“Many people believe that a forced war would convince some countries of China’s sincerely peaceful intentions.”
— Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the Global Times
China Attacks Vietnam’s Ships, Steals Vietnam’s Resources: Taiwan Hardest Hit
Last week, China began constructing an oil rig within Vietnamese waters to steal crude from the third world nation. Vietnam responded by sending ships to the area, which were promptly attacked by Chinese vessels:
Chinese ships have been ramming into and firing water cannons at Vietnamese vessels trying to stop Beijing from putting an oil rig in the South China Sea, according to officials and video footage Wednesday, in a dangerous escalation of tensions over waters considered a global flashpoint.
Just today, Vietnamese mistakenly took out their frustration on Taiwanese factories:
Thousands of Vietnamese set fire to foreign factories and rampaged in industrial zones in the south of the country in an angry reaction to Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam, officials said on Wednesday.
The brunt of Tuesday's violence, one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations since the neighbours fought a brief border war in 1979, appears to have been borne by Taiwanese firms in the zones in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces that were mistaken for Chinese-owned companies.
[…]
Gates were smashed and rioters set 15 factories on fire…
China cannot expect Vietnamese to respect Chinese property rights while the Chinese blithely violate theirs.
But it's a shame that this perfectly-understandable anger was taken out on the Taiwanese, though. Because (as readers of this blog are no doubt aware): Taiwanese are not Chinese.
In vain, Taiwanese companies themselves belatedly scrambled to communicate this elementary fact:
Some Taiwanese firms had spray-painted messages on the road and across their gates saying "We Support Vietnam" in an effort to distinguish themselves from Chinese enterprises.
Perhaps the current government of Taiwan might have alleviated the situation if had spent less time pretending to be China, and concentrated its efforts on sending the message that Taiwan is a completely different country altogether.
Without such efforts, Taiwan will always be unjustly blamed for the crimes of the Chinese. And the Taiwanese government will be forced to pay to evacuate its citizens whenever tempers erupt over cases of China's villainy.
As Aesop might've said:
Those who impersonate international outlaws are often mistaken for international outlaws.
UPDATE: You speak the truth, sir!
“We have to establish a distinct identity [from China],” Mr. [Antonio] Chiang said. “Or not only will this happen in Vietnam, but other countries, too.”
UPDATE (May 18/2014): Others see Taiwan's One China policy as a contributing factor.
Sooner Or Later, All The KMT’s “Laws” Turn Into Calvinball
Rigging the system to save its lawmakers' seats. Shameless.
But then, one expects little better from a dictatorial Leninist party steeped in the undemocratic habits of 38 years of martial law:
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said that a controversial proposal to increase the documents required by petitioners during recalls of elected representatives is intended to “reduce possible abuses in the process.”
[…]
The party’s move has raised doubts, as it comes during a public campaign for recalling legislators that was launched after the cross-strait service trade act row. Many of the officials under fire are KMT members.
…the KMT-proposed amendment…would require petitioners to provide photocopies of identity cards and affidavits — in addition to the existing requirements for name, address and national identification number… [emphasis added]
What, no notorized copies of the petitioners' last proctological exam?
Goodbye, predictable Rule of Law. Welcome, capricious Rule of Man.
Congratulations, KMT. You have officially turned Taiwan into a legal laughingstock.
(The majesty of Taiwanese law. Image from Foreign Policy)
UPDATE (May 13/2014): The Taipei Times points out something that I've considered of late:
When activists take to the streets [and engage in civil disobedience]…the government and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers condemn such acts, urging the dissidents to express their opinions within the democratic system in a lawful way.
However, when activists want to play by the rules [by utilizing Taiwan's electoral recall laws], KMT legislators seem to suddenly decide that the law is not so sacred after all and seek to change the rules.
[…]
“If the people cannot vent their anger within the system, they will certainly start their resistance outside of the system,” [attorney and rights activist Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎)] said.
i-1
How Dare Those Awful, Awful Students Insult The Noble Dignity Of Lu Hsueh-chang!
His lordship Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) sues Taiwanese students for implying that he's cowardly.
Kuomintang lawmaker Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) yesterday pressed charges against a group of activists who gathered at his constituency office to give him a fake turtle shell with his name carved on it.
“A turtle hiding in its shell” (縮頭烏龜) is an idiom in mandarin [sic] Chinese used to describe a person as a coward.
This CANNOT stand! Don't they realize how thin-skinned the veteran KMT legislator is? How easily bruised his delicate feelings are?
They should realize Lu Hsueh-chang is sensitive and fragile, and needs to be handled gently. Very, very gently.
Like you would a tender little strawberry…
"Freedom of speech is all well and good, I suppose. But criticism of ME isn't a constitutional right!"
— Lu Hsueh-chang: The KMT's Strawberry Legislator
UPDATE (May 7 / 2014): It appears I'm not the only one to make the "Strawberry Generation" connection with Lu Hsueh-chang's childish antics:
“If the lawmaker decided to sue us for likening him to a head-retracting turtle, he is not only substantiating the claim, but also acting like a member of the strawberry generation,” Wei said.
“Strawberry generation” is a term used to refer to young people whom the older generation feel are not able to handle adverse circumstances and are easily bruised, like strawberries.
“A legislator who cannot handle criticism from the public and turns to lawsuits when he is upset does not have broad enough shoulders for politics,” Wei said. “Calling him a head-retracting turtle is not a false accusation since he has been hiding under the party’s umbrella during all the disputes.” [emphasis added]
i-1
Familiarity Breeds Contempt
One of those seemingly insignificant stories exposing truths some have worked assiduously to paper over:
Child of Chinese tourists takes a leak on the street: Hong Kongers deride boorish Chinese; Chinese incensed by "highfalutin" Hong Kongers.
Chinese Stash Assets Overseas In New York Real Estate
China To Have Largest Christian Population By 2030
…Easter Sunday thousands of worshippers will flock to this Asian mega-temple to pledge their allegiance – not to the Communist Party, but to the Cross.
But the Communist Party's totalitarian impulses are never far from view:
"They want the pastor to preach in a Communist way. They want to train people to practice in a Communist way," said the house-church preacher, who said state churches often shunned potentially subversive sections of the Bible. The Old Testament book in which the exiled Daniel refuses to obey orders to worship the king rather than his own god is seen as "very dangerous", the preacher added. [empasis added]
UPDATE (Apr 22 / 2014): A Christian refugee from China predicts more religious persecution in the land of his birth. Safe bet there.
UPDATE (Apr 28 / 2014): Chinese government demolishes church after promising not to. We've seen what Chinese assurances have been worth in the past.
Furbo
Very worthwhile discussion of the Italian concept of "furbo":
It's Interesting That He [Ron Paul] Cites the Italians for Their Perspicacity… because that lets me talk about my favorite Italian word, furbo, meaning full of cunning and slyness.
"Furbo" is very important in Italian culture. Even more than in our own.
Let's say, for example, I say I believe George Bush that Al Qaeda perpetrated 9/11.
The fact that I'm saying I believe him exposes me to several risks. What if he's lying? If he's lying to me, he's played me for a fool. I would have shown that my furbo is rather weak.
But what if I instantly claim he's lying, instead? Well, then I can never be accused of having had the wool pulled over my eyes by him. My furbo would be strong.
Now, most cultures, of course, respect skeptics and treat the guileless as amiable fools.
But in many cultures, you can only show so much furbo before you begin looking like a fool from the other direction. Not a fool because of what you believe; but a fool because of the incredibly long list of things you don't.
Italy, however, prizes furbo to the extent that it's pretty hard to be considered a fool based on your conspiracy-theorizing. Italy overvalues furbo, and undervalues skepticism about skepticism itself…
Chinese Plotting To Steal Arctic Resources
"All your resources are belong to us." Deutsche Welle has the story on the Communist thieves of Zhongnanhai:
Five countries are considered “Arctic states” – Canada, the US, Russia, Norway and Denmark (along with Greenland and the Faeroe Islands). Finland, Sweden and Iceland are also members of the Arctic Council which deals with the future development of the North Pole region. China, Japan, South Korea and the European Union are trying to achieve permanent observer status.
[…]
"Countries closer to the Arctic, such as Iceland, Russia, Canada, and a few other European countries may tend to wish the Arctic were private or that they had priority to develop it," Cui Hongjian, head of the European department of the China Institute for International Studies, told reporters before Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Europe. "But China insists that the Arctic belongs to everyone just like the moon."
Small wonder China finds itself hated by all its neighbors.
Hat tip: Instapundit