Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Taiwan since 1949, is staying here in Taipei for five days. It could open a new door towards peace between the two hostile nations, but at what cost?
Already, the incumbent Ma's administration is pleasing China by silencing local dissidents. All national flags were hidden from public so as not to anger China and the Chinese delegation, who view Taiwan as one of its local provinces.
Any one who dares so much as walking near the Grand Hotel, where the dignitaries are staying, with a national flag in hand will be carried away by police with brute force.
Take a look at the video clip below.
Will people be allowed to voice their concern and protest in a similar situation where you come from? Tell me what you think by replying in the comment.
I'll select one of the best comments. Winner will be awarded with a mini digital TV USB. With it, you can watch TV right on your computer screen, as long as you have a PC (or laptop computer) with a USB port.
Please leave a valid e-mail address so I can get in touch with you for the award. I'll deliver it to you in mail, no matter what country you are in.
Brand new and in perfect working condition, this mini Digital TV USB (the red one in the middle) is smaller than a pen, with a handy remote control for watching TV on your PC. And yes, it's from "that" Intel.
It happened in Taipei yesterday. It was the "1025 March", a super big demonstration ever after Mr. Ma Ying-jeou was heroically elected a few months back as the President of Taiwan, aka Republic of China (ROC). I will post pictures here, and explain later. It's fun, hilarious as people carried all sorts of slogans to voice their concern to Mr. Ma, who is seen as "spineless" to China.
"Zhang Mingqing (張銘清), vice president of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, was surrounded by a group of activists as he visited a temple in the city of Tainan in the south of the island."
I felt sorry for the Chinese old man who had to endure such hostile treatment here, but maybe it happened for a reason. I am not going to discuss the implications here as you may look no further than, who else, Michael Turton's full report and comment on this issue.
But where it happened is pretty interesting. The "temple in Tainan", as inidcated in the press, is the Confucius Temple (孔子廟). It used to be my playground when I was a kid. I still go back there when I return home once in a while.
Here are some of pictures that I took last year.
A group of foreign musicians, "Unfinished" as they call themselves, performed in the open court of the temple on a sunny weekend afternoon. As I saw the performance more than a year ago, I am not sure if they still continue to perform there over the weekends.
The mixture of the western music flowing in this very ancient Taiwanese temple gives the place an exotic feel.
The Confucius Temple is where a lot of local people will go early in the morning for exercise. The very old banyan trees, red-brick walls and the half-moon lake are all part of what most people will remember as vivid Tainan flavor.
The lead guitarist.
The guys even call Tainan their home in their introduction flyer:)
Today is the national birthday of Taiwan. There was a huge celebration in front of the Red House, the President's office, as usual. I ran downtown early in the morning, and got close enough to see some of the teams doing the last-minute practice before the show was kicked off.
The Guard and Drill team from The Taipei First Girls' High School (北一女) was one of the major focus. The all-girls school was the most prestigious institution in Taipei, with only the best and smartest girls are admitted.
A lot have been reported and blogged about the 830 Rally last Saturday, in which hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese people took to street to protest against newly-elect President Ma Ying-jeou's inability to revive the economy, and his kowtow mentality to China.
"Quisling?" That's a new word for me.
The crowd turnout was amazing.
It was so crowded that it was literally shoulder to shoulder when I tried to push my way out of the mob.
Surely Mr. Ma still gets four years to go before anyone can tell whether he fails his "633" campaign promise, which includes 6% GDP growth, US$30,000 per capita income , and below 3% unemployment rate. But the rally did send a message to Mr. Ma on his 100th-day of inauguration that things are not going so well as he once promised.
Mr. Ma once promised that the local economy (especially stock market and real estate) would "immediately" shoot through the roof under his leadership when he opens up the direct links between China and Taiwan. That didn't happen. Tourists from China can land on Taiwan directly from major airports in China over weekends. But the economic effects are minimal so far.
Also, there has been a tendency that Mr. Ma has been tilting towards China over Taiwan's sovereignty issue. "Taiwan" is probably the dirty word for the Ma's administration now.
OK, enough about the background. What's new about the rally is that there is a group of bloggers showing up in the march. They are not just any bloggers. They are female bloggers who support Taiwan independence and call themselves "Green Pretty".
This group, formed loosely by Taiwan-conscious bloggers, is pretty vocal on the Internet. Now they were showing up to support the cause.(credit: billypan)
See the green logo on her T-shirt? That stands for "正妹" (zhen mei, or a looker), or Green Pretty as the girls call themselves.(credit: billypan)
As a resident of five years in Tamsui (Danshui), one thing I can say I love this small town of 30 minutes north of Taipei City is that it is full of exotic history.
Take George Leslie Mackay, for example. He's the first foreign missionary who travelled all the way from Canada, entered the north Taiwan in 1880s, and settled down in Danshui. He married a local woman, and was buried here after his death. As a matter of fact, there's a family graveyard right here. And there's a Mackay's Day dedicated to him, which happens on the first day of June each year.
George Leslie Mackay (馬偕 or 偕叡理; Pe̍h-oē-jī: Kai Sūi-lí or Má-kai; born March 21, 1844; died June 2, 1901) was the first Presbyterian missionary to northern Formosa (Taiwan). He served with the Canadian Presbyterian Mission. Mackay is among the best known Westerners to have lived in Taiwan. (from wikipedia)
The graveyard is located inside Tam Kang High School (淡江中學). My understanding is the school was built on the land donated by Dr. Mackay.
A closer look at the tomb.
The family graveyard.
A smaller one.
A grandson served as teacher in Tam Kang High School.
Inside the Tam Kang High School
The archway
A rugby football is being played on the school's sportsfield.
Tam Kang High School has a very beautiufl campus. But it's made even more famous by the movie Secret, directed by Jay Chou and released in 2007. Now a lot of couples would stop by to shoot their wedding photos here.
There're many a legacy left by Dr. Mackay in Danshui. At least a hospital was named after him. Another is the small Christian base he built here.
I've heard that several local ministers have left for Florida Outpouring in the U.S. And in case you have not heard of it, Todd Bentley, also from Canada, is raising the dead over there. I don't know what to think of it. Guess it's a leap-of-faith kind of thing.
Well, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is officially a 'stay-at-home geek' (宅男) now. Or at least that's what locals are calling him now, after he refused to face the public and play it tough as he claimed he would.
(Here in Taiwan, 'stay-at-home geek' (宅男, Zhai Nan) refers to someone who likes to stay behind a computer screen and rarely has social connection with the outside world.)
Too bad that President Ma simply hides away in this Red House ( the Presidential Office) and said nothing when merely three years ago as Mayor of Taipei, he had strongly suggested that the then-President Chen Shui-bien should consider use of military force to protect Taiwanese fishing boats around the islands.
But wait, where are Diaoyutai Islands? According to wikipedia,
The Senkaku Islands, or Diaoyutai Islands are a group of disputed, uninhabited islands currently controlled by Japan, but also claimed by both the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) (Taiwan). The islands are located roughly northeast of Taiwan, due west of Okinawa, and due north of the end of the Ryukyu Islands in the East China Sea.
Diaoyutai Islands are 135 miles off the Northeast coast of Taiwan.
Here's the video of what then-Mayor Ma Ying-jeou had to say about confronting the Japanese coastguards around the Diaoyutai Islands. The clip was in Mandarin Chinese, but I've managed to do a simple translation. Feel free to correct me for any mistake.
Translation of Ma's words: I rarely find any President who was so weak that ...
when confronting with the status of Diaoyutai Islands, he dares not speak out that the islands are part of Taiwan's territory.
If the government can not show its determination to use force when dealing with a foreign nation, it is doomed to be bullied.
How could anyone be (so stupid enough to) not knowing this?
As President, he should blame himself for this.
As the leader of the nation, he should stand up and say it out loud that...
'Diaoyutai is ours.'
'The fishing waters are ours.'
He (Chen Shui-bien) is the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
When the sovereignty of the Republic of China (Taiwan) is violated,
He has to say something, or who will speak for us?
- end of translation -
OK, so President Ma, could you please come out of your hiding in the Red House, and say it out loud and clear for us that Diaoyutai is ours, and you would consider to use any military force necessary to protect it? Just like you did three years ago? (But of course I bet you won't)
P.S. Finally on late Thursday evening, Ma did send his spokesman to say it for him. Well, it's not a very good spin.
To give you the idea about how big the Diaoyutai Island is.
If you walk around the island, it's roughly the same distance between Intel, the Centrino chip-maker in Mountain View, Ca. and Apple, the iPhone 3G maker in Cupertino.
