2006 July | The View from Taiwan

Entries for July, 2006

Taiwan’s Missile Program in CS Monitor

Jul.31, 2006 in Uncategorized

The Christian Science Monitor has an article on Taiwan’s now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t missile development program. In it Taiwan’s missiles are (of course) regarded as “troublesome” and “destabilizing”……..
Next troublesome missile test: Taiwan?
Taiwan may be preparing to test-fire a missile in September capable of striking – and angering – China.
By Simon Montlake | Correspondent of The Christian Science [...]

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I’m interviewed at What’s Up in Taiwan

Jul.31, 2006 in Uncategorized

Last year Julian and Henry at What’s Up in Taiwan podcast interviewed me, but for various reasons, they didn’t get it up until this year. So enjoy the interview of yours truly….Julian and Henry have built something really wonderful there, interviewing a wide variety of expatriates who have come to Taiwan for all the usual [...]

Taiwan’s First Family: Clueless

Jul.31, 2006 in Uncategorized

Someday I’m going to write an article for the Journal of Educational Methodology entitled “Human inability to learn from experience.” My case in point is going to be the First Family of the Beautiful Isle.
Another scandal involving the Chen family broke today as it was revealed that A-bian’s daughter and her husband, the illustrious Chao [...]

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Hu Jin-tao says China discovered Australia?

Jul.31, 2006 in Uncategorized

I’ve been tracking the 1421 affair, mostly because it scares me that some money-hungry fraud is handing the Chinese claims to distant lands…..a recent TV show from Oz shows how Gavin Menzies’ 1421, on how China supposedly discovered the world, is a fabrication. The interesting thing is the claim that the show makes:
Not surprisingly Menzies’ [...]

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The DPP and Chinese Dissidents

Jul.30, 2006 in Uncategorized

The Levitator has a very interesting post on relations between the DPP and Chinese dissidents in China, full of information. He writes:

If you haven’t read my earlier post, here’s some background on this case. Zhang is a member of the China Pan-Blue Alliance, a mainland Chinese dissident group which looks to Taiwan’s opposition KMT for [...]

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Trying out the Olympus

Jul.30, 2006 in Uncategorized

My Dad gave me an Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom when he came in July — thanks so much, Dad! — and I’ve been putting the camera through its paces recently. The pic above was shot from the ridge above my house, looking south through Taichung city on Tatu Mountain. I used the Super Telephoto (535mm [...]

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Taiwan and BOT

Jul.30, 2006 in Uncategorized

On the Beautiful Isle the name of the infrastructure game is Build-Operate-Transfer, or BOT. BOT is in theory a system for getting private financing to pay for infrastructure projects. An Asia Times piece on the High Speed Rail describes the issue:
The problem touches at the heart of the BOT development model, which theoretically is [...]

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August Swenson’s Meetup

Jul.30, 2006 in Uncategorized

Jerome Keating sends around the news of the August meeting:
++++++++++++++
To all,
We will have our August meeting at breakfast time again; meet at the Swensen’s on Keelung Road [right near the McDonald's south of Taipei 101] where we have met previously at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday August 5th.
As a special topic this time we will have [...]

Sun Moon Lake page and other updates

Jul.29, 2006 in Uncategorized

I added some new pics to my Lukang page, and I’ve also started building a Sun Moon Lake page using pics from the two trips I’ve made there in the last year.
[Taiwan]
Related PostsThe Family VisitAt Wenwu Temple by Sun Moon LakeThree days of heaven with Nick and Barb from Cleveland. We visited m…Site Updates begun!I [...]

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Public Land Policy Debate

Jul.28, 2006 in Uncategorized

One of the most important debates taking place at the current conference on sustainable development for Taiwan, headed up by Premier Su, is the debate over the status of public lands.
Delegates attending a financial panel yesterday engaged in heated discussion over how to dispose of state-owned land, with environmentalists pulling out all stops urging the [...]

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New Regulations for Local Taichung Foreigner Health Exams

Jul.28, 2006 in Uncategorized

Local blogger Spencer Pangborn warns that things have changed for medical exams for an ARC:
In the past, you could go to practically any hospital in Taichung, public or private, to receive a routine physical examination. This would then be used as the official medical release stating that you’re physically fit to reside in Taiwan. Once [...]

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The No-Evidence Brigade

Jul.26, 2006 in Uncategorized

The No Evidence Brigade of the KMT is on the prowl again…
A legislator yesterday accused President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of appropriating public money to build “luxury” fitness facilities for his personal use in the grounds of the presidential residence.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) made the accusations at a press conference, saying [...]

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Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past

Jul.26, 2006 in Uncategorized

I don’t often discuss non-Taiwan stuff, here, but the Department of the Way Cool sent me this great article on Wikipedia courtesy of H-ASIA:
Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past

Enjoy.

Related PostsKeywords: Help with Taiwan History TimelineKeywords asks:Taiwan Timeline [...]

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Taiwan: the Tail that Wags Dogs

Jul.26, 2006 in Uncategorized

A friend of mine pointed me to this piece, Taiwan: the Tail that Wags the Dog, written last year by retired Admiral Michael McDevitt and promulgated by the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). NBR is an Establishment public policy think tank whose list of supporters includes people like Clinton Administration figure Brent Scowcroft and [...]

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Hoping Island Redux

Jul.26, 2006 in Uncategorized

My family, my parents, and my friend Jeff and I stopped by Hoping Island on our way through Keelung and on to Taipei a couple of weeks ago, and stepped out on the island for a while, but tropical storm Bilis drove us back to our cars in defeat. I did have a chance [...]

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