The Foreigner in Formosa

How America Should Respond To Chinese Cyberspying

From Technology Review:

There’s still room for escalation. In the indictment they talk about the SOEs [state-owned enterprises] getting this stolen data but didn’t name them. But it’s pretty easy to figure out. These are massive, multibillion dollar companies in China. The next step could be to charge those SOEs. If you want to make an impact you go after the recipient of the information.

We Will Never Be Brothers

A poem by a young Ukrainian woman about the "fraternity" of Ukraine & Russia.

This is the best of the two translations I've seen:

We will never be brothers
Neither countrymen, nor blood brothers.
You don’t have the freedom breath -
We can’t be even stepbrothers.
You have called yourselves “elder brothers” -
We would like to be younger brothers, but not yours.
There’re so many of you, but you all are faceless.
You are huge, but we are great.
You press… you trudge,
You will choke on your envy.
You don’t know what freedom means,
You all are encased in chains from childhood up.
Silence is golden in your home,
And we burn Molotov cocktails,
Yes, there’s warm blood in our hearts,
What sort of blind “relatives” are you for us?
We all have fearless eyes,
We are dangerous without any weapons.
We grew up and became courageous
We all are at the shooters’ gunpoint.
We were forced to our knees by the hangmen –
But we revolted and corrected everything.
The rats are hiding and praying for nothing –
They will wash themselves with their blood.
You have new instructions –
And there’re revolt lights here.
You have your Tsar, but we have Democracy.
We will never be brothers.

"What is this doing on a blog mostly about Taiwan?" you might ask...

Orwellian Quote Of The Week

“Many people believe that a forced war would convince some countries of China’s sincerely peaceful intentions.”
— Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the Global Times

China Attacks Vietnam's Ships, Steals Vietnam's Resources: Taiwan Hardest Hit

Last week, China began constructing an oil rig within Vietnamese waters to steal crude from the third world nation. Vietnam responded by sending ships to the area, which were promptly attacked by Chinese vessels:

Chinese ships have been ramming into and firing water cannons at Vietnamese vessels trying to stop Beijing from putting an oil rig in the South China Sea, according to officials and video footage Wednesday, in a dangerous escalation of tensions over waters considered a global flashpoint.

Just today, Vietnamese mistakenly took out their frustration on Taiwanese factories:

Thousands of Vietnamese set fire to foreign factories and rampaged in industrial zones in the south of the country in an angry reaction to Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam, officials said on Wednesday.

The brunt of Tuesday's violence, one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations since the neighbours fought a brief border war in 1979, appears to have been borne by Taiwanese firms in the zones in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces that were mistaken for Chinese-owned companies.

[...]

Gates were smashed and rioters set 15 factories on fire...

China cannot expect Vietnamese to respect Chinese property rights while the Chinese blithely violate theirs.

But it's a shame that this perfectly-understandable anger was taken out on the Taiwanese, though. Because (as readers of this blog are no doubt aware): Taiwanese are not Chinese.

In vain, Taiwanese companies themselves belatedly scrambled to communicate this elementary fact:

Some Taiwanese firms had spray-painted messages on the road and across their gates saying "We Support Vietnam" in an effort to distinguish themselves from Chinese enterprises.

Perhaps the current government of Taiwan might have alleviated the situation if had spent less time pretending to be China, and concentrated its efforts on sending the message that Taiwan is a completely different country altogether.

Without such efforts, Taiwan will always be unjustly blamed for the crimes of the Chinese. And the Taiwanese government will be forced to pay to evacuate its citizens whenever tempers erupt over cases of China's villainy.

As Aesop might've said:

Those who impersonate international outlaws are often mistaken for international outlaws.

---

UPDATE: You speak the truth, sir!

“We have to establish a distinct identity [from China],” Mr. [Antonio] Chiang said. “Or not only will this happen in Vietnam, but other countries, too.”

UPDATE (May 18/2014): Others see Taiwan's One China policy as a contributing factor.

Sooner Or Later, All The KMT's "Laws" Turn Into Calvinball

Taiwan's KMT realizes some of its legislators are vulnerable to a voter recall...so it attempts to change the recall law itself!

Rigging the system to save its lawmakers' seats. Shameless.

But then, one expects little better from a dictatorial Leninist party steeped in the undemocratic habits of 38 years of martial law:

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said that a controversial proposal to increase the documents required by petitioners during recalls of elected representatives is intended to “reduce possible abuses in the process.”

[...]

The party’s move has raised doubts, as it comes during a public campaign for recalling legislators that was launched after the cross-strait service trade act row. Many of the officials under fire are KMT members.

...the KMT-proposed amendment...would require petitioners to provide photocopies of identity cards and affidavits — in addition to the existing requirements for name, address and national identification number... [emphasis added]

What, no notorized copies of the petitioners' last proctological exam?

Goodbye, predictable Rule of Law. Welcome, capricious Rule of Man.

Congratulations, KMT. You have officially turned Taiwan into a legal laughingstock.

(The majesty of Taiwanese law. Image from Foreign Policy)

 

---

UPDATE (May 13/2014): The Taipei Times points out something that I've considered of late:

When activists take to the streets [and engage in civil disobedience]...the government and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers condemn such acts, urging the dissidents to express their opinions within the democratic system in a lawful way.

However, when activists want to play by the rules [by utilizing Taiwan's electoral recall laws], KMT legislators seem to suddenly decide that the law is not so sacred after all and seek to change the rules.

[...]

“If the people cannot vent their anger within the system, they will certainly start their resistance outside of the system,” [attorney and rights activist Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎)] said.

 

How Dare Those Awful, Awful Students Insult The Noble Dignity Of Lu Hsueh-chang!

His lordship Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) sues Taiwanese students for implying that he's cowardly.

Kuomintang lawmaker Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) yesterday pressed charges against a group of activists who gathered at his constituency office to give him a fake turtle shell with his name carved on it.

“A turtle hiding in its shell” (縮頭烏龜) is an idiom in mandarin [sic] Chinese used to describe a person as a coward.

This CANNOT stand! Don't they realize how thin-skinned the veteran KMT legislator is? How easily bruised his delicate feelings are?

They should realize Lu Hsueh-chang is sensitive and fragile, and needs to be handled gently. Very, very gently.

Like you would a tender little strawberry...

"Freedom of speech is all well and good, I suppose. But criticism of ME isn't a constitutional right!"
— Lu Hsueh-chang: The KMT's Strawberry Legislator

---

UPDATE (May 7 / 2014): It appears I'm not the only one to make the "Strawberry Generation" connection with Lu Hsueh-chang's childish antics:

“If the lawmaker decided to sue us for likening him to a head-retracting turtle, he is not only substantiating the claim, but also acting like a member of the strawberry generation,” Wei said.

“Strawberry generation” is a term used to refer to young people whom the older generation feel are not able to handle adverse circumstances and are easily bruised, like strawberries.

“A legislator who cannot handle criticism from the public and turns to lawsuits when he is upset does not have broad enough shoulders for politics,” Wei said. “Calling him a head-retracting turtle is not a false accusation since he has been hiding under the party’s umbrella during all the disputes.” [emphasis added]

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

One of those seemingly insignificant stories exposing truths some have worked assiduously to paper over:

Child of Chinese tourists takes a leak on the street: Hong Kongers deride boorish Chinese; Chinese incensed by "highfalutin" Hong Kongers.