Kampai!

 

Amber in the child carrier, ready for a ride on my back this morning in the hills above Chung-cheng Park in Fengyuan 豊原.

There are three English-language daily newspapers in Taiwan (China Post, Taipei Times and Taiwan News), and I like to take turns reading all of them, in order to get a better idea of what is going on both in Taiwan and the greater world. The Taiwan News, however, is getting harder to find in Fengyuan. The one 7-Eleven near my apartment that had been carrying the paper stopped selling it last week, and now I have to go across town to another 7-Eleven, across from the city hospital, to buy a copy.

Of the three dailies, the Taiwan News is the leanest in terms of content (due to its decision to go to a tabloid format), though it does run good in-depth articles from time to time. It's also a pro-Green publication, providing a welcome contrast to the pro-Blue (read "wacko") leanings of the China Post, and the editorials are generally excellent. Two other points in its favor are the daily crossword puzzle (the most challenging of the three) and the fact it carries "Doonesbury". On the other hand, the paper has a habit of printing glorified adverts in the guise of news stories, without identifying the articles as being "publicity". But once in a while, one of these pseudo-stories (the newspaper world's version of infomercials) turns out to be mildly interesting, like this one which caught my eye this morning:

Japanese fun for all at the Hotel Royal: Japan's best sake, delicious food, delicacies in abundance at hotels' gourmet banquet 

"Autumn is a time to sip and savor Japanese sake 日本酒. The experience is even better if you are able to drink sake with gourmet delicacies, specially made to accompany the Japanese wine. From Oct. 1 to Oct. 31, the Hotel Royal Taipei, Hotel Royal Hsinchu, Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi, and Hotel Royal Chipen are jointly running a gourmet banquet and accommodation discount to invite everyone to come and enjoy the large array of sakes available at the four grand hotels."

The Royal Hotels are part of the Nikko Hotel International chain, a part of the larger JAL Hotels JALホテルズ group. The story describes how diners can enjoy a seven-course meal of Japanese-style dishes (though the only one actually mentioned in the article is "roasted duck breast with a blueberry sauce", hardly 日本料理!) with seven chilled sakes. It sounds like it would make for a fine dining experience, something I haven't had in quite a long time. However, although no prices for the meal were mentioned in the story, I'm pretty sure such a night out would stretch the budget of a humble English teacher and his equally humble salary. So for now, when it comes to Japanese cuisine, I'm just going to have to make do with the mediocre local Japanese eateries, until my next visit to Japan, where even the budget diners outshine the finest establishments of central Taiwan (here's a hint to our local, wannabe Japanese chefs: don't be afraid to use salt, dammit! Though it might come as a surprise to you, Japanese food is actually supposed to have flavor!). And as for the sake, I'm presently enjoying a glass from the NT1200 bottle of Takaisami 鷹勇 that I a bought a few weeks ago at the Tottori 鳥取県 Fair held at Fengyuan's one and only department store.

乾杯!

On the other hand...

From this morning's newsstand issue of the Taiwan News:

Taiwan's president Ma Ying-jeou congratulates Japan's premier 

"President Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 congratulated Tarō Asō 麻生太郎 upon his being named the 92nd prime minister of Japan and expressed confidence in the development of relations between Taiwan and Japan, Foreign Minister Francisco H.L. Ou said yesterday. 'President Ma has sent out a congratulatory telegraph to Asō through the representative Office in Tōkyō 東京,' Ou said, adding that Ma and is optimistic that relations between Taiwan and Japan will be further consolidated."

Disputed islands are Taiwan's territory: MOFA 

"Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) 中華国民外交部 yesterday declined to comment on former president Lee Teng-hui's 李登輝 remarks that the disputed Tiaoyutai (Senkaku) Islands 尖閣諸島 belong to Japan, but Foreign Minister Francisco H.L. Ou reasserted Taiwan's sovereignty over the island group."

Asō is perceived to be a nationalist, and has made a number of remarks in recent years suggesting that China is a military threat in the East Asian region, referring to Taiwan as if it were a country (you mean it isn't?) and praising Japan's colonial legacy in Taiwan. However, as prime minister, Asō will probably continue the softer line towards the Chinese that was taken by the previous administrations of Shinzō Abe 安倍晋三 and Yasuo Fukuda 福田康夫. In any event, Japanese media is speculating that Asō will call a general election for late October or early November, after an emergency economic stimulus package is enacted by the Diet 国会, so there is some question as to how long Asō may actually stay in office.

Meanwhile, the Senkakus (as the islands are known outside of the Chinese-speaking world, i.e. everywhere else on the planet) raise their heads again, thanks to Lee. At the end of his four-day visit to Okinawa 沖縄:

"...he repeated that Tiaoyutai Islands were the territory of Japan. He said that he had asked Lo Kuen-tsan, the representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office 台北経済文化代表処 in Japan, why Tiaoyutai Islands should be considered part of Taiwan. Lo answered that 'it was based on geographic reasons.' Lee said it was unreasonable, for in this way, Taiwan and Okinawa both belonged to China. Lee also criticized former Premier You Hsi-kun 游錫堃 for saying that Tiaoyutai Islands were part of Toucheng 頭城 in Yilan 宜蘭. 'It was stupid,' he said. 'Did he mean that Tiaoyutai Islands had been moved from Japan’s territory?' Lee also denounced Premier Liu Chau-shiuan's war of words with Japan over Tiaoyutai Islands, saying that Taiwan was not capable of waging war against Japan."

(article link)

As the earlier article about MOFA noted in its last paragraph:

"Lee is widely seen by the Taiwanese public as a Japanophile. He has been criticized in the past for similar comments, which are seen as betraying Taiwan's territorial interest in favor of Japan."

All true, of course, but Lee does have a point. The Wikipedia entry on the Senkakus gives an overview of the various claims , but, basically, the United States administered the islands from the end of World War Two until 1972, when they were included in the reversion of Okinawa to Japan. Taiwan's long-standing claims on the islands go all the way back to the mid-1960's, after geological surveys suggested that there may be deposits of oil and gas in the waters surrounding the islands. Strictly a coincidence, of course.

ニュース

An absolutely glorious sunset on the way to the work this evening.

From the Taiwan News, the anti-China Post:

Former president to visit Okinawa 

"Former President Lee Teng-hui 李登輝 is scheduled to depart Monday for a four-day visit to Japan's Okinawa Prefecture 沖縄県 on the Ryūkyū Islands 琉球諸島. This will be Lee's fourth visit to Japan since retiring from the presidency in 2000. He will tour historical relics from World War Two on the Ryūkyū Islands, including the Okinawa Peace Memorial Park 平和祈念公園 and the Himeyuri Memorial Tower ひめゆりの塔, and will give a keynote speech Sept. 23 at the Okinawa Convention Center on the evolution of knowledge and the characteristics of Japanese culture. On Sept. 24, he will visit Shurijō Castle 首里城, a symbol of the history of the former Kingdom of the Ryūkyū 琉球王国. He will also tour the Southeast Botanical Gardens 東南植物楽園, which is managed by Taiwanese expatriates. The former president is scheduled to return to Taiwan Sept. 25."

Since leaving office, Lee has traveled to Japan from Taiwan almost as often I have. No mention is made of any hostile reaction this time from the Chinese government. For some strange reason, Beijing has never protested any of my trips to Japan.