Month: October 2006

KMT Gripes About America

You’d think the KMT would be happy.  Earlier this year, their chairman was welcomed with open arms in D.C., while their chief rival was generously offered the opportunity to rub shoulders with American movers and shakers.

In Alaska.

A few years prior to that, something similar happened.  The KMT was bitterly opposed to President Chen’s plan for a national referendum, and the Bush administration came out against it.  Chen was forced to alter the referendum’s wording, while the KMT gloated at this public loss of face.

But that was then.  Recently they’ve been asking, "What have you done for me, lately?"

Could the chief [U.S.] representative in Taiwan be named a persona non grata by lawmakers who were mostly U.S.-trained and known for their pro-U.S. stance?

Last Wednesday, the day after the famous National Day "disgrace", some two dozen "pan-blue" (KMT plus PFP) lawmakers actually talked about it.

Foreigners educated in America don’t necessarily become pro-American, but let’s let that slide.  The disgrace in sneer quotes the China Post refers to is when the KMT and its allies disrupted Taiwan’s National Day ceremonies by interrupting the president’s speech and engaging in fist fights with the president’s party.

If that happened on July 4th in America, would it be a disgrace?  Or merely a "disgrace"?

What irritated the KMT was what the representative said afterwards.  When asked to comment by the local media, Stephen Young said, "They should watch their manners…Go ask James Soong – why?"

(James Soong, chairman of the pro-communist People First Party, heckled the President’s speech and disrupted an official procession by marching with them while shouting anti-Chen slogans.)

Stephen Young’s candor on this matter wasn’t the only thing that upset the KMT.  In addition, they strongly disapprove of his efforts to lobby them into buying the weapons package President Bush approved back in 2001.  The weapons package that the KMT has blocked 58 times over the last two years.*

I imagine Mr. Young has been candid with them about THAT issue, as well.  Candid enough to tell them that their obstructionist record is starting to make America question their commitment to their own nation’s  security.

The China Post reveals the real reason for the KMT’s obstinacy:

There [was] "[a] sea change in KMT/PFP thinking" after historic visits to Beijing by KMT chairman Lien Chan and PFP chairman James Soong in 2005.  The blue camp’s support for a security relationship with [America]…seems in doubt now.

Perhaps it would be a good thing if the KMT did expel Mr. Young.  It might serve as a powerful wake-up call to Washington that the KMT is truly America’s ally no longer.

* The China Post dishonestly tries to divert some of the blame for the delay onto President Chen, claiming that he didn’t offer the weapons package to the legislature for two years because of its cost.

The reality is that it took 18 months after Bush’s offer for the package to be approved and given a price tag by the American military bureaucracy.  It was utterly impossible for Chen to offer the package to the legislature during that time.

UPDATE:  Another bone in the KMT’s craw:

The blue camp has been angry with the U.S. for breaking a promise of not recognizing President Chen’s 2004 re-election before a recount.

Who made this promise?  The President?  The V.P.?  Some low-level flunky in the State Department?  How could such a promise be issued at all, when it was unclear at the time that there would even BE a recount?

I have no recollection of this promise being mentioned in any of the local media, and I followed the coverage here pretty closely.  What I DO remember is the China Post calling on America not to congratulate Chen until after a recount, but that’s quite different from the promise having actually been made.  Perhaps the Post confuses its desires with reality:

If wishes were horses,
Beggars would ride;
If wishes were fishes,
We’d all have some fried.

The China Post then concludes with a complaint somewhat lacking in specificity:

Taiwan’s mentor-and-protector is also criticized for failing to stop the Chen administration from degenerating in all aspects, turning Taiwan into a big mess.

Yep, this whole "self-determination" thing really isn’t working out.  Could you Yanks do us a favor and dispatch the Delta Force next time madman Chen renames an airport or something?

Thanks a bunch.

UPDATE (Oct 22/06):  James Soong’s still pouting:

…Soong said he had turned down a request from American Institute in Taiwan [AIT] officials for a meeting with him next week.

"There is no need [for the AIT officials] to see me. Right now I am not the PFP’s representative," Soong said, without elaborating on why AIT officials wished to see him.

Yes, yes, I know, Soong’s running as an independent for mayor of Taipei.  But the CHAIRMAN of the PFP pretends that he doesn’t REPRESENT the PFP?

Riiight.

He explains his refusal this way:

"It’s not the right time to review the arms bill when millions of people are staging a sit-in [against the president]. Furthermore, AIT officials talked nonsense on Double Ten day," Soong said.

Soong’s not so shy about talking a little nonsense of his own.  I was at the Taipei Train Station on Friday.  Those "millions of people"?  They’re down to a few hundred, at most.

Is This For Real?

Headline from The Australian:  "China may back coup against Kim [Jong-il]."  Hat tip to The Corner.

Make of it what you will.

UPDATE (Oct 19/06):  More on this from Strategy Page.

UPDATE (Oct 22/06):  I don’t buy all of the blogger’s conclusions, but this is certainly an interesting post on the subject.  (Hat tip to AsiaPundit.)

UPDATE (Oct 26/06):  Satire from The Onion on the subject.  (Hat tip to AsiaPundit.)

Direct Democracy

Yesterday’s editorial from the Taiwan News had a couple of lines I thought were very well-put:

Washington’s anxiety about cross-strait tension comes largely from the perception that Beijing will make a "dangerous, objectionable, and foolish response" to Taiwan’s continued affirmation of its sovereignty and independence.

Since the Beijing regime is even less predictable than democratic Taiwan it has been easier for Washington to attempt to constrain Taipei first or even treat the Taiwan leader as a "trouble-maker" than to address the structural problems [ie: CHINA] that cause these tensions.

There was another line that got me to thinking, though:

…the DPP administration [is making] efforts to deepen Taiwan’s democracy and enhance the effectiveness of democratic governance through constitutional reforms and the introduction of methods of direct democracy, which are common features of democratic societies around the world.  [Emphasis added]

I wonder if recent events surrounding Shih Ming-teh’s redshirts haven’t made DPP politicians a bit more wary of direct democracy.  I certainly wouldn’t blame them if they were.

KMT Winded From Recall Effort

Back in June, the KMT was champing at the bit to call non-confidence votes aimed at bringing down cabinet after cabinet.  I said this at the time:

Maybe [the KMT] can get away with toppling one cabinet, maybe even two.  But voters aren’t stupid, and the KMT can’t keep doing that with impunity for the next two years.

As it turns out, even THAT appraisal of the KMT’s public approval was optimistic.  Not even ONE cabinet has been toppled, and already voter disenchantment has already set in.  The KMT can read its internal polling, and is calling it quits…for now:

KMT spokesman Huang Yu-cheng added that following tumults brought by anti-corruption activities aimed at ousting the scandal-ridden President Chen Shui-bian and the vote on a motion to recall Chen in the Legislature, people need a breather.

…[the] KMT will let people rest and build up their strength for a while, Huang said.

Ignoring the loaded language, it’s instructive to remember that something similar happened back in June.  The KMT failed in getting the president recalled; their chairman lost public approval, and the KMT backed off.  Now, they’ve declared another moratorium, since their chairman’s dropping in the polls in the wake of the redshirts’ disruption of Taiwan’s National Day.

Count on history repeating itself.  They’ll be back.

“They Are Shooting Them Like Dogs”

Saw the CNN footage of PLA soldiers gunning down Tibetan refugees a few hours ago.  Sunday’s China Post also covered it.

They also carried a report a few days earlier:

A [Communist Chinese] official told Xinhua news agency that a small squad of soldiers found nearly 70 people attempting to illegally cross the border from Tibet into Nepal on Sept. 30 and "persuaded them to go back to their home."

"But the stowaways refused and attacked the soldiers," the state news agency said, without stating whether they were ethnic Tibetans.

"Under the circumstances, the frontier soldiers were forced to defend themselves and injured two stowaways," the unnamed official was quoted as saying.

Busted.  The refugees were trudging through the snow single-file, not being transported as "stowaways" on a truck.  Furthermore, we don’t see any hostile action coming from the Tibetans; instead, we see PLA soldiers firing on them from a ridge.

But then, one doesn’t really need to see the footage to know that the Chinese story was bogus from the get-go.

UPDATE:  More here, including links to the video.  (Hat tip to AsiaPundit.)

Multilateral Or Unilateral Talks With North Korea?

[Technically, that should read “Bilateral”…]

Jonah Goldberg says it doesn’t matter either way:

Lawyers say hard cases make for bad law…

Proof that North Korea is a hard case can be found in the fact that the Democrats and Republicans have switched sides. Ordinarily multilateralist Democrats are now unalloyed champions of unilateralism, in the form of face-to-face negotiations with North Korea, while President Bush — that infamous go-it-alone “cowboy” — has embraced international teamwork. Both approaches are flawed for a simple reason: North Korea wants a nuclear weapon because it wants a nuclear weapon.

The Jimmy Carter vision holds that North Korea’s nukes are coupons to be redeemed for groceries. But the North Koreans pocketed U.S. concessions after face-to-face talks in 1994 and continued pursuing nukes because … they wanted nukes. Bush’s strategy has been, first, to declare that advances in North Korea’s nuclear program are “unacceptable” and then do nothing, and second, to insist that the U.S. can’t accomplish anything because our “partners” won’t cooperate.

The North Korea dilemma — much like the threat of Islamic fanaticism – is Aesopian. The frog in Aesop’s fable did not wish to be stung by the scorpion. The scorpion’s position? Wishing’s got nothing to do with it. Americans tend to think — and Europeans consider it gospel — that all differences can be negotiated. The truth is that only negotiable problems can be negotiated. Just ask Hamas if everything can be bargained for around a table. Their one non-negotiable principle is that Israel must cease to exist. Beyond that, they’re open to all sorts of creative proposals.  [Emphasis added]

Darth Vader’s Less Illustrious Brother, Chad

Meet Chad Vader – Supermarket Dayshift Manager:

Chad Vader, Episode 1

Chad Vader, Episode 2

Chad Vader, Episode 3

Chad Vader, Episode 4

Other Chad Vader stuff:

Chad Vader Music Video

Chad Vader Mailbag

Non-Chad Parodies:

The Emperor Takes an Important Phone Call

Star Wars (Phantom of the Opera Version)

The Three Stooges Celebrate Double Ten Day

Hey Moe, it’s Taiwan’s boitday!  We forgot to get ’em somethin’.  Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

I’ll give YOU somethin’, you knucklehead…

(Finger in eye)

The Three Stooges. Larry and Moe hold Curly's head.

(Photo from University of Kansas-Lawrence.)

Quit clownin’ around, Einsteen, and tell the nice people about the boitday.

Why, sointenee!

The Taiwan News informs us of some of the goings-on:

Apparently aggravated by the seating arrangement, Kuomintang [KMT] Legislator Lee Ching-hua stood up during President Chen Shui-bian’s address and repeatedly shouted slogans, demanding that Chen step down.

Provoked by Lee’s efforts to embarrass the president, Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] Legislator Lin Kuo-ching took a swing at Lee and a brief scuffle erupted…

Watched some of the Taiwanese TV coverage yesterday, and saw a few men in suits trying to avoid police by ducking in and out of an official parade.  Since I don’t understand Mandarin, I had no idea until the next day about what happened:

…a group of [pro-Communist] People First Party lawmakers, led by [PFP Chairman James] Soong, disrupted the honor guard procession in front of the Presidential Office, marching along with the guards, shouting anti-Chen slogans and holding anti-Chen banners.

The incident turned into a cat-and-mouse game when the security guards were forced to chase Soong and his followers…who weaved in and out [of] procession and completely ignored the security guards’ instructions to move away.

Some DPP legislators, angered by the PFP’s obvious attempts to humiliate the president, ran up to the opposition lawmakers and began to throw punches at them.

The Taipei Times reported a few cases of KMT violence as well:

[There were] scuffles in which [DPP] Legislator Lee Ming-hsien (李明憲) and Sanlih TV staff were "beaten," as well as the egging of DPP Legislator Lin Kuo-ching’s (林國慶) car.

Not sure I understand the sneer quotes around the word "beaten".  They were either beaten, or they weren’t.  If instead, they were physically harassed, then the writer ought to say so.

Anyway.  Following the ceremonies, anti-[President] Chen protesters gave visiting dignitaries a memorable taste of Taiwanese hospitality:

Meanwhile, protesters had gathered around the fringes of the ceremony zone, and tried to block the four lanes of Zhonghua Road to prevent Chen Shui-bian’s motorcade from leaving.

Unable to tell which car the president was in, the crowd rushed onto the road from the sidewalks whenever an official-looking black car appeared.

Several of the entrapped vehicles were carrying top government officials and foreign diplomatic guests. Protesters encircled the vehicles, smacking and kicking at the cars while shouting: "A-bian step down!"  [Emphasis added.  A-bian is President Chen’s nickname – The Foreigner]

With the number of anti-Chen redshirts present, it could have been much, much worse.  Whether you believe the redshirts’ own attendance numbers (1.5 million), the China Post‘s figures (300,000) or police statistics (120,000), the protesters vastly outnumbered the 5,000-man police presence.  If the redshirts had actually followed through on their mooted plans to push through police barricades, things could have gotten really ugly.

(Wednesday’s China Post finally took a look at the color of the redshirts’ uniforms, noting, "They wore red shirts the way Benito Mussolini’s Blackshirts wore their black shirts."  Funny, but just a few days ago, the paper was comparing them to the Freedom Riders – the American civil rights protesters from the 1960s.  Which probably means someone at the China Post is a bit touchy that the redshirts’ leader, Shih Ming-teh, recently took a few potshots at KMT Chairman Ma-Ying-jeou’s own corruption record*.)

The Taipei Times noted that at the end of the day, all the theatrics failed to put Taiwan on the international media map – CNN was far more interested in North Korea’s nuclear test and in paramilitary death squad activity in Iraq.  Meanwhile, a Taiwan News editorial pointed out that independence parties will henceforth be loath to participate in National Day ceremonies (which they don’t have an emotional attachment to, anyway) now that the KMT has demonstrated its willingness to disrupt one of its holiest days for political purposes.  I’ll go a step further than that, though.  I think Taiwanese independence parties will nevermore be much inhibited from disrupting Double Ten Day themselves, if they calculate it being in their interests to do so.

I cannot end without mentioning this irresistible detail:

A middle-aged woman caused a stir when, prior to the start of the ceremony, she threatened to immolate herself by igniting a bottle of liquid in the restricted area. Police carried the woman away, and the bottle was found to contain only water.

She tried to set herself on fire using H2O as an accelerant?

Now ain’t that just like a woman.

(Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo!)

Curly from The Three Stooges

(Image from Beckett.com.)

* Postscript:  A more probable reason for the China Post‘s pique: The View from Taiwan observes that Shih Ming-teh dissed [Taipei mayor and KMT Chairman] Ma Ying-jeou big-time "by not even bothering to apply for a permit to hold a demonstration," as well as by "constantly changing [the protest march] direction and completely fouling up the city’s traffic."

Shih made the KMT’s Golden Boy look ineffectual and weak, and so media adulation must be put on hold for a spell.  For now, try to remember: Shih Ming-teh is Il Duce.

UPDATE:  The View from Taiwan has a good round-up of what other bloggers had to say about the festivities.

UPDATE (Oct 16/06):  A Friday China Post headline: Controversy over control of anti-Chen mob.  From anti-corruption protesters to mob.  Further evidence the China Post is royally ticked with Shih Ming-teh, despite Saturday’s denial.

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