2006 January | The View from Taiwan

Entries for January, 2006

Late Night Sex Industry Adverts

Jan.31, 2006 in Uncategorized

On late night TV in Taiwan, you can often see ads for hotels, bars, and KTVs, with women in provocative outifts or dancing lasciviously, beer in hand. Hmmm….what could they possibly be selling?
[Taiwan]
Related PostsUpdate to Election Adverts SiteI’ve updated my election site. New pics have been added at the beginning….enjoy![Taiwan]Blog DevelopmentRyan over at Taipei Nights [...]

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Tempest in a National Unification Soy Sauce Vat

Jan.31, 2006 in Uncategorized

Kenneth Bradshear had another good article in the International Herald Tribune, this time on Chen Shui-bian’s proposal to abolish an office dedicated to “national unification.”
Taiwan, China and the United States often tussle at a level of obscure symbolism seldom rivaled anywhere else in the world. But even by the standards of this relationship, the [...]

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Gregory Clark’s China Apology now in Asia Times

Jan.31, 2006 in Uncategorized

Gregory Clark’s revolting apology for China has gotten even bigger play, now also appearing in the Asia Times.
Beijing’s moves to prevent Taiwan independence have also [...]

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Happy Chinese New Year!

Jan.31, 2006 in Uncategorized

Yes, it’s that time of the year, when everyone in Taiwan simultaneously decides to go Somewhere Else, shops shut down for a week, the highways turn into parking lots, and neighborhoods resound with the banging of firecrackers and the crackling of mah-jhong tiles banging into each other. It must be Chinese New Year again.
This year [...]

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Boston Herald on Tracing Chinese Roots in Taiwan

Jan.31, 2006 in Uncategorized

The Boston Herald offered this article from an American of Taiwanese descent, writing on returning to the homeland…

TAIWAN - As my bus made its way from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake, the landscape unfolded from a bustling city scene to rural farmland. Green rice fields stretched out on both sides of the road, replicating the [...]

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Sunday, Jan 29, 2006, Taiwan Blog Round Up

Jan.28, 2006 in Uncategorized

It’s back! I’ve felt awful since I had to stop doing the Taiwan blog round ups. I suspect that rounding up on Fridays next semester will be impossible, but Sunday can probably be maintained. So I am shifting the Taiwan blog round-up to Sundays. Enjoy!

David at jujuflop, whose writing on Taiwan’s politics is illuminated by [...]

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Taiwan Beats US in Environmental Index: ROFL

Jan.28, 2006 in Uncategorized

Having lived in both Taiwan and the US, the claim that Taiwan could outrank the US in environmental performance is on its face, sheer madness. I’ve had so much fun in the past pointing out just how stupid these international ranking systems are (Taiwan’s Competitiveness: GIGO, and Heritage Foundation: Taiwan’s Economic Freedom Declines) that I [...]

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Lu: Panda Offer should Be Rejected

Jan.28, 2006 in Uncategorized

Annette Lu, Taiwan’s vice-president and longtime independence and democracy leader, said in an interview yesterday for the pro-Blue United Daily News that the offer of pandas from China should be rejected.
In an interview with the Chinese-language United Daily News, Lu said Taiwan should turn away the pair of one-year-old pandas that China has recently selected [...]

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Loose Ships Sink Shits

Jan.28, 2006 in Uncategorized

The People First Party continued to melt away into the KMT as four more lawmakers returned to the fold yesterday.
Four People First Party (PFP) lawmakers yesterday announced their decisions to defect to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), striking another blow against the PFP, which has suffered an exodus of lawmakers and city councilors.
PFP legislators Sun [...]

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Quake Museum in Wufeng

Jan.28, 2006 in Uncategorized

As part of my commitment to blogging on Taiwan’s museums, I blogged the other day on the National Taiwan Museum. I should mention that I’ve also got a web page on the 9/21 Earthquake museum in Wufeng. This is a very interesting museum, built on the grounds of a school destroyed in the quake.

If you [...]

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Betel Nut Girl Picture Page is Up

Jan.28, 2006 in Uncategorized

My new picture page on Taiwan’s betel nut girls is up. Enjoy!
[Taiwan] [betel nut girls]
Related PostsDavid’s Betel Nut Girl PageThe Ultimate collection of Betel Nut Girl Links…Betel Nut Blues AgainThis article on betel nuts here has been making the rounds….It tastes bitter, turns your teeth bla…Betel Nut Girl VideosThe Real Taiwan sent me a link [...]

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Freshtreks announces new treks

Jan.27, 2006 in Uncategorized

Dear friends,
Happy Chinese New year!!Wish you have a great time with your family and good friends,and always stay healthy and happy in this year of DOG!
We are going to organize a trekking in the end of February which is for Three Mountain,This mountain may not be that famous as Yushan,but the scenery ,the landscape is [...]

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MeiZhongTai on Ted Galen Carpenter

Jan.27, 2006 in Uncategorized

MZT has a great summary of the roundtable on Ted Galen Carpenter’s new book that argues that the US should withdraw its security umbrella from Taiwan (blogged on a few weeks ago by this writer). Great work! And the highlight:
In a query sure to warm the hearts of Michael Turton and others, Eric McVadon of [...]

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Takao Club

Jan.27, 2006 in Uncategorized

Stumbled on this interesting site, The Takao Club, with plenty of articles on the history of southern Taiwan.
[Taiwan] [Kaohsiung]
Related PostsPresidential Video Conference: Beijing Provoked AgainPresident Chen will be videoconferencing at the National Press Club on May 29. The US does not allo…Hsinchu Divers Club blogFor those of you into diving, I thought I’d [...]

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Betel Nut Babes Thwart Cancer Progress in Taiwan

Jan.27, 2006 in Uncategorized

Bloomberg news service reports that Betel Nut Girls are killing Taiwan…
The Taiwan government’s plan to curb cancer faces tough opposition: about 60,000 women who sit in roadside glass booths, often wearing little more than a bikini, selling the island’s oldest legal drug.
The so-called betel-nut beauties, who are unique to Taiwan, peddle the island’s second-largest crop [...]

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