The Foreigner in Formosa

Politics and Economics: Still Kept Miles Apart in PRC

Been meaning to link to this brief (but eye-opening) note on management's decision to light up the Empire State Building to celebrate the founding of Communist Party rule in modern China.

One wonders whether the board of Taiwan's Taipei 101 skyscraper will  be willing to sell themselves quite so cheaply.

Like a Virgin (Sorta)

"I flinch, I shy, when the lass with the delicate air goes by
I smile, I grin, when the gal with a touch of sin walks in.
I hope, and I pray, for Hester to win just one more "A"
The sadder-but-wiser girl's the girl for me.
The sadder-but-wiser girl for me."

Hate to hear about the inevitable quality-control problems on THIS one:

Hymens: Now Made in China

Egypt may be up in arms over the latest stroke of Chinese manufacturing brilliance—a synthetic hymen . . .

. . . conservative officials across the Muslim world fear it might find more nefarious uses in countries where virginity is a prerequisite for marriage. Egypt has gone so far as to attempt a ban against the artificial hymen, calling peddlers "bandits" and charging that the device will corrode the moral standards of the country.

[...]

In places where honor killings are practiced against women who can't prove they were virgins on their wedding nights, this little, seemingly innocuous sex toy has opened quite a can of worms.

Still no official denunciation of this dire threat to Islamic decency and virtue by the Taliban wing of Taiwan's Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

Toadies of Taipei Suppress Chinese Dissidents for Butchers of Beijing

The ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of Taiwan has made it abundantly clear that foreign activists devoted to the cause of human rights in China are NOT WELCOME in the island nation.  First, there was the sorry case of the Dalai Lama last month, who was originally told not to visit, and finally slapped with a government-issued gag order when he was grudgingly permitted to enter the country.  Then to top things off, only a few weeks later the KMT placed the head of the World Uigher Congress, Rebiya Kadeer, also on their rapidly-growing blacklist.

Contrast that with the KMT's treatment of PRC zoo animals with annexation-oriented propagandistic names.  Why, those are hailed and welcomed by the current Taiwanese government with open arms.  Because THEY'RE not political !

Tiananmen Square demonstrators, can you take the hint?  In Ma Ying-jeou's Taiwan, Orwell's dictum now applies.  Four legs good, two legs bad.

On September 25th, Taiwan's Chinese Nationalist Party attempted to rationalize their blacklist in this way:

KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) said US President Barack Obama had recently decided not to meet the Dalai Lama during his trip to the US to protect the country’s national interests. Japan had also prevented visits by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) for the same reason.

“The decision made by the government today [to bar Rebiya Kadeer] is based on national and public interests,” he said.

Gee, only three days before Confucius' birthday, and the KMT demonstrates that it has a firm handle on the ethics of eight-year olds:

"Chinaaa hit me in the hallway!  But he was too BIG for me to hit back, so that's why I hit little Rebiya instead!"

Perhaps though, they were merely following the Confucian Silver Rule.  For who among us is unfamiliar with the Great Sage's moral imperative:

"Do unto others, as the Chinese Communist Party would do unto you."

Or something like that.  The Analects tend to lose a little in the Chinese Nationalist translation.

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UPDATE:  LOL.  Taiwan's Mainland Affair Council (MAC) announces, "Taiwan can help accelerate democratic development in China."

Left unexplained is how this is to happen when the KMT MUZZLES Chinese democracy advocates.  But I'm sure somebody smart can explain it to me.

Barack Gets Rolled

According to the Washington Post, the Chinese were apparently resigned to the American president meeting with the Dalai Lama in October, but in an act of Picardian sensitivity, Obama called the whole thing off.

Money quote from web page 2:

"We've got the classic case of a Western government yet again conceding to Chinese pressure that is imaginary long after that Chinese pressure has ceased to exist," said Robert Barnett, a Tibetan expert at Columbia University. "The Chinese must be falling over themselves with astonishment at what Western diplomats will give them without being asked. I don't know what the poker analogy would be. 'Please, see all my cards and take my money, too?' "

If it's any consolation, Western governments ain't the only ones doin' that . . .

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UPDATE (Feb 20, 2010):  The Weekly Standard describes the Dalai Lama's visit when it finally went through:

It takes a special talent to aggravate the Chinese government, the White House press corps, and the followers of the Dalai Lama all in one fell swoop. But the Obama administration managed to pull off that trifecta on Thursday with its poor handling of the Dalai Lama's meeting with the president.