The Foreigner in Formosa

Beijing-Tehran Axis?

From Michael Rubin's LA Times column:

In the aftermath of [Iran's 1999 student] protests, the Chinese government supplied security consultants to Tehran. Rather than bash heads and risk protests and endless cycles of mourning, Iranian security services began photographing demonstrations, after which they would arrest participants over the course of a month when they were alone and could not spark mob reaction.

Googling this comes up with nothing; I can't find a single primary source to confirm this.  Of course, it's plausible -- probable, even -- that China would export its techniques of governmental repression.  That's what the CCP would call, "non-interference in the internal affairs of other states".

Until I hear of more evidence though, I'm filing this one under, "Believable, but not verified."

Former Ag Minister May Not Be As Guilty As People Think

On Tuesday it was revealed that Paul Sun, Taiwan's former Minister of Agriculture, had hired himself out as an unpaid adviser to a Chinese Communist Party agricultural organization.  The response to his conflict of interest was swift and bi-partisanly negative, and rightfully so.  The KMT is going to have to crack down hard on people like Sun, or else they fully deserve the charge of, "Sellout!" every time it's leveled at them.

Sun certainly did himself no favors when speaking in his own defense:

“We shouldn’t see agricultural technology as sensitive material; instead, it should be a public asset. China has large stretches of land and a good plant diversity, and can be seen as an extension of Taiwan’s farmlands,” he said.

About 5,900 Taiwanese farmers or businessmen in the farming industry are in China, Sun said.

“If you view it positively, you can see it as helping Taiwanese farmers become more professional. If you view it negatively, then you can make many criticisms. From the positive side, I feel it is something worth promoting,” he said.

Taiwan’s agriculture should not be shut behind closed doors. Instead, people should open their minds to what is out there, he said.

Here he seems to be saying six thousand Taiwanese farmers in China should be helped at the expense of tens of thousands of Taiwanese farmers back in Taiwan.  And for that, he deserves every bit of criticism that he gets.

However, there is one part of the story that seems to have been overlooked.  After serving as Agriculture Minister, Sun went to work as chairman of Taiwan's Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), which is a non-profit INTERNATIONAL institution.  Yes, it receives money from Taiwan's national government.  But it also receives money from the Bill Gates foundation and numerous other countries as well.

Now, if the AVRDC was a national institute, this would be an open-and-shut case.  Taiwanese taxpayers contribute to fund the center, and they expect Taiwan's agricultural sector to bear the fruits of whatever research goes on there.

But since it's an international research center, the benefits of its research are supposed to be shared globally.  Its mission statement isn't, "To help Taiwanese farmers," -- its mission statement is, "To alleviate poverty and malnutrition in the developing world through the increased production and consumption of safe vegetables."  And in fact, AVRDC has field offices in countries such as Thailand, Tanzania, India, Mali, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Camaroon, Madagasgar, Indonesia, Laos and the Solomon Islands.

There's another conflict-of-interest going on here, that I've just alluded to.  As Agriculture Minister, Sun's job was to strengthen Taiwan's agricultural industry.  But as chairman of AVRDC, his job is to help strengthen OTHER COUNTRIES' farm industries.  Those are two very different sets of hats.  The CEO of Monsanto has every right to quit and pursue his life-long dream of becoming the next Johnny Appleseed.  Monsanto however, has every right to be concerned that its former Chief Executive Officer may be giving away proprietary information.

Same deal applies here.  An investigation should be conducted into Mr. Sun, because during his stint as Ag Minister, he had access to techniques and cultivars developed by national institutions, which were intended to benefit Taiwanese farmers only.  If that's what he gave to China, then he's harmed Taiwan greatly.  But, if he only gave them techniques and cultivars developed by the AVRDC, then he was only doing his job of diseminating the Center's research to the world.

(And, just to reiterate, whatever the outcome of that investigation, he should still be punished for taking a job in the PRC, creating an obvious conflict of interest.)

Saw The Khamenei Speech Last Night

What a waste of what could have been a perfect Nikolai Ceausescu moment.

Tales Of The Gold Monkey

No, not the old TV show.  Turns out the Los Angeles zoo built an enclosure for some golden snub-nosed monkeys from China, only to have the deal go sour.  Now the zoo is left with a 7.4 million dollar boondoggle.

I'm tempted to say that the reason is that American officials blanched when Beijing tried to designate their country, "Chinese L.A."  But the real reason is more prosaic than that:

"[The Chinese] were resentful that federal policy on importing any endangered species required that any money exchanged for that animal had to be used to conserve the habitat and wild population of that species," said David Towne, a Seattle-based consultant who helped broker the original deal.  [emphasis added]

The Chinese certainly have point here.  The zoo was supposed to pay $100,000 a year for the simians, and none of it was supposed to grease the palms of Chinese Communist Party apparatchiks?

Hey, those guys gotta eat too, y'know !

A Quick Point About That Chinese Sub / American Sonar Collision

Recall back in March, when the Chinese pounded their chests over the U.S.S. Impeccable's presence in China's EEZ.  You're provoking us, they said.  How dare you violate our sacred waters?

Flash forward almost 3 months to the day, when a Chinese submarine struck the sonar array of the U.S.S. John McCain.  It sounds like the collision took place in Philippino territorial waters, but it's possible it occurred in the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone instead.

Either way, I'm pretty sure Manilla didn't grant Beijing permission to operate there.  Which clearly demonstrates that to the Chinese, only China's naval territory is inviolable.

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UPDATE:  A good explanation of the Impeccable incident over at YouTube.

The Mouse That Roared

mouse, n.  An animal which strews its path with fainting women.

-- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

(Ahmadinejad image from the International Society for Human Rights.  via Rantings of a Sandmonkey blog)

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Postscript:  I'll probably post links to favorite sources in the updates section regarding the fallout from the Iranian election.  I say fallout, because I'm not sure it's a revolution just quite yet.

To get the ball rolling, Michael Totten's been writing some good stuff (scroll down to June 2009), while over in Egypt, Sandmonkey is as interesting and entertaining as usual.

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UPDATE:  Good column at the Belmont Club.  Michael Ledeen's also has some good stuff, although he's a bit more optimistic about the results of a Mousavi win than I am.

UPDATE #2:  A thorough backgrounder from the Tehran Bureau blog.  Quite a lot of info at their site.

UPDATE (Jun 20/09):  Heh.  Iran's worst clerics.

Ray Bolger Mulls KMT Chairmanship Bid

Boy, talk about your dark horse candidates.  He's a foreigner.  He doesn't speak a word of Mandarin.

So how could he possibly campaign against Taiwan's Chinese Nationalist Party president Ma Ying-jeou to win the office?

On the other hand, Mr. Bolger does bring some unique life experiences to the table.  Namely, he's been dead for the past 22 years.  Which means that the former "Wizard of Oz" star may be exactly the kind of candidate the Chinese Nationalist Party's been looking for !

Ma doesn't want to run unopposed for KMT chair

As Ma doesn't want to run unopposed, a second candidate will have to be chosen, KMT sources said.

The sources said an alliance of young party members within the KMT is expected to field candidate into the election.

In other words, the PRESIDENT of Taiwan is running against some pimple-faced kid from the Chinese Nationalist Party Youth Corps.  A straw man.  Or make that, straw boy.

And Ma Ying-jeou thinks this makes him look good.

Run, Ray, run.  Let's turn this thing into a . . . horse race.

(Ray Bolger image from We Are Brown blog)

One-China Policy: Simplified vs. Traditional Chinese Characters

Since I don't read Chinese, I don't really have any personal stake in the debate Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou started a few days ago about whether Taiwanese should learn the Simplified Chinese characters that are used in China, or whether Chinese should learn the Traditional characters used in Taiwan.

Nonetheless, the fact that the topic is being broached now gives the lie to Ma's claim that his "One-China Trade Market" is an economic issue only.  Because if China truly is Taiwan's economic savior and an agreement is reached, then some sort of linguistic harmonization is going to take place.  Business between the two countries will need to communicate intelligibly with each other.  As foreigners we're all aware of the efforts Taiwanese make to learn English -- similar efforts to learn Simplified script may someday also be undertaken.

Without making any value judgments about this, it's clear that the Chinese Nationalist Party's "One-China Trade Market" is not just an economic issue, but a cultural issue as well.  Will the Taiwanese be permitted to have anything to say about a policy which affects these two areas?

Not if the KMT has anything to do with it.  The unwashed proles mustn't be allowed to vote on issues already decided upon by their political betters.

The Simplified vs. Traditional character proposal also finds its origins in the Chinese Nationalist Party's "One-China Educational Market" as well.  Once Taiwanese students begin studying in China, they'll need to be able to write using Simplified characters, while Chinese students in Taiwan will need to be able to read Traditional characters.  And it's dishonest for anyone to claim that this isn't going to have a cultural impact.

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Postscript:  An even more dishonest argument that's being made is that opening Taiwan's educational system to Chinese will increase the number of students in Taiwanese universities.

Well, of course the number of CHINESE students in Taiwan will increase, but since Taiwanese students will also leave the country to study in China, the number of TAIWANESE students here will necessarily decrease.

Whether there'll be a net gain or loss is anybody's guess. *  But what's truly maddening is that the same people who loudly trumpet the GAINS from an influx of Chinese students are noticibly quiet when it comes to mentioning the LOSSES from the expected China-bound exit of Taiwanese students.

Which suggests that those in favor of the "One-China Educational Market" aren't really interested in the net result at all, and that they're actually arguing in bad faith . . .

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*  Did I say anybody's guess?  Leaving aside the issue of the difference in tuition rates, there was an interesting story recently that the Taiwanese government would like to raise the educational requirements for university entrance.

Of course, no one wants to climb up on a soap box and speak in favor of low educational standards.  But raising entrance requirements will inevitably lock some Taiwanese students out of the Taiwanese university system.

Leaving them with nowhere to go, but less picky universities in the People's Republic of China.  Or as the KMT calls it, "Mother China".

State Of California Deprives Phil Spector Of His Constitutional Right To "Look Good"

Story at The Smoking Gun., via Drudge.

For those not living in Taiwan, the title of this post refers to a recent case where a protester snatched a wig worn by one of the county's more contemptible politicians.  Not that I approve of such actions, but I got a kick out of the Taiwanese legal reasoning:

Huang Yung-tien (黃永田), 50, who tore the toupee off Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) last year, was sentenced to five months in jail for depriving Chiu of his freedom to “look good,” Taipei District Court spokesman said yesterday. “The judge thought Chiu Yi had the freedom to wear what he wanted, and Chiu felt the hairpiece made him look better,” spokesman Huang Chun-ming (黃俊明) said. “The judge thinks that to remove it intentionally was to take away that right.”  [emphasis added]

(Phil Spector image from Bob Dylan Enclyclopedia blog.  Just a wild guess here, but if they're not letting him wear this in prison, they're probably doing him a favor.)

Taiwan's President In Seattle

Great account from Michael Richardson, along with digital slideshow and video. 

(BTW, does anyone know what the pro-independence protesters are chanting in the video?)

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UPDATE:  Since Mr. Richardson seems to have a pretty good handle on Taiwan issues, and writes regularly on the topic, I've added him to the blogroll.

UPDATE #2:  Richardson on Stephen Bosworth, America's special envoy to North Korea. Worth reading.

Bosworth spells trouble for Taiwan as Obama seeks Red China's help with North Korea A-bomb

and:

Special Envoy Stephen Bosworth says Taiwan independence is not 'acceptable' and hurts U.S. interests

Fetal Position Diplomacy

Passivity is fatal to us. Our goal is to make the enemy passive.
- Mao Tse-Tung

Looks like Taiwan's Chinese Nationalist Party president Ma Ying-jeou's year-old diplomatic "truce" with China is breaking down.  It was always an unstable affair, based as it was upon narrow Sinocentrism.  The two "interpretations" or "regions" of China will be better off if they both agree not to poach each others' diplomatic allies away from each other, Ma argued.  Both "sides of the Strait" will save heaps of money by not engaging in dollar diplomacy.  It'll be Win-Win.

Perhaps he should have instead asked himself, "But is it Win-Win-WIN?"  Let's grant that Taiwan wins.  And that China wins.  But do Taiwan's diplomatic allies ALSO benefit from an arrangement which (quite frankly) brings them less dough while perpetually denying them the freedom to choose which "China" they can maintain diplomatic relations with?

Pretty damn arrogant, really.  We, Chinese, WE will decide amongst ourselves which incarnation of China you foreign governments will be permitted to deal with.  Whether you like it, or not.

Turns out, some of them don't:

Like Nicaragua, Panama is chomping at the bit to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

Fortunately, Joe Hung (Taiwan's very own Fifth Columnist . . . columnist) has a splendid solution:  Curl up and die.

Taipei and Beijing are tacitly agreed that they won't vie against each other to win diplomatic allies.

Any diplomatic sally President Ma makes will have adverse effect[s] on relations between Taipei and Beijing.  China certainly does not want Ma to show the flag around in a very quick succession.

Ma has to remember Beijing's patience will wear thin if he continues to make state visits to several of the 23 states with which Taiwan still maintains diplomatic ties.

And thus did Mao Tse-Tung achieve his goal.

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Postscript:  Hung sneers at the "irrationality" of supporters of Taiwanese independence AND run-of-the-mill Republic of China sovereigntists:

. . . it's simply an expression of Taiwan's collective thymos [spiritedness, or desire for recognition] to cheer for President Ma's foreign ventures like those of his predecessor Chen Shui-bian.

Thymos drives people to anger when their worth is not recognized by others.  President Chen made most of the people thymotic.  They wanted their country recognized throughout the world either as the Republic of China or Taiwan.

Spiritedness?  Who needs THAT?

Apathy, spiritlessness, numbness . . . passivity.  That's the rotgut of choice for the purveyors of sell-out and surrender !

Ironically though, we find that Hung drinks from the same thymos bottle as the rest of 'em.  Because the old boy sure got a mite tetchy after Mr. Ma's worth was snubbed by Nicaragua:

Of course, Ma was right in refusing to meet with Ortega.  He couldn't and shouldn't demean himself by begging for a meeting.

[...]

Even if Ortega . . . apologized, Ma shouldn't change his mind and meet him in Managua.

Such a snub as Ortega handed to Ma cannot be tolerated.

Just to put this in perspective:  Daniel Ortega postpones a meeting with Ma for 4 or 5 hours, and Hung calls that intolerable.  Absolutely unforgivable. 

Meanwhile, China aims 1,500 missiles at Taiwan, and where's Hung?  Down on all fours, licking Hu Jintao's boots.

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UPDATE (Jul 3/09):  One writer believes Taiwan's diplomacy is on the verge of collapse.

The [two visits Taiwan's president has made to Central America in the past month] have nothing to do with long-term friendship, they are salvage missions to try and fix the damage Ma's attitude has done to Taiwan's relations with its diplomatic partners.

We'll certainly see.

Agents Provocateurs And Cover-Ups

Fascinating story about a West German policeman who killed Benno Ohnesorg, a left-wing protester back in the '60s.  That killing (and the policeman's subsequent acquittal) ended up becoming one of the primary catalysts for the creation of the terrorist Red Army Faction.

What if everything we knew about the case was wrong?

According to new documents uncovered by two German researchers, [the policeman] Karl-Heinz -Kurras was not the "fascist" cop of popular indignation, but a longtime agent of the East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi) and a member of the East German Communist party.   [emphasis added]

[...]

While there is no evidence that Kurras acted as an agent provocateur in shooting Ohnesorg, it is doubtless true that had his political sympathies--and his covert work for the Stasi--been known in 1967, the burgeoning radical student movement would have been deprived of its most effective recruiting tool. As Bettina Roehl, the journalist daughter of terrorist Ulrike Meinhof, argued in Die Welt, the glut of post-Ohnesorg propaganda helped establish "the legend of an evil and brutal West Germany," while simultaneously minimizing the very real brutality of Communist East Germany.

Something to keep in the back of one's mind for future cases of police brutality * towards democratic protesters in Taiwan.  There are some (like myself) who are fairly quick to suspect KMT orders (or more insidiously, unspoken incentives) for such conduct.  Like the West Germans though, we might sometimes be looking for answers on the wrong side of the Wall.  Or the Strait, as the case may be.

With regards to Kurras, there are some unsettling questions.  Was he acquitted fair-and-square?  Or was he, in fact, the beneficiary of a police cover-up?  

If the latter, then West German society certainly paid a heavy price for that single miscarriage of justice. **

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*  The two most egregious incidents within the last year have been the dislocation of a woman's finger in response to her carrying a Tibetan flag last November, and the running down of two elderly protesters at a democracy march last month.  In the first case, no law enforcement officer has ever been held to account.  While in the second, the driver of the police cruiser was slapped with ONE WHOLE DEMERIT on his work record.

One demerit.  For driving twice the speed limit near an area in which a pre-scheduled political rally was taking place.  For crashing into two senior citizens with enough force that one had to have his foot and lower leg amputated, and the other was hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage.

One demerit.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh.  After all, he DID have pretty good excuse:  "Those 67 and 68 year-olds darted out into traffic like a coupla GAZELLES, I tells ya !"

Who wouldn't believe a story like that?

**  Not that Taiwan hasn't paid its own high price for miscarriages of justice.  In reading this account of the 2-28 Massacre, it's hard not to speculate that the entire bloody business in 1947 could have been avoided if the police (Tobacco Monopoly Agents, actually) had been willing to punish four of their own for maltreating a female cigarette peddler.

But then, sometimes it's easier to mow civilians down with machine guns, than admit that you're wrong.

In The Beginning, We Were Ordinary Street Rats...

"We can no longer live as rats. We know too much."

- Nicodemus, The Secret of NIHM

Wild stuff.  Tuesday's China Post reported that scientists have spliced one (among many) human speech genes into mice:

Intriguingly enough, the genetically altered mice also have "qualitative differences in ultra-sonic vocalizations" they use when placed outside the comfort of their mother's nests.  In other words, they squeak differently from other baby mice.

Meanwhile, New Scientist reports the new mice are the rodent equivalent of baritones.  There are some brain changes, too.

(Mrs. Brisby & Nicodemus image from Babs Sweet World blog)

Allergy Tip

MSN.com featured this story about (non-obvious) areas of the house which might be allergen sources.  Good piece.  I notice however, the writer missed one:  the bathroom fan.

For years and years and years (even before I came to Taiwan), I'd wake up everyday, allergy-free.  By the time I'd finish shaving & showering though, the eyes were watering and nose running.  Plenty of sneezing, too.  And all along I just figured it was the morning air, or the shaving cream, or the shampoo, or the soap.

Wrong, Foreigner.  At least once a year, unscrew the fan grille from the ceiling (don't lose the screws!), and clean it thoroughly, inside and out.  There'll be plenty of dust built up on it.  Next, with the grille off, clean the housing of the intake port.  There may be dust and even mold in this area.  And finally, stop the fan and clean it as well.  There's probably dust built up on the edges of those fan blades, too.

Screw the grille back on, and you're laughin'. 

(Until of course, the allergy season returns . . .)