Freedom of speech in Taiwan being oppressed again

Chinese KMT gov't to the people: "It's our party, and you'd better not mock it!"

The latest example of Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government infringing on free speech (see earlier examples at the bottom of this post) involves a video parodying a campaign ad by incumbent Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡志強). After mocking a candidate from the ruling party, the creator of the video -- Kuso Cat (AKA 廖小貓) -- was threatened with a lawsuit by Mayor Hu and is being watched by all sorts of government eyes, and the media has been reporting it incessantly as a top story.

Here's the kuso version of the video:

4:00 YouTube video: "台中胡錢豹九週年慶_唬屎狗_廖小貓出品"
Translation: "Taichung Hu Qian-bao's [a play on the name of the 金錢豹 nightclub] 9th Anniversary - Hǔ Shǐ Gǒu [Bluff Shit Dog] - by Kuso Cat"
I don't completely agree with the Taipei Times' characterization that the video "portrayed the young women as working as hostesses at a nightclub in Taichung." An important bit of context that's missing from the related coverage is this this October 29, 2010 news story about police alerting the girls at a Taichung night club of an impending raid. The video of the girls sneaking around fits perfectly. In both the original video and the parody, Jason Hu calls these girls "Everybody's girls!" Although the vehicle for the parody is the video and the girls seen within, its real target is the public figure they're promoting: Jason Hu.

David Reid has a detailed intro to this incident and several related links in a blog post titled "KUSO and freedom of speech in Taiwan."

The sort of attention the government is giving this video (despite prosecutors' denial that there will be an indictment, the kinds of threats implied in the Ministry of Education's letter asking National Taiwan University to "carefully monitor" the political discussions on PTT's "Gossiping" forum) provides yet another example of how things that are critical of Chinese KMT politicians draw swift attention from the law while attacks against politicians from the pro-Taiwan/pro-democracy DPP are ignored. Because Taiwan suffered for decades under the Chinese KMT's martial law and White Terror (which ended not so long ago), and since so many setbacks to Taiwan's democracy have occurred so rapidly since Ma's inauguration in May 2008, it's easy to get the impression that we're very quickly returning to that kind of rule.

Questions to counter the media memes
* Who "portrayed the young women as working as hostesses at a nightclub in Taichung" first? Or should I say Hu "portrayed the young women as working as hostesses at a nightclub in Taichung" first?! (Hu: "Everybody's girls!")

* How could these girls -- who claim to have made this video just "with friends" -- get the chance to sit down with Mayor Hu and record him saying the things he says while their video camera is rolling?

* When businesses like the Golden Jaguar (金錢豹) are still flourishing -- despite promises by Hu that he would clean Taichung up -- doesn't this kind of parody practically write itself?

* Isn't the period of time just before an election the most likely time someone would mock a campaign ad? What kind of person would think there's anything at all "unusual" about the timing of the kuso video's appearance?

* On November 27, 2010, who will the citizens of Taichung elect to be their mayor for the next four years?

Remain alert!

Compare this!
Here's the source video for comparison. Note the multiple double entendres in the original title, including the play on Hu's Mandarin name:

3:14 YouTube video: "Hu's Girl MV-胡志強招募青年志工 "
Translation: "Jason Hu recruits young volunteers"
David Reid's post (linked above) also contains a video of Taiwanese bloggers in support of Kuso Cat.

A small sample of related incidents:
* December 9, 2008: The Chinese KMT "blatantly launched a drive to control the news reporting and programming of Taiwan's Public Television Service Foundation (PTSF), which manages the Taiwan Public Television Service (TPS) on behalf of our nation's citizens." TPS includes Taiwan Public Television, Hakka Television and Indigenous Television, and the China Television Service.

* December 10, 2008: Chinese KMT legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) -- bastard son of Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) -- speaks at Tainan's Chengkung University (成功大學), ROC flags are removed because Chinese students are present, a Taiwanese student protests, Chiang tells the student to "be open-minded" and LIES, saying that there wasn't a flag to begin with. But the removal of at least one flag was already captured on video. A woman on the stage asks the student to "be respectful" -- but what happened to respecting the students of the university who are citizens of Taiwan?

* December 11, 2008: Just four hours after Human Rights Day has ended, 200 or so police round up the Tibetans sitting in Liberty Square (自由廣場) and take them -- some who can't speak Mandarin -- off to the hills of Neihu and Guandu. The police also evict the students from the Wild StrawBerries movement (a group of students protesting the outdated Assembly and Parade Act [集會遊行法]) from the square. Check out some of the police violence that was caught on camera.

* December 17, 2008: The home of Chen Tsung-yi (陳宗逸) -- manager of the recently-demised New Taiwan Weekly (新台灣週刊) -- is searched by agents from the Taipei City branch of the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Chen claims that the agents attempted to intimidate him, and were deceptive about what they were looking for.

* December 19, 2008: The Wild StrawBerries' live broadcast disappears from the Justin.tv web site. A notice says that it was "for violating the Terms of Service." An inquiry I sent to Justin.tv gets me only a form letter reply.

* January 16, 2009: The large teapot-shaped object in Taipei which just over a year ago was renamed the "National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" (國立台灣民主紀念堂) is retrogressing to its original name of "Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall" (蔣介石紀念堂) to honor the late dictator and mass murderer that the Chinese KMT still worships. Here's a related editorial cartoon ("Out with the new, in with the old. More authoritarianism, less democracy.").

* March 6, 2009: An 18-year-old senior high school student in Chiayi shouts at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), telling him to "step down" (下台). He is taken in and fingerprinted by police. Taiwan Echo has another post on the subject.

* March 29, 2009: Police with video cameras intrude upon a private meeting of bloggers demanding personal information from attendees. The police were unable to explain their presence, and superiors denied having ordered the intrusion. Despite police "apologies" two days later, incidents which indicate a return to the days of White Terror continue to occur all-too-frequently.

These were just a few examples I already had conveniently available. Please submit your own "favorite" examples of the erosion of freedom of speech under the Chinese KMT administration of Ma Ying-jeou in the comments section below. Include links, please.

The natural conclusion
Unless you pay close attention to these kinds of incidents, they will continue to happen, and your freedom of speech will continue to rapidly erode.

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Pixel chillers: Taiwan, 台灣, Kuso Cat, 廖小貓, Jason Hu, 胡志強, Hu's Girl, 唬屎狗, White Terror, 白色恐怖, martial law, 戒嚴

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

Formosa Betrayed, a powerful story

This can't possibly be the same film Ian Bartholemew reviewed Friday

The film Formosa Betrayed, whose screenplay amalgamates the tales of the 1980s murders of Carnegie Mellon University professor Chen Wen-chen (陳文成) and writer Henry Liu (劉宜良, AKA Chiang Nan [江南]), has been discussed publicly for almost four years, and it finally made it to general release at cinemas in Taiwan on Friday, August 6, 2010.

Yet Taipei Times movie critic Ian Bartholemew seems to think it was based upon the George Kerr book of the same name (it was not), that it was about the events surrounding the 228 Massacre (二二八大屠殺) of 1947 (even though that event -- which happened 36 years prior to our story -- is mentioned within, it's not part of the plot of this movie), and that "Retrocession" [sic] is the proper term for the occupation of Taiwan by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) (it is not).


Formosa Betrayed movie poster
outside of Taichung's Tiger City
Photo by Tim Maddog
(Click to enlarge)
I had awaited this film's arrival in Taiwan for such a long time, and having seen so many previews, reviews, and interviews, I was a little bit worried that there wouldn't be very much left for me to experience anew when I saw it in a movie theater. Fortunately, I was wrong.

Before I get to anything involving spoilers, let me tell you a few things about the movie in general.

It is what it is
So, what is Formosa Betrayed? The story centers around FBI Agent Jake Kelly (played by James van der Beek) and his search for the two gangsters who murder Taiwanese-American professor Henry Wen. The evidence brings Jake to Taiwan, where he meets waiter/independence activist Ming (明, played by Will Tiao [刁毓能], who also co-wrote and produced the movie) and uncovers more truth than his superiors ever wanted him to. The events take place in 1983, during the White Terror period and four years before the lifting of the Chinese KMT's 38-year-long imposition of martial law on Taiwan.

This is thriller
Beyond the film's historical implications (being the first American film to deal with Taiwan-US relations"), we are propelled through the story by our concern for the protagonists, Jake and Ming, by their struggles against bureaucracies, gangsters, police agencies, and even military officials, and by the hope that they will succeed and survive. It shouldn't matter if you are American, Taiwanese, or neither -- unless you hate one or both of those countries, you'll probably care for both characters, and you will feel their pain as you watch horrific events unfold.

The antagonists are everywhere. Watch the movie and see how almost every time Jake tries to do the right thing, someone delays him, finds his "target" before he does, or tries to bring him great harm. You might not even realize whether some characters are the good guys or the bad guys until near the end of the flick.

Production values
The film -- directed by Adam Kane (Heroes) and photographed by Irek Hartowicz -- has a gritty, desaturated look throughout much of it, creating an atmosphere appropriate to both the period and the content. The first image we see -- Jake's blood-splattered face in very shallow depth of field -- sets the tone for what's to follow.

The score didn't draw much attention to itself, remaining mostly way in the background except in some especially tense scenes. Two or three times during the film, I got quite a jolt from the audio-visual-story combo -- an excellent reason to see the film in a theater.

Other reviewers' complaints about the film being shot in Thailand instead of Taiwan drive me nuts. The reasons for it happening have been explained again and again, and even more detail has come out quite recently about the Chinese KMT's involvement. My wife -- Have I mentioned that she's Taiwanese? -- didn't have any complaints about the locations not looking enough like Taiwan in the eighties, so I have a hard time accepting that particular gripe.

Some of these complainers may merely wish to discredit Formosa Betrayed. Others may have unthinkingly been influenced by such thoughts and are repeating them. Whatever their reasons, it's as if everyone suddenly forgot how to suspend their disbelief for this particular motion picture. (Pssssst! You're actually sitting in a chair in an air-conditioned theater in the year 2010 in a city which may or may not be Taipei!) With the budget limitations, I would guess that telling the story took priority over adding a CGI recreation of Taipei.

So, while it may not be a state-of-the-art spectacle, it does a great job of doing what people go to the movies for: it tells a powerful story.

It ain't what it's not
Formosa Betrayed is not an allegory. It's basically a straight-up dramatization of events related to Taiwan's history -- a story which has needed to be told for a very long time. And Will Tiao, Adam Kane, and the rest of the cast and crew have done a formidable job of it.

What will I learn?
* The Chinese KMT is not protecting Taiwan from Commie bandits, and they never have.
* The United States' cooperation with the Chinese KMT ignores/involves lots and lots of evil.
* Good people standing up for basic human rights get called "gangsters" and "terrorists" by those responsible for mass murder of innocent civilians.
* Taiwan is not China, and despite frequent claims about the matter, Taiwanese are not treated like "brothers" by the Chinese.
* Others' admonitions which are supposedly "for your own good" are often ways for them to hold onto power while keeping you down.

Who should see this film?
Every single Taiwanese should see this film, whether they already know about this history or not. Anyone who has ever supported the Chinese KMT should see this film and open their eyes widely. Americans should see this film to understand what their government has done (and continues to do) to Taiwan.

If you enjoy thrillers, you should see Formosa Betrayed because it's an exciting story which, as Roger Ebert says, is "actually about something."

If you don't like mainstream Hollywood flicks, see it for its independent style.

If you don't fall into any of those categories, make like a Nike ad, and just see it!

Where to see it
I saw it at Tiger City in Taichung. Here's the page where you can find showtimes for all Vieshow Cinemas (威秀影城) in Taiwan. See it soon, as it probably won't be here for long.

Fiction vs. reality (SPOILERS)
Some people have said that the people and events portrayed in Formosa Betrayed are entirely imaginary. Those people are either lying or they're ignorant -- perhaps both. Here is a short list of some people/things in the film and the people/things they correspond to (or not) in real life:

* Wen Ming-hua (溫明華, AKA Henry Wen, the murder victim) = Chen Wen-chen + Henry Liu.
* Guy with camera at student protest = Student spies funded by the Chinese KMT.
* David Wu Da-wei + James Lee Shin-shen (the killers) = Chen Chi-li (陳啟禮) and others.
* Ming's sister, Maysing (美星): "Don't use your phone. They're listening." = Government phone tapping of political opponents/dissidents/competitors -- something which still happens quite frequently.
* The protest in Kaohsiung = The Kaohsiung Incident of 1979. (Note: Just a few months after Formosa Betrayed had completed filming, similar things happened during the protests against visiting Chinese envoy, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin [陳雲林]. including the brutal beating of an FTV [民視] reporter. Also watch Red Caution to see what happened to Taiwan in the first few months Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] was in office as president.)
* The murder of Ming's wife and daughter in their home = The murder of Lin I-hsiung's (Lîm Gī-hiông, 林義雄) family while their home was under 24-hour police surveillance.
* The way Ming's father was killed = The way many people were killed in the 228 Massacre: shot in the head and/or dumped in a river. (Others were buried alive.)
* Professor Wen and Ming being called "gangsters" and "terrorists" = A common tactic used by the gangster-affiliated Chinese KMT.
* 健康 (Health[y] brand cigarettes = The ironically-named Long Life (長壽) brand of cigarettes.
* The movie ≠ The book by George Kerr. Although it's got the same title, and it's about the same country and the same party-state, it's a different story.

Other interesting tidbits (minor SPOILERS)
* Jake is assigned Room 228 (a reference to the 228 Massacre of 1947) in his Taipei hotel.
* When Jake is at the airport leaving Taiwan, a voice is heard on the airport intercom announcing in English "China Airline[s] flight 1947 from Taipei to New York is now boarding…"

Just one thing…
As Michael Turton pointed out previously, that onscreen title at the end… it's wrong, and it should be fixed because it undermines the message the rest of the film tries so hard to get across. It says [highlight mine]:

Currently there are 23 countries that recognize Taiwan as an independent nation.

The United States is not one of them.

The problem is that the countries which have official relations with "Taiwan" recognize Taiwan as the "Republic of China" and its associated claim to represent -- y'know -- China. Because of the "one-China" policies of both the PRC and the ROC, not a single one of those countries recognize Taiwan's independence the way they should -- and that right there is the problem!

A whole spectrum of other reviews
* David Reid's review: "Formosa Betrayed: a quest for truth and justice."
* Jerome F. Keaton's review: "The Film 'Formosa Betrayed' Though Different from 'Cape No. 7' is Important for Taiwan Youth."
* Michael Turton's review: "The Gospel According to Will: Formosa Betrayed."
* Sheri Linden wrote a fair-even-if-not-entirely-postive review in The Hollywood Reporter.
* Despite the number of stars he gave it, Roger Ebert seems to have liked it.
* Ian Bartholemew wrote what could be the most uninformed movie review I've ever read.
* Does Vancouver's Katherine Monk think that watching Formosa Betrayed is as bad as being colonized and placed under nearly four decades of martial law? Her excessively negative review is titled: "Viewers are ones who are betrayed."

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MacGuffins: Taiwan, 台灣, Formosa Betrayed, 被出賣的台灣, movie, 電影, Will Tiao, 刁毓能, White Terror, 白色恐怖, martial law, 戒嚴

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

Open Letter from the producer of Formosa Betrayed

Putting Taiwan in the spotlight

Will Tiao, the producer of the film "Formosa Betrayed" (被出賣的台灣), which is being released across the United States today, sent this around [emphasis mine]:

Dear Friends,

This weekend, February 26-28, a new movie about Taiwan will be coming to theaters. Formosa Betrayed is the first American film to ever deal with US-Taiwan relations and explore the issues of democracy, identity, and justice during the White Terror period in Taiwan. The movie was largely funded by Taiwanese all over the United States and Canada, who invested over $6 million into the film. This makes Formosa Betrayed one of the largest pro-Taiwan projects ever funded by the overseas Taiwanese community. Most of these investors are not wealthy -- they are hard working individuals who came to America to provide a better life for their children.

I am one of those children.

My parents are from Kaohsiung, Taiwan. While growing up, they taught me to call myself "Taiwanese," not "Chinese." This caused them much hardship, which included being put on a blacklist. Some of their friends had worse things happen to them. In some cases, people were killed.

The Taiwanese people have suffered at the hands of many over the last century, but these stories have rarely been told or heard. As a second generation Taiwanese American, I feel it is my duty to educate my generation, as well as the world, about the struggles and suffering of the Taiwanese. We cannot allow Taiwan's history and its people's hardships to be forgotten. Once that happens, it only becomes a matter of time before these atrocities are repeated. This is precisely why I dedicated the last five years of my life to bringing the story of Formosa Betrayed to the world.

As the turbulent reaction to President Obama's recent arms sale to Taiwan shows, US-China-Taiwan relations is still a touchy subject that is greeted by fleeting interest, faint support, or --perhaps worst of all-- indifference by the American media. I am hoping the release of Formosa Betrayed will help spur greater awareness and wider discussion about these important matters in the United States and abroad. This is why I am urging you to see Formosa Betrayed this weekend with your friends and family -- to enlighten them about Taiwan's embattled legacy and its struggle for democracy.

Thank you for your time and interest.


All the best,

Will Tiao
President, Formosa Films
Producer, Formosa Betrayed

Remember that this film is based upon important real events in Taiwan's history, and do everything within your power to see it.

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Daily rushes: Taiwan, 台灣, open letter, 公開信, Formosa Betrayed, 被出賣的台灣, White Terror, 白色恐怖, Chinese Nationalist Party, 中國國民黨, Kuomintang, KMT, 國民黨

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

More ugly KMT history revealed

Talk about an "exposé"

On Wednesday, the frequently sensationalist Apple Daily published pictures taken at the abandoned Ankeng Guesthouse (安康接待室/安康接待所) in Taipei County. These particular photos needed no embellishing -- in fact, portions (and not just the full name on a jar containing an object of mystery and suspicion) were obscured by a mosaic.

The ironically-named* Ankeng Guesthouse was a facility used during the White Terror period by the Taiwan Garrison Command (台灣警備總司令部) under the party-state of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) dictatorship.

In addition to hundreds of documents found at the scene which reports say are related to the interrogation of political prisoners, there were dozens of glass jars containing human body parts. The facility had been abandoned for quite some time and was missing even a front door.

Thursday's Taipei Times provided some of the English coverage:

Yesterday's Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that the documents [Maddog note: interrogation records], along with body parts in jars, had been left scattered at the Investigation Bureau's abandoned Ankeng Guesthouse in Taipei County.

[...]

The newspaper printed photos taken inside the building of human body parts in glass jars. Both the newspaper and the government said the body parts belonged to homicide victims and were unrelated to politics. [Maddog note: How credible is a statement like that?]

The newspaper's reporters were able to enter the derelict office and take photos of the documents and human remains.

[...]

Hsieh [former national policy adviser Hsieh Tsung-min (謝聰敏)] said: "They [Taiwan Garrison Command officials] told me they conducted human experiments on a mountain in Jingmei [景美], but few people knew where it was. Most people were taken to the place blindfolded and few of them came back."

He said both former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had failed to conduct a proper investigation into the fates of political prisoners during the White Terror era.

Asked by the Taipei Times why the documents had not been dealt with under the two-term Chen administration, Cheng [DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦)] said the government had not been aware of them. Had it known, it would have requested action, he said.

Here's more from Thursday's Taiwan News:

Acting on information from local residents, reporters for the vernacular "Apple Daily" found files on about 500 former detainees tossed like garbage in the abandoned Ankang Reception Center in Hsintien, Taipei County Tuesday evening.

Built in 1973, the innocently named "reception center" was initially controlled by the now defunct Taiwan Garrison Command's Military Law Department Ankang Detention Center and served as a location for the detention and joint interrogation, including torture, of "seditionists" by TGC military court prosecutors and the Investigation Bureau until the lifting of martial law in July 1987.

Here's an earlier report via Wednesday's Taiwan News:

Most of the 50 files uncovered by the reporters dated back to Taiwan's White Terror period, when the Kuomintang government of President Chiang Kai-shek persecuted dissidents and people it suspected of sympathies for communism or for Taiwan Independence.

Subjects of the files included late opposition Democratic Progressive Party chairman Huang Hsin-chieh and former Vice Premier Chiou I-jen, the Apple Daily said.

The MJIB [Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau] said the files only contained the most basic information, including fingerprints and photographs, of people who had spent some time inside the building as detainees or interrogation subjects. The files were stored inside metal filing cabinets [Maddog note: See my notes about this further down in this post, below the video], so they had not been abandoned, the bureau said.

The bodies [sic; Maddog note: This should probably refer to body parts] at the Ankang Hostel were stored temporarily for research purposes until the newly established Ministry of Justice Coroners Research Institute had moved into its own site, the MJIB said.

After the media turned out in force at the site Wednesday, the MJIB mobilized police to keep reporters out, while cleaning personnel also arrived to spruce up the low concrete buildings and the surrounding woodland. [Maddog note: Couldn't this also be considered "tampering with evidence"?]

So far, I don't see any coverage of this story in the China Post.

Related video
Here's a Chinese-language report from FTV, uploaded by YouTube user jessie1229tw:


6:54 YouTube video: "20090318 安康接待所-民視新聞台"
Translation: "March 18, 2009: Ankeng Guesthouse - FTV News"
Look closely at the 2:02 mark in the above video, and you'll see that those documents that were supposedly "stored inside metal filing cabinets" don't quite match that description. You'll also hear former national policy adviser Hsieh Tsung-min talking about different forms of torture that were inflicted at the facility, including one that sounds a bit like waterboarding -- except that it used oil or even mace ("辣椒水").

Meanwhile, back at the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari...
The KMT currently has their sights on reopening the investigation of the March 19, 2004 shooting of former president Chen Shui-bian and his running mate Annette Lu (呂秀蓮). I don't object at all to further investigation (in fact, Chen and Lu both welcome it) -- as long as it's based on facts -- but the party who maintained their power via the torture at the Ankeng Guesthouse shouldn't be the ones conducting it.

Discussing the reasons for reopening the case, KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) referred to "a lot of mystery and suspicion surrounding the incident." Unfortunately, there's far more "mystery and suspicion" surrounding his own party, and another investigation at this point in time would seem an awful lot like an attempt to divert the public's attention away from their own serious problems which foment hatred to this very day.

* The name is ironic because "Ankeng" (Ankang, 安康) means "safe and healthy" and because the so-called "guesthouse" was actually a torture facility.

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Les yeux sans visage: Taiwan, 台灣, Chinese Nationalist Party, 中國國民黨, Kuomintang, KMT, 國民黨, White Terror, 白色恐怖, 新華, Apple Daily, 蘋果日報, Ankeng Guesthouse, 安康接待室

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

Take a stand for Taiwan's democracy

More signatures, please

Last time I checked, there were 584 signatures on the "Open letter on erosion of justice in Taiwan," but there should be far more. (I'm #102.) If you haven't yet done so, please go read it, and add your signature now [UPDATE 1, December 3, 2008: Many thanks to all of the readers of this blog who have added their names to the letter! As of 8 PM Taiwan time, there were 1,999 signatures. Even though the goal of 1,000 signatures has nearly been doubled, the Ma administration has not acknowledged their wrongdoing. If you haven't signed it yet, please do. /update 1].

Also, the Wild StrawBerries Movement (野草莓學運) has an online petition, too. (I'm number 三八ㄟ.) [UPDATE 2, December 3, 2008: Many thanks to all the readers of this blog who have given their support to the Wild StrawBerries! As of 8 PM Taiwan time, there are 1,184 signatures, but there still hasn't been a satisfactory response from the Ma government. If you haven't signed the petition yet, please go do it now. /update 2] Here are their goals [edited for formatting, clarity, spelling, and completeness]:

1. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) must publicly apologize to all citizens [for creating the situation which allowed the police to treat protesters the way they did during Chen Yunlin's (陳雲林) visit to Taiwan].

2. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) and National Security Bureau Director Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明) must step down [to take responsibility for the police brutality that occurred as a result of the massive police presence].

3. The Legislative Yuan (行政院) must revise the Parade and Assembly Law (集會遊行法), which currently restricts the rights of the people [and which are set to become even more repressive early in 2009]. [This is basically a simple demand for "Freedom of Assembly."]

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Whys and wherefores: Taiwan, 台灣, White Terror, 白色恐怖, open letter, 公開信, petition, 簽署

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

Open letter on erosion of justice in Taiwan

Add your signature

The "Open letter on erosion of justice in Taiwan" is online in petition form, and you can add your signature to it by clicking the preceding link. Here's the text of the letter [I've edited stray code and formatting, but unless otherwise noted, the text is identical to the original]:

Open letter on erosion of justice in Taiwan

The undersigned, scholars and writers from the US, Europe and Australia, wish to express their deep concern about the recent series of detentions in Taiwan of present and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government officials. To date there have been at least seven such cases. [Maddog note: The detention of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) without an indictment brings that number to (at least) eight.]

It is obvious that there have been cases of corruption in Taiwan, but these have occurred in both political camps. The political neutrality of the judicial system is an essential element in a democracy. It is also essential that any accused are considered innocent until proven guilty in the court of law.

We also believe that the procedures followed by the prosecutor's offices are severely flawed: while one or two of the accused have been formally charged, the majority is being held incommunicado without being charged. This is a severe contravention of the writ of habeas corpus and a basic violation of due process, justice and the rule of law.

In the meantime, the prosecutor's offices evidently leak detrimental information to the press. This kind of "trial by press" is a violation of the basic standards of judicial procedures. It also gives the distinct impression that the Kuomintang (KMT) authorities are using the judicial system to get even with members of the former DPP government.

In addition, the people who are being held incommunicado are of course unable to defend themselves against the misreporting and the leaks in the news media.

We do firmly believe that any alleged wrongdoings must be dealt with in a fair and open manner in an impartial court. Justice through the rule of law is essential to Taiwan's efforts to consolidate democracy and protect fundamental human rights.

We do not want to see Taiwan's hard-earned democracy jeopardized in this manner. Taiwan can justifiably be proud of its transition to democracy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It would be sad for Taiwan and detrimental to its international image if the progress which was made during the past 20 years would be erased. Taiwan needs to move forward, not backwards to the unfair and unjust procedures as practiced during the dark days of Martial Law (1947-1987).


Signed:

Julian Baum
Former Far Eastern Economic Review bureau chief

Nat Bellocchi
Former American Institute in Taiwan chairman

Coen Blaauw
Formosan Association for Public Affairs, Washington

David Prager Branner
Director at large (East Asia),
American Oriental Society

Gordon G. Chang
Author of
The Coming Collapse of China

PROF. June Teufel Dreyer
University of Miami

PROF. Edward Friedman
University of Wisconsin

PROF. Bruce Jacobs
Monash University

Richard C. Kagan
Professor emeritus,
Hamline University

Jerome Keating
Author and former associate professor, National Taipei University

ASSOC. PROF. Daniel Lynch
School of International Relations, University of Southern California

PROF. Victor H. Mair
University of Pennsylvania

ASSOC. PROF. Donald Rodgers
Austin College

PROF. Terence Russell
University of Manitoba

PROF. Scott Simon
University of Ottawa

John J. Tkacik Jr
Senior research fellow,
The Heritage Foundation

Gerrit van der Wees
Editor, Taiwan Communique

PROF. Arthur Waldron
University of Pennsylvania

PROF. Vincent Wei-cheng Wang
University of Richmond

Stephen Yates
President of DC Asia Advisory and former deputy assistant to the vice president for national security affairs.

Go add your name right this minute -- while you still can.

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Reasons to sign: Taiwan, 台灣, White Terror, 白色恐怖, open letter, 公開信, petition, 簽署

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

Sorry-ass BBC misreports Taiwan again

Caroline Gluck, what's wrong with you?

On July 16, 2008, Caroline Gluck wrote an article for the BBC titled "Taiwan sorry for white terror era." The dateline on the article also indicates that it was written in "Taipei," but regular readers of this blog might wonder if Gluck was actually reporting from a different planet altogether.

However long ago it was written, Gluck's misreporting on Taiwan should be neither forgiven nor forgotten.

Let's start by looking at just the headline.

First of all, "Taiwan" can't be sorry for the era, since Taiwan and its people were the victims. The assailants weren't even from Taiwan. They were the Chinese Nationalist Party (中國國民黨 or KMT).

The next mistake has to do with the lack of capitalization. "White Terror" should have been treated as a proper noun here, the same way that word combinations such as "Treaty of Shimonoseki," "Green Island," Jade Mountain," "Jiancheng Circle Market," "Boston Communiqué," "Taiwan Relations Act," and "Declaration of Independence" should be capitalized when they refer to unique geographical locations or historical documents.

"Sorry" seems to mean something else on Planet Gluck
Saying "sorry" and being sorry are often two distinct things. Let's see which one applies here.

The words being interpreted by Gluck were spoken by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) (Chinese KMT), who was inaugurated on May 20, 2008, and whose administration quickly turned the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (台灣民主紀念館) back into a place where people could "pay their respects" to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), the former dictator who oversaw the White Terror period. (See also this Chinese-language CNA article about the removal of the 228 Exhibition.) The new administration also quickly put so-called "honor guards" back at the mausoleums of Chiang and his son (head of the "blue shirt" secret police) Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).

The resumption of the so-called "honor guards" happened just over one month ago.

And don't forget Ma's tributes to the dead dictator shortly after he was elected. (See also this related article from the Taipei Times.)


Shortly after his election, Ma lays a wreath at the tomb of Chiang Kai-shek
(Click to enlarge)

Self-explanatory CNA photo via the April 6, 2008 Taipei Times
(Click to enlarge)

Turning dictators into dolls? Ugh!
(Click to enlarge)
Is either Ma or his Chinese KMT "sorry" for the White Terror era? I don't buy it for one minute, and neither did Yao Mu-chi (姚沐棋):

In tears, Yao said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government had wrongfully convicted her parents and ruined the lives of her and her entire family.

Yao said her parents, both journalists, were accused of spying for the Chinese Communist Party. Her mother, who was convicted without a trial, died of torture 85 days after being arrested, Yao said.

Her father, also convicted of spying, served 10 years in jail, Yao said.

Yao said she and her two older sisters were labeled as the "daughters of spies" and blocked from promotions at work and from taking national examinations for civil servants.

So-called "reporting"
In the first sentence that follows the article's subheadline, Gluck waffles:

During the so-called "white terror" period, martial law was imposed by members of Mr Ma's Kuomintang party, after they fled to the island in 1949.

Again, the subject gets the lowercase treatment, but even worse, Gluck refers to it -- in compound "those-aren't-my-words" fashion -- as the "so-called 'white terror' period," writing as though it were the figment of someone's imagination. If the hyphenated modifier weren't enough, she puts scare quotes around the already-degraded term.

Imagine what Gluck's reaction might be to a foreign journalist who (fictionally) referred to the "so-called 'blitz' of London" during "world war ii," and you might be better able to understand this from a Taiwanese perspective. Do the math, and you'll figure out the sum of insult + injury.

Gluck's so-called "journalism" frequently misrepresents the area she is supposed to knowledgeably cover, and this example is no exception. Although there's a bit of what might otherwise be called "balance" on the subject in her article, the aforementioned offenses negate any merits those points might otherwise have had.

FURTHER READING:
* Take a look back at some of the BBC's anti-Taiwan bias as previously covered at It's Not Democracy, It's A Conspiracy and Taiwan Matters:

1) BBC gets Taiwan all wrong
2) BBC angers all who care about Taiwan
3) BBC still not getting Taiwan right
4) BBC continues Taiwan deception
5) BBC strikes again
6) BBC Taiwan Coverage: Pathetically Biased
7) BBC cooks up more nonsense about Chen recall bid
8) Who will observe the Taiwan observers?
9) BBC has news about Taiwan totally backwards
10) BBC's Gluck dumps on changes to Taiwan's history books
11) Another distortion piece from the BBC

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Orthographies: Taiwan, 台灣, BBC, 英國廣播公司, Caroline Gluck, 凱若琳葛拉克, White Terror, 白色恐怖, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, Chinese Nationalist Party, 中國國民黨, Kuomintang, KMT, 國民黨

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

United Bamboo -- KMT's Underground Assassination Sector

On October 4th, Chen Chi-li (陳啟禮), aka Lord Duck (鴨霸子), the one-time spiritual leader of the United Bamboo (竹聯幫), the largest gang in Taiwan, passed away in St. Teresa's Hospital, Hong Kong. He is well known to Taiwanese for his role in the oversea assassination of a Taiwanese-American writer Henry Liu in California (1984). Liu wrote a manuscript about the extramarital affair of then President Chiang Ching-kuo and was considered a rebel of the country. The assassination was ordered by KMT in the name of patriotism. In a case like this, Chen should have been treated by KMT as a national hero. However, after the contract was successfully carried out, KMT betrayed him and sentenced him to life in prison. Chen escaped to Cambodia to avoid life imprisonment and hid there until his death.

The death of Chen Chi-li not only marks a transition point of United Bamboo Gang, but also, more importantly, refocuses Taiwanese attention to the dirty, covert gangster-linked nature of KMT. The recently exposed yet another murder contract between KMT and a Hong Kong movie star, Jimmy Wang (Wang Yu 王羽), for the intended killing of Hsu Hsin-Liang (許信良) certainly stirred up the heat even more.

But there's more shocking news. Let me cited several paragraphs describing the origin of United Bamboo Gang first.

Taiwan's Dirty Business
The United Bamboo was founded 40 years ago by a handful of teen-aged sons of senior officers in Chiang Kai-shek's KMT army who had encamped in Taiwan rather than be crushed by Mao Zedong's advancing Communists. Disenchanted by the humiliation of their fathers, the young rebels joined forces to fight other gangs along Bamboo Forest Road on the outskirts of Taipei.

Lord Duck Is Dead
Chen (Chi-li) was born in 1943 in China and moved with his family to Taiwan in 1949. At age 17, he formed the United Bamboo gang with friends ... the United Bamboo gang was formed by a bunch of teenage students who were born on the mainland, oppressed by local Taiwanese people and got together to defend themselves.

Both articles describe that the reason the United Bamboo Gang was formed was nothing but gangster-style romanticism. If this is true, then we can fairly say that KMT later decided to "link to" this already existing gang and make use of their fire power for political use.

But "link to gangster", a knowledge that has long been recognized through available records, can't seem to describe the true nature of KMT enough.

When Chen Chi-li was indicted for his role in the oversea assassination, the attorney representing the victim's wife was the current DPP Presidential candidate Frank Hsieh. Certainly Hsieh was in the court with Chen Chi-li and had the chance to listen to what Chen Chi-li said.

In a news report (謝長廷：當時的政府要陳啟禮組竹聯幫) yesterday, Hsieh revealed:

"Chen Chi-li said in the court that the (KMT) government wanted him to organize the United Bamboo Gang, and the sole purpose is to kill those rebels. They (KMT) thought the anti-government people are weak, so it's possible to gather gangsters to organize United Bamboo Gang to handle these people. This is what Chen Chi-li said."
陳啟禮當年在法庭講過，「當時的政府要他組織竹聯幫，就是要對付所謂的叛徒，殺害這些人，他們當時認為黨外、民主運動人士沒有力量，很可能可以結合流氓，組織竹聯幫制裁、傷害這些人，這是陳啟禮自己講的。」

He went on saying:

"Chen Chi-li said it crystal clear, openly in the court, (it's the government) asking him to organize the United Bamboo Gang, and to extend their influence for the sole purpose of killing those people."
他說，「陳啟禮講的很清楚，公開在法庭講，叫他出來組織竹聯幫，擴大勢力，就是要殺害這些人」。

and

"Chen Chi-li described the organizing process in details in his confession and the audio recording. Because it's the (KMT) government who ordered the gang formation, it brought chills to the bone. So at that time nobody dare to say anything."
「他有自白、有錄音，把這經過講得很詳細，當時大家不敢講，看了大家會冒冷汗，是政府去組織黑社會。」

Hsieh also hinted that the reason the United Bamboo Gang could grow to be the largest gang in Taiwan is due to KMT's support.

What Hsieh revealed is a shocking news. After all, "has gangster link" is one thing, but "actively organize a gang for the purpose of murder" is a whole new story. Obviously, even after years of awakening, Taiwanese still haven't learned how dirty the true nature of KMT is yet. The United Bamboo Gang is not just a gang that KMT links to. In fact it is KMT's underground assassination sector.

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More readings:

● More on the White Wolf
● The China Connection - How Crime and Politics come together ... again
● Ex-movie Star Claimed KMT Wanted Him to Kill Hsu Hsin-Liang
● Prosecutors launch investigation into Jimmy Wang `murder contract' case

Hsieh vs. Ma: A virtual presidential debate

Reason vs. mere rhetoric

In the post I wrote yesterday marking the 20th anniversary of the end of martial law in Taiwan, I quoted DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) explaining that forgiveness of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) past offenses against Taiwan (which -- be honest -- continue to this very day) shouldn't include giving them another chance to be Taiwan's stewards. Here's the quote once more:

"We can forgive a 'caretaker' who harmed our people, raped our daughters and stole our property, but we can never allow him to be the caretaker again."

The quote is back in the news today, having started a debate of sorts (in which the participants were in different locations at different times). Reporters who had heard tell of each quote then asked the relevant candidate's opponent for his response. Or something along those lines.

Hong Kong-born KMT candidate Ma "There's-a-seriously-decomposed-corpse-on-the-balcony-of-my-City-Hall" Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- who announced his candidacy just hours after being indicted for misusing his "personal allowance" while he was mayor of Taipei -- responded to Hsieh's comment with the same kind of logic one would expect from a man who rode a bicycle around Taiwan for ten days and informed the world via his personal blog about not wearing underwear while doing so. (Could he be a "Britney Spears" fan?)

The article -- in which Ma wishes people would just forget all about martial law in Taiwan -- relates it like this:

Ma slammed Hsieh for his remarks, saying he "was surprised to hear Hsieh speak ill of others, because Hsieh is religious."

Ma also challenged Hsieh's idea of "reconciliation and coexistence," calling it "hollow words."

Speaking truth to authoritarianism (whether one is religious, agnostic, or atheist) doesn't count as "speak[ing] ill of others" (造口業) -- a phrase which implies unjust criticism. In the case of Hsieh's description of the KMT, it's simply truth that must be told because of the vast media conspiracy that would prefer for the public to ignore the dark past (and present) and focus on such hollow words (如空話) as "handsome" instead. Hey, Ma "Informed-on-his-Taidu-classmates-during-a-time-when-that-could-get-them-killed" Ying-jeou, people called Ted Bundy "handsome," too.

But the KMT's double-standard-bearer (Ma) didn't stop there. Continuing to avoid logic at all costs, he actually buttressed the validity of Hsieh's criticism with this next bit:

"The fact that the KMT was bad in the past doesn't prove the DPP is good now," Ma said.

First things first: "[T]he KMT was bad," and that's a fact, Jack!

But just in case your head is spinning from Ma's non sequitur, let's break down the "logic":

The fact that noun A was adjective B in the past doesn't prove that the opposite of noun A is the opposite of adjective B now.

Replacing those with some words chosen off the top of my head, I come up with this: "The fact that the dog was furry in the past doesn't prove that the cat is hairless now." Or, "The fact that Hitler was evil in the past doesn't prove that [choose your own contemporary opposite] is benevolent now."

As you can see, the statement is utter nonsense.

Ma "Foolishness-doesn't-prove-anything" Ying-jeou, therefore, can't even prove his own assertion (that the DPP is not good) -- but he does bolster my assumption above that the DPP -- despite all its faults -- is pretty much the polar opposite of the KMT. No wonder he never passed the bar exam.

The beleaguered former Taipei mayor (Ma) stumbles onward while gazing at himself in the rearview mirror:

"The KMT has stepped down [following the 2000 presidential election] and has reflected on its conduct during the martial law period," he said.

They love to claim that they "reflect" (反省) -- in a genteel and inscrutable Confucian manner -- on the errors of their murderous ways, but we still have Ma "Singapore-is-a-good-model-to-follow" Ying-jeou spewing nonsense. If any such "reflection" had actually occurred, the die-hard KMT members would have returned their stolen assets to the people of Taiwan, donated whatever was left to the victims of the "228 Massacre" and subsequent White Terror, and perhaps even gone home to the "motherland" to be with the ones they love. Whatever! Hsieh says to stay here and enjoy the democracy earned on the backs of the Taiwanese if you want -- just don't expect the people who call Taiwan their motherland to want you to be their president.

Hsieh puts the final nail in the conversation with this alliterative verse:

Hsieh said the victims [of political persecution during the martial law era] should forgive their persectors but never forget.

"Those who forget history will be forgotten by history. Those who abandon history will be abandoned by history," Hsieh said.

"Those who have harmed others are in no position to ask their victims to forget."

I can't wait to see these two go head-to-head in a real debate on live television.

FURTHER READING: For Hanzi versions of what was said by the two candidates, try here, here, here, here, or here.

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Pros and cons: Taiwan, 台灣, Republic of China, 中華民國, DPP, 民進黨, KMT, 國民黨, Frank Hsieh, 謝長廷, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, democracy, 民主, 228 Massacre, 二二八大屠殺, freedom, 自由, martial law, 戒嚴, Taidu, 台獨, White Terror, 白色恐怖

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