Taipei Reaffirms Sovereignty over Diaoyutai, Finally!

Taipei Reaffirms Sovereignty over Diaoyutai, Finally!
Bevin Chu
June 14, 2008


Diaoyutai belongs to China, Map of Diaoyutai printed on Taiwan


Diaoyutai belongs to China, Map of Diaoyutai printed on the Chinese Mainland

The ROC government in Taipei has reaffirmed its sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands, finally.

It's about time.

For the past 20 years, Taipei has allowed Japan to get away with behaving as if the Diaoyutai Islands (in Hanyu Pinying), or "Tiaoyutai Islands" (in Wade-Giles), and the territorial waters surrounding it, belonged to Japan.

For eight years, Chen Shui-bian has never made a peep when Japanese warships drove Taiwan Chinese fishing boats from Chinese territorial waters.

During his 12 years in office, Chen's predecessor Lee Teng-hui was even worse. Lee openly and explicitly declared that Diaoyutai belonged to Japan!

Now however, three weeks into Ma Ying-jeou's term, a incident that during Lee Teng-hui's term or Chen Shui-bian's term would have been swept under the rug, has brought the issue of China's sovereignty over Diaoyutai into the spotlight.

Now, finally, we have an opportunity to get at the truth.

See China Desk articles on Diaoyutai: http://thechinadesk.blogspot.com/2007/04/japanese-historians-view-of-diaoyutai_09.html
http://thechinadesk.blogspot.com/2006/12/millions-for-defense-but-not-one-cent.html
http://thechinadesk.blogspot.com/2005/07/diaoyutai-and-pan-green-self-delusion.html

See also: http://blog.yam.com/dili/article/5442557


Executive Director Huang Hsi-lin 黃錫麟 of the Diaoyutai Islands Action Coalition 保釣行動聯盟 thanks the ROC Coast Guard 海巡隊 for its escort mission - The 12 members of the Diaoyu Islands Action Coalition made a successful circumnavigation of the Diaoytai Islands on June 16th. They returned safely to Ruifang Sheng Ao Harbor in Taipei County 北縣瑞芳深澳漁港

Taipei reaffirms sovereignty over Tiaoyutai Islands
Friday, June 13, 2008
The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan reaffirmed its sovereignty over the Tiaoyutai Islands for the first time in at least ten years yesterday, two full days after a 270-ton sports fishing boat sank in a collision with a Japanese maritime defense frigate over their waters.

President Ma Ying-jeou, once a Tiaoyutai warrior, had a statement issued by his spokesman Wang Yu-chi reaffirming the eight islets, some 120 miles northeast of Keelung, are part of the territory of the Republic of China.

No official statement on the Tiaoyutais has been made over the past ten years, and it seems that Taipei has tacitly given up sovereignty over the small archipelago, which the Japanese call the Senkaku Islands.

China, along with Taiwan and Japan, claims sovereignty over the islets under whose waters lie vast natural gas and oil reserves waiting to be tapped.

"We have never changed our determination to insist on protecting our sovereignty over the Tiaoyutais," the Office of the President said in the statement. "Nor will we change."

The islets are designated as Daxi li (ward) of Touzheng Township in the county of Yilan, the statement declared.

"This stand is fully understood by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the statement went on, adding: "It (the foreign ministry) will comply."

On the other hand, the statement said, "We will lodge a strong protest with the Japanese government for its patrol vessel hitting and sinking our fishing boat and detaining its skipper."

"We also demand Japan release the skipper at once and pay compensation," the Office of the President said. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is negotiating with the Japanese side on the basis of the above-mentioned principle," it added.

Moreover, the statement said, "We also demand that the National Coast Guard Administration strengthen its organization and equipment at once to enhance its function of safeguarding our sovereignty and fishing rights."

As an aside, Wang Yu-chi said in releasing the statement there never is a change in President Ma's strong determination to safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty over the Tiaoyutais, which is spelled Diaoyutais in pinyin. China uses that name.

"He was a hot-blooded youth," Wang said of President Ma when he spearheaded the campaign to protect the Tiaoyutais in the early 1970s.

At that time, Ma said he would risk going to war with Japan to safeguard the eight islets.

"President Ma is a hot-blooded middle-ager now," Wang said.When the dispute over the sovereignty broke out while he was mayor of Taipei, Ma criticized President Chen Shui-bian for not standing up against Japan.

Wang explained Ma did not respond immediately to the incident, in which none were wounded, because as head of state, he had better let his Cabinet take care of it.

The fact, however, is that the public reacted too strongly for the president and his foreign minister to appear like pushovers.

There were 13 sports fishermen along with a three-man crew aboard the fishing boat Lien Ho. They were all thrown overboard in the collision Tuesday morning, but were rescued by the Japanese patrol ship Koshiki.

They were all taken to Ishigaki jima, one of the southernmost isles of the Ryukyus. The 13 deep-sea anglers were released later and came back to Keelung aboard a NCGA cutter Wednesday. Two crew members flew back to Taipei from Okinawa yesterday morning.

Chou Hsi-wei, magistrate of Taipei, accompanied Mrs. Ho Hung-yi, wife of the Lien Ho skipper, in meeting with Premier Liu Chao-schiuan, who promised whatever possible government help to get her husband back as soon as possible.

Liu said he instructed the foreign ministry to demand that Japan release the skipper, make compensation, and apologize for the incident.

"Should there be no goodwill response," Premier Liu threatened, "we do not rule out possibilities of resorting to other means."

He did not elaborate.

The magistrate of Taiwan's most populous county, which has jurisdiction over Juifang, the home port of the Lien Ho, went to the Taipei office of the Interchange Association, Japan's de facto embassy, to lodge a protest.

There was a crowd before the Japanese office protesting against "the arrogant bullying" of the Lien Ho crew and sports anglers.

Lawmakers of both the ruling and opposition parties unanimously condemned the foreign ministry for buckling under Japanese pressure.

Democratic Progressive Party legislators demanded that Francisco Ou step down as foreign minister to take responsibility.

"Where's the hot-blooded youth called Ma Ying-jeou now?" asked Yeh Yi-tsin, DPP legislative caucus deputy whip.

Kuomintang lawmaker Lin Yu-fang demanded that Chen Chao-min, minister of national defense, be prepared for war.

His colleague, Chang Suo-wen, charged the foreign ministry with ordering the NCGA cutters to stay away from "the Japanese territorial waters," precluding their timely assistance to the Lien Ho.

Another Kuomintang legislator, Liao Chen-ching, insisted that the Legislative Yuan adopt a resolution condemning the "Japanese bullying action."

"We should all go to the Taipei office of the Interchange Association to protest," Chang urged.

Phoebe Yeh, spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, denied any such order was issued. But she admitted the cutters were told to stay 12 nautical miles away from the Tiaoyutais.

Tsai Ming-yao, a foreign ministry Japanese affairs coordinator, said he was to blame for telling the cutters to stay away.

"My judgment was a wrong one," Tsai said. "I am responsible."

1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance

1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance
Bevin Chu
May 28, 2008


One of Zheng He's Treasure Ships next to Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria

Retired Royal Navy submarine commander Gavin Menzies is the author of the controversial book "1421: The Year China Discovered America."

Menzies has now written another, equally controversial book, entitled "1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance."

Mainstream Western academics and intellectuals have purportedly "debunked" Menzies' claims, known as the "1421 Hypothesis."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1421_hypothesis

I however, am intrigued by Menzies' claims, and eager to see and hear more.

Whether Menzies' claims are true will hopefully become clear over time.

What dismays me about Menzies' self-styled "debunkers" is not their intellectual disagreement, but their emotional outrage.

Menzies asks some tough questions, such as:

"How do you discover a place for which you already have a map?"

and

"Why were the straits named after Magellan when Magellan had seen them on a chart before he set sail?"

Leave aside for the moment whether Menzies' answers to these questions are correct. Turn instead to why Menzies' "debunkers" are so affronted that such questions would even be asked.

Leave aside for a moment history, and turn to psychology.

Read their "rebuttals." Read between the lines. Note the hysterical tone of some of their responses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Menzies

Why are these mainstream Western academics and intellectuals so offended by the idea that a Chinese navigator, rather than an Italian navigator, first discovered America, or that a Chinese navigator, rather than a Portuguese navigator, first circumnavigated the globe?


Chinese Navigator Zheng He


Italian Navigator Christopher Columbus


Portuguese Navigator Ferdinand Magellan

Has a sacred cow been gored? Has an article of faith been questioned? Has their comfortable Eurocentric world view been shaken to its very foundations?

In the cult science fiction film The Planet of the Apes (1968, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, written by Pierre Boulle, Michael Wilson, and Rod Serling) we humans got a sense of what it would be like if apes were to replace us at the top of the food chain. We humans were aghast as we watched apes rule the planet.

I get the feeling that Menzies' "debunkers" feel the same way about the suggestion that Chinese navigator Zheng He discovered America and circumnavigated the world.

These mainstream Western academics and intellectuals seem unwilling to admit into their consciousness the very thought of a world in which Westerners are not the driving force behind every major event in history.

These mainstream Western academics and intellectuals seem unwilling to countenance the very idea of a world stage on which Westerners are not the leading men and leading ladies, and non-Westerners are not the bit players.

Whether Menzies' claims will ever be substantiated is one thing.

But the shrilly defensive reaction from Western "Defenders of Civilization as We Know It" is something else altogether.

Methinks they doth protest too much.

The size of Zheng He's ships may have been exaggerated. I don't know.

But suppose they were? Zheng He's ships could have been far smaller than Menzies postulates, and still sailed to America, or even circumnavigated the globe.

After all, Columbus and Magellan managed to perform these feats using far smaller ships. Why couldn't Zheng He have performed them, only earlier?

Ming dynasty maritime technology was more than capable of accomplishing these feats. Whether Chinese navigators bothered to carry them out is a separate matter.


An excerpt from '1434'

Greetings!

We are delighted to enclose below an excerpt from Gavin's new book, 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance.

One thing that greatly puzzled me when writing 1421 was the lack of curiosity among many professional historians.

After all, Christopher Columbus supposedly discovered America in 1492. Yet 18 years before he set sail, Columbus had a map of the Americas, which he later acknowledged in his logs. Indeed, even before his first voyage, Columbus signed a contract with the King and Queen of Spain that appointed him Viceroy of the Americas. His fellow ship's captain, Pinzon, who sailed with him in 1492 had too seen a map of the Americas -- in the Pope's library.

How do you discover a place for which you already have a map?

The same question could be asked of Magellan. The straits that connect the Atlantic to the Pacific bear the great Portuguese explorer's name. When Magellan reached those straits, he had run out of food and his sailors were reduced to eating rats. Worse, they were convinced they were lost.

Esteban Gomez led a mutiny, seizing the San Antonio with the intent to lead part of the expedition back to Spain. Magellan quashed the mutiny by claiming he was not at all lost. A member of the crew wrote , "We all believed that [the Strait] was a cul-de-sac; but the Captain knew that he had to navigate through a very well concealed strait, having seen it in a chart preserved in the treasury of the King of Portugal, and made by Martin of Bohemia, a man of great parts."

Why were the straits named after Magellan when Magellan had seen them on a chart before he set sail? Once again, it doesn't make sense.

The paradox might be explained had there been no maps of the straits or of the Pacific - if, as some believe, Magellan was bluffing about having seen a chart. But there were maps. Waldseemueller published his map of the Americas and the Pacific in 1507, thirteen years before Magellan set sail. In 1515, four years before Magellan sailed, Schoener published a map showing the straits Magellan is said to have
"discovered."

The great European explorers were brave and determined men. But they discovered nothing. Magellan was not the first to circumnavigate the globe nor was Columbus the first to discover the Americas So why, we may ask, do historians persist in propagating this fantasy? Why is the "Times History of Exploration," which details the discoveries of European explorers, still taught in schools? Why are the young so insistently misled?

After 1421 was published, we set up our website, www.1421.tv, which has since received millions of visitors. Additionally we have received hundreds of thousands of emails from readers of 1421, many bringing new evidence to our attention. Of the criticism we've also received, the most frequent complaint has concerned my failure to describe the Chinese fleets' visits to Europe when the Renaissance was just getting underway.

Two years ago, a Chinese Canadian scholar, Tai Peng Wang, discovered Chinese and Italian records showing beyond a doubt that Chinese delegations had reached Italy during the reigns of Zhu Di (1403 - 1425) and the Xuande Emperor (1426 - 1435). Naturally, this was of the greatest interest to me and the 1421 team.

Shortly after Tai Peng Wang's 2005 discovery, Marcella and I set off with friends for Spain. For a decade, we've enjoyed holidays with this same group of friends, travelling to seemingly inaccessible places - crossing the Andes, Himalayas and Hindu Kush, voyaging down the Amazon, journeying to the glaciers of Patagonia and to the High Altiplano of Bolivia. In 2005 we walked the Via de la Plata from Seville, from which the Conquistadores sailed to the New World, north to their homeland of Extremadura. Along the way, we visited the towns in which the Conquistadores were born and grew up. One of these was Toledo, painted with such bravura by El Greco. Of particular interest to me were the mediaeval pumps by which this fortified mountain town drew its water from the river far below.

On a lovely autumn day, we walked uphill to the great cathedral that dominates Toledo and the surrounding countryside. We dumped our bags in a small hotel built into the cathedral walls and set off to explore. In a neighbouring Moorish palace there was an exhibition dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci and his Madrid codices, focusing on Leonardo's pumps, aqueducts, locks and canals -- all highly relevant to Toledo.

The exhibit contained this note: "Leonardo embarked upon a thorough analysis of waterways. The encounter with Francesco di Giorgio in Pavia in 1490 was a decisive moment in Leonardo's training, a turning point. Leonardo planned to write a treatise on water."

This note puzzled me. I had been taught that Leonardo had designed the first European canals and locks, that he was the first to illustrate pumps and fountains. So what relevant training had he received from di Giorgio, a name completely unknown to me?

My research revealed that Leonardo had owned a copy of di Giorgio's treatise on civil and military machines. In the treatise, di Giorgio had illustrated and described a range of astonishing machines, many of which Leonardo subsequently reproduced in three-dimensional drawings. The illustrations were not limited to canals, locks and pumps; they included parachutes, submersibles tanks and machine guns as well as hundreds of other machines with civil and military applications.

This was quite a shock. It seemed Leonardo was more illustrator than inventor and that the greater genius may have resided in di Giorgio. Was di Giorgio the original inventor of these fantastic machines? Or did he, in turn, copy them from another?

I learned that di Giorgio had inherited notebooks and treatises from another Italian, Mario di Jacopo ditto Taccola (called Taccola "the jackdaw"). Taccola was a clerk of public works living in Siena. Having never seen the sea or fought a battle, he nevertheless managed to draw a wide variety of nautical machines - paddle wheeled boats, frogmen and machines for lifting wrecks together with a range of gunpowder weapons, even an advanced method of making gunpowder. It seems Taccola was responsible for nearly every technical illustration that di Giorgio and Leonardo had later improved upon.

So, once again, we confront our familiar puzzle: How did a clerk in a remote Italian hill town, a man who had never travelled abroad nor obtained a university education, come to produce technical illustrations of such amazing machines?

This book attempts to answer that and a few related riddles. In doing so, we stumble upon the map of the Americas that Taccola's contemporary, Paolo Toscanelli, sent to both Christopher Columbus and the King of Portugal, in whose library Magellan encountered it.

Like '1421', this book is a collective endeavour that never would have been written without the help of thousands of people across the world. I do not claim definitive answers to every riddle. This is a work in progress. Indeed, I hope the reader will join us in the search for answers and share them with us - as so many did in response to '1421.'

However, before we meet the Chinese squadron upon its arrival in Venice and then Florence, a bit of background is necessary on the aims of the Xuande Emperor for whom Grand Eunuch Zheng He served as ambassador to Europe. A Xuande imperial order dated 29th June 1430 stated:

"The New Reign of Xuan De has commenced and everything shall begin anew. But distant lands beyond the seas have not yet been informed. I send Eunuchs Zheng He and Wang Zing Hong with this imperial order to instruct these countries to follow the way of heaven with reverence and to watch over their people so that all might enjoy the good fortune of lasting peace."

The first three chapters of this book describe the two years of preparations in China and Indonesia to fulfil that order, which required launching and provisioning the greatest fleet the world had ever seen for a voyage across the world. Chapter 4 explains how the Chinese calculated longitude without clocks and latitude without sextants -prerequisites for drawing accurate maps of new lands. Chapters 5 and 6 describe how the fleet left the Malabar Coast of India, sailed to the canal linking the Nile to the Red Sea, then down the Nile into the Mediterranean. Some have argued that no Chinese records exist to suggest Zheng He's fleets ever left the Indian Ocean. Chapters 5 and 6 document the many records in China, Egypt, Dalmatia, Venice, Florence and the Papacy describing the fleets' voyage.

In Chapter 21, I discuss the immense transfer of knowledge that took place in 1434 between China and Europe. This knowledge originated with a people who, over a thousand years, had created an advanced civilisation in Asia; it was given to Europe just as she was emerging from a millennium of stagnation following the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Renaissance has traditionally been portrayed as a rebirth of the classical civilisations of Greece and Rome. It seems to me the time has come to reappraise this Eurocentric view of history. While the ideals of Greece and Rome played an important role in the Renaissance, I submit that the transfer of Chinese intellectual capital to Europe was the spark that set the Renaissance ablaze.

When you have read the book, please tell us whether you agree.

Gavin Menzies
New York
17th July 2007

Sharon Stone Calls China Earthquake Karma

Sharon Stone Calls China Earthquake Karma
Bevin Chu
May 26, 2008


Heart of Stone? The China Desk likes Sharon Stone, and certainly hopes not

Sharon Stone Calls China Earthquake Karma
Hollyscoop.com
May 26, 2008

http://www.hollyscoop.com/sharon-stone/sharon-stone-calls-china-earthquake-karma_16155.aspx

Sharon Stone made a not so smart statement while on the red carpet in Cannes. She was asked if she had heard about the disaster that hit China recently, and her answer was:

"Of course I have. Well you know at first I thought I'm not happy with the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans….and I've been concerned with should we have the Olympics because they're not being nice to the Dalai Lama who's a good friend of mine. And then all this earthquake and stuff happened and I thought, 'Is that Karma, when you're not nice and the bad things happen to you?'"

Well that's one way of looking at things, Sharon. Although, we don't think most people agree with that way of thinking. She tried redeeming her comment afterwards but you can't take what you said back.



The China Desk responds: Sichuan Province is just to the east of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Many Tibetan-Chinese live in western Sichuan, in what Tibetan independence advocates claim is "part of Greater Tibet."

With the number of dead approaching 100,000, a not insignificant number of quake victims were Tibetan-Chinese. If the May 12 Wenchuan Earthquake was "karmic payback" against "Chinese," which Ms. Stone erroneously equates with "Han-Chinese," how does Ms. Stone explain all the dead and injured Tibetan-Chinese?

Applying Ms. Stone's logic, should we conclude that Tibetan-Chinese who died in the earthquake were victims of "karmic payback" for the egregious sins of the Tibetan independence movement?

Some Tibetan-Chinese don't admit to being Chinese. Instead, they demand a Tibetan variant of South Africa's former system of Apartheid. They demand political independence from a polyglot, multi-ethnic China, on the basis of their "Tibetan" ethnic identity.

Not only do they demand political independence, they demand that other regions of China to which Tibetan-Chinese have migrated be incorporated into their "Greater Tibet."

In case you think I'm kidding, take a gander at the "Greater Tibet" territorial claims made by Tibetan independence ultranationalists below.


"Historic Tibet": the megalomanical "Greater Tibet" territorial claims of Tibetan independence ultranationalists

According to Tibetan independence advocates, anywhere ethnic Tibetans live ought to be part of "Greater Tibet."

"Lebensraum" anybody?

I guess Oberscharfuhrer Heinrich Harrer of the SS really did a thorough job of inculcating his young charge Tenzing Gyatso with Nazi concepts of race and territoriality after all.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Harrer and his young disciple:

Heinrich Harrer's Nazi past was unknown until a 1997 article [appeared] in the German magazine Stern. Harrer became a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA, or "Brownshirts") in October 1933, when the Nazi Party (NSDAP) was illegal in Austria. He held the rank of Oberscharführer (Sergeant). In March 1938, Austria was annexed by the German regime, as a part of Grossdeutschland ("Greater Germany"). Harrer joined the Schutzstaffel (SS, or "Blackshirts") that same year and was photographed with Adolf Hitler.

Harrer became a friend of the young Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, who had summoned him to the Potala Palace after having seen him repeatedly in the streets below the palace through his telescope. Harrer taught the Dalai Lama (who was eleven years old when they met) much about the outside world and effectively served as his tutor. The Dalai Lama has often credited Harrer's later writings about Tibet as having helped focus international attention on the plight of the Tibetan people after Communist Chinese control.

-- Wikipedia

Okay, I'll cop to it. Sharon Stone is one of my favorite actresses, and to paraphrase Jimmy Carter, I have lusted after her in my heart.

Ms. Stone is both beautiful and intelligent. But the Myth of Shangri-la and Tibetan Independence Political Correctness have her so brainwashed, she is no longer capable of thinking for herself.

Isn't it time Western camp followers of "The Dalai Lama" (shades of "The Donald") ran some long overdue reality checks on their borrowed "spiritual faith?"

A friend in the San Franciso Bay Area had this to say:

The epicenter of the 8.0 Ms Sichuan earthquake was in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, where the ethnic Tibetan population is 53.72%. Videos and criticisms of her comments quickly spread across the web.

I also checked the distribution of ethnic minorities maps in National Geographic magazine's special edition on China and my own book, and confirmed that the area is indeed inhabited by Tibetans. So my response to Sharon Stone is, if God intended this as karma against the Hans, then:

1. God would have put the earthquake somewhere else, somewhere inhabited primarily by Hans, like Shanghai, Beijing, or the Dongbei;

Or, even better,

2. God would have struck down only Hans and Qian minorities, and left all Tibetans standing.

I think China should publish the number of ethnic Tibetans killed. It would be something like 10,000 or more, and show some of the casualties (I saw a Tibetan village on TV, and many of the buildings featured had the distinctive Tibetan designs and Burgundy red color paint of the Tibetans) in Tibetan clothes clutching prayer beads, just to silence the low IQ Sharon Stone, even though they say she has high IQ in reality.

Again, I am acting only as a neutral but scientific person, not because I am pro-CCP OK? I am pro-truth and common sense.


Epicenter of Sichuan Earthquake. The Tibet Autonomous Region borders on Sichuan. Tibetan-Chinese in Sichuan and the Tibet Autonomous Region figured significantly among the dead and injured (Note the ubiquity of Taiwan independence influences? Whoever made this map made Taiwan slightly darker than the Chinese mainland. Because it wasn't quite as dark as Russia, Korea, Vietnam and other neighboring nations, even I didn't catch it! Fortunately a fellow reunificationist noticed it and brought it to my attention.)

Backtalk: What Do You Want From Us?

Backtalk: What Do You Want From Us?
May 18, 2008


This advertisement for soap uses the theme of the White Man's Burden, encouraging white people to teach cleanliness to members of other races
-- Wikipedia

Almost on cue, almost as if to prove the very point made in the widely circulated article, "What Do You Want From Us?" a number of Bearers of the White Man's Burden have condescended to set the poor, benighted Chinese people straight on the World As It Really Is.

One of them posted a long-winded "rebuttal" to my article here:
http://www.onlyredheadintaiwan.com/2008/05/responding-to-chinese-poem-on-worlds.html


The Only Redhead in Taiwan [sic!] yet another predictable "China is bad" blog by yet another expat Taiwan independence fellow traveler

You read that right. He really did name his blog "The Only Redhead in Taiwan."

Try not to laugh too hard. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.

But I really can't blame you. These 21st century versions of pith helmeted 19th century Bearers of the White Man's Burden really are full of themselves, aren't they?

Note how he chose to define himself in relation to the public on Taiwan? Remember, he chose to define himself in this manner, not me.

He seems utterly oblivious of his own colossal presumption. He actually believes his narcissistic view of himself as some sort of sharp-eyed, worldly wise, infinitely patient observer of the human folly swirling around him.

For these Bearers of the White Man's Burden, everything is about them. They are the leading men in the human drama unfolding on this planet. They are the Masters of the Universe. They are the final arbiters of Eternal Verity.

The "little brown brothers" are quaint extras, local colour, to be lifted up out of backwardness by these White Knights in Shining Armor.

See:
http://thechinadesk.blogspot.com/2000/08/white-knight-third-world-damsel-in.html

I considered taking some time out to rebut his "rebuttal" line by line, point by point. As readers of the China Desk know, I've done that with Taipei Times editorials often in the past. But that would have been a few hours taken away from learning a new aria or show tune.

Would it be worthwhile?

Not really.

Besides, readers are smart enough to make up their own minds, not on debating skill, but on objective merits.

Read "What Do You Want From Us?" Watch the video versions of "What Do You Want from Us?" posted at YouTube.

Then read the "rebuttal" by the aforementioned Bearer of the White Man's Burden, whereby he magnanimously removes the blinders from our eyes.

Ask yourself if he didn't unwittingly demonstrate precisely the point he was attempting to deny, that he and his ilk are determined to "make China wrong" and that he and his ilk "just don't get it?"

Upton Sinclair once quipped that "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

Permit me to paraphrase Sinclair: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his self-image depends upon his not understanding it."

What Do You Want From Us?

Völker Europas, wahrt eure heiligsten Güter! 
(Peoples of Europe, guard your most sacred possessions!)
Hermann Knackfuß, 1895
Commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II, and made a gift to Tsar Nicholas II

The Archangel Michael, patron saint of the Germans, surrounded by Valkyrie-like women representing the peoples of Europe, points to a floating Buddha approaching from the East amidst dark storm clouds. From right to left: Marianne (France), Germania, Russia, Austria, Italia, Britannia.

"Because the European does not know his own unconscious, he does not understand the East and projects it into everything he fears and despises in himself."
-- Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)

What Do You Want From Us?  
Bevin Chu
May 3, 2008

"What Do You Want From Us?" is a thought-provoking piece that has been widely circulated on the Internet. The author has apparently chosen to remain anonymous.
It has also been made into video versions. Here are some of them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rApn09pRZCk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW5AA1xWIck&feature=related
I have posted my own, slighted edited version of it below.

The original version has also been posted here for comparison.


Sun Yat-sen, Father of Modern China, revered both on the mainland and on Taiwan. Original brush painting by Sun reads: 天下為公 (Tian Xia Wei Gong), loosely translated as "The Universal Brotherhood of Man," the traditional Chinese view of the world

What Do You Want From Us?
Revised Version by Bevin Chu

When we were the Sick Man of Asia, you called us the Yellow Peril.
When we are billed the Next Superpower, you call us the China Threat.

When we closed our doors, you demanded we open them so you could import your drugs.
When we embrace free trade, you blame us for taking away your jobs.

When we were falling apart, you marched in your troops and demanded your share of the booty.
When we try to put the pieces back together, you scream "Free Tibet! Invasion!"

When we tried Communism, you hated us for being Communists.
When we embrace capitalism, you hate us for being capitalists.

When our population reached one billion people, you said we were destroying the planet.
When we tried limiting our numbers, you said we were abusing human rights.

When we were poor, you thought we were dogs.
When we loan you money, you blame us for your national debt.

When we build our industries, you call us polluters.
When we sell you goods, you blame us for global warming.

When we buy oil, you call it genocide.
When you go to war for oil, you call it liberation.

When we were in chaos, you demanded the rule of law.
When we uphold law and order, you call it violating human rights.

When we were silent, you said you wanted us to enjoy free speech.
When we are silent no more, you call us brainwashed xenophobes.

Why do you hate us so much, we asked.
No, you answered, we don't hate you.

Well, we don't hate you either. But do you understand us?
Of course we do, you said, we have AFP, BBC, and CNN

What do you want from us? Really?
Think hard before you answer, because you only get so many chances.

Enough is enough. Enough hypocrisy is enough.
We want the Brotherhood of Man and Peace on Earth.
This Big Blue Marble is big enough for all of us.

What Do You Want From Us? [Traditional Chinese]

你們要我們怎麼著？

我們被稱為“東亞病夫”時，說我們危險。
我們要做下一個超級大國了，說我們威脅

我們閉關時，你們偷運毒品來打開市場。
我們擁抱自由貿易了，你們怪我們搶走了你們的飯碗。

我們四分五裂時，你們大兵開進要你們公平的份額。
我們把打碎的碎片拼到一起時，你們高叫“自由西藏”！“那是入侵”。

所以我們嘗試了共產主義，你們恨我們是共黨。
所以我們擁抱了資本主義，你們恨我們是資本家。

然后我們有了10億人，你們說我們在毀滅這個星球。
然后我們就限制我們的數量，你們說這是踐踏人權。

我們窮的時候，你們認為我們是狗，
我們貸款給你們時，你們又怪我們讓你們欠了債。

我們建立我們的工業時，你們說我們污染。
我們把貨物賣給你們時，你們責怪我們讓全球變暖，
我們買石油時，你們說那是剝削和種族滅絕。

我們陷入混亂時，你們要我們法治。
我們維護法律和秩序反對暴力時，你們說那是侵犯人權。

我們沉默時，你們說你們要我們有言論自由。
我們不再沉默了，你們說我們被洗腦了。

你們為什麼這麼恨我們？我們問。“不”，你們回答，“我們不恨你們。”
我們也不恨你們。但是，你們理解我們嗎？“當然理解，”你們說，“我們有CNN, BBC和CBC。”

但是怎麼搞的，我們仍然覺得，你們西方人不喜歡我們。
你們到底要我們怎麼著？

我的朋友，你們真的到底要我們怎麼著？


Big Blue Marble, Western Hemisphere


Big Blue Marble, Eastern Hemisphere

What Do You Want From Us?
Original Version by Anonymous

When we were the Sick Man of Asia, We were called The Yellow Peril.
When we are billed to be the next Superpower, we are called The Threat.
When we closed our doors, you smuggled drugs to open markets.
When we embrace Free Trade, You blame us for taking away your jobs.
When we were falling apart, You marched in your troops and wanted your fair share.
When we tried to put the broken pieces back together again, Free Tibet you screamed, It Was an Invasion!
When tried Communism, you hated us for being Communist.
When we embrace Capitalism, you hate us for being Capitalist.
When we have a billion people, you said we were destroying the planet.
When we tried limiting our numbers, you said we abused human rights.
When we were poor, you thought we were dogs.
When we loan you cash, you blame us for your national debts.
When we build our industries, you call us Polluters.
When we sell you goods, you blame us for global warming.
When we buy oil, you call it exploitation and genocide.
When you go to war for oil, you call it liberation.
When we were lost in chaos and rampage, you demanded rules of law.
When we uphold law and order against violence, you call it violating human rights.
When we were silent, you said you wanted us to have free speech.
When we are silent no more, you say we are brainwashed-xenophobics.
Why do you hate us so much, we asked.
No, you answered, we don't hate you.
We don't hate you either, But, do you understand us?
Of course we do, you said,We have AFP, CNN and BBC's...
What do you really want from us?
Think hard first, then answer... Because you only get so many chances.
Enough is Enough, Enough Hypocrisy for This One World.
We want One World, One Dream, and Peace on Earth.
This Big Blue Earth is Big Enough for all of Us.

The Epoch Times' Old Stance on China Not Unexpected

The Epoch Times' Old Stance on China Not Unexpected
by Bevin Chu
May 2, 2008

The Epoch Times, the US Central Intelligence Agency's unofficial mouthpiece, is parroting the Tibetan independence movement party line. This is not surprising at all.

The Epoch Times is the post Cold War equivalent of the Cold War era People's Daily. Rebutting the Epoch Times would be like shooting fish in a barrel, and I have better use of my time.

Enough said.

Backtalk: China's Claims to Tibet have Greater Validity than US Claims to California

Backtalk: China's Claims to Tibet have Greater Validity than US Claims to California
May 1, 2008

Hello Mr. Chu:

I read your thought-provoking "China's Claims to Tibet have Greater Validity than US Claims to California." Below are some linked articles that critique the Western media coverage of the Tibetan riots/Olympics protests and expose the geopolitical designs that are being pushed by the USA and its allies.

These articles are really an eye-opener and contradict much of what the Mainstream 'free press' depicts. The GlobalResearch.ca and German-Foreign-Policy-com pieces are especially insightful.

In fact, the Western media's coverage was so disingenous that some Chinese students started a website to counter them:
http://www.anti-cnn.com

Regards,
D. Paik

Risky Geopolitical Game: Washington Plays ‘Tibet Roulette’ with China
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8625

China and America: The Tibet Human Rights PsyOp
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8673

Western Media Fabrications regarding the Tibet Riots
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8697

Operations Against China
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56147

The Olympic Torch Relay Campaign
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56145
http://www.anti-cnn.com/forum/en/thread-481-1-1.html

The Role of the CIA: Behind the Dalai Lama's Holy Cloak
http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/160163
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=586331

Tibet: Will the USA Launch a New Secret War “Under the Roof of the World”?
http://en.fondsk.ru/article.php?id=1289

Chinese Tibet and European political performances
http://en.fondsk.ru/article.php?id=1320

Trouble in Tibet
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fline/fl2507/stories/20080411250713100.htm

Behind the anti-China Olympics campaign
http://www.anti-cnn.com/forum/en/viewthread.php?tid=50&extra=page%3D1

China's Claims to Tibet have Greater Validity than US Claims to California

China's Claims to Tibet have Greater Validity than US Claims to California
by Bevin Chu
April 25, 2008

Above is a news article entitled "Plebiscite Coming on Mexico’s Claim to California?" by Sacramento Union columnist Liam Weston.

Weston notes with indignation and alarm that 58 percent of Mexicans surveyed in a national poll believe the Southwestern United States rightly belongs to Mexico.

Weston concludes that "Our government has not considered the longer-term consequences of immigration policies that no longer require assimilation as the cost of U.S. citizenship or residency."

But Mexican migration to the southwest in recent decades is not the reason Mexicans believe the southwest rightly belongs to Mexico. Mexicans believe the southwest rightly belongs to Mexico because the US extorted it from Mexico at gunpoint in 1848.

In 1844, President James K. Polk... wanted to lay claim to California, New Mexico, and land near the disputed southern border of Texas. Mexico, however, was not so eager to let go of these territories... Determined to acquire the land, he sent American troops to Texas... to provoke the Mexicans into war. When the Mexicans fired on American troops in April 25, 1846, Polk had the excuse he needed. [Some] Americans simply thought it was wrong to use war to take land from Mexico. Among those was Second Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant... he would later call the war "one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory."
-- PBS Online, People & Events: The Mexican American War, 1846-1848

Many Hollywood stars live in California, in what Mexicans consider northern Mexico. Quite a few of these stars are self-righteously demanding that China accede to the demands of Tibetan nationalists for a "Greater Tibet."

These Hollywood stars neither know nor care that Mexican claims to California have far greater validity than Tibetan nationalists' claim to a "Greater Tibet." Or conversely, that China's claims to Tibet have far greater validity than US claims to California.

These Hollywood stars, who hold deeds to high-priced real estate in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, and Malibu, will probably say that "Too much time has passed. What's done is done. California is now irrevocably a part of the United States. You can't turn the clock back."

But the United States annexed California in 1848, a mere 160 years ago. If the passage of 160 years must be accepted because "Too much time has passed. What's done is done," then Tibet, which became part of China 737 years ago, is even more "irrevocably a part of China."

If "You can't turn the clock back" because "Too much time has passed, and what's done is done," then why are these Hollywood stars attempting to turn the clock back for the Tibetan region of China, but not for the California region of the US?


CIA World Factbook correctly acknowledges that Tibet is an integral part of China

In fact, China's vastly more compelling claim to Tibet doesn't end there. As noted above, the US acquired California by invading Mexico and extorting California from Mexico at gunpoint.

China did not acquire Tibet by invading Tibet and annexing Tibet. Tibet became part of China when the Mongol Empire, with Tibetan collusion, invaded and conquered Song dynasty China during the 13th century.

Once the Mongolians completed their conquest of "Han China," they used Tibetans to control the Hans. The Mongolians established a three-tiered hierarchy. The top tier was the conquering Mongolians, the middle tier was their Tibetan allies, and the bottom tier was the conquered Hans.

Far from being innocent victims, Tibetans were accomplices in the Mongolian conquest and subjugation of China -- as China was defined in the Song dynasty.

Many Dalai Lama acolytes don't even know that the honorific title "Dalai," as in "Dalai Lama," is not even a Tibetan word. It is a Mongolian word. It was first conferred upon leaders of Tibet's lamaist theocracy by the ruling Mongolians during the Yuan dynasty. It was later conferred upon Tibet's theocrats by the ruling Hans during China's Ming dynasty, and the ruling Manchus during China's Qing dynasty.

That's right. The Dalai Lama has traditionally derived his authority from China.

When the Mongolian-dominated Yuan dynasty collapsed, the Han-dominated Ming dynasty inherited the realm of the Yuan dynasty, including sovereignty over Mongolia and Tibet.

The bottom line? China's claims to Tibet are, if anything, far more compelling than US claims to California.

Either the US owns California, or it doesn't. If the US owns California, then China owns Tibet. If the US feels it has a strong case for the ownership of California, then China has an infinitely stronger case for the ownership of Tibet.

Below you will find the text of the aforementioned news article.

NEWS: SPECIAL FEATURE
letters from Abroad

Plebiscite Coming on Mexico’s Claim to California?
By LIAM WESTON
Sacramento Union Columnist
April 18, 2008


Depicted in this image released last week by the Mexican advertising firm of Teran/TBWA is an advertisement created for Swedish Absolut Vodka that ran in Mexico showing a map of the border of Mexico and the United States where it stood before the Mexican-American War of 1848. The Absolut Vodka company apologized for the ad campaign amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers. (AP Photo/Teran/TBWA)

Around the world, the United States has supported enclaves of people seeking self- determination. We have provided support to people looking to secede in the Jammu/ Kashmir region of India, East Timor of Indonesia, Bosnia and even a province of Spain in the 1970s—just to name a few.

The United States supports resolutions within the United Nations calling on sovereign countries to hold a “plebiscite” – a type of referendum – to allow areas of their country to decide whether they can become independent or secede and join a neighboring country. While many Americans do not know the position our country has taken, it is well remembered by the nations whose territories we advocated should be reduced to accommodate an ethnic minority’s ambition for secession.

Spaniards remember the forced separation of their Province of Western Sahara from Spain in 1975 as if it happened yesterday. India is still fighting United Nations resolutions supported by the United States calling for a plebiscite in the Jammu/ Kashmir region. Even our closest allies like Israel have been told to shed territories they gained in war and cede control because an ethnic minority does not support their national government.

Separation Anxiety

While these situations are certainly complex and not all similar, they do represent a general trend of American foreign policy practiced by our State Department.

A recent Absolut Vodka advertisement in Mexico that showed the American southwest as part of Mexico calling it “absolut Mexico” caused quite an uproar in the U.S. press. It surprised me that so many people are learning for the first time that our nation’s sovereignty is in question.

For years, the “re-conquista” movement in California and across the southwest has been gaining momentum. However, the vodka advertisements appear to be the first nationwide reaction to the radical view. What has been propelling them forward is the direct involvement by the Mexican government in our internal affairs. If current trends continue, a call for a plebiscite over Southern California is not out of the question.

I say this because some members of the California State Legislature already represent districts in Los Angeles County where so few constituents are U.S. citizens that voter turnout is sparse. This hasn’t gone unnoticed in Mexico.

Mexico claims the right to interfere in our internal politics as more of its citizens move across the border and establish residency. When Vicente Fox was the President of Mexico, he regularly referred to the “120 million” Mexicans he represented. At the time, Mexico’s population was only 100 million but he explained he also represented 20 million Mexican living inside the United States.

In 1998, the Mexican Congress passed a law allowing Mexicans nationals to retain their citizenship even after pledging allegiance to the United States when becoming U.S. citizens. The law, called Mexican Nationality Law, even allows immigrants who already became naturalized U.S. citizens before 1998 to become legal Mexican citizens retroactively.

Two years ago, the Mexican Congress passed an absentee voting law to accommodate these many new citizens of their country. Now, Mexican citizens living permanently inside the United States may participate regularly in Mexico’s national elections. There have also been initiatives inside the Mexican Congress to add seats for representatives from districts in areas like California. Imagine a Mexican legislator telling a U.S. Congressman that he received more votes in the district and is therefore the democratically elected representative of, say, Los Angeles?

Claiming California

It took the Absolut Vodka advertisement for our national media to even discuss this issue. Many Americans were shocked to learn that 58 percent of Mexicans surveyed in a national poll believed the Southwestern United States rightly belongs to Mexico. Our government has not considered the longer-term consequences of immigration policies that no longer require assimilation as the cost of U.S. citizenship or residency. Mexico, on the other hand, has considered the consequences carefully and is taking action.

Most of the ingredients the U.S. State Department considers necessary before calling for a plebiscite are already here: A large population of unassimilated foreign nationals and another government pretending to be their voice. The ingredient still missing is civil unrest or severe economic conditions that aggravate the delicate political situation.

It is not my intention to be an alarmist since I do not know if it will take ten years or 50 years before the inevitable California plebiscite is demanded by Mexico. However, the irreparable harm being done to our claim of national sovereignty through uncontrolled immigration is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately.

Jaw Shao-kang: Why should you vote for the New Party?

趙少康：為什麼要投給新黨？
新黨晚會
台北大安公園
2008年1月5日
19:00 -- 22:00

YouTube Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HL_lKb4ink

Jaw Shao-kang: Why should you vote for the New Party?
New Party Political Rally
Taipei Daan Park
January 5, 2008
19:00 -- 22:00

Prevent Election Fraud on Taiwan 全民防作票

全民防作票 Prevent Election Fraud on Taiwan
Bevin Chu
January 4, 2008


The 319 Shooting Incident - A Wag the Dog "Assassination Attempt" staged by Chen Shui-bian as a superficially plausible pretext for massive election fraud

Frank Hsieh and the Democratic Progressive Party are set to lose big in the upcoming January 12, 2008 Republic of China Legislative Elections, and the March 22, 2008 Presidential Election.

Not that very lame duck "President" Chen Shui-bian gives a damn. Chen only gives a damn about the looming debacle to the extent that it affects him.

Republic of China kleptocrat Chen Shui-bian has committed so many crimes during his eight years in the Presidential Palace, he is terrified he will end up like former Republic of Korean kleptocrats Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Tae Woo.

As a result, he is desperately seeking ways to either:

1. remain in office indefinitely by provoking an incident within the island that would justify declaring martial law and naming himself "President for Life"

2. extort a promise of political asylum from the US by threatening to precipitate a military confrontation in the Taiwan Strait with Beijing

3. rig the election so that DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh "wins" and becomes president, then pardons Chen as a quid pro quo

In the event Chen chooses the third option, he will attempt to commit massive election fraud, even more extreme than the election fraud he committed in 2004, when he did away with roughly a million Lien Chan ballots, then declared himself the winner.

To understand how Chen will probably go about committing election fraud, and therefore how to prevent it, see the following instructional film, created by a small group of dedicated Pan Blue comrades.

全民防作票 Prevent Election Fraud on Taiwan 1 of 3 [in Mandarin]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw8l9UnWWsQ

全民防作票 Prevent Election Fraud on Taiwan 2 of 3 [in Mandarin]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dB5O88rml4

全民防作票 Prevent Election Fraud on Taiwan 3 of 3 [in Mandarin]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw8l9UnWWsQ

The People who count the Votes

The People who count the Votes
translated by Bevin Chu
December 25, 2007


Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
约瑟夫 斯大林, 蘇聯第1任蘇共中央總書記

"The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."
-- attributed to Joseph Stalin

"投票的人什麼都不決定。數票的人決定一切 "
-- 约瑟夫 斯大林


Executive Yuan Secretary General Chen Ching-chun, one of "the people who count the votes," threatens local election officials belonging to the 18 Pan Blue governed counties and municipalities with removal from office, replacement by others, criminal prosecution, and draconian punishments if they don't meekly implement the ruling DPP's "single-stage balloting procedure." Chen denounces a KMT newspaper ad (left hand) exposing the ruling DPP's determination to have the DPP controlled Central Election Committee "count" the votes, and asserts that the government is upholding the ROC Constitution (right hand)


William M. "Boss" Tweed (1823 - 1878) Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 5th district
特威德老大 (1823 - 1878) 美因侵吞公款身敗名裂的知名政治人物


Inscription on ballot box: In counting there is strength
票櫃上的標語 : 數票就是力量

"As long as I count the votes, what are you going to do about it?"
-- Boss Tweed

"只要選票是我來數的, 你能拿我這麼樣? "
-- 特威德老大


香港文匯報 [2006-11-27] 美報諷扁「特威德老大」

後人對特威德老大的印象，大多來自這幅漫畫作品。畫中的特威德自信滿滿地說：「只要計算選票的人是我，你又能怎樣？」

【本報訊】據聯合報26日消息：《紐約時報》在一篇發自台北的報道中指出，最近台灣爆發「總統國務機要費」案及首長特別費案，使台灣的民主政治遭到嚴厲考驗。

報道說，台灣政壇向來充斥口水戰與肢體衝突，近來尤甚。曾被視為「台灣之子」的陳水扁，而今卻被指為「特威德老大（Boss Tweed）」（美因侵吞公款身敗名裂的知名政治人物，1868年到1870年之間，時任紐約州參議員特威德藉職務之便竊取紐約市政府至少2,500萬美元的公共經費，使紐約市政府赤字激增）。檢方指他涉及機要費案，並起訴扁夫人吳淑珍，案子預定12月開始審理。在野的國民黨對機要費案本來見獵心喜，不料現任台北市長的黨主席馬英九也被指涉及首長特別費案而陣腳大亂。

紐時指出，民進黨內部分人士對陳水扁感到失望甚至厭惡，不過仍然維持表面上的團結，以抵制在野黨所提的罷免案。

Error Alone

Error Alone
Quote of the Day
translated by Bevin Chu
November 29, 2007


Thomas Jefferson

It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.
-- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia - 1787

只有錯誤才需要政府來支持。真相自己站的住腳。
-- 美國的第三任總統湯瑪斯傑弗遜, 筆記關於弗吉尼亞州- 1787 年


Minister of National Defense Lee Tien-yu 李天羽 , a gutless "milicrat," supports an error by obeying a man instead of the law

Is It still The China Post? Or is It now The Taiwan Post?

Is It still The China Post? Or is It now The Taiwan Post?
Bevin Chu
November 2, 2007

Today's China Post carried an article on the blow up between Lien Chan and Ma Ying-jeou.

In the article, entitled "Ma upholds 'one-China' principle with various definitions," dated Friday, November 2, 2007, the China Post news staff wrote:

"Opposition presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou clarified yesterday that he has always supported the idea of "national unification" between Taiwan and China [sic!] as well as a document backing the "one-China" principle reached by Taipei and Beijing in 1992."


The China Post. Or is it the Taiwan Post?

For the China Post to refer to the Chinese mainland as "China," and to Taiwan as if it were a separate and independent nation, is both ludicrous and appalling.

Have the editors forgotten that the name of their paper is "The China Post?"

The China Post is a paper located on Taiwan. It is rightly named the China Post because Taiwan is an integral part of China.

Strictly speaking, the ROC and the PRC are not really nations, but governments. Governments are not nations. Nations are not governments.

China is the name of the nation. The ROC and the PRC are governments that control different parts of China, but neither government is equivalent to the nation of China, qua nation.

If the China Post is so far down the "ben tu" path that it considers the Chinese mainland "China," and the Taiwan region of China a separate and independent nation, then why is it still referring to itself as "The China Post?" Why hasn't it changed its name to "The Taiwan Post?"

The blow up between Lien and Ma was precipitated by Ma Ying-jeou's craven retreat from the KMT's core value of "One China."

Ma has of course denied that the omissions mean anything.

But actions speak louder than words. If the omission of "National Reunification" and the "92 Consensus" was "no big deal," then why were they not left in?

Obviously getting rid of the two clauses was a big deal for Ma Ying-jeou.

For the past two years, Ma has been falling over himself in a desperate and pathetic attempt to transform himself from a citizen of the Republic of China to a presidential candidate for the "Nation of Taiwan."

Both the China Post and Ma Ying-jeou need to take a long hard look at where they're headed.

As the the admonition carved on the "pai lou" (entrance gate) of a local Taiwan monastery puts it:

"Ku hai wu bian, hui tou shi an" (The raging sea is boundless, but behind you is the shore)

Taiwan is already in the United Nations

Taiwan is already in the United Nations
by Dennis Zhu
translated by Bevin Chu

Election season is here. The Green camp never seems to tire of trotting out the "Join the UN" issue. Nor is the Kuomintang willing to take a back seat. For this round it has steeled itself, and decided to play the game out to the bitter end. But if we look at the issue in all seriousness, the "Join the UN" issue is phony through and through.

China (the mainland plus Taiwan) is a founding member of the United Nations. Prior to 1971, the Republic of China represented China in the United Nations. After 1971, the People's Republic of China successfully replaced the Republic of China, becoming China's (the mainland plus Taiwan) legitimate representative in the United Nations. The various mainland provinces and Province of Taiwan, have from beginning to end, remained integral parts of China, so naturally they have been inside the United Nations. If Taiwan wants to join the United Nations, it must first separate from China, only then will it have any basis for joining the United Nations. If it hasn't declared independence, yet hopes to join the UN, that is a self-contradictory position that the international community cannot accept.

The Republic of China government, not Taiwan, was forced out of the United Nations in 1971. The challenge today is to convince the Beijing authorities to allow the Taiwan authorities to join China's delegation in the United Nations, to join forces with the mainland, and practice the diplomacy befitting a great nation.


Taiwan, a Province of China, is already in the UN

台灣仍在聯合國
祝仲康

選舉將屆，綠營又不厭其煩的祭出「入聯」議題，中國國民黨為了不甘示弱，這回吃了秤砣鐵了心，決定奉陪到底。但若認真計較起來，其實「入聯」是個如「真」包換的假議題。

中國（大陸加台灣）是聯合國創始會員國之ㄧ，民國六十年以前由中華民國作為中國在聯合國之代表。之後，中華人民共和國成功取代中華民國，成為中國（大陸加台灣）在聯合國之合法代表。大陸各省與台灣省,自始至終均為中國之ㄧ部分，自然始終處於聯合國之內。台灣若要加入聯合國，必須先宣布脫離中國，然後才具備加入聯合國之基礎，若未宣布獨立而妄想加入，是與現狀矛盾而無法為國際社會所接受的。

民國六十年自聯合國被逼退的實為中華民國，而非台灣。為今之計，應是如何說服北京當局同意台灣亦能派遣人員加入中國駐聯合國代表團，以兩岸之力，共辦大國外交。

Taipei European School New Campus Dedication Speech

Taipei European School New Campus Dedication Speech
Ma Ying-jeou
October 17, 2007

In May of last year (2006) Principal John Nixon, Ministry of Foreign Affairs European Affairs Director Wang Yu-yuan, and I participated in the Taipei European School's Wen Lin School District Relocation and Groundbreaking Ceremony. Today I am happy to be able to participate in the Taipei European School's New Campus Dedication Ceremony, to be a witness to the Taipei European School's shining future.

One. European Unification — A Model of Ethnic Integration

The Taipei European School is a very special school. It was established in 1990. Its predecessor was the Taipei German School, the English School, and the French School. In 1992 the three were combined into one. In 2003 its name was changed to the Taipei European School. The school was divided into German, English, and French Departments. It recruited preschool through high school students. Teaching was conducted in German, English and French. It had nearly a thousand students from 50 countries around the globe, and nearly 200 teachers. It was a miniature global village, a microcosmic version of our earth.

The establishment of the Taipei European School is a shining example of ethnic integration. As we know, this is the 50th anniversary of the founding of the European Union. In 1957 six European countries signed the Treaty of Rome. Europe began its journey toward integration. Despite long standing cultural and linguistic differences, Europe found common ground in values such as freedom, democracy, the rule of law, equality, and human rights. In January 2007, Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union. Now the European Union includes 27 countries. Its total population is 500 million. It has become the world's largest economic and trading entity. European Union members include nations in Western Europe, Central Europe and Eastern Europe. It has 23 official languages. During Europe's integration, nations set aside their differences. They promoted mutual welfare and harmony. The European Union is more than an example for the world to emulate. It is an example for Taiwan to emulate.

Two. Economic Relations between the Republic of China and the European Union

According to European Union estimates, the Taiwan region of the ROC is the European Union 10th biggest supplier. It is the European Union's 14th biggest trading partner. Excluding the European continent, it is the European Union's 10th biggest trading partner. Within Asia it is the European Union's 5th biggest trading partner. In 2006 exports to the European Union amounted to 26 billion Euros, an increase of 9.7%. European Union exports to Taiwan amounted to 13 billion Euros, an increase of 1.5%. In 2006 total trade amounted to 39.4 billion Euros, an increase of 6.8%. Compared to peak trade totals of 43 billion Yuan in 2000, Taiwan's exports to the European Union in recent years has slowed. In 2006 this led to a Taiwan to European Union trade deficit of 13 billion Euros, an increase of nearly 20% compared to 2005.

In terms of investments, the European Union established a new high in 2006. Its investments in Taiwan exceeded 7 billion Euros (Ministry of Economic Affairs figures). In 2006 over half of the ROC's foreign investment came from the European Union. One reason was many subsidiaries on Taiwan stransferred their technology to their European headquarters. Another was that several new investments on Taiwan went forward. Estimates for total European Union investment in Taiwan approach 15 billion US Dollars. Over half from Holland (9 billion US Dollars). Next come the UK (4 billion US Dollars) and Germany (1.7 billion US Dollars). Total European Union investments on Taiwan in 2006 surpassed even those by the US and Japan. The European Union has become the ROC's biggest foreign investor, accounting for as much as as 20% of all foreign investments.

In terms of personnel exchanges, in 2006 visitors from Taiwan to European Union countries increased almost 10% compared to 2005. Over 330,000 visas were issued, a new high. Students going to the European Union to pursue advanced studies also increased, exceeding 12,000 in 2006. The number has doubled since a decade ago. An estimated 25,000 or more students from Taiwan are currently attending school in Europe.

Three. Strengthen the Economy. Connect with the Asian Pacific Region. Adopt a Global Outlook.

Taiwan's economic performance has deteriorated badly since 2000. We were once the first of the Four Asian Tigers. We are now the last. We have steadily slipped in international competitiveness. According to Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development (IMD), mainland China surpassed Taiwan in global competitiveness for the first time this year. Last year we ranked 17th. This year we dropped to 18th. Mainland China meanwhile, advanced from 18th to 15th. The consensus is Taiwan's competitiveness has fallen primarily due to unsound government policy.

I believe we must improve the economy and create employment opportunities. My basic view is:

First. Economic matters should be dealt with by economic means. When Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Mundell visited some time ago, I consulted with him regarding Taiwan's economic development, and that is what he said.

Second. To resuscitate Taiwan's economy requires "pragmatic opening." The Democratic Progressive Party's seven year long Closed Door Policy has seriously impacted normal business development, and cannot be allowed to continue.

Third. Non economic factors that affect economic development must be eliminated. On the one hand we must establish a model for political party cooperation. This will ensure domestic political stability. On the other hand, we must sign a peace agreement with the mainland predicated on "peaceful co-existence and mutual prosperity." This will promote cross Straits economic and trade normalization.

Fourth. Economic development must take into consideration issues of fairness, justice, and sustainable development. Since the Democratic Progressive Party has been in power, the gap between rich and poor has reached new highs. We must reduce this disparity. At the same time, we must also take into account environmental protection issues. We must fulfill our responsibilities as members of the Global Village.

In accordance with these four premises, we hope to strengthen Taiwan, connect with the Asian Pacific Region, and adopt a Global Outlook. Our blueprint for economic development has three goals. They are to transform Taiwan into a global center for innovation, an Asian Pacific economic and trade hub, and a transshipment center for Taiwan businesses.

Our goal is: Six percent annual growth after 2008. A per capita income of US$20,000 by 2011. 100,000 employment opportunities. An unemployment rate below 3%. In short, we must recreate a prosperous Taiwan "knee deep in money."

In order to achieve these goals, we must first accomplish two important tasks.

(1) Open up Three Links and Direct Flights

If I am elected, I will promote direct cross Straits sea and air links as swiftly as possible. This will expedite cross Straits exchanges, save time and money, and hopefully allow Taiwan to become a springboard by which European businesses can advance to the Chinese mainland.

(2) I will promote the normalization of cross Straits relations, predicated on "peace and prosperity."

In addition to President Chen Shui-bian's Five Noes, I have proposed "Five Desires," predicated upon the 92 Consensus. These include: restarting cross Straits negotiations, signing a cross Straits 30 to 50 year peace agreement, normalizing cross Straits economic and trade and moving toward a cross Straits common market, increasing the ROC's international space and strengthening cross Straits cultural exchanges, enabling mainland high school students to attend university on Taiwan. I believe we can achieve mutual trust with the mainland, and with peace and prosperity as our twin goals, establish a win/win cross Straits relationship. Taiwan business investments on the mainland will operate under a deregulated policy of "open as the rule, managed as the exception." This will enable businesses to develop freely.

Fourth. Conclusion

When I held the post of Taipei mayor, I deeply respected the Taipei European School. When the Taipei European School needed to build a new campus, we provided close cooperation. I wanted Taipei to provide a quality environment that would allow international talent to come to Taiwan to live and work, and not worry about their children's schooling.

I hope the establishment of the Taipei European School will enable more international talent to live on Taiwan, attract more international talent to Taiwan, and thereby turn Taipei into an international village. Thank you all.

10月17日
台北歐洲學校新校區開幕典禮參考稿

去（2006）年5月與倪克森（John Nixon）校長及外交部歐洲司司長王豫元一同參加台北歐洲學校文林校區遷建動土典禮，今天很高興能夠來參加台北歐洲學校新校區的開幕典禮，見證台北歐洲學校新校區的未來。

一、歐洲整合—族群融合的典範

台 北歐洲學校是一個很特別的學校，成立於1990年，前身為台北德國學校、英國學校及法國學校，於1992年整合，2003年再更名為台北歐洲學校 （Taipei European School），學校裡分為德國部、英國部、法國部及高中部，不但招收幼稚園到高中的外籍學生，校內教學亦包括德語、英語和法語三種語言，學校擁有來自全 球50個國家近千名的國際學生及近2百名教職員，是一個小型地球村，也是全球的縮影。

台北歐洲學校的成立，恰好展現了族群融合的典範。我 們知道，今年剛好是歐盟成立50年，1957年歐洲六國簽署羅馬條約後，歐洲走上整合之路，在多元文化、語言與傳統中，歐洲找出共同的自由、民主、法治、 平等及人權等價值。2007年1月羅馬尼亞和保加利亞加入歐盟之後，如今歐盟已擴增至27國，總人口5億，已成為全球最大經濟體與貿易實體，歐盟成員除了 遍及中西歐地區之外，更深入中歐及東歐地區，光官方語言就有23種，歐洲在整合過程中，捐棄前嫌，提升彼此的福祉與和諧，不但是全球學習的對象，也是台灣 借鏡的對象。

二、台灣與歐盟經濟交流現況

根據歐盟統計，台灣是歐盟第10大供應商，是歐盟全球第14位貿易夥伴，在歐陸 以外地區，台灣是歐盟第10大貿易伙伴，在亞洲國家中為歐盟第5大貿易伙伴。2006年台灣對歐盟出口金額達260億歐元，成長達9.7％，歐盟對台灣出 口金額為130億歐元，成長1.5％；2006年貿易總額達394億歐元，成長6.8％，與2000年貿易總額高峰期—430億元比較，似乎近年來台灣對 歐盟出口成長較為趨緩，使得2006年台灣對歐盟逆差130億歐元，較2005年增加近20％。

在投資方面，歐盟2006年對台灣投資金 額創新高，突破70億歐元（經濟部統計），2006年台灣的外來投資，半數以上來自歐盟，原因在於許多既有台灣分公司將資產技術轉移至歐洲總部，以及數項 新投資案在台進行所致。總計歐盟在台投資已累積至150億美元，其中逾半來自荷蘭（90億美元），其次分別為英國（40億美元）與德國（17億美元），歐 盟累計投資台灣金額，2006年甚至超越美國與日本，成為台灣最大外資，比例高達20％。

在人員交流方面，2006年台灣前往歐盟國家的台灣旅客人次較2005年增加逾10％，簽證核發數便超過33萬份，創下歷史新高，前往歐盟深造的台灣學子人數也不斷升高，2006年超過1.2萬人，較10年前成長一倍，估計現在有2.5萬名以上的台灣學生在歐洲就學。

三、壯大台灣、結合亞太、佈局全球

從2000 年以來，台灣經濟表現比以前差很多。從前我們是亞洲四小龍的第一名，現在變成最後一名，在國際競爭力上也一步步下滑，今年瑞士洛桑管理學院（IMD）的世 界競爭力排名，大陸第一次超越台灣，我們去年17名，今年倒退到18名，大陸卻從18名進步到15名。一般認為台灣競爭力下滑，主要是因為政府政策不正確 所致。

我認為我們當前要改善經濟，創造就業機會。我的基本理念是：

第1，經濟的事盡量照經濟的法則來做。前一陣子經濟大師諾貝爾獎得主孟岱爾（Mundell）來台時，我向他請教有關台灣經濟發展的問題時，他就是這樣說的。

第2，要救台灣經濟必須「務實開放」。民進黨的鎖國政策七年多下來，嚴重影響企業正常發展，不能再持續下去。

第3，影響經濟發展的非經濟因素需要排除。一方面要建立政黨合作模式，讓國內政治穩定，另一方面要和大陸在「和平共榮」的前提下，簽訂和平協議，推動兩岸經貿正常化。

第4，經濟發展必須兼顧公平正義和永續發展。民進黨執政以來，貧富差距創歷史新高，我們必須縮短這個差距，同時，還必須重視綠色環保的問題，以善盡地球村成員的責任。

在這四個基本理念的前提下，我們希望能壯大台灣、結合亞太、佈局全球。我們的經濟發展藍圖有三個願景，那就是把台灣發展成：全球創新中心、亞太經貿樞紐及台商營運總部。

我們的目標是：在2008年後每年經濟成長6％，2011年時每人平均所得兩萬美元，並創造10萬個就業機會，使失業率降到3％以下。簡單的說，我們要再創「台灣錢淹腳目」的繁榮景象。

為了達成前述目標，我認為有兩項重要的工作要先做。

（一）開放三通直航

我若當選，一定儘速推動兩岸海空直航。讓兩岸往來更為便利，節省時間及金錢，同時，也希望台灣能夠成為歐商前進大陸的跳板。

（二）在「和平、繁榮」的前提下，促進兩岸關係正常化

除 了陳水扁總統的五不（Five no’s）之外，我提出「五要」主張，包括在九二共識下，重新啟動兩岸談判、兩岸簽署30~50年和平協議、兩岸經貿正常化並邁向兩岸共同市場、台灣國際 空間及加強兩岸文化交流，讓中學生可以來台灣讀大學。我相信我們可以和大陸取得互信，雙方可以在「和平」（peace）和繁榮（prosperity）的 兩大目標下，為企業界創造一個雙贏的兩岸關係。台商對大陸投資，則採取「原則開放、例外管理」的鬆綁政策，讓企業可以自由發展。

四、結語

我在擔任台北市長時，便非常重視台北歐洲學校，台北歐洲學校要興建新校區，我們極力配合，就是希望台北提供一個良好的環境，讓國際人才來台灣居住與工作時，不用擔心小孩就學的問題。

希望台北歐洲學校的成立，能夠讓更多的國際人才居住在台灣，吸引更多的國際人才到台灣居住與工作，使台北成為一個國際村。謝謝各位！