Factotum:: 痞客邦 PIXNET ::

What's in a number?

2009-05-18T21:27:41+08:00

It has long been a practise of dictatorships, oppressive regimes, tyrants, etc, to play down the seriousness of situations which show them in a negative light. The Tibetan-Chinese protests of 2008 give us two very different figures:

http://www.tchrd.org/press/2008/pr20080325.html

(Death toll rise to 79, over 1200 arrests and more than 100 disappear in Tibet - Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/21/content_8415574.htm

(Around 500 Tibetan separatists detained in Nepali capital - XinHua News agency China)

The 2 stories are wildly different, China's official XinHua news agency even going as far as saying the trouble was all in Nepal. And that's the only news I could find on the entire website! But those figures come from either side; pro and anti China. So, where's the middle? Let's look at Amnesty:

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17792

(One thousand protesters unaccounted for in Tibet lock-down)

So, Amnesty's figures are closer to the Tibetans.

What would be the point of lying? If the local police are murdering your friends, robbing people or abusing their powers you might want to tell someone about it. If the local police are helping you carry your shopping home, fixing a blocked drain in your home or saving your cat from burning house wouldn't you just want to say how wonderful they are? People with something to hide or something to be scared of downplay the importance of events. Of course the Chinese dictatorship controls the media in China, so it's very difficult for normal people to really know what's going on, but that's not true in Taiwan, where democracy rules (sort of). The Taiwan government says:

http://www.kmt.org.tw/english/page.aspx?type=article&mnum=112&anum=6269&kw=17%2f5+protest (5/17 Anti-Ma March - no figures)

http://english.taipei.gov.tw/TCG/index.jsp?categid=36&newsid=12397 (Mayor Visits 2 Injured Demonstrators at NTUH - no figures)

Other news agencies say:

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=952130&cate_rss=news_taiwan517&cate_img=1139.jpg (Taiwan sit-in protest against President Ma Ying-jeou goes for full 24 hours - 600,000 vs. 50,000 )

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8054127.stm (Taiwanese march against president - "thousands")

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/429911/1/.html (Taiwan opposition stages all-night protest - 600,000 DPP vs. 80,000 Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin 郝龍斌)

Now then, someon's telling a few lies. Or maybe Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin 郝龍斌 hasn't received the correct information...? Can a mayor of a city really not know what's going on in the city he has been appointed to look after??!! Can he really be that retarded???! Oh, is it possibly a case of burying your head in the sand like an ostrich? Turning on the good-old dictatorship charms or propaganda? It's hard to get a balanced view, but it's easy to smell the bullshit.

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DRACUMA Ying-jeou (馬英九) : at least he's killing himself along with Taiwan

2008-11-06T19:46:18+08:00

Having just read an interesting open letter:

http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~cshih/ (removed)

Dear Visitors,

The site is taken down as a way to humbly protest the lost of freedom of speech and Liberty in Taiwan.

I was questioned by a police on the street across NTU campus just because I aimed my camera to a police on the street.

No name tag on his uniform and no identification for himself. Most importantly, I am not the only one.

If I have told you that Taiwan government works very hard to protect her people,
I take it back.

If I have told you that Taiwan is a democratic society,
I take it back.

If I have told you that we can always complain the President in public,
I take it back.

If I have told you that Taiwan is a nice place to visit,
I take it back.

Very soon, visiting Taiwan will just experience what you have in Mainland China.

Please accept my apology for any inconvenience.

Nov. 5th, 2008.

I wonder...what is happening to Taiwan???! Is democracy really being threatened by the new government? Is freedom of speech being stopped? Is China making demands on the Ma presidency that the Taiwanese public don't know about? Sure, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is weak, panders to China and has no strong policies to back up the many words that come from his mouth. But he is the democratically elected President of Taiwan. The people chose him, so his first responsibilty should be to those people. With his popularity at an all-time low:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JJ04Ad01.html

(some polls saying his popularity is as low as 25%) he has a lot of work to do to win back the favour and respect of the people of Taiwan. Everytime I turn on the news I see something that seems like it will only lower his popularity even more. I only guess he's trying to be, not only the least popular person in Taiwan, but also one of the least popular people in world politics. Go DRACUMA, go - you are sticking a stake into your own heart!

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=385&sid=1507118

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Dracula + Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) = DRACUMA

2008-11-05T11:12:06+08:00

Dracula: Gothic legend of an undead creature roaming the night looking for victims to suck their blood. Ma Ying-jeou ( 馬英九): modern legend of an uncaring creature roaming Asia looking for Taiwanese victims to throw to the mercy of China. Similar? OK, not entirely. BUT....wait a minute. Take a look at a photo of Dracula. Now, take a look at a photo of Ma Ying-jeou....

any similarities? are you scared? Was that the howling of a wolf you just heard outside? Was that the fluttering of a bat's wings??! It could be something worse: The KMT (Chinese) secret police trying to break down your door and take you away in the middle of the night to castle DRACUMA, just like in the good old days of Chiang Kai-shek and the 'White Terror' '(白色恐怖)'. A cross is not enough to scare away DRACUMA, unless you take the cross and hit him over the head. it might just knock some sense into him. Or morals. Or respect...DRACUMA is sucking the life out of Taiwan and giving it all to China. If DRACUMA likes China so much, why doesn't he go and live there?!

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NOLYMPICS

2008-07-28T12:54:52+08:00

Recent updates on China & the Olympic situation:

Labour camps, still useful for photographers:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7532813.stm

Chinese blogs blocked, due to posting of "sensitive" material:

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27943

Migrant workers forced to leave Beijing, after helping build the Olympic city:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7522196.stm

IOC continues to do nothing about China's dismissal of it's Olympic promises:

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Olympics/idUSL632487320080726

More IOC corruption, as the BBC discovers older shady-dealings:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7525072.stm

In China's new Olympic air of 'openness' a newspaper is censored for printing "Tainanmen Square" photos:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7525736.stm

Chinese police and foreign reporters clash, in China's new air of "helpfulness":

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0a8899ee-5a74-11dd-bf96-000077b07658,dwp_uuid=723ba534-41c2-11dc-8328-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

Still showing an unprecedented level of love and care for animals in China:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-407693/Un-bear-able-Chinas-cruel-animal-Olympics-reach-new-heights.html

More on China's new media-openness:

http://china.hrw.org/press/news_release/china_olympics_media_freedom_commitments_violated

Mini-skirts banned:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/07/27/women-banned-from-wearing-mini-skirts-at-beijing-olympics-115875-20673319/

Amnesty International:

http://amnesty.org.uk/china/index.asp?CategoryID=2

Of course, if you'd like to read the Chinese or IOC side to these stories (which would only be fair), you can go to the 'official' websites to read what the authorities have to say, or maybe even post your own thoughts:

IOC:

http://www.olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp

Offical 2008 Beijing Olympics:

http://en.beijing2008.cn/

Olympic Forums:

http://www.beijing2008china.com/

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A Step In The...Which...Direction?!?!!

2008-07-09T20:21:17+08:00

As newly elected Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou seeks to promote better ties with China, the doors have been opened for Chinese Tourists to fly direct to Taiwan from China, for the first time in almost 60 years. Some Taiwanese locals hope the influx of new tourists will bring money, helping the economy. The first plane-load of Chinese arrived on Friday the 4th of July and were treated to a 'red-carpet' welcome at Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport. The tourists were given a tour of the Presidential Office and some members of the group were quoted as "yearning for democracy". A very shrewd move by the KMT to rub the noses of those Chinese into the kind of freedoms they could have been living under had Chairman Mao and the communists lost the civil war?

So, how about the tourists going the opposite direction - the Taiwanese taking advantage of the newly opened direct flights to China? Well, searching the internet has brought not a single article to my attention about those ones. Help anyone??? Are the first Taiwanese tourists heading to Beijing getting the same warm welcome? I'd certainly like to hope so!

Tourists are good for economies. Look at the value of the British Queen for an example of that; the hordes of American and Japanese tourists outside Buckingham Palace, spending their Dollars and Yen on crappy tourist 'schtick' in London proves that point. But how rich are the Chinese tourists? What will they spend their money on? How will their arrival increase the wages and improve the life of Jonny Wong working in 7-11? Some Taiwanese people are concerned about the Chinese peoples tendency for cheap spending habits, as well as their "rude" behaviour (queue jumping, lack of manners and spitting everywhere, to name a few). And finally, with Chinese tourists having a habit of "disappearing" once they arrive in Taiwan, is it really such a good idea to increase the number? Maybe it won't be difficult to find these "missing" tourists in the future - just look outside your window and you'll probably see 10 or 20 of them, because with tourism on the increase it is only a logical progression that "missing" tourists will increase too.

Of course, dialogue between peoples or nations is a good thing. Problems don't get solved by not talking, by not communicating. But how much does Beijing really want to listen? I'd guess that Beijing likes to do all the talking and wants Taipei to do all the listening: an attitude practised by the KMT of old, when talking to the people of Taiwan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7488965.stm

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2008/07/09/2003416943

http://www.cnanews.gov.tw/eng/cepread.php?id=200806290012&pt=3&LArr=200806290021,200806290020,200806290019,200806290012

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China: Olympic Gold For Human Rights Abuse

2008-04-12T21:44:24+08:00

Some facts:
official chinese statistics for sufferers of HIV and AIDS put the figure at slightly less than 1 million people, however the chinese authorities' strict restrictions on free journalism and their crack-down of human-rights activists could mean that figure is much higher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_in_China#Activism ;
China's bid to present a harmonious and peaceful China during the Olympics has led to the arrest of many "activists" including blogger Hu jia, jailed for "inciting subversion of state power" - a good translation of that phrase would be "speeking freely about environmental, religious and health issues":  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7327763.stm ;
China continues to send back North Korean political and economic refugees who face extremely harsh repression upon their return to North Korea, even though China is obliged not to send home any refugee who may face reprisals upon their return as stated in the 1951 United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol:  http://www.rfa.org/english/news/2005/02/25/us_nkorea/ ;
the Chinese government continues to encourage ethnic Chinese to "migrate" to Tibetan areas, thus diluting the Tibetan culture and Tibetan control over the area: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7302661.stm ;
Corrupt Communist Party officials have often favoured developers wishes to 'forcibly evict' tennants from their homes, with money the major power over peole's rights:   http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/china/beijing08/evictions.htm ;
With no laws to protect animals in China there has been wide-spread murder and torture of various animals including dogs and cats, as well as taunting and abuse of zoo animals. Europe and north America have banned Chinese fur imports as some statistics researched by the Humane Society of the US suggest as many as 2 million cats and dogs were murdered for their skins alone: http://www.buyhard.fsnet.co.uk/animalcruelty.htm ; http://www.heathermills.org/campaign_dogcatfur.php ;
China has (some reports suggest) over 900 missiles aimed at Taiwan. China considers Taiwan to be a part of China, just like Tibet. Taiwan has a free and democratic society, which obviously would not fit into the Chinese model of society, where people are told what to do and if they don't do it they could go to jail. Or just disappear. ANyway, I digress. United Nations Resolution 1514, also known as 'The Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples' staes:  "The subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and co-operation" and " All armed action or repressive measures of all kinds directed against dependent peoples shall cease in order to enable them to exercise peacefully and freely their right to complete independence, and the integrity of their national territory shall be respected": http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/UN_General_Assembly_Resolution_1514 ;
Just take a browse down through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed by all members of the United Nations General Assembly, including China. Do these universal rights apply to China too???: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights#Overview_over_the_rights

These are just a few reasons that people should boycott the Beijing Olympics. If Governments of the world are too money obsessed to brush aside issues of freedom and humanity then it's down to the people of the world to try and change their minds.

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Tears of joy or pain?

2008-04-07T21:52:42+08:00

Last Saturday (5th April) Ma Ying-jeou, the newly elected Taiwanese President, was in Taoyuen for the anniversary of the death of Generalissimo Chaing Kai-shek. Chaing Kai-shek was Taiwan's un-elected president of the ROC (Republic of China). Well, not so un-elected, as although the ROC had a democratic constitution it was a one-party state made up almost totally of non-Taiwanese Chinese mainlanders who voted themselves for the Generissimo keeping him in power.

I wonder how we would feel about seeing the German Chancellor standing in a car-park in Berlin crying over the bunker of Hitler? Or the cambodian president crying over the demise of the Khmer Rouge? It would be shocking, wouldn't it? So why was Ma Ying-jeou crying about the death of Chiang Kai-shek? Was he happy or sad? Well, unfortunately, he was sad. It seems a little like crocodile tears, though, as the two people weren't related or even close friends. As much as someone loves John Lennon, I am sure they wouldn't burst into into tears if they visited Strawberry Fields in Liverpool or the Dakota Building in New York. And Lennon was a good man. Am i saying that Chiang Kai-shek was bad? Well, he fought the Chinese Communists and sought to unite China away from the influence of fuedal warlords. He wanted to bring democratic rule under the Kuomingtang revolution. He modernised the legal system, reformed the banking system, built highways and railways, improved public health and promoted moral and personal Confucian values. That's good isn't it?

Not entirely. As already mentioned, the democratic rule of the KMT was only allowed to reach as far as members of the KMT, who claimed that as the KMT and the Communists had never signed a peace treaty and so were still offically at war, martial law was in place which also ruled out the formation of opposition parties. He jailed many people who supported either the Communists or Taiwan independence. He banned the use of Taiwanese, thus repressing local culture. In the esrly 1900's, whilst exiled in Shanghai, he culivated ties with the Shanghai criminal underworld, especially with Du Yuesheng and the Green Gang. And maybe most horrifically of all was the 2/28 incident in 1947, in which an estimated 30,000 Taiwanese people were executed and murdered by the KMT and from which began the era known as 'the white terror' where the KMT suppressed politcal dissidents and any discussion of the 2/28 incident. During the 'white terror' period from 1947 until 1985 around 140,000 Taiwanese were imprisoned or executed for opposing hte KMT.

So why would someone cry over the death (30 years ago) of the man who ruled Taiwan, without ever being elected by the Taiwanese people and who brought so much terror and fear to a place where he was actually a foreigner? Wait a mminute...isn't Ma Ying-jeou a foreigner too?! Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself!

photo from: yahoo tw

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The DPP - A Good Advert For The KMT?

2008-03-06T20:57:51+08:00

With General Elections looming in Taiwan, it seems the people who voted in the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) have lost faith. This loss of faith could mean a return to the old rule of the KMT (the Kuomintang). One reason for the turn-around could be blamed on the economy; polls taken in January 2008 by CommonWealth Magazine indicated that as much as 72% of the population interviewed were unsatisfied with Taiwan's economic performance. But is it just about money? President's Chen's family have done a fantastic job for the KMT. His son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming, was convicted of insider-trading and sentenced to a jail term of 8 years and 4 months. President Chen's wife has also had a run-in with the law over insider-trading, but is probably better known for her indictment over allegedly falsifying expenditure records from the President's national security account. And then there's Vice President Annette Lu, indicted on corruption charges and embezzlement for writing off expenses with flase receipts from a special government account.

Politics always temps those of weaker wills who, when presented with a little authority, abuse the trust placed in them by the voters. It's always happened and always will. The strong character should have the decency to accept their failures and part their post with the little respect they have left. Anyone can make a mistake, but who has the courage to admit that they made a mistake? Not Taiwanese politicians, apparently. Or maybe not politicians in general. "Sexual relations" springs to mind.

But before I completely write off the DPP, it would be unfair not to take a quick glance over at the, probably soon-to-be-in-power KMT. The KMT has a long tradition of being associated with 'black gold' (黑金) scandals: a reference to the attainment of money through secret and corrupt methods. Chiang Kai-shek had connections with Shanghai gangster boss Du Yuesheng, although KMT party chairman Ma Ying-jeou has been credited with attempts to rid the KMT of corruption. However, surely the most worrying aspect of the KMT's politcal stance is their views on Taiwan's re-unification with China. KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou, remember, is not actually Taiwanese. He was born in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, like Taiwan, stands in a very precarious and special position in relation to China. China regards these 'provinces' as part of China, but Hong Kong and Taiwan have a enormous ammount of freedom when compared to their mainland cousins. Do the people of Taiwan really want Beijing telling them what movies and TV programs they can watch; what books and newspapers they can read; what music they can listen to; what they can look at on the internet? The answer must be NO, no matter how many of their grandparents came over with Chiang Kai-shek. I always thought that if those people loved China so much...what's stoping them going back there? Well, i can only guess that it is the quiality of life in Taiwan, that stops them going back to China. Taiwan has freedom, freedom creates happiness and happiness is what everyone's heart desires. But maybe it's time to consider an alternative: maybe...the Green Party Taiwan (台灣綠黨).

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The Great Fire-Wall of China

2008-01-25T22:57:32+08:00

Freedom of speech is the idea that everyone can say what they like without fear of censorship. The right to freedom of speech is guaranteed in international law through human rights organisations, Article 10 of The European Convention on Human Rights and Article 19 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Anyone can be free to expression whatever opinion they wish, your choice is only to listen or not. So why then does China use a Golden Shield Project (金盾工程) to censor the internet, by blocking certain IP addresses, webfeed blocking and URL filtering? Remember: China itself is one of the 192 member states of the United Nations, an organisation whose rules for membership include:

1. Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.

The 'present charter' as mentioned above includes in Chapter 1, Article 1: "To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion". Does banning news and media websites such as those which belong to the Dalai Lama or the International Tibet Independence Movement, Falun Gong qigong groups, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party government, the BBC, Yahoo! Hong Kong and The Voice of America promote and encourage respect for human rights? Does the Internet Society of China, whose 2,600 members 'supervise' the internet, making sure that no "unhealthy information" can appear on websites, contribute to fundamental freedoms for all? Any search for the 1989 Tainamen Square protests, Playboy, Amnesty International, Marxism or The Guardian newspaper will all draw blanks. Even the words 'freedom' and 'democracy' are judged to be "unhealthy" by the Internet Society of China. So is the United Nations Charter not worth the paper it's written on? It's not easy to enforce international laws, but maybe money and business have the final say when it comes to what is appropriate behaviour from member states and the money is doing all the talking it likes.

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Westboro Baptist Church: A hateful God?

2008-01-24T23:11:41+08:00

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) have announced that they will picket the memorial service of recently deceased Australian actor HEATH LEDGER. The WBC published a news release the same day as his death which stated: "God hates the sordid, tacky bucket of slime seasoned with vomit known as 'Brokeback Mountain' - and He hates all persons having anything whatsovever to do with it. Heath Ledger is now in Hell, and has begun serving his eternal sentence there...". The WBC, an organisation known for it's anti-homosexual, anti-semetic, anti-Islam, anti-American, anti-Irish, anti-Canadian, anti-...etc, views seems to thrive upon negative, headline-grabbing, attention-seeking statements. HATE is a favoured adjective. Although they use the name 'Baptist' in their title they are in no way connected with any known Baptist conventions or associations. Officially they are not even recognised as a Bible believing fellowship, much in the same way as Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda cannot be construed as Qur'anic followers. They have made comment on various individuals as well as horrific world events, including: the September 11th attacks in New York "God had caused the terrorist attacks as a punishment for tolerance of homosexuality, and that it was God's will that those who suffered in the attacks should die"; the death of Diana, Princess of Wales "Princess Di was a filthy whore, and was killed by God in the midst of her whoredoms"; the Virginia Tech massacre "Your military chose to shoot at the servants of God today, and all they got for their effort was terror. Then, the LORD your God sent a crazed madman to shoot at your children"; and Louis Theroux (after his 2007 documentary) "demon-possessed BBC documentary maker". On the 8th of July 2005, the day after the bombing of the London Underground, in which 55 people dies, the WBC released a statement that read: "Thank God for the bombing of London's subway today - July 7, 2005 - wherein dozens were killed and hundreds seriously injured. Wish it was many more.". Pastor Fred Phelps is quoted as saying: "Oh I am so thankful that that happened. My only regret is that they didn't kill about a million of them." It's all very disrespectful and sensational. It's all very sick. But it's not out there on it's own. After 9/11, Al-Qaeda released a video which claimed: "The Americans should know that the storm of plane attacks will not abate, with God's permission. There are thousands of the Islamic nation's youths who are eager to die just as the Americans are eager to live". Are Al-Qeada and the WBC linked or just diferent branches of the same hate-tree? There's just too much talk about hate from people who are supposed to be ardent supporters of religion and God. Apparently these people are telling us that God hates, not loves. And that must be a message that millions of other Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Hindus just never found in the Qur'an, Bible, Torah, Tripitaka or Bhagavad Gita. Did everyone get it wrong? Or is Atheism the only real answer?

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