Adieu 2004!

Tamsui
Originally uploaded by ymc47.

It's the last day of '04...a wonderous year of unpredictability, travels to near and far and such and such...

Here's a shot of a nice suspension bridge in Taipei which me and my good friend Loren Chang visted yesterday (after a nice and semi-choppy ride on a "ferry" across the Tamsui river). May it serve as a symbolic reminder to you that the journey has just begun!

Happy New Year!

To the tens of thousands of lives lost...

By now, you've probably heard of the tragic deaths all around south-east Asia caused by tsunamis triggered by Sunday's earthquake in Indonesia.

Let's do something, in any way, shape or form, to help those victimized by this unexpected disaster.

http://www.ifrc.org/helpnow/donate/donate_response.asp

Splitting Hairs: Pro-Independence/Pro-Taiwan

Dear Readers,

As you know, I am sometimes bored out of my mind, sitting in an A/Ced office in the Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan.
Sometimes boredom leads to inspiration, other times, it leads to totally insipid blathering. After reading my post from yesterday, I've decided some clarifications needed to be made before debating the arms budget (i.e. whether Taiwan should purchase over $18 billion dollars worth of US made military hardware).

There are a lot of dichotomies in the whole Taiwan vs China debate (ha, see?):

Some include,
Unification with China versus Independence from China
Pro-Taiwan politicians versus Pro-China politicians

I see many problems with these groupings. And although in my last post, I felt it necessary to point out that hardened, polarized viewpoints on Taiwan's eventual future with China are of the norm, it is still necessary to point out several misnomers or terms that are always certain to be taken for granted by the media.

One of these misnomers is "Independence, or pro-inpendence" as a political road to be taken by Taiwan.

Because the Chinese government tends to a have an obsessive proclivity to label any politician in Taiwan who does not submit to Chinese rule as a "separatist", it tends to galvanize domestic support in Taiwan for politicians who run on political platforms that outwardly show defiance toward the Beijing government. They have monopolized the label: "pro-independence forces". Whether they really do enact policies that help benefit Taiwan's sovereignty and continued independence is hardly questioned: these people are obviously, pro-Taiwan. Meanwhile, again mainly because of the Chinese government's insistence of using Stalinist propaganda with regards to Taiwan's international status, many domestic forces within Taiwan that wish to foster a more concillitory tone with Beijing become "pro-unification, pro-China forces." Often, they are accused of "selling" Taiwan up the river to Beijing. Nevermind the possibility that a concillitory approach (while perhaps less palitable and face-saving) with China can bring long term peace and material benefits to Taiwanese and Chinese people alike, these people are Pro-China...and pro-China is pretty much akin to anti-Taiwan.

It may seem ludicrous hair splitting, but I think the political and media pundits alike in Taiwan and worldwide new to rectify the terms they use.

In so doing, we need better definitions for what it means for Taiwan to be independent. Today, just as more than fifty years ago, Taiwan has not been administered in any way, shape or form by the current Communist government called the People's Republic of China. We need to consider what international and domestic forces were and are behind this great deal of freedom Taiwan has enjoyed. What does declaring independence today mean? What purpose does it serve? Whose interests are involved? Perhaps we should use the word "security" in lieu of independence. It's a bit more specific, less partisan, and even less liable to obsfucation from PRC ideological garbage.

Closely linked to this is the pairing: "Pro-Taiwan/Pro-China". If we have to use the term Pro-Taiwan politicians in the political lingo on this island, it obviously means that there are Anti-Taiwan forces at play. But what we shouldn't necessarily equate as equal entities of the same ilk are the Anti-Taiwan and Pro-China forces. Can we account for the possibility of a Pro-China and Pro-Taiwan force existing in tandem? Why or why not?

That's all the hairsplitting for the moment. Next time, I'll consider why Taiwan and China need a lot more mutual understanding above all else. After that, perhaps we'll be in a better position to begin debating the arms package, the recent PRC "Anti-Secession Law" (read: male-cattle excrement) and what the recent domestic elections in Taiwan will mean for current cross-Strait relations. Peace for both sides.

Taiwan-China: Are we digging for the hatchet?

Sometimes, I believe it to be an advantage for non-Chinese (whether they be from mainland China, Taiwan or an overseas Chinese community) or non-Taiwanese (whether they be from mainland China, Taiwan or an overseas Chinese community) when it comes to analyzing issues relating to China and Taiwan. Or in other words, if you have no blood ties to China or Taiwan, your unique perspective often transcends certain taboos, myths and commonly held beliefs. This is not to say that all ethnic Chinese have one belief system or that non-Chinese political analysts cannot understand the intricacies of the matter. Rather, it is my argument that a Chinese person who feels obligated once in a while to analyze the political situation between China and Taiwan find him or herself tied to a certain ethos, a combination of historic memories and accumulated life histories that have been transferred into a living consciousness of ultimately uncompromising polarity (UUP).

It is not my purpose to analyze the vagaries of Chinese nationalism (my manifesto on Chinese Nationalism will be posted at a future time) here, but instead, I want to offer a rubric or a set of general guiding principles for the amateur political analyst such as myself, to create a better understanding of why it seems like both sides always seem to be talking past each other.
Of course, these ideas are just some introductory thoughts, they will of course eventually need defining and empirical back up (this is what we call "theory", right?). But, I intend to throw these preliminary ideas (such as Chinese Territorial Reunification Discourse) in light of some recent issues that are likely to have an effect on cross-Strait politics.

These issues (in no particular order of importance):
-The recent pan-Blue "victory" in the legislative elections in Taiwan
-The debate over whether Taiwan should pass a US $18 billion dollar arms package
-China's desire to enact a "National Unification Law" that outlaws "secession" of parts of China from the motherland.

Tomorrow (or "next time"): The (re)unification naysayers...and the $18 billion dollar arms package.

"A victory for the Republic of China..."

The results are in for Taiwan's 6th Legislative Yuan Elections...
The pan-green led government has managed only to elect 101 seats, well short of the 113 needed for a parliamentary majority.

The pan-blue led opposition has garnered around 114 seats, plus 2 blue leaning non-party members, which means that they will control the Legislative Yuan for another three years and most likely check and block attempts by President Chen to bring the country closer toward "independence." Chen's term ends in 2008. He has pledged to rewrite the nation's constitution in 2006.

"A victory for the Republic of China," declared chairman Lien of the opposition-led Kuomintang. Lien has been a leader of the pan-blue coalition despite two consecutive presidential election defeats. This latest victory will likely indicate a consolidation of Lien's support base for the time being.

Some interesting points: Voter turnout was at an all time low (59.1%) despite excellent weather throughout the day. Either the pan-green supporters were overconfident and stayed at home, or a high degree of backlash, marked by voting fatigue, cyncism, long-term ideological tirades and a disaffected electorate has finally brought a message home to the government---stop campaigning and get some real things done for a change.

What to watch for:
1) Will the emboldened KMT still push through much needed reforms after steaing this show from the jaws of defeat?
2) Is President Chen really a lame duck president now? Will the DPP cooperate with the opposition and heal the wounds of a divided nation?

We'll be watching.

No calm before the storm...

Feel free to close this browser window if you're sick of politics, the ludicrous state of world affairs, the warping of policy issues into meaningless bickering, the wholesale rape and pillage of democratic discourse by a hegemony of irrationality of the irrefutable "public will", etc. The list goes on...still reading?

Taiwan's 6th Legislative Elections are due to happen tomorrow...the backdrop of this democratic process is a wave of negative discourse which has tustled at the fabric of Taiwanese society. We are dealing with two political forces (the pan-green quasi-independence leaning forces and the pan-blue quasi-unification leaning forces) who will dramatize (at all cost) their efforts to secure a majority in parliament. All sorts of promises have been made..."If we win a legislative majority, we will...protect Taiwan, protect the Republic of China, protect our faltering public reputations, build a stable society, provide higher pensions for seniors, reform the media, control the media, control the bad weather, bring ample rains, bring hell to Communist China, declare independence, become the 51st state of the USA, add members to our paltry list of Third World diplomatic allies, etc."

Yet because Taiwan's politicians are not held accoutable to their promises---the current government will always blame the opposition parties for blocking much needed reforms, whilst the opposition will always blame the government for representing a minority viewpoint. Add to the equation a traditional viewpoint that politics and holding political office is inherently evil, the people most qualified to bring real change to our society have either emigrated or are doing research in nicely air-conditioned rooms, giving the occasional tirade at the TV screen on how the country is going down. You might find this amusing; I find it familiar.

And now, as voters prepare to go to the polls, the candidates and parties are in a hustle, trying to convince voters to allocate their votes in a special way that will allow their parties to represent each district with numeric strength. This "vote allocation" strategy, combined with empty promises of reform if "we get a majority" is the ultimate slap-in-the-face to this Great Democratic Experiment... On Saturday, no matter which side wins, I predict the further degeneration of our nation's so-called democracy.

Yet, low voter turnout is not the way out of this institutional quagmire. The electorate (no matter if they vote with their hands, feet or hard currency) must go out there to demonstrate to the world that this sick, sick system is still working disfunctionally. We must shake our fist in the air (with contempt and also a degree of theatrical defiance) and remind the Communists next door that our imperfect system, while lacking perfection is reformable not with the barrel of the gun or the muzzle of an AK-47, but with the kissing of certain asses, the whoring of certain public assets and the glossing over of certain issues. If we can overcome totalitarian government, we can overcome fake democracies as well!

We live in exciting times, no?

Watch out Ukraine, you haven't bested Taiwan just yet.
Stay tuned...

Mountain ranges

Mountain ranges
Originally uploaded by ymc47.

Went to the Northeast coastline of Taiwan yesterday with some friends to take photographs. Many on the trip were students of an art class; their assignment was to take the photos, develop them and create their own interpretations after they returned to Taipei. Received some insightful tips from the instructor on what to include in the frame, and what to leave out.

Although it was most cloudy because of a passing weather system, I thought the coastline to be extremely breathtaking-the mountain ranges with their varied visibility gave the landscape an ethereal feel to it.

A tumultuous ocean
Originally uploaded by ymc47.

As we returned from our journey, the sun started peering through the clouds, which gave the ocean a nice torquoise tint to it.

Alas, I am a follower of convention...

So...
Merriam-Webster recently put the word "blog" as the number one word of the year (based on the number of searches made on its website: http://www.merriam-webster.com/info/04words.htm)

Why am I jumping not-so-boldy into the realm of publicising my "finding" and viewpoints of certain events in human history? For one, I believe it to be a good way to solidify my thoughts in a world that is shifting away from its foundations into a battleground of ideological, technological and spiritualistic polarity.

Second, the sleek paper-based journal that I bought doesn't officially start until January 1st, 2005.

Third, by recognizing the futility of bringing orginality to the masses and myself---I have decided to strike deep into the bowels of convention to be a slave to convention, thus defeating its attempts to instrinsically alter my subconscious desire to establish orginality. This by itself, is somewhat unconventional...

So, you've read my "Statement of Purpose", my "Magna Carta", my "Declaration of Intent", etc. Now, what should you expect, if you decide to add this page to your "Favorites" and check its status religiously?

A. You will understand my unswerving desire to understand the question of all questions: "Why isn't the moon made out of cheese?"

B. You will inculcate and sympathize with my desires to defenestrate all corrupt forms of radicalism!

C. You will see an unconventionally conventional, oxymornic juxaposition of words that may force you to reconsider your continued usage of and your frequent communication in, the English language.

D. Oh, and a small window into the mind of Chiao Yuan-Ming, future street vendor and spiritual leader of the Virgin Bloggers Association.

If you've read this far, you're a zealot that I would consider a friend (or somebody who somehow received this link involuntarily and felt compelled by the needs of loyalty and/or self-depreciation to read further). But now, I must adjourn. As I contemplate pressing the "Publish Post" button, thereby exposing these empty thoughts to the confines of cyberspace, I ask you, dear reader, to define the meaning and significance of the crossroads at which you currently stand or have recently embarked from. What drives you forward with gusto? Why do you cower with hesistant steps?

The inagural post ends here. Come again!