Taiwan's Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions 統一獅 went up against Japan's Saitama Seibu Lions 埼玉西武ライオンズ in yesterday's Asia Series baseball action. The Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売 has the results (Kishi shines in inter-Lion duel):
"Takayuki Kishi 岸孝之 failed to go the distance but won a crucial pitchers' duel on Friday to keep the Saitama Seibu Lions' chances alive in the Asia Series at Tōkyō Dome 東京ドーム. Kishi allowed a run in eight innings to outduel Pan Wei-lun (P'an Wei-lun) 潘威倫 in Seibu's 2-1 victory over their Taiwanese namesakes, the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. Kishi, who threw 120 pitches after tossing 238 over a four-day span during the recently completed Japan Series 日本選手権シリーズ, said overwork was not a concern."
Pitchers in Japan ARE notoriously overworked, and many promising hurlers have had their careers cut short due to injury as a result. Kishi seems to realize this:
"Kishi, asked if he'd be ready for the final despite throwing 358 pitches over nine days, said: 'Forget about it.'"
The Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ also reported on the same game (Kishi, timely hits lift Seibu):
"The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions proved that Seibu Lions pitcher Takayuki Kishi can be scored upon. Beating him, however, is still a work in progress. Kishi was in postseason form and Hiroyuki Ohshima 大島裕行 and Shōgo Akada 赤田将吾 provided the run support as Seibu won a tight battle of Lions 2-1 on Friday night at Tōkyō Dome. The Japan Series MVP allowed one run and struck out 10 over eight innings to earn the win."
The President Lions also had a tough time a couple of nights ago in their opening game in the Asia Series, beating China's Tianjin Lions 7-4 on a three-run walk-off home run. Taiwanese teams have had trouble beating their Chinese opponents in recent competitions. I suspect the Taiwanese players fail to take the upstarts from China seriously enough, while the Chinese players must have a strong motivation to show the Taiwanese that they, too, can play what is still Taiwan's national game. Tianjin's 15-0 drubbing at the hands of South Korea's SK Wyverns last night certainly had all the hallmarks of a letdown following an exciting, pumped-up match the previous night.
Meanwhile, the top news story in Taiwan the past few days has been the arrest of former president Chen Shui-bian (Ch'en Shui-pien) 陳水扁. The Japan Times weighs in with an editorial in today's edition (Test for Taiwan's judiciary):
"Mr. Chen Shui-bian, an advocate of pro-independence policies vis-a-vis China, symbolized the democratization of Taiwan by winning a presidential election in March 2000. His victory ended the monopoly rule of the Nationalist Party 中國國民黨, which opposes any moves to formally declare Taiwan's independence. He served two terms as Taiwan's president until May 2008. His arrest this week on suspicion of corruption is a political blow to the Democratic Progressive Party 民主進步黨, which Mr. Chen had led. The DPP has been trying to recover lost ground since its rout in the legislative election of January 2008 and the presidential election of March 2008. But the arrest is not something to savor for the Nationalist Party since it could sharpen antagonisms between it and the opposition DPP...Mr. Chen was arrested on five counts of suspicions, including illegal use of the special presidential fund for diplomacy and irregularities in a land transaction. The Taipei District Court allowed the public prosecutors to arrest him since he potentially faces imprisonment of five years or more if convicted and he may destroy evidence."
Personally, I'm sick and tired of this story, but many Taiwanese can't seem to get enough of it. My wife, for example, was glued to the TV set for a couple of days, following all the developments. I tried changing the channel to CNN, to show her that there is actually a world out there beyond the courthouse in Taipei (T'aipei) 台北, and with stories of greater importance going on, but to no avail. When I lived in Japan, I used to complain about the narrow-minded focus of international news reporting, in which breaking news was seemingly only given coverage when it involved Japanese people. However, Taiwan's many news stations are even more parochial in their outlook. Virtually the only stories related to foreign countries on these news shows are those concerning things that are amusing, odd or ridiculous. No wonder why my otherwise intelligent, well-educated adult students (with a few exceptions) are shockingly ignorant about what is going on in the rest of the world. I guess when your culture considers itself the Middle Kingdom (i.e. the center), what happens in the rest of Planet Earth is, for the most part, inconsequential (except when stock markets are concerned!).
Returning to the subject of Chen, the JT concludes its piece by writing:
"When he was moved from the prosecutors' office to the Taipei District Court where a request was to be filed to detain him, Mr. Chen raised his cuffed hands and shouted: 'This is a political persecution, a false charge. Go Taiwan! Go Taiwan!' To prove that Taiwan's democratic foundations are solid, Taiwan's judiciary must ensure the investigation and trial are fair."
Chen is something of a windbag, and an egomaniac to boot, and I'm sure he's guilty of the things he is being charged with doing. But a number of high-level DPP officials have been investigated for corruption since Ma Ying-jeou (Ma Ying-chiu) 馬英九 took over the presidency, and it smacks of political payback time. There are fewer political parties in the world more corrupt or riddled with gangster elements as the KMT, yet none of their politicians are being put on trial. Sad to say, but it's unlikely that Chen's trial will be "fair". Taiwan's young democracy is in trouble, and we appear to be headed towards darker days.
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