中華民國，伊是我的「砲灰」Forming the "New" Consensus

Yesterday, a peaceful demonstration in Taipei against China's anti-secession law concluded without a hitch, and made it again, resoundingly clear that people in Taiwan do not want to be swallowed up by the CCP. Conservative estimates conclude that 270,000 protesters clogged the streets of Taipei, while organizers claim a number closer to one million participants: if we multiply/divide the each estimate by 3 (a magic number that filters out exaggeration), 4-500,000+ protesters were probably there. While the 3-26 event demonstrated vocal opposition to the Anti-Secession Law, it also revealed the limitations of Taiwanese unity under pressure, and an overall failure to heal partisan divisions within Taiwanese society. According to recent polls, well over 90% of Taiwanese citizens are against the Anti-Secession Law (what a surprise), but, (un)fortunately, there are widely different ways in which people think Taiwan should react to the PRC.

Finding a Consensus:
1) Taiwan needs unity in these trying times, but unfortunately, China's recent actions have hastened division within Taiwan. I think there are several reasons for this, but the most important, is a lack of consensus regarding the status of their own country. When I saw the footage of great banners waving "Taiwan yes, No China", my immediate reaction was: ok, this is childish. But upon further reflection, I realized that Taiwanese society is very much different from the _Chinese Communist system_ and it's fine for people to feel the need to make that distinction; although we can keep coming back to this great division, it doesn't do us much good to alienate a good number of people in Taiwan who take pride in their Chinese ancestry and heritage. Although Taiwan is not part of the PRC, it does share close linguistic, cultural, historical, economic ties with China. We don't need to be ashamed of where we emigrated from, "we all started from somewhere". Yes Taiwan, No to Communism, would work better in my opinion.

2) Another thing I found strange was the lack of national flags in this parade (besides the few stage proped in front of the presidential building). Flags serve a symbolic nature, and flag waving is a limited expression of patriotism, but it's also a sure fire way to overcome partisanship in times of national crisis. Rallies such as these should be consensus builders, not "blank-check" campaign promises. If we are to take the events of 3-26 seriously, we must do so as a country, not as a party. The most important consensus that holds Taiwan together today is the country's title: The Republic of China (ROC, 中華民國) I feel that the mostly good-natured protesters are somewhat concerned that waving this flag is somehow a dishonor or selling out to China. Unfortunately what they fail to realize (or convieniently forget) is that the great slogans of "Protect Taiwan, Democracy, Peace" are the entrusted every day duties of the ROC armed forces and those great security forces who were present in the thousands to protect the very political leaders who particpated in the march, and the 23 million people who inhabit this island. To use the ROC title without respect, and to cower behind it to promote a Taiwan "independence" agenda is truly disgusting. It also dampens the morale of those who oppose China's aggression, but feel that there are other ways to diffuse this crisis. We are an island of diversity and we should use differences of opinion to strengthen our pool of OPTIONS: should our differences divide us, Mao gets the last laugh...

3) Both sides in Taiwan must not feel a need to kowtow to each other to promote the unity we need today and in the future. We co-habit this beautiful piece of earth, and we should learn to respect each others viewpoints. The politicians and activists who brought the first true waves of democracy to Taiwan should be respected, but those who fought against Communist China's greedy fingers before, and helped develop the country's economic miracle should not be foresaken either! We all want to hasten the unbridled strength of this land and its people---shouldn't we able to mutually respect the contributions that have been made and that we all enjoy today? We shouldn't be excessively worried about writing history today...but instead be wondering how our actions today will help or hinder the plight of the next generation!

The protests have ended and we now need to focus on effective policy that fosters the building of trust between China and Taiwan and the true diffusing of tension between our governments. We can only do so if our house is in order. /End manifesto-critique format.

Those who love to write history without reading it, beware

Tomorrow is 3-26, a date of great importance for Taiwan. Our president, Mr. Chen "A-bian" shui-bian (陳水扁) is leading a mass of a million people (the advertised number) to march around Taipei to protest Beijing's putrid attempt at convincing the people of Taiwan how much they love our little island. Let me tell you why I think this idea is good:

-It shows the international community that Taiwan exists (as it has existed geologically for a many years and will continue for many many years to come), and that we don't want to be a part of the People's Republic of China (who does?).
-It offers pro-independence minded people a way to vent their anger toward China without having to actually work for Taiwan's dejure independence or help Taiwan sustain its real economic and political independence from China. This is "Independence without Mayhem-Lite"
-It greases the wheels of "Protest Vendors" (those people who sell stickers, whistles, and other cool protest gear to the hardy participants of rallies---did I mention the gleeful smiles of the Taipei metro, the nationwide bus network, the food vendors, the Taiwan Railway Administration and the smiling, happy-go-lucky military police?

There are also some potentially "bad" side effects that this rally might have on Taiwan:

-By leading a march, the president of Taiwan looks like he's a local administrator, petitioning the central government in Beijing. Hey, Taiwan isn't Hong Kong (at least not yet), ok?
-We legitimize Beijing's actions by legitimizing their "legal" terminology. At best, this anti-seccession legislation is a domestic law of the PRC. The ROC could care less about it! Yes, we should be angry at Beijing, by why do we have to dance to their tune? Why can't we be more proactive?
-A million people can produce lots of urine and solid waste in such a small area such as Taipei. Where's all that shit going to go?

More analysis later...gotta check out this porto loo/potty

There and back again...

Dear stragglers of the wired world,

I do admit, it's been a while since I've updated...let's just say, I didn't want to bore you to tears!
My manifestos will continue to circulate once I've rationalized the irrational and reconstructed the destructed constructs of our unstable existence.

Anyways, I've been busy juggling the exploration of three different languages---Chinese Mandarin (I'm trying to improve my composition), Taiwanese (also known as Hokkien, Minan dialect) and Mongolian. Needless to say, the efforts are merely so---I hope to improve vastly in the next few weeks.

On the conscription front: news, or rather, an update. As it turns out, the government is promoting a new program to draw young people like me who studied extensively overseas, back to the country. As an alternative to rifle toting, grenade tossing and saluting, this program is geared to exploit the specialities (especially language skills) of these 小留學生 rather than having them go to waste so to speak, in the barracks. With some hope, I should be able to join up and serve my country by teaching English to elementary school students in remote areas. Sounds good.

Today, was the one year anniversary of the March 19th shooting incident in Taiwan. For those who need a refresher, somebody shot the president and VP on the day before the presidential election, which some say, unfairly shifted the results to favor the incumbent, Mr. Chen Shui-bian. To this day, there is no credible evidence to pinpoint the suspect, and the government refuses to appoint an independent panel to investigate the incident. I remember this day last year and the following turmoil vividly. While the protests galvanized half of the country, another half was left aliented. Today, tens of thousands of supporters retook to the streets to demand the truth, but their protests come at a time when Taiwan needs solidarity. We need the juxtaposition of rationalism and patriotism, not the conglomoration of division and hate. /end pseudo-political speech/