Several articles have appeared in the media in recent weeks lamenting the damage being done to Taiwan's relations with the United States and Japan by the administration of Mr. Ma 馬英九. Today's Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ has one such story, entitled "Taiwan's Ma in damage control over Japan ties", which points out how:
"Japan (is) increasingly worried over Ma's attitude toward Tōkyō and his handling of ties with rival China. Increasingly acute, those concerns have prompted Ma to scramble, albeit quietly, for damage control before T'aipei-Tōkyō ties deteriorate beyond repair."
In the wake of his government's ridiculous handling of the Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島 incident, and therefore:
"Eager to calm nerves in Japan, Ma has assigned Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng 王金平 to articulate his policies and lead a delegation of lawmakers on a goodwill visit. Taipei's top envoy for China, Chiang Pin-kun, is also scheduled to visit Tōkyō later this month. Unlike Wang's trip, news of Chiang's upcoming Japan mission has been subdued, with few officials commenting on his itinerary and objectives."
Regarding the latter envoy, the article notes that:
"...Chiang is also a Japan affairs expert and ruling Nationalist Party 中国国民党 vice chairman, and is thus uniquely positioned to soothe Tōkyō over what seems to be its greatest concern — that Ma is moving Taiwan too close to China. For regional security, the stakes are high, with the (Taiwan) strait representing a buffer zone between the U.S.-Japan alliance and a rising China, whose growing military, economic and diplomatic clout poses challenges to the balance of power. As chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation — the semiofficial agency in charge of direct contact with Beijing — fewer Taipei officials are better versed in cross-strait relations than Chiang, who...received instructions from Ma to portray those warming relations as beneficial to Japan."
After pointing out how the last sentence above is the basically the kind of lip-service Ma pays when he meets Japanese officials (has the JT got this guy pegged, or what?), the story concludes by observing that:
"Domestically, behind-the-scenes damage control measures have also emerged, with a Cabinet meeting last month focusing on ways to improve relations with Tōkyō. The flurry of activity comes after ties were sent reeling in June after a Japanese patrol boat rammed a Taiwanese fishing vessel."
It's too early to tell how much of this is genuine, and how much is for the sake of superficiality, but in any case, Ma has no one but himself to blame for the current mess. Not that he has accepted any responsibility. Not coincidentally, perhaps, former president Lee Tung-hui 李登輝 has decided now would be a good time to pay another visit to Japan ("Ex-President Lee reportedly to visit Japan"):
"Lee is scheduled to visit Okinawa Prefecture 沖縄県 from Sept. 22 to 25 and deliver an address at the University of the Ryūkyūs 琉球大学 on the second day of the visit...It will be the 85-year-old Lee's fourth visit to Japan since stepping down as president eight years ago."
On a completely different note, thanks to some great posts (and posters) on YouTube, I've been able to hear some great songs that I used to listen to on KDVS, 90.3 FM, out of UC Davis (my alma mater), back in the mid-late 1980's. Here is a sampling of tunes making this post-Baby Boomer/Gen Xer nostalgic (but not dismissive of today's music, either. I try to keep an open mind, a la John Peel):
"Last White Christmas" by the Basement Five
"Non-Alignment Pact" by Pere Ubu
"Across the Sea" by Salem 66
"Discipline" by God's Gift
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