August 30: Up with Taiwan!

Down with negativity!

Are people really succumbing to the news of Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as if they were wrong to support his pro-Taiwan agenda when others were accusing him of all kinds of things without providing evidence? It's nearly impossible to know, but the pan-blue media sure is pushing that message.

Whatever Chen's guilty of (and the weight of the accusations decreases by the day), it shouldn't add a single ounce of credibility to any of those random accusers. Remember the moral of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf": No one will believe a liar, even when they are telling the truth.

Get off your demoralized asses, and do somethin'!
As I pointed out recently, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been pushing their pro-China agenda forward faster than you can say "Genocide Olympics." What are you going to do about it?

Well, you could just sit there and let Taiwan go down the drain before your eyes. But a better choice would be to keep pushing forward and to use your democracy before it's taken away completely. Toward that end, there are some activities coming up where simply showing up will help.

Rally? Really!
Tomorrow (Saturday, August 30, 2008), there will be a march and rally to protest President Mr. Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) increasingly China-leaning policies. The title of the event is 830百日怒吼全民站出 (My translation: "The Roar of a Hundred Days: Stand Up, and Be Heard"), and it's a joint effort by multiple pro-Taiwan groups such as the Taiwan Society (台灣社). This activity will take place in Taipei beginning at 3 PM and will continue until around 7 PM.

Two groups of marchers will converge at Ketagalan Boulevard (凱達格蘭大道) for the "grand finale" in front of the Presidential Office office of Mr. Ma. Among many other complaints, this demonstration will also demand that the people of Taiwan be consulted via a referendum regarding any cross-Strait agreements made by Mr. Ma's government.

In contrast with what some pan-blue yack-show hosts are trying to make people believe, the event is not a rally in support of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) (830不是挺扁的活動). If you attend the rally, and you see or hear any people claiming to support Chen, they're most likely pan-blue infiltrators, so try not to react the way they would like you to.

Press(,) release (yourselves from Chinese bondage)
Here's how it's being promoted to a certain group which frequently fails to see things in Taiwan, uh, clearly (info via Jerome F. Keating, PhD):

To Taiwan's Foreign Media: Check out the August 30 Protest against Ma Ying-jeou
It will soon be 100 days since Ma Ying-jeou has been president of Taiwan, 100 ineffectual days. So what do the people think about Ma? How do they evaluate his first 100 days? Come to the Presidential Palace this Saturday, August 30th and you'll see what some think of the man whose popularity rating has dropped below 37 per cent. Don't be misled, this protest is no show of support for the scandal-ridden Chen Shui-bian as pan-blue forces may try to paint it. This protest is all about Ma, his ineffectual programs, his placing the country at risk and his inability to govern.

Who will be there? Of course there won't be too many hard core pan-blue people even though many of them share the same thoughts about Ma's inadequacies. Here however is an inkling of those you will see.

Marchers will come from different directions; Specific Groups in these marches include:
The Taiwan Nation People
The Taiwan Teacher's Alliance
The Political Victims of Taiwan
The 2/28 Families Alliance
The Taiwan Build the Country Alliance
The Protectors of Taiwan's Flame
The Taiwan Association of University Professors (TAUP)
The North American Taiwanese Professors Association (NATPA)

That is not all. You will also see average citizens marching:

--Those who are tired of Ma's broken promises—like his promises to divest the KMT of the stolen state assets (made three years ago) and get the arms purchase plan moving (also three years ago)

--Those who believe in their nation and believe it should have dignity, even though Ma declines to be called President in front of China, and says Taiwan's sovereignty is not important.

--Those who know that Ma has no love or feeling for Taiwan as Taiwan, but only sees it as a prize he can take credit for in bringing it to China and fulfill both his deceased father's dream and the KMT dream of unification.

--Those who laugh at Ma's foolhardy and inefficient plans to stimulate the economy. Take for example the brainchild promise to bring in thousands of tourists from China every day when barely 300 a day have come. Even if the numbers had lived up to his foolhardy promises, insiders knew it was all hype and only a drop in the bucket.

--Those that are angry that Ma now desperately suggests multiple entry visas for China's 1.3 billion people; no other nation dealing with Taiwan has that privilege.

--Those who know Ma's secretary has taken the fall for stashing half a million US dollars in Ma's bank account; the secretary is in jail while Ma pleads ignorance. Of course the secretary expects a presidential pardon "when the time is right."

--Those who know their children's lives and careers were destroyed by Ma being a KMT campus spy in his years in the USA.

--Those who are embarrassed and angry that Ma has foresworn any petition for Taiwan to enter the United Nations this year citing the vague hope that he will be happy with the crumbs of China allowing Taiwan to sit in the corner like a good little boy and just "observe" what happens at the World Health Association (WHA). This is supposed to be a great achievement?

--Those that are embarrassed that Ma has chosen a personal friend who hardly speaks Japanese to be Taiwan's "ambassador" to Japan, Taiwan's closest ally.

--Those who have always seen that Ma as an image seeking poseur and charlatan, who never accomplished anything significant in his eight years as Mayor of Taipei.

Yes the list goes on and on; and no Ma doesn't talk about the economy any more, nor does he talk about his past broken promises. Come out and see what the people really think of Ma. And if any of the above match your beliefs, feelings and experience, join in and express them.

I couldn't have said it better!

Maps!
Here's a map of the Eastern Route [UPDATE 1: Printable version /UPDATE 1]:

Here's a map of the Western Route [UPDATE 2: Printable version /UPDATE 2]:

Here's a link to the text version of those routes, in Chinese, of course.

Scream and shout, let it all out!
Some people have asked recently, "Where's the anger?" It's there, all right, but however rapidly Ma's policies have damaged Taiwan's sovereignty, most of Taiwan's population isn't going to rush to judgement. However, the time has come, and I think a lot of people will show up at the August 30 (830) rally.

Let the world know that you reject Mr. Ma's dirty pro-China policies and that you will stand up for Taiwan!

Got poster?
Here's one I did up. Feel free to print one up for yourself:


Download it! Print it! Carry it!
(Click to enlarge)
Help me get that message in the international media.

And now...
For something completely different that you can do, there's the 2007 film "Katyn" 《愛在波蘭戰火時》 by famed Polish director Andrzej Wajda, which just opened in Taipei on August 15. The film has apparently been well-received there, and I heard that the distributor is considering sending it to Taichung and Kaohsiung. Jerome Keating describes the film as recalling Taiwan's tragedy -- a reference to the 228 Massacre of 1947. If it's in your area, go see it. The film is in Polish and Russian, and is being shown with Chinese subtitles. If that doesn't do it for you, wait for the DVD, or look for it. It's out there.

Future-retroism
And after you've viewed the film, try to view current events in Taiwan as if you were watching them from 50 years down the road. What do you see happening? What's in the near future for Taiwan? What part will you play in these events?

FURTHER READING:

About the rally:
* Pro-localization groups prepare for rally on Aug. 30
* Rally will boost morale:DPP
* DPP to participate in rally

About the movie:
* 華依達新作【愛在波蘭戰火時】催德國女總理落淚
* Chinese-language introduction to the movie including historical background and more
* A Chinese-language blog about the movie
* Chinese-language info and showtimes for the Leofoo Movie Theater (長春戲院)

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Quicker picker-uppers: Taiwan, 台灣, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, China, 中國, protest, 抗議, Taiwan Society, 台灣社

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

New Year in Taiwan, same old ESWN in Hong Kong

Words mean things

Both Feiren and I wrote on Saturday about DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun's dispute with the China Times. Among the differences in our posts was that Feiren linked to ESWN, a blog by Hong Kong-based Roland Soong in which the author takes little tidbits of truth and presents them buried among tons of crap.

Feiren had this to say about Soong's presentation:

In this rather long post, I summarize and comment on a typical example of ESWN's misleading work on Taiwanese politics: ESWN's treatment of DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun's dispute with the China Times [...] What I find particularly objectionable and intellectually dishonest are ESWN's rhetorical gestures toward objectivity by giving 'both sides' of the story and his suppression of the context that even relatively informed readers (such as China-based correspondents) need to make a critical judgment.

Therefore, it was hardly surprising when Soong took the BS-TV approach in what may be a response to Feiren touching a nerve. I'll begin with paragraph 7 of Soong's post:

In my blog post, I have summarized all the pieces from
various parties that I have come across the mainstream Chinese-language media in Taiwan. If you only read English, you may have not have read all of them. So I was just collating the reactions and translating them from Chinese to English as a public service. For balance, you can read Taiwan Matters.

I think he has the part about "balance" right. There, he links to Feiren's post in which Feiren was careful with his words and opinions. But the other part about "just" doing those things "as a public service" falls just as flat as it has every time he's made similar claims. Soong has a constant habit of using words like the ones within these posts (hover your cursor over the numbers to see: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) to attract visitors to his site. Then, when he has your attention, he hits you with crap like this (continuing directly from above):

For comparison, I ask you to imagine:

At a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference, the spokesperson declared that no questions will be taken from New York Times reporters until as such time as their China bureau chief is removed on account of a specific article as well as what is perceived as persistent negative criticisms.

At a Hong Kong Government Information Office press conference, the spokesperson declared that no questions will be taken from Apple Daily reporters until as such time as its chief editor is removed on account of a specific article as well as what is perceived as persistent negative criticisms.

At a White House press conference, the spokesperson declared that no questions will be taken from the Washington Post until as such time as its chief editor is removed on account of a specific article as well as what is perceived as persistent negative criticisms.

Let's begin at the beginning. Soong wants readers to "imagine" a completely different scenario while he pretends these things somehow relate to Yu's comments about the China Times. The other bits I've highlighted demonstrate how Soong repeatedly gets the most basic details wrong. Yu's court case against the China Times is based on a specific point of contention which, as Feiren pointed out, was repeated several times over a period of five days, culminating with a front page story. The things the China Times repeatedly printed weren't "criticisms" -- they were actual lies, not merely "perce[ptions]." Furthermore, even Tuan "if he isn't a spy for the China Times, he might as well be" Yi-kang said that the China Times had repeatedly twisted his words. Yu's reasons, therefore, weren't limited to just the cases involving him -- the paper was harming the reputations of the Chen Shui-bian administration, DPP officials, and their supporters.

Worldwide reaction? Universal condemnation? Ubiquitous BS?
Soong finishes his crap off by taking the reader to the Toilet Bowl of Hyperbole [/high-PURR-buh-lee/] (again, continuing directly from the previous quoted section):

Worldwide reaction would be overwhelmingly against those hypothetical decisions. This is the reason why Yu Shyi-kun was almost universally condemned across the board -- blue and green. Given all that is said, what would you do in Yu Shyi-kun's place? This is not just about your personal reactions, but also about your sense of global reactions from others. My purpose in going through those collations/translations is to pose that question to you, whether you are in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States or elsewhere. If you believe that Yu Shyi-ku's actions are correct, please say so to the whole wide world.

And there you have it -- a bowl filled to the brim. The problem here is that Soong not only doesn't give you enough information to make up your mind for yourselves -- he distorts the information he does give you, and confuses you with non-analogous imaginary situations. How do you spell "deceit"? R-O-L-A-N-D_S.

It's real simple, and it goes like this: If somebody repeatedly spreads lies about you, your associates, your friends, and your supporters, there's no reason to trust them to accurately represent your words. That's the stuff of self-destruction, and anyone with a healthy mind and an ounce of intellectual honesty could see it.

Just some of Yu's vocal supporters
Taiwan Society backs Yu in press spat (Taipei Times)

Aside from the Taiwan Society, other groups lending support to Yu's decision include the Taiwan Northern Society, the Taiwan Southern Society, the Taiwan Eastern Society [Maddog note: The Taipei Times told us just last June that the Taiwan Society is an umbrella group which covers those other three plus many more] and the Taiwan Bugle Society [Maddog note: previously corrected to "Taiwan Society Herald" in Taipei Times reports] -- all known for their pro-Taiwan independence stance.

Before Yu's announcement, these groups had months earlier already denied the newspaper interviews and refused to read or subscribe to it.

[...]

[Secretary-general of the Taiwan Society, Chet] Yang (楊文嘉) yesterday said as much as he respects the China Times reporters' rights to work, he did not think these rights should be overemphasized.

"Their work rights cannot take priority over and exclude other public values," he said. "For example, they should not exploit their rights to creating false news."

In a public statement last Friday, the Taiwan Society criticized the newspaper as a "media trust" which "fabricates news" and "sows discord."

It said Yu, as a public figure, was not refusing to be interviewed by other media, and was not trying to avoid media supervision.

The China Times should initiate a review of the quality of its own reports instead of blaming others the Taiwan Society said.

Hey, Roland -- I gotcher universe right here! (Hey, Taipei Times editors -- wake up and smell what you've published!)

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Things which are and aren't parts of China (not necessarily in that order): Taiwan, 台灣, media, 媒體, Taipei Times, 台北時報, ESWN, 東南西北, Roland Soong, 宋以朗, China Times, 中國時報, Yu Shyi-kun, 游錫堃, Taiwan Society, 台灣社, Chet Yang, 楊文嘉, Tuan Yi-kang, 段宜康

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