Later!

My flight to Fukuoka on Cathay Pacific is scheduled to depart an hour from now, so I'm killing time by taking advantage of the free internet access on offer at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (you have to pay NT100 for 30 minutes at the terminals located before the immigration counters). I'll be spending a week in Fukuoka and its surroundings, and will post descriptions and pictures after I return next Sunday.

See ya!

Not enough monkey business

This sign, placed at the start of the No. 4 hiking trail in Dakeng, warns you to be careful of macaques 台灣獼猴. Perhaps it should also include snakes and giant wasps, because I saw more of those on Tuesday afternoon than I did monkeys.

Family Ties

Sometimes, it's your fellow countrymen you need to be most careful of when you are abroad:

"Two male Taiwan nationals of Toshima Ward 豊島区, Tōkyō 東京, were rearrested May 8 for allegedly lending money to compatriots at illegally high interest rates, with the borrowers' passports taken as collateral, it has been learned. The suspects were identified as 48-year-old Xie Chang-min, a company executive, and his unemployed 46-year-old brother, Xie Chang-guo. They were rearrested for violating the Investment Deposit and Interest Rate Law. The Metropolitan Police Department 警視庁 believes the siblings loaned about 670 million yen ($7 million/NT232 million) to about 290 Taiwan nationals living in the Kantō region 関東地方 and received about 300 million yen ($3.1 million/NT104 million) in illegal profits. According to an investigative source, the siblings have been operating their moneylending business illegally since 2003. Between February 2007 to February this year, the suspects allegedly lent money to five Taiwan nationals at interest rates exceeding the legal limit."

("Taiwan siblings held over illegal moneylending", Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売)

Friendly Skies

In yet another sign of the increasing importance of Taiwanese visitors for the Japanese tourism industry, Japan Focus has this Kyōdō News 共同通信社 article ("ANA to deploy onboard interpreters for Narita-Taipei flights"):

"All Nippon Airways 全日本空輸 will begin deploying on board interpreters to better serve passengers next Monday, starting with its Narita 成田-Taipei 台北 flights twice a week, ANA officials said Wednesday. Six female Taiwanese interpreters in their 20s, who can speak Taiwanese, Mandarin and English, were selected from 700 candidates for the new posts. Two of them can also speak Japanese, they added. At present, only Japanese flight attendants who can speak Japanese and English serve customers aboard the Narita-Taipei flights. ANA decided to deploy an interpreter for each flight on top of those attendants because the number of Taiwanese passengers on the flights has recently increased, the officials said. Wu Yi-fan, 24, one of the six interpreters, who formerly worked as a clerk at the airline, said in Japanese she will not only translate but also try to kindly attend to passengers."

Coming on the heels of the recent decision by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs 中華民國外交部 to open a representative office in Sapporo 札幌 this summer, it just goes to show that most Taiwanese don't seem to care that Japan is holding on to the Senkakus 尖閣諸島, or that it considers the question of Taiwan's sovereignty to be still undetermined.

Those darn inconvenient truths

 

A creepy method for keeping away the birds

That creepiest of political parties, the KMT 中國國民黨, has been inadvertently called out, and some members don't like it one bit. Recently, the party announced that it had "discovered" that Japan had ceded "sovereignty" of Taiwan to the Republic of China 中華民國 back in 1952 when the two sides signed the Treaty of Taipei 日本国と中華民国との間の平和条約. Why this "fact" had gone unnoticed for 57 years wasn't addressed, but the Nationalists were satisfied that they've had a legitimate reason for governing this island all this time after all. Being the rightful owners of Taiwan also means that, come the presidential campaign in 2012 and the expected reelection of Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 in a landslide (and it will come to pass thanks to gerrymandering and entrenched corruption at the local level), the KMT will have the historical and moral authority it needs to conclude a political settlement with the government of China, without having to bother itself with a messy referendum approval process. So it's perfectly understandable why some faithful members felt a little piqued when a Japanese diplomat stated the obvious, inconvenient truth about that scrap of paper signed so many years ago, as the Kyōdō News 共同通信社 reports in this Japan Today article ("Taiwan ruling party renews calls to replace Japan envoy"):

"Taiwan’s ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) renewed Monday its bid to expel Japan’s top envoy to the island, as a spat over inbound passengers from Japan who were possibly exposed to the new strain of influenza further strained bilateral ties. The tensions came as Taiwan’s envoy to Japan, John Feng, attended his first parliamentary interpellation on the state of Taiwan-Japan relations since becoming envoy in November. Feng told legislators that Japan’s envoy to Taiwan, Masaki Saitō, 'committed a very grave mistake' by saying last week at a symposium that Taiwan’s international status 'remained unresolved.' Saitō’s remark diverged from the Japanese government’s practice of refraining from commenting on Taiwan’s international status, merely stating that Japan renounced all claims to sovereignty over its colonial possessions, including Taiwan, after World War II."

In other (possibly) grave mistakes, it appears that some elements in the Japanese military and security establishments are starting to wake up to the fact that there may be more to Taiwan than just a nice, little former colony that doesn't hold any grudges about "unfortunate" past events. The Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ has the story ("Coast guard stresses protecting territory"):

"Protecting Japan's maritime interests from its neighbors has become a key element of the Japan Coast Guard's 海上保安庁 duties, according to annual report released Tuesday. The Japan Coast Guard Annual Report for 2009 includes for the first time a section devoted to describing recent threats to Japan's territory, saying unlawful activities and roaming by Chinese and Taiwanese ships have 'breached Japan's sovereignty.' 'We believed it necessary to separate the section on protecting Japan's territory from overall maritime safety,' a coast guard official told reporters. 'There were some severe (breaches), including demonstrations by Taiwanese activists and Chinese survey boats within our territory,' another official added. Japan, China and Taiwan all claim sovereignty over the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島 in the East China Sea 東シナ海. Two Chinese survey ships were spotted in Japan's territorial waters in December and a coast guard patrol boat collided with a Taiwanese sports fishing boat near the uninhabited islets in June, straining Taipei-Tōkyō ties. The annual report reiterates that the coast guard will handle future intrusions 'firmly and quickly' to protect Japan's rights. It also says China's natural resources development in the East China Sea has been monitored 'to protect Japan's maritime interests.'"

Chinese air and navy property speculators have no doubt noticed all that prime real estate available in Taiwan, ideal for developing airfields and naval bases. The day is coming soon when that "chaotic" Taiwanese democracy that really annoys Jackie Chan will be tidied up by the People's Liberation Army 中国人民解放军 and remade into a much more manageable Special Administrative Region. SARS!

母の日

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Mother's Day. Ours began with the short drive from our home to the ruins of the Long Deng Viaduct in neighboring Sanyi 三義. After parking our car, we had lunch at a small cafe called the Railway Inn, where I dined on a Taiwanese version of an ekiben 駅弁 (the taste wasn't bad, though it took a long time for our food to arrive. I could've done without the bamboo soup as well. Actually, I did). Afterward, Amber went on the first of what would be two model train rides today:

We then went for a walk along the abandoned railway tracks. One nice thing about Taiwan is that even when a "famous place" is packed (and the crowds were out today), taking a walk just a few hundred meters away from the attraction(s) will leave the masses behind. The scenery was pretty good along the way:

Even the most energetic of three year-old girls gets tired, however, and so, following a quick detour to a nearby rest stop (where we took note of a banyan tree, the roots of which were taking an interesting path due to the contours of the road surface), it was a free ride back to the car, courtesy of a father's back:

Before getting back into our vehicle, a quick break for ice cream and Ramune ラムネ was in order, though Amber didn't think much of the latter. The scenery behind the food/drink vendors looked nice in the late afternoon sun:

Once in the car, we drove on to the Shengsing Train Station 勝興車站. The drive there was somewhat stress-inducing, involving narrow lanes and oncoming traffic. I've driven on even smaller roads in Japan, but the drivers there are more likely to give way than Taiwanese motorists, and cars are generally smaller, unlike the 4WDs some Taiwanese urban warriors were driving this afternoon. Nevertheless, thanks to my wife's amazing maneuvering skills, we arrived near the train station intact. Due to the number of visitors, we had to park about 700 meters away, but there was a nice forest trail that meant we didn't have to take our chances on the traffic-clogged road (Amber was able to collect a few Tung tree 油桐 blossoms along the way). The last time Pamela had visited the old train station was when we were dating. At that time, it was a sleepy street with a handful of small restaurants. Now it's a circus of cafes, souvenir stands, karaoke and traffic. The "benefits" of the tourist boom:

Amber enjoyed her second train ride of the day, this time on a mini-steam engine. By the time we finished walking up and down the street (dodging the cars and scooters), and having dinner, the sun had already set. As the forest trail would've been too dark, we had to walk back to our car along the road. This turned out not to be a problem, as most of the visitors had already left by this point, but especially because there were fireflies up and about. As you can imagine, this excited Amber to no end. Once back in the car, we returned home the way we came, past the viaduct, which was picturesquely lit up. My camera, unfortunately, couldn't do the scene justice:

What Have the Japanese...

 

I was reminded of this scene from "Life of Brian" when reading the following Kyōdō News 共同通信社 article in Japan Today ("Taiwan honors late Japanese engineer amid tensions with Tokyo"):

"Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 commemorated Friday a Japanese colonial engineer who in 1930 built one of Taiwan’s most effective reservoirs, at a ceremony meant to underscore the island’s friendship with Japan but which also hinted at fresh tensions. Ma honored Yoichi Hatta 八田與一 with bows, flowers and a speech at the engineer’s burial site near the Wusantou Reservoir 烏山頭水庫 in southern Tainan County (Tainan-ken) 台南縣, where the reservoir has tamed waters and kept cropland fertile for nearly 80 years. Ma called the reservoir the foundation for the modernization of Taiwan’s agricultural industry. 'Although Mr Hatta’s work came amid Japan’s colonial rule over Taiwan, we should recognize the contributions some colonial officials made to the island,' he said, adding, 'Although Taiwan and Japan broke off official relations in 1972, in the past 30 years our exchanges have nonetheless flourished.' Ma also announced plans to build within two years a memorial park near the reservoir in honor of Hatta, who died in a U.S. submarine attack while traveling to the Philippines by boat in 1942. While the 67th anniversary of Hatta’s death on Friday offered an occasion to celebrate relations between Taiwan and Japan, the conspicuous absence of Tōkyō’s 東京 de facto ambassador to Taipei (Taihoku) 台北 from the ceremony hinted at new strains in the bilateral relationship. Masaki Saitō, who directs Japan’s Interchange Association—Tōkyō’s representative office in the absence of diplomatic ties with Taipei—was nowhere to be seen in the audience of association deputies, Hatta’s descendants and other Japanese dignitaries. The reservoir holds political significance for Saitō, who visited the dam in September soon after arriving in Taiwan. He and Taiwan’s top representative to Japan, John Feng, toured the site together in a meeting that marked a recovery in bilateral ties after a diplomatic row involving the disputed Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島 last year. Under Ma, who took office last year, the reservoir has become Taiwan’s most touted site symbolizing positive relations with Japan. Saitō was also absent Wednesday during a meeting between Ma and Japanese lawmaker Mitsuhide Iwaki 岩城光英 at the presidential office. A government insider said Taipei increasingly regards Saitō as irrelevant after the representative said last week that Taiwan’s international status 'remained unresolved'—a remark that diverges from Japan’s official stance on the island. Publicly, Japan has refrained from commenting on Taipei’s international status, merely stating Tōkyō gave up all claims to sovereignty over its colonial possessions, including Taiwan, after World War II. Japan ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945."

Apart from hydraulic engineering, sanitation, roads and railways, industrialization, education, cuisine, hot springs (and regular bathing), public health and order, what had the Japanese ever done for Taiwan?

The news that keeps on coming!

The Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ today is running a fuller version of the Kyōdō News 共同通信社 report on the cancellation of the planned protest voyage to the Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島 by those heroic Tiaoyutai Warriors ("Taipei nixes protest voyage to Senkakus"):

"The activists said Tuesday that Taiwan's National Security Council pressured them and the boat owner to cancel the trip. Council Secretary General Su Chi personally met with organizers to persuade them to call it off, said Hu Pu-kai, a spokesman for a Taipei 台北-based group that disputes Japan's claims to the islets. 'I was approached last week by Su Chi and (Philip) Yang, who tried to persuade us to cancel the trip,' said Hu, of the Chinese Association to Protect the Tiaoyutai. Yang is the top official for Japan affairs on the council, an advisory body that provides analyzes and counsel on security issues to Taiwan's president. 'They said they didn't want the trip to affect bilateral relations between Taiwan and Japan, but I didn't agree,' Hu said. The council, he added, later resorted to 'harder measures,' including prompting the island's Fisheries Agency to threaten the boat owner with fines should he proceed with the protest voyage. The activists had planned to depart from Taiwan's northern Suao 蘇澳 Harbor by 11 p.m. Monday."

Interestingly, it appears a quid pro quo was involved:

"Tōkyō 東京 has also sought to ease tensions, denying last month a request by the mayor of Ishigaki 石垣, Okinawa Prefecture 沖縄県, under whose local-level administration the Senkakus fall, to visit the islets, located just 170 km northeast of Taipei and 410 km west of Okinawa. The visit by Ishigaki Mayor Nagateru Ōhama to conduct a property tax investigation on the islets would surely have antagonized Taiwan and China."

The local newspaper that operates in an alternate version of reality, the China Post, naturally sees things differently. According to this fine, upstanding publication, the protesters had to cancel their voyage to the Senkakus...sorry, Tiaoyutais because of "gales". Funny, the weather report for Yonaguni 与那国 was showing sunny skies and light breezes.

Another person who lives in a separate reality is Tom Plate, one of the worst commentators on Taiwanese affairs. The Japan Times has his latest column, "China and Taiwan try a practical approach", on Taiwan's invitation to observe the World Health Assembly:

"...in the context of Asian diplomatic history, it is a big deal. For years Beijing has successfully blocked Taiwan's participation — formal or otherwise — in everything from international organizations to beach volleyball pickup games. Beijing's venom for a Taiwan that at any moment might declare formal independence scared everyone off — including the United States."

A DPP 民主進步黨 president who was barely reelected with 50.11% of the vote, while dealing with a legislature dominated by anti-independence parties, not to mention a cumbersome referendum process, was hardly in a position to declare Taiwan an independent state "at any moment". This isn't the only thing that Pate is wrong about. He writes how Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 was:

"(e)lected last year in a landslide over his discredited predecessor (leader of the pro-independence party now in jail for corruption charges)..."

Discredited or not, Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁 was barred by the constitution from running for a third term, and it was Frank Hsieh 謝長廷 that Ma defeated in the presidential election. There there is this paragraph:

"Accepting historic reality, it turns out, is the old way of the Kuomintang 中國國民黨, the KMT, which is the party Ma represents. The party line has always been to accept the one-China principle, without getting too far into the details of how exactly it might work. Back in 1993, in fact, Beijing and Taipei (then headed by a KMT government) met for the so-called 'Wang-Koo Talks' in Singapore. These settled absolutely nothing, of course — but established a very nice precedent for negotiation rather than confrontation."

This is the very same KMT that still officially doesn't recognize the existence of an independent Mongolia, or the annexation of Okinawa by Japan (back in 1879!), and maintains territorial claims on parts of Burma, India and Russia. Hell, the KMT still considers itself the government of all China. Plate also forgets to mention that the very existence of the "1992 Consensus" 九二共識 is open for debate and interpretation.

Finally, Plate still harbors an admiration for Ma that has at times bordered on the homoerotic (not that there's anything wrong with that!), calling him "suave" and "special". And he feels good, because, thanks to Ma, there is:

"...the strong possibility arises that, for the first time in memory, whatever might trigger war in Asia, tension between China and Taiwan might be one of the least likely causes. And what a tremendous new thing that would be."

Which could also result in Taiwan becoming, as he puts it earlier:

"...some kind of Hong Kong — semi-separate but unequal, and an indivisible part of political Mother China."

In the news...still

 

Lizards were out in force this afternoon in Dakeng. Alas, no monkeys this time

It's the story that hasn't gone away yet. "Tōkyō irks Taipei, says Taiwan status 'up in air'" says the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ (Kyōdō News 共同通信社):

"Taiwan on Monday protested comments made by the top Japanese diplomat that its political status was up in the air, threatening to dent relations between the island and its former colonial ruler. Meanwhile Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party 中國國民黨 caucus called for the island's Cabinet to list Japan's chief representative in Taipei 台北 as persona non grata over the envoy's remarks on the island's sovereignty."

"Taiwan ruling party demands ouster of Japan de facto ambassador" reports Kyōdō News in an article carried by Japan Today:

"Taiwan’s ruling Nationalist Party caucus called Monday for the island’s cabinet to list Japan’s chief representative in Taipei as persona non grata over the envoy’s remarks on the island’s sovereignty. The caucus made the demand in a formal letter asking for the expulsion of Masaki Saitō, who directs Japan’s Interchange Association, Tōkyō’s 東京 representative office in Taipei in the absence of official relations. The letter came as dozens of protesters gathered at the association to either slam or support Saitō over remarks he made on the weekend, infuriating the government with a gaffe that has threatened to derail bilateral ties. Speaking at a symposium in southern Taiwan on Friday, Saitō said Taiwan’s international status remained unresolved...Tōkyō officially maintains it gave up all claims of sovereignty over Taiwan—which it had ruled from 1895-1945—in the San Francisco Peace Treaty 日本国との平和条約 of 1951. However, Tōkyō never stated to which party sovereignty over the island should go. For his part, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 insists Japan legally transferred sovereignty over to Taiwan to the KMT-founded Republic of China 中華民國, or ROC—a notion that, in the Ma administration’s view, underpins the island’s sovereignty as the ROC. Dozens of pro-KMT protesters gathered at the Interchange Association, demanding an apology from Tōkyō, while pro-independence advocates rallied at the association in support of Saitō."

According to the Taipei Times, it's all to be expected, for "It’s Japan-bashing season again":

"Once again, the Ma administration is trying to pick a fight with Tōkyō over a small incident. This time, the irritant is trivial. But just as with the Diaoyutai incident, when it comes to Japan, apologies are never enough when the KMT casts itself as the epitome of patriotism. Regardless of whether Saitō’s remarks were his opinion — which he said they were — or that of the Japanese government (which it isn’t), there was nothing 'damaging' in what was said. The US government’s 'acknowledgment' of Beijing’s 'One China' policy is just as much an admission of Taiwan’s unresolved status as Saitō’s comments, as is the position of the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and many multilateral institutions that Taiwan cannot officially join, or must join under a different name. It’s fine for the WHO and other bodies to insult Taiwan and refer to it as 'Chinese Taipei,' 中華台北 but when it comes to Japan, one faux pas leads to a diplomatic row. It’s fine for Beijing to deny Taiwan’s existence or threaten it with an 'Anti-Secession' Law 反分裂國家法...but when a Japanese uses the wrong words, we castigate him and poison our relations with Tōkyō. It’s getting clearer by the day: Despite Ma’s rhetoric, the deeds of his government are betraying a clear shift in Beijing’s favor and, in the process, the calculated alienation of Tōkyō."

One area in which the KMT has failed miserably is in trying to inculcate a strong anti-Japanese sentiment among the Taiwanese public, but that hasn't stopped it from trying. The Kuomintang arrived in Taiwan bearing the memories and scars of the 1937-1945 Sino-Japanese War 日中戦争, but the authoritarianism, corruption and inefficiency of the subsequent decades only served to make the Japanese colonial period from 1895-1945 look all the more better in comparison among many Taiwanese. The younger generation, too young to recall 228 二二八事件, the White Terror 台灣白色恐怖時期 and martial law, simply finds Japanese popular culture to be the epitome of cool, and unabashedly emulates as much of it as they can. All that righteous indignation by Chinese super-patriots hasn't put a dent in the numbers of Taiwanese visitors to Japan (nor that of Japanese to the former colony). And where else in Asia but Taiwan would people demonstrate in SUPPORT of a Japanese official's remarks? In short, it seems all the calculated outrage over matters such as the Senkakus 尖閣諸島 and Saitō is aimed at the party's hardcore faithful, and is pretty much ignored by the general public.

And even during all this furor over the Japanese envoy's obviously factual remarks, cooler heads within the government appear to be prevailing, at least judging by the this Kyōdō News article in Japan Today, "Protest voyage from Taiwan to Senkakus canceled":

"A planned protest voyage from Taiwan to the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands has been called off amid pressure from the government, a trip organizer said Monday, just hours before the scheduled departure. Some 40 pro-China activists who dispute Japan’s claims of sovereignty over the East China Sea 東シナ海 islets—called Diaoyu in China and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan—scuppered their voyage after the owner of the boat slated for the journey backed out of an agreement to rent them the vessel, said Huang Hsi-lin, a municipal council member in Taipei County (Taihoku-ken) 台北縣. 'The boat owner was under tremendous pressure to not go through with renting the boat to us,' Huang said by phone, referring to political pressure applied by Taipei to prevent the trip from coming to fruition."

In the news

Taiwan has been invited to be an observer at the World Health Assembly, and the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ thinks this is just swell ("Taiwan gets a U.N. invite"):

"The World Health Organization has invited Taiwan to take part in the May 18-27 meeting of the World Health Assembly, the WHO's governing body, as an observer. The invitation came just after Beijing and Taipei 台北 signed agreements April 26 to deepen ties, signaling that relations across the Taiwan Strait 台灣海峽 are further warming. The WHA meeting will mark Taiwan's first participation in a meeting of a United Nations-affiliated organization since it lost its U.N. seat in 1971. It will help Taiwan take adequate measures to prevent the entry of A-type H1N1 flu and to cope with domestic cases if they emerge. In 2003, Taiwan saw more than 40 people die of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) amid China's refusal to let it take part in a WHA meeting."

Of course, this is all due to the current administration:

"Mr. Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 of (the) Kuomintang 中國國民黨, who became Taiwan's president in May 2008, has pushed rapprochement with China by shelving the sovereignty issue. Last year two rounds of talks produced bilateral pacts on air, tourism and cargo links. On April 26, Beijing and Taipei further agreed to inaugurate 270 regularly scheduled weekly flights across the Taiwan Strait, replacing the current 108 weekly chartered flights; to cooperate in criminal investigations, including extradition; to establish a currency clearing system; and to allow mutual access to market information. The two sides also agreed in principle to increase China's investment in Taiwan. As for the coming WHA meeting, Taiwan consulted with China and agreed to use the name 'Chinese Taipei'  中華台北 instead of the 'Republic of China' 中華民國 or 'Taiwan.' 台灣 More than 40 percent of Taiwan's exports now go to China and 60 percent of its overseas investments are made in China. Mr. Ma's approach should be appreciated by the international community for contributing to building trustful relations across the strait."

There are several problems that the editorial doesn't mention. First, there is that name, "Chinese Taipei". Previously, it had been used mainly for sporting events such as the Olympics, but now it appears it's going to be accepted name of choice for diplomatic functions as well. Then there's the fact that the invitation received by the "Chinese Taipei" Department of Health is for this year's assembly only, suggesting that this is going to be handled on a year-by-year basis. In other words, as long as the Taiwanese government plays by the rules set down by the Chinese, it can continue to observe the goings-on at the WHA...as "Chinese Taipei", of course (maybe the delegates should wear baseball jerseys while they're in Geneva). Taiwan can hardly be considered a sovereign nation if it can't use a proper name, and requires the permission of a larger nation, in order to participate in an international organization. But permanent membership under the name of "Taiwan" is clearly not on the agenda of the Ma administration.

The JT editorial staff aren't the only outside observers welcoming closer Taiwan-China cooperation. But have these people considered the end result of a complete rapprochement, otherwise known as "annexation"? Taiwan is one of those unsinkable aircraft carriers U.S. security policy planners like to rely on, only in this case, it would be the People's Liberation Army Air Force 中国人民解放军 and Navy 中国人民解放军海军 that would benefit from greater power projection abilities. Does the Japan Times really want that military potential right on the doorstep of Okinawa 沖縄, not to mention the disputes over the Senkakus 尖閣諸島, gas fields and Japan's claims to exclusive economic zones around distant islands such as Okinotorishima 沖ノ鳥島?

The name "Chinese Taipei" conjures up baseball, in my mind at least. Unfortunately, Taiwan's greatest claim to fame in the sporting world, Wang Chien-ming 王建民, isn't doing very well at the moment, with a record of 0-3 and a 34.50 ERA. But while Wang ponders his future on the New York Yankees' disabled list, another local hurler seems to be doing well in Japan:

"Chen Wei-yin 陳偉殷 didn't give much thought to going nine innings, but the Taiwan lefty pitched out of three late jams to throw his second career shutout and snap the Dragons' ドラゴンズ four-game losing streak. Perfect through six, Chen (2-1) went the distance, and Kazuhiro Wada 和田一浩 drove in both runs in a 2-0 Chunichi 中日 victory over the Yokohama BayStars 横浜ベイスターズ at Yokohama Stadium 横浜スタジアム on Sunday. 'Throwing a shutout didn't enter into my thinking, and at the end I was pitching knowing I had a run to give away,' said Chen, who allowed five hits and two walks, while striking out five. The southpaw got away with a few mistakes, but kept Yokohama at bay by pinpointing a 150-kph (93-mph) heater all afternoon. 'It wasn't about how hard I was throwing, but rather how the game came together,' said Chen, who hung a few pitches early on that were either mis-hit or hit on a line to a Dragons fielder...The 23-year-old didn't expect to go the distance when teammate Masaaki Koike 小池正晃 took his place in the batter's box in the top of the ninth. But Koike returned to the dugout and Chen reached on an infield single against 45-year-old lefty Kimiyasu Kudō 工藤公康. 'I didn't think I pitched well enough to go nine, so I wasn't surprised to see Koike getting ready,' said Chen, who has yet to allow a run in 15 innings against Yokohama."

("Great balls of fire Chen blanks BayStars on 5-hitter, helps Chunichi break 4-game losing streak", Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売)

Chen currently has a 1.22 ERA to go along with his 2-1 record.

Reality bites, or bites of reality?

It should belong in the "What's all the fuss about?" department, but both the Taipei Times and the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ have stories on the fuss created by the Japanese representative to Taiwan who had the temerity to point out something that should be clearly obvious: when Japan gave up its claims to Taiwan at the end of the Second World War, it did not designate who should assume sovereignty over its former colony:

"A former foreign minister-turned-Chinese Nationalist Party 中國國民黨 (KMT) lawmaker charged yesterday that Japan should recall its representative to Taipei 台北 over the latter’s comment that Taiwan’s status is unclear. Taiwan’s former representative to Japan, on the other hand, supported the Japanese representative, saying that he did not say anything wrong. The fuss stemmed from remarks made by Masaki Saito, head of the Taipei office of Japan’s Interchange Association — Japan’s de facto embassy in Taiwan — on Friday that Taiwan’s status is 'still unresolved.' Saito made the comments at an annual meeting of the Republic of China 中華民國 (ROC) ­International Relations Association at National Chung Cheng University 國立中正大學 in Chiayi County 嘉義縣. The Japanese representative later apologized for his remarks after Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Andrew Hsia lodged a protest and demanded an explanation."

("Japanese representative scolded over remark on Taiwan’s ‘unresolved’ status")

"Japan's top representative to Taiwan, Masaki Saito, retracted remarks he made Friday saying Taiwan's international status is unclear after the island's government lodged a protest, according to local media reports. Taiwan's national Central News Agency reported online late Friday that Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia lodged a protest and demanded an explanation of the remarks Saito made at a symposium held at National Chung Cheng University in southern Taiwan. Saito, head of the Taipei office of Japan's Interchange Association, told Hsia that it was purely his personal view that Taiwan's status was still unresolved and that his comment did not reflect the position of Japan, the CNA said."

("Taiwan remarks retracted", Kyōdō News 共同通信社)

The KMT has recently launched a campaign to convince the public that the ROC assumed sovereignty over Taiwan when it signed a treaty with Japan 日本国と中華民国との間の平和条約 in 1952, so it is understandably miffed when a high-level Japanese official contradicts the official (Chinese) line. But as Koh Se-kai 許世楷, a former Taiwan representative pointed out (in the Taipei Times article):

"...Saito had no reason to apologize because he did not say anything wrong and that Hsia’s chiding was 'merely a show'...Koh said the Treaty of San Francisco 日本国との平和条約 signed in 1951 did not clearly name a recipient when Japan gave up its claim over Taiwan. The fact that no recipient was specifically named means Taiwan’s status remains ambiguous even though it maintains an independent body of governance with its own territories and population, he said. He said the ROC ceased to exist after the UN in 1971 passed a resolution in which the People’s Republic of China 中华人民共和国 replaced the ROC in the international body. The view that the ROC and Taiwan are the same would only further confuse the international community, he said, adding that such rhetoric was used as a political tactic by people who want Taiwan to unify with China."

Saito's stating of the obvious just shows how reality and Chinese propaganda, of both the Nationalist and Communist varieties, are rarely (if ever) compatible.

Back in the real world, the Kaminoge family passed another milestone on the Taiwanese road of life. As anyone who either has children in preschool, kindergarten or a cram school, or teaches in such establishments, know all too well, performances for the parents are an important part of the curriculum. My daughter Amber has only been going to preschool for about a month, and this morning (at the ungodly hour of 8:30 on a Sunday), her class performed a song and dance for Mother's Day (which is next Sunday, of course). Actually, it was more dance than song, as it seemed most of the kids couldn't remember the words. In the video below, you can see how Amber did in her theatrical debut - a little unsure of what was going on, but at least she didn't cry or fall down, like some of the other kids did. As soon as the children appeared on stage, all the parents rushed to the front, armed with digital and video cameras. My wife was in charge of filming, while I attempted to take photos with an old-fashioned camera, which chose to conk out just when it was needed most. At least I was spared having to watch my daughter's show through a lens finder:

Mother's Day Performance

The show was staged at the uniquely named Chung-cheng 中正 (aka Chiang Kai-shek 蔣中正) Hall, complete with an old statue of Peanut in the lobby of the 1970's-era building (and Japan designated the Republic of China as the new ruler of the island of Taiwan back in 1951-2). At the end of the show, all the mothers went onstage with their girls:

After the show, we drove through downtown Fengyuan 豐原 to my in-laws to pay a quick visit, then it was off to spend the afternoon in Taichung 台中. Along the way, the betel nut girls were out in force, purveying their fine cancer-causing products:

We visited the area around Feng Chia University 逢甲大學, walking through the campus first, where Amber stopped to watch a boy feed peanuts to a squirrel:

 

Fengjia is noted for its night market, but even in the daytime a lot of clothing stores and food stands were open:

Coming off her successful stage debut this morning, Amber did her best to avoid the paparazzi:

And while the real world keeps going round, has anyone noticed that neither the Treaty of San Francisco nor the Treaty of Taipei mentioned the Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島? Seeing as they're obviously Chinese territory, it was probably felt there was no need to do so.