Trust the Chinese Nationalist Party?

Why not just add the word "not"?

During Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Mr. Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) presidential campaign, he used the double entendre 「馬上好」 (mǎ shàng hǎo) as a slogan. The phrase can mean both "Ma becoming president is a good thing" and "Things will be good soon."

It's not, and they won't.

The campaign was taking place at a time when, in contrast with constant pan-blue media reports to the contrary, Taiwan already had a very healthy economy. At that time, the news hadn't yet come out that during the first quarter of 2008 -- under the administration of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) -- Taiwan's GDP growth rate was a "better-than-expected" 6.06%.

Ma's campaign extended the slogan of "mǎ shàng hǎo" to imply that an even more immediate "change" would occur (although they failed to tell us in which direction that change would take us). One of the ads which used that slogan had someone lampooning former president Chen. In that commercial, a child's voice asks, 「那還要等多久？」 ("So how much longer will we have to wait [for things to get better]?"). The fake Chen replies, 「馬‧上就會好」 (mǎ shàng jiù huì hǎo), or "When Ma is elected, things will be better immediately."

See/Hear for yourself (video starts slowly):


0:20 YouTube video: "馬上就會好"

That's only what we said, not what we meant
A little over one month ago, I had already suggested my own variation on Ma's slogan. Now, even his team is realizing that they'd better backtrack.

Yesterday's news reported that Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) announced that 「馬上漸漸好」 (mǎ shàng jiàn jiàn hǎo) ("Things will gradually get better") will be the new slogan. He claimed that 「馬上」 is "just an attitude" (態度) and that the slogan is now being used by the DPP to "hurt the Ma administration." That might be a good excuse if the KMT hadn't come up with the slogan themselves.


Liu Chao-hsiuan (劉兆玄) helps Mr. Ma (馬英九先生) change his tune
(Image via SET's Talking Show [大話新聞])
For now, all I can do is (foolishly?) hope that the KMT doesn't do irreparable damage to Taiwan while they're in office -- as if they're not already well on their way to doing so.

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Shapes of things to come: Taiwan, 台灣, Mr. Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九先生, Liu Chao-shiuan, 劉兆玄, economy, 經濟, slogans, 口號

Cross-posted at It's Not Democracy, It's A Conspiracy!

Tsai Ing-wen on the DPP's Path to the Future

I have been greatly cheered by what I've so far from new DPP Chairman Tsai Ing-wen, whom I always thought would make a great chairman. Today the Taipei Times reported on her talk at the foreign correspondents club....

Tsai — talking to members of the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents Club in Taipei — reiterated the message she has been delivering since taking over as party chair last month, saying the next four years were vitally important as the party needs to start again following its defeat in January’s legislative and March’s presidential elections.

Party unity was the most important aspect of the rebuilding, Tsai said, adding that a recent opinion poll had shown public perception of the DPP’s unity had increased dramatically.

Asked about how the party would reconnect with grassroots voters and compete with the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) traditionally strong local organization networks, Tsai said the DPP would strive to increase direct contact with voters and would use former government officials to extend its grassroots movements.

Tsai said that although the party was strapped for cash, one thing it did have was a lot of time and it would use that time to re-energize its disappointed supporters.

On the issue of sovereignty, Tsai said that while it was important, it would not be the main focus for the party under her tenure. She said the DPP would remain firm but practical on the issue and accused the KMT government of giving away “too much, too fast” in the recent cross-strait talks with China, adding that a balance needed to be obtained.

Quizzed on whether she would lead opposition supporters to the streets if the new government failed to live up to expectations, she said that it was not her “style.”

She said that while the DPP wouldn’t tell people to protest, it would help organize things if that were the case.

Talking about the lack of stability and continuity in the DPP and the high turnover of party leaders in the past, Tsai said it was important for the DPP to experience a period of stability and emphasized she would not resign if the party performed poorly in next year’s local county commissioner and mayoral elections.

Good news all around, though I think the DPP needs to keep the tactic of street demonstrations as a threat if the situation turns really bad. I especially like her commitment to stay on even if the party does not do well in next cycle -- the habit of empty resignations to 'take responsibility' in local government is destructive and instability-inducing.

[Taiwan]

Deep thoughts 2, June 7, 2008

A one-man band?

It would be rather difficult for one person to make off with 560 metric tons of fertilizer all by himself.

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The usual subjects: Taiwan, 台灣, deep thoughts, 深思

Cross-posted at It's Not Democracy, It's A Conspiracy!>

Deep thoughts, June 7, 2008

What's in a name, huh?

Perhaps Taiwan's new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊), is not aware that the United States has a Taiwan Relations Act -- not a "Republic of China Relations Act."

Even Thomas Christensen (remember him?) has the sense to call Taiwan "Taiwan" -- at least he does when the context includes the PRC (AKA "China").

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Beyond Francisco's grasp: Taiwan, 台灣, Republic of China, 中華民國, ROC, 華, China, 中國, People's Republic of China, 中華人民共和國, PRC, 中共, deep thoughts, 深思, Francisco Ou, 歐鴻鍊, Taiwan Relations Act, 台灣關係法

Cross-posted at It's Not Democracy, It's A Conspiracy!