Farmers, Yet Again... And Taxes!

2009-11-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

As if Taiwanese can't get enough of Happy Farm and their obsession over US Beef, here's an interesting article citing the author's own obsession over Happy Farm, and for many others in Asia (specifically Taiwan).

The author, Victor Cheung, links to a picture off of a website called MMdays, showing a real-life "Happy Farm" on Yangmingshan. Hats off to whoever got that farm created up there, as it'll likely be a nice tourist spot for the 80% of Happy Farmers who are Taiwanese.

Anyways, another article where the author admits his own happiness with playing Happy Farm, here.

In other news, I came across this story on a website I frequent, and I found it rather interesting in putting America's tax situation into something more easily understood. Take it for what it's worth:

From Keith Franklin:

I was having lunch with one of my favorite friends
last week - a very liberal college professor - and the
conversation turned to the government's recent round of tax cuts.

"I'm opposed to those tax cuts," the Professor
declared, "because they benefit the rich.
The rich get much more money back than ordinary
taxpayers like you and me and that's not fair."

"But the rich pay more in the first place," I
argued, "so it stands to reason they'd get more money back."

I could tell that my friend was unimpressed by this
meager argument.

So I said to him, let's put tax cuts in terms
everyone can understand:
Suppose that every day 10 men go to a restaurant
for dinner.
The bill for all ten comes to $100.

If it was paid the way we pay our taxes,
The first four men paid nothing;
The fifth paid $1;
The sixth paid $3;
The seventh $7;
The eighth $12;
The ninth $18.
The tenth man (the richest) paid $59.

The 10 men ate dinner in the restaurant every day
and seemed quite happy with the arrangement
until the owner threw them a curve.

Since you are all such good customers, he said, I'm
going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20.

Now, dinner for the 10 only costs $80. The first
four are unaffected. They still eat for free.
Can you figure out how to divide up the $20 savings
among the remaining six so that everyone gets his
fair share?

The men realize that $20 divided by 6 is $3.33, but
if they subtract that from everybody's share,
then the fifth man and the sixth man would end up
being paid to eat their meal.

The restaurant owner suggested that it would be
fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the
same percentage, being sure to give each a break, and
he proceeded to work out the amounts each should
pay.

And so now:
Along with the first four, the fifth man
paid nothing,
The sixth pitched in $2,
The seventh paid $5,
The eighth paid $9,
The ninth paid $12,
Leaving the tenth man with a bill of $52
instead of $59.

Outside the restaurant, the men began to compare
their savings,
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," complained
the sixth man, pointing to the tenth, "and he got $7!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I
only saved a dollar,too.
It's unfair that he got seven times more than me!"

"That's true," shouted the seventh man. "Why should
he get $7 back when I got only $2?
The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men. "We
didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor."

Then, the nine men surrounded the tenth man (the
richest one, paying the most) and beat him up.

The next night the richest man didn't show up for
dinner, so now the nine men sat down and ate without him.
But when it came time to pay the bill,
they discovered something very important. They
were $52 short!

And now people and college professors, this is
how America's tax system works.
The people who pay the highest taxes get
the most benefit from a tax reduction.
Tax them too much, attack them for
being wealthy, and they just may
not show up at the table any more.

My Reply To Congressman Adam Smith

2009-11-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

See here, for Congressman Adam Smith's original letter regarding HCR18.

Congressman Adam Smith,

Thank you for your response and appreciate your concern for Taiwan as well. I would just like to point out a few things regarding the recent "warming" of ties between China and Taiwan. While on the surface, it may seem that indeed relations are warming, the fact remains that China continues to hold Taiwan hostage with 1500+ missiles aimed at Taiwan. Along with these missiles are measures by China to continue to isolate Taiwan and China from foreign interference (specifically the US), with their military advancements far exceeding the advancements made in regards to the "peace" between China and Taiwan. Because of this, I believe that Taiwan continues to have the necessity for defensive arms sales and weapons to act as a deterrent for any forcible strike that China may undertake (as it has continued to say it will, if Taiwan pursues formal independence). As a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, I am sure you are well aware of these advancements, and hope you take these into consideration when considering Taiwan's request for F-16s.

Furthermore, I would like to point out that what I hope we all strive for in Taiwan's future is the self-determination of the people of Taiwan. As my parents have emigrated from from Taiwan to the US, and I see myself as a Taiwanese-American, I believe it is part of my duty to continue to help promote the freedoms that my parents and I enjoy in the United States, for those in Taiwan as well. China's threat to take Taiwan by force if the people of Taiwan decide they want to keep their democracy, human rights, sovereignty, self-determination, and all these values that Americans cherish, is a threat that cannot and should not stand in our world today.

Lastly, while you mention that the KMT and President Ma were overwhelming victors in the elections last year, I think it is unfair to say that because of that, Taiwan as a whole supports whatever President Ma is doing. Polls conducted by both sides in Taiwan continue to show consistently that less than 10% of Taiwanese would like to unify with China, now, or ever. Here is a recent survey by the Global Views Magazine that points to the fact that the % of those favoring independence has actually increased under the KMT/President Ma administration, despite their platform being support for eventual unification between the two (the survey results are in Chinese, but I hope someone in your office can translate; also a blog-post from "Taiwan Matters" that helps with English translation on the survey). Continuing with this, a poll conducted earlier this year after Ma mishandled the Typhoon Morakot crisis, showed that support for Ma's presidency dropped as low as 16%, and currently sits around 25-30%. As you can see, while Taiwanese may have voted President Ma to office, it does not mean that Taiwanese have continued to voice support for Ma's policies. My point here is that the situation in Taiwan is much more dire than it seems, as the KMT have regained control of the government of Taiwan, human rights and symbols of democracy have continued to deteriorate under the watch of President Ma. Things such as the handling of the ex-president Chen's case that seem like another step in what seems like a political witch-hunt, as well as international bodies citing a drop in Taiwan's freedom of press, all shout of old habits that never die, a sign that the KMT's authoritarian past is not quite fully in the past yet.

While there is no simple solution to these problems, I believe that the United States plays an integral role in the future of Taiwan, not only because of the TRA, but because Taiwan serves as a beacon of democracy to the rest of region in Asia. I hope that you can support both HCR18 as well as HCR200, which expresses Congress' support for the self-determination of the people of Taiwan. I look forward to your support on this issue.

Sincerely,
Richard

Congressman Adam Smith's Response to My Letter Concerning HCR18

2009-10-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

October 26, 2009

Dear Richard,

Thank you for contacting me in support of establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue.

Like you, I believe it is important to engage in dialogue with and promote the interests of peaceful, democratically elected governments. I also believe that the history and complexities of China-Taiwan relations make this issue an especially delicate one that must be handled with careful deliberation and diplomacy.

As you may know, the United States has officially recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the legitimate Chinese government since 1979. This officially ended the diplomatic and military obligations of the United States to Taiwan. However, that same year, the 96th Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which stated that while official relations with Taiwan were over, it would be the policy to preserve and promote extensive, close, and friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and Taiwan, as well as the people in mainland China. This legislation has been the governing authority for United States-Taiwanese relations since its passage.

The framework that the TRA established consisted of recognition of the PRC as the sovereign and sole government of all of China, while still maintaining a positive relationship with Taiwan. The United States has worked for a peaceful resolution to the Taiwanese issue within this framework for the past three decades, preserving the delicate balance in the region that has resulted in a static, yet peaceful situation. In addition, a closer relationship with the PRC has been an important tool in maintaining regional stability, particularly on the Korean peninsula.

The current framework has largely been effective for maintaining peace in the region and promoting the interests of the United States. I believe we should continue to support the "One-China Policy" while maximizing Taiwanese freedom within the TRA framework. Most importantly, we must engage in a diplomatic dialogue with the Chinese to achieve a lasting resolution that preserves United States, Chinese, and Taiwanese interests.

More recently, I have been pleased by the improving relations between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China. As you may know, on March 22, 2008, the people of Taiwan elected Ma Ying Jeou, of the Nationalist (KMT) Party, as President. Ma's victory came on the heels of the KMT's sweeping victory in the legislative elections in January 2008. Since his election, relations between Taiwan and China appear to be warming. For example, in 2008, Taiwan's government agreed to accept a gift of a pair of pandas that were offered by Beijing as a goodwill gesture in 2005. In addition, daily direct flights began for the first time between Taipei and Beijing in December 2008. While tension between both parties remain, their willingness to directly engage each other, strengthen economic ties, and diminish the threat of violence appear to be steps in the right direction to improve the relationship between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China.

Congressman John Linder introduced H.Con.Res.18 on January 9, 2009. This legislation expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should abandon the "One-China Policy" in favor of a "One-China, One-Taiwan Policy" that recognizes Taiwan as a sovereign and independent country. In addition, the resolution states that the President should begin the process of resuming normal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and support Taiwan's full participation in the United Nations and other international organizations.

Currently, this legislation is being reviewed by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. As a member of the Committee, please be assured that I will continue to study this proposal and will keep your thoughts in mind should this legislation be brought up for a vote.

Again, thank you for contacting me in support of establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again.

Sincerely,
Adam Smith

Member of Congress

No More Happy Farmers in Taiwan: Redux

2009-10-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

One of Happy Farm's marketing slogans: "Our Game = Five Minutes Joy"

First post on Happy Farmers in Taiwan here.

Some statistics came out in an article from the AFP, reporting the actual number of Happy Farmers who are Taiwanese. Interestingly enough, they report that:

Taiwanese Internet users reportedly constitute about 80 percent of the 3.7 million members of "Happy Farm".

That is simply amazing marketing for whoever headed the Happy Farm division for Asia/Taiwan/the whole world. I'm sure he/she is going to get a nice bonus at the end of this year. I am not surprised that this application-internet-game-type sector is quickly growing, since I've heard from a few of my friends that they have paid upwards of $30 on the game Happy Farm. Officially there is at least one person in Taiwan who has spent at least $80 on this game, and plans to sue Facebook for "deceiving" him to pay money for the game.

Having played a decent assortment of games before, paid and non-paid, it would seem like the profit margins for these types of games should be relatively high. It's quite remarkable for a game like Happy Farm to be able to generate $30-80 from one customer (with the possibility of more over time).

The future for these games and Facebook in Taiwan look bright, despite continued opposition from a few in Taiwan's government:

In related developments, Vice Minister of Education Lin Tsung-ming (林聰明) said the ministry did not recommend that youths play a popular Facebook game called Happy Farm because “stealing” vegetables is unethical.

Wu said the ministry would suggest that the developer of the game modify it by having players “rent” rather than “steal” vegetables from other players.

Since when has doing something "unethical" become such a driving force for voicing public opposition towards that thing? I wonder if there is something more to this story than just simply not wanting workers to waste their time on this at work.

The Fate of the Language?

2009-10-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

Brought to my attention in my Facebook news-feed (what is this world coming to?!), a friend of mine posted a link to this article in the New York Times about how the Cantonese language is facing the possibility of becoming a "dying" language over the next few years in the United States- specifically in New York's Chinatown.

I emphasize language here because it is a language. As far as I can tell from my one-year education in Mandarin, the Cantonese language and Mandarin language are mutually unintelligible. Just as, the Taiwanese language and Mandarin language are mutually unintelligible. And while both languages, Cantonese and Taiwanese, may be facing an uphill battle in surviving as a language- the outlook for Cantonese remains much brighter.

This is due in most part to Cantonese having a fairly well supported written form of itself. On the other hand, Taiwanese is being hit on all fronts by many different systems, from using romanized systems to character systems, where each can be further broken down. This website, Talingua, has a good overview of the various ways you can approach Taiwanese writing/reading. The problem here is (from what I remember/hear) that the KMT government at one point gave money to a bunch of different groups/scholars to each come up with their own system of writing Taiwanese. Sounds good/reasonable right? Well, the result was that each came up with their own, and there ended up being a sort of competition for whose is better. In the end, we have a bunch of different systems, that no one can agree upon. So the Taiwanese language continues to lose place in society as the years pass on with no agreed upon writing system.

While a writing system for a language is not the only thing that is needed to help keep it alive, it is a large part of it. But, I believe there needs to be a change that takes place in conjunction with a unified writing system for Taiwanese to maintain it's prominence as a language of Taiwan. That is, the political and social issues that plague the Taiwanese language. Many young Taiwanese these days are plagued with the notion that Taiwanese is/should be used for only in the marketplace and at home. While currently this notion is certainly not unfounded (as Taiwanese is currently mainly used in marketplaces and inside the home), it is a slippery slope of self-fulfilling prophecy that should be reconsidered. It is one thing to put Mandarin on a pedestal and say it's the main language to be used in the business world/work place, but another thing to put Taiwanese down and limit it to the marketplace and home.

The part that I find must unbearable about this is (coming from personal experience), young Taiwanese telling other Taiwanese, "Why are you speaking Taiwanese? It's so weird." As one who excels in the Taiwanese language, and has the Mandarin capability of probably a 2nd or 3rd grader (or worse), I was not one to be ashamed to use my Taiwanese in all aspects of my life and time in Taiwan- from classmates, to professors, other exchange students, at clubs/bars, customer service people, retail workers, you name it, I probably talked to them in Taiwanese. Were they taken aback at first? Yes. Did they get used to it? Yes. Was it easier to make friends because of my Taiwanese? In my point of view, yes. I think we can all do the Taiwanese language a favor, by at the very least, simply not handing out negative remarks over using Taiwanese. I even met a few people who speak Taiwanese with their friends all the time, and it was a refreshing change to see that there are still young people in Taiwan who have respect for their own culture.

Keep in mind, this is no hack on the Taiwanese who don't speak the language, Taiwanese- but rather a reminder to those that do. Furthermore, I want to emphasize here that speaking Taiwanese does not make one more "Taiwanese" than those who don't. I have met plenty of people who don't speak Taiwanese (only Mandarin and/or Hakka), but are more "Taiwanese" than the current president of Taiwan will ever be (although that isn't saying much of those who really know what Ma is up to, but you get my point).

P.S. As crazy as it is to hear a girl inside Babe 18 speaking butchered-Taiwanese and continuing saying li-ho, li-ho, jia-beng, jia-beng, as if those were the only few Taiwanese phrases that exist, I do applaud these few girls that I met for attempting to do so- and I must say, it is rather cute.

Taiwan's Military

2009-10-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

With the recent flurry of news regarding more calls for arms sales to Taiwan and China's 1300+ missiles, the actual military of Taiwan has been overlooked.

Let's take a look at what the government is doing to help recruit more people:

From that, I'd say we could bypass all that commotion about arms sales to Taiwan, and just utilize the auto-bots that Taiwan has somehow secretly (not so secret anymore) attained. I'm sure if Taiwan had those transformers, they would have no problem getting rid of mandatory conscription and having an all-volunteer force.

A Review: "The Founding of a Republic (建國大業)"

2009-10-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

I previously mentioned this movie in my previous post, here. After having seen it through some online channels, I would like to revisit the movie to see how much actual propaganda could be seen in their government production of a movie. Since I am no movie review guru, I'm just going to hit a few points that stuck out to me.

The movie is presented with subtitles in both Chinese (Simplified) characters, as well as English subtitles. I had to go along with the English subtitles due to my Mandarin not being quite up to par, as well as my Chinese characters' education being in traditional writing.

In one of the opening scenes, we get a cameo appearance from Jet Li, which ultimately led me to start thinking about him in that role and what character he played. Because of this, I was distracted from the subtitles and failed to understand what was going on in that part of the movie. It's nice to have an all-star cast I guess, but at least for me, the short cameos detracted from the movie more than it gave. Part of this is that most of the big name characters like Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Ze-dong are played by non-famous actors, so when you get famous people like Zhang Ziyi and Jet Li coming in on 30 second cameos, it just makes you wonder, needlessly.

In another scene, when Chiang Kai-shek's wife is flown to Washington to plead with the U.S. Secretary of State for assistance for her husband's KMT forces, we see her passing through the entrance of a building where there stands two soldiers "guarding." In one of the most bizarre scenes of the movie, upon seeing CKS's wife walk by, he eyes her like a hound and remarks, "Wow... she's so hot, mang." Needless to say, the soldier in that scene is the only black person (if I recall correctly) to be seen throughout the movie. Great appearance for the blacks, right? Anyways, it was hard to tell if that was thrown in there to lighten up the movie from it's, semi-documentary-esque style movie, or simply part of the way they wanted to portray Americans and/or blacks?

As far as the big two, Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Ze-dong, having never seen previous movies produced by the China group that produced this film, they portray both as how I figured they would.

Mao with his pal Zhou Enlai, are seen in ragged clothing, huddled in huts using candles to light the room, and lively dance in the streets with local farmers/peasants after defeating the KMT in a battle. Very much portrayed as your average Chinese, working hard for the greater good of the country. In one scene, Mao is seen with his daughters in the flower fields joking around with them. But, I will say it is a nice touch as far as bringing some personality into his character.

CKS on the other hand is portrayed as a rich and stuck-up leader of the KMT. He (whether it's true or not?) walks around the movie with his cane in almost all the scenes, making him out to be some old hag. There was hardly a smile that appeared on CKS's face throughout the movie, other than the beginning where the truce between the CCP and the KMT was agreed upon.

This carries over into the potrayal of the KMT, corrupt and filled with internal strife, where Chiang's own family is caught in corrupt business practices in Shanghai.

For the CCP, the movie proudly promotes the CCP as the party that unified all of China under principles of democracy. As far-fetched as it sounds, the word "democracy" was seen in many scenes where Mao or Zhou talked of the their plans for a new government. Democracy was talked about so much, that it is possible that 'democracy' was mentioned more times than 'communism/communist,' which is remarkable considering that they are a communist party.

As a Taiwanese, or 'outsider' (not one inside China), I can easily see how this was meant for China's domestic audience only. A lot of historical background is needed to get a better understanding of what is happening. Even though I had enough background in this issue, I felt this movie simply isn't a movie for anyone other than Chinese- especially as a Taiwanese.

As one who supports Taiwan's self-rule and sovereignty, it was hard to "get behind" either the protagonist (CCP), or antagonist (KMT). At one point, I was just too turned off to even have a response towards the movie. Knowing that the CCP currently oppresses Taiwan, along with the fact that the KMT eventually occupies Taiwan and is effectively the cause of the struggles in Taiwan today, it pained me to watch a movie where neither side could be 'my' side.

All in all, it was ok for a historical movie, but I can hardly see how foreigners (especially Taiwanese people) would enjoy watching this (since it is rumored to be appearing in Taiwan next year).

No More Happy Farmers in Taiwan

2009-10-15T00:29:00.000-07:00

Screenshot of the homepage of the "Happy Farm" application
on Facebook. "The Happiest Farm on Facebook"

If you're Taiwanese and you're on Facebook, it's likely you either play or have seen "Happy Farm," "Farmville," "Restaurant City," or some other similar variant of these game applications featured on Facebook, especially in your 'news feed'. I guess it finally took a toll on the work efficiency in Taiwan, as the games have now been banned at work (for those that are civil servants).

It's quite a phenomenon, seeing the entire country (pretty much) play that game. It had become so popular in Taiwan, that there are Facebook groups devoted to having "free" friends to add to their Facebook account so that they can obtain more items in the games. Groups such as these, "♥ RESTAURANT CITY ♥ "ADD ME"" and "台灣美版餐廳Restaurant City討論區" are mostly filled with players from Taiwan, and as you see in the second one, a group specific to Taiwan.

In my view, a large percentage of Taiwanese have flocked to Facebook for these specific applications, as they provide a lot more entertainment and things to do (while at work?) than previous social networking sites that Taiwanese were used to before, such as Wretch (無名). Less than a year ago, a lot of my friends in Taiwan (locals) had never heard of Facebook, and now, I think I am connected with 70-80% of those friends that I've met in the past via Facebook. Facebook looks like it has got a solid ground to start from in Taiwan, barring any more punishment from above for using Facebook.

Another 1010

2009-10-10T18:17:00.000-07:00

Another year, another Double-Ten day. This year though, without all the festivities, and just a low-key speech by President Ma Ying-jeou. Full transcript of the speech can be found here.

While it is the national day for the government of the Republic of China, through some twists and turns for Taiwan's history, it has become Taiwan's nationally recognized day as well. There's controversy over whether it was right for Ma Ying-jeou to decide whether or not to have normal parades and festivities for today, as well as those that may think we shouldn't even celebrate today, as it is the national day for the authoritarian regime that now occupies Taiwan.

Whatever the case may be, I think President Ma hit a good stride in this part of his speech, titled "Developing a Chinese culture with unique Taiwanese character." For this, I will just ignore the details about wording- whether it should be 'Taiwanese culture with unique Chinese character,' or whatever other combination of words you can put in there. Furthermore, putting aside details about how democratic reforms came about to the ROC government at the cost of Taiwanese lives. Here's Ma's opening for this part of his speech:

My dear friends, looking back over the 98 years of the Republic of China's history inspires a welter of contrasting feelings. Except for the "golden decade" immediately following the Northern Expedition, the 38 years during which the ROC government was based on the mainland was a period of incessant war and chaos that rendered people destitute and rootless and allowed little opportunity to put into practice the nation-building ideals of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Yet, over the six decades since the ROC government relocated to Taiwan, it has succeeded in carrying out land reform, implementing universal education, promoting economic growth, erecting a social welfare system and instituting democratic constitutional government.

After these 60 years of national development, Taiwan has a robust middle class, enjoys an open and free media environment, and has a healthy civil society in which environmental awareness has taken root, while community-building and volunteerism have developed at a lively pace. Step by step, we have created a Chinese culture with a unique Taiwanese character--a heritage belonging to all of us and in which we all can take pride.

During the past six decades, the histories and cultures of the Republic of China and Taiwan have become thoroughly intertwined. In this context, "Taiwan spirit" is not a vapid slogan, but is concretely embodied in the values and character of those who have struggled for this land.

The great thing I see about this part of his speech is the recognition that Taiwan's history is more than just when their government, the R.O.C., decided to occupy Taiwan. It started long before then, with roots of our culture tracing back to the Japanese occupation and before. If Ma is being honest here, and not just throwing more "Taiwanese" into his speeches for the upcoming elections, then I applaud him here.

It is as much of a call towards the pan-green side to recognize that the future of Taiwan includes those that came to Taiwan in 1949, as it is a call on the pan-blue side to recognize that the future cannot be determined simply by their rule, but those that have inhabited Taiwan for centuries before. The future of Taiwan depends on the both greens, blues, independents, because at this point in each of our lives, we all have stakes in the future of Taiwan.

Obama - Nobel Peace Prize Winner

2009-10-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

The main news this morning is that President Barack Obama of the United States has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for:

for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

Now ignoring the fact that he was nominated within a couple weeks of being inaugurated (nomination deadline was Feb 1st), and that really, he hasn't fully accomplished anything in terms of Israel-Palestine, North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, etc. I would like to bring the attention to someone else. That man, Ma Ying-jeou.

As readers of my blog, and those who know me, you likely know that I am certainly no fan of Taiwan's current president, Ma Ying-jeou. But, I will say that the events that have occurred up until today, it feels like Ma Ying-jeou has done a lot more in terms of promoting peace, even if it is just regional peace- and fake peace at that (there's still 1500+ missiles ready to bring Taiwan to rubble). So while it is fake to those who really know what's going on, on the other hand the media has gobbled up Ma and his "warming" of cross-strait relations. Media coverage concerning Taiwan, China, and Ma Ying-jeou have always given credit to Ma on his "warming cross-strait relations," and "closest relations in many years."

Therefore, it's hard to see how Obama's accomplishments (or lack thereof) trumps Ma Ying-jeou's. For me to come out and say that Ma Ying-jeou deserves this more than Obama? Well, I'll just leave it at that.

Rather than putting this on Obama, because it is unfair to him, I think it just shows that the Nobel Peace prize has become nothing more than a political and media affair of which the value of the prize is close to nothing. But, that began a while ago when the likes of Jimmy Carter (the one that officially screwed Taiwan) in 2002, and Yasser Arafat in 1994 took home the prize.

And it is sad, because "it used to mean something."