Taiwan Update: More Pre-Inauguration Excitement! Plus Beijing is Growly Again
First off, let's talk about China, shall we? I'm not too jazzed to do it, but I guess I ought to, since it's been busying itself scowling and growling at both Taiwan and the US.
(Digression: You know, in a way that's the rub about being Taiwanese-American. There are some folks who think Taiwan is evil. And there are some more folks who think America is evil. So what does that make me? DOUBLY EVIL or something? Probably. Add the fact that I'm a Texas-born Taiwanese-American, and I might as well have "Hi, I'm Evil" stamped on my forehead as far as some people are concerned...and that's not even dipping into politics. For the record, to cement the fact I'm all sorts of evil, let me say for the record: I love Texas. I love Taiwan. And I love America too. End of rant. Back to the news.)
Taiwan Reacts to China's Threat of Force
The government is urging the nation to stay calm. The low-key response is definitely in, and officials insist that the threat hasn't changed a thing...except maybe, in a fine turn of Asian semantics, hurt the Taiwanese people's feelings:
Presidential spokesman James Huang gave a low-key response. "We call on the nation's people and the media to maintain a normal attitude, keep calm and not dance to China's tune," he said. The ruling DPP and other government officials yesterday gave a similar low-key reaction. Foreign Minister Chen Tan-sun dismissed China's demand that the island accept its cherished "One China principle", saying at the best could be a topic for discussion — not a formal policy or principle. "Taiwan is a nation that loves peace. The international community should respect Taiwan as a sovereign independent nation," he was quoted by the semi-official Central News Agency as saying. Foreign Minister Chen said he thought China was concerned with the rising popularity of President Chen, who won the presidential election on a razor-thin margin, but added the superpower had not said anything new. He said it seemed as if China was taking advantage of the local and international interest in Thursday's Presidential inauguration ceremony. DPP whip Tsai Huang-liang told local media it appeared China had the attitude of an imperial hegemony and the superpower had deeply hurt the feelings of the nation's people. However, the statement would not influence President Chen's inaugural speech, he said. |
Yes...Let's now all rush off to join a government that keeps on hurting our feelings! Sounds positively masochistic.
The US Reacts to China's Threat of Force
Uncle Sam wasn't amused either by China's threats to "crush" Taiwan "at any cost". From CNN:
The U.S. White House has rebuked China for threatening Taiwan and promised to fulfill its obligations to aid in the island's defense. "We reject those portions of the statement that threaten the use of force to resolve differences between Beijing and Taipei," a senior Bush administration official said. "Threats to use force have no place in civilized international discourse, and Beijing merely hurts its own case by using them," the official added. "Such comments are especially unhelpful at this delicate time, and they necessitate that we firmly restate our intention to fulfill our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act." |
China, as you know, has been trying to get the US to drop that Taiwan Relations Act.
China, Undeterred, Urges US Not to Attend Chen's Inauguration
Well, predictable. But the US delegation is all chosen and set to go. Anyway, the usual rhetoric:
| Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao on Tuesday expressed China's opposition to the United States sending a delegation to the Taiwan leader's inauguration on May 20. By dispatching a delegation to attend the inauguration, the United States is sending a wrong signal to the Taiwan authority, and that will hamper the stability across the Taiwan Straits, Liu said. |
As I've said before, it's horrible, just horrible -- the big bad Americans and the little bad Taiwanese, conniving at something dreadful like...democracy. Well, enough of this rather depressing business. On to Taiwan...
Nine days into this thing, and Channel News Asia reports that almost 40,000 "questionable" ballots are been found. The article didn't exactly clarify what "questionable" meant, though there are all sorts of possibilities, such as marking a vote outside the designated spot on the ballot, putting your ballot in the wrong ballot box, etc. But none of this may make much difference (though Lien Chan begs to differ!):
| DPP officials said the recount, demanded by Lien, was unlikely to change the election results. "Some 23,000 ballots found disputable originally belonged to Chen and some 16,000 to Lien," said DPP secretary general Chang Chun-hsiung. "There is almost no chance that the result will be reversed under such circumstances," Chang said. |
Pan-Blue Merger?
Here's one of several stories that the KMT, the PFP, and the New Party are set to merge into one big happy opposition alliance. The hope is that by doing this, they can presnet a better challenge to Chen Shui-bian and the DPP -- and improve pan-blue chances for victory in the legislative elections at the end of the year.
(Seems like somebody's worried about their political viability...)
The China Post, though, reports that the pan-blue merger is looking uncertain. It just might be, with concerns like these:
PFP lawmaker Chiu Yi charged that the young PFP will be sacrificed to save the aging KMT as a result of the merger. "Don't use a poison as a tonic," warned KMT lawmaker Chen Hung-chang. "One plus one doesn't equate two and I hope Chairman Lien will think twice before leaping to a decision." Lawmaker Hsu Chung-hsiung, an early advocate of the merger, expressed his disapproval. Even if the merger is inevitable, Lien and Soong should step down from their positions in order to facilitate the transition of powers to the younger generation, Hsu reiterated. |
Taiwan Rocks! (At 6.5 on the Richter Scale, That Is)
Some buildings shook in Taipei, but there have been no reports of injuries or damage -- *whew!*
An interesting piece from eTaiwanNews. Worth a look.
Korea and Taiwan Lead Asian Market Revival
Good news for all of us who like having a little filthy lucre! All this talk of political hassle and what not has been an unwelcome distraction from the REAL focus -- and that's business!