Happy New Year to all! Use the day off to peruse the newly uploaded back issues of Taiwan Communique from 1982 and 1983, or stand outside in this polar weather (current death toll: 22) to watch the Quandrantid meteor shower this week, peaking on Friday, but good viewing pre-dawn on 4th or 5th. Or you [...]
Andrei Chang, editor of the Kanwa Defense Review Monthly, offers this assessment of China’s ability to wage war on Taiwan for an extended period of time.
By calculating the amount of fuel oil required by the Chinese navy and air force in a large-scale attack across the Taiwan Strait under high-tech conditions, it becomes apparent that [...]
Jerome Keating passed me the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan’s UN Declaration. Here it is in two languages — spread the word:
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Declaration of the Right for Taiwan to Join the United Nations
To the member states of the United Nations, the peoples and nations of the world who love justice and peace, and to all churches around [...]
In the last few weeks the media has been chronicling a swelling anxiety among Taiwanese firms in China that a new Chinese labor law is going to make it extremely difficult for Taiwan firms to do business there. Taiwan Journal recently offered a piece on the issue:
Many Taiwanese businesses in the Pearl River Delta area [...]
Apologies for the light blogging, but I just spent probably the most disheartening week of my life in Taiwan… But the dark hours have passed….and so it’s back to the blog….
Speaking of dawning light, Ma Ying-jeou was found not guilty of stealing the government money that he had downloaded into his personal account and used [...]
Lots of people enjoying this perfect depiction of Taiwanese politics. The Foreigner noted:
Best Taiwanese photo of the year, IMHO. And the kicker is that someone told me the shot was taken when KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou was having a serious discussion with reporters about [...]
Income continues to stagnate, says the DGBAS:
Taiwan’s average basic pay and substantive regular monthly pay witnessed an annual growth of 2.17% and 1.78%, respectively, in the first 10 months of this year, both were the highest of their kinds in seven years and, according to the statistics released by the Cabinet-level Directorate General of Budget, [...]
Xinhua reports on the upcoming verdict in the appeal of KMT Presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou’s acquittal for in the embezzlement case, due out the 28th of this month. Since Ma is their fair-haired boy, naturally they are anxious — if Ma is found guilty, he can’t run for president. Hasn’t made much noise though… Does [...]
The Globe and Mail is doing a set of pieces on the major world flashpoints. Among them is of course the Taiwan Straits, portrayed here as made dangerous by the recklessness of the dastardly Chen Shui-bian. It’s a good thing those forces for stability, restrained and prudent, are there to keep Mad Chen© in check! [...]
Jerome Keating reminds that Sec Rice’s comments that the referendum is a “provocation” may be responded to at the following email addresses:
http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi-bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?
Be nice when you talk to the Administration, I’m sure it will be a new experience for them….. Alton Thompson over at Conductor’s Notebook has a good response:
Dear Secretary Rice:
Like many Americans living in [...]
A new eye on the things around our house….
My friend Drew took me around a vast swing through northern Taichung and up to Fengyuan, and then around to Shihgang today for a look at some of the relics of bygone eras that lie around our area, largely unknown to foreigners.
Our first stop of the day [...]
I enlarged it a little, but here is a wonderful bit of progress on The Beautiful Isle: installed wind capacity on the rise (from the latest issue of the Taiwan Journal).
JOB SEARCH: A bit of personal news: given the recent events at our university, I have decided to look into warmer pastures down south. If [...]
The always insightful Ting-i Tsai has a commentary in the Asia Times on the recent decision by the US to take a step back on the referendum. He argues that the US has reluctantly decided to live with it:
Burghardt’s approach, which deviated from that of other US officials in recent [...]
Chris Nelson of the Nelson Report is back from surgery and once again passing around insight into the Beltway Mind. Here’s his latest excerpt on Taiwan affairs:
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It sounds like the private Chinese discussions of late mirror almost exactly much of the substance of concerns aired at Heritage, including what Taiwan law may require in the [...]
Tom Tancredo’s (R-COL) office just forwarded me a copy of his latest effort on Taiwan’s behalf: a joint letter of Tancredo and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) to Sec of State Rice asking the Administration to stop its interference in Taiwan’s elections. Go Tancredo! Here’s the letter in its entirety:
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The Honorable Condoleezza RiceSecretaryU.S. Department of State2201 C [...]
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