Happy New Year!

2008 has almost left the scene, and while I can't say that it has been a great year for me, it hasn't been a bad one, either. The same can't be said for Taiwan, unfortunately. There is the rapidly deteriorating economy to be concerned about, of course. But although things are going to get much worse before they get better, the economy will eventually turn upwards again. Politically, however, the situation has been getting bleaker and bleaker since May, and only a die-hard believer in the cause of Chinese nationalism has any reason to be optimistic about the future. It looks like 2008 will go down as the year Taiwan turned a corner, only the path turned out to be a U-turn leading back towards the dark days of the past.

The administration of Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 has taken a lot of criticism over the course of the last seven months, virtually all of it justified. In its defense, it can be argued that there isn't much that can be done to shield Taiwan from worldwide economic trends, and that the long list of broken promises and failures isn't unique to this island in that all politicians in all democratic countries will say anything to their electorates in order to get voted in. But what cannot be explained away so easily is the slow, steady erosion of the components of Taiwan's democratic system of government. We have seen opposition politicians getting jailed, the judicial system being tampered with by the ruling party and heavy-handed police responses to public expressions of discontent with the current state of affairs. All this (and more) has gone hand-in-hand with the growing rapprochement with China, at the cost of Taiwan's status as a sovereign nation. This island is inexorably marching towards the day when it "returns" to the Chinese fold, most likely as some kind of "Special Administrative Region", no doubt with KMT 中國國民黨 politicians of reliable mainlander backgrounds running the show, and what remains of the DPP 民主進步黨 either imprisoned, exiled or cowed into silence by the police and the courts (a la Singapore).

There are those out there in the blogosphere who hope that the Taiwanese will soon wake up to what is going on, and do something to stop the clock from ticking back to the days of the martial-law era police state. It shouldn't be forgotten, though, that 59% of the voters opted for Ma and the KMT. They knew (or ought to have known) full well what they would be getting into (despite all of Ma's reassurances to the contrary during the campaign), but nevertheless they chose to believe the promises about growth, GNP and standards of living, and thus gambled on attaining "immediate" economic benefits over long-term solidification of a still-young democratic political order. Now it appears they've lost the bet. At least they've gotten a couple of pandas out of it all. As it is increasingly unlikely there will be a fair and open presidential election in the year 2012, at least they can enjoy going to Taipei Zoo to see Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, safe in the knowledge that Chinese missiles are protecting them from the threat posed by a hostile Japan (a country which has never wavered in its determination to recover Taiwan, issuing a constant stream of threats to attack, building up its offensive forces in the area and conducting intimidating military exercises...)

Speaking of those revanchist Japanese, Hisahiko Okazaki in the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ wonders why there has been "No sign of a 'peace agreement'" between China and Taiwan. Some of the points he brings up are interesting. To wit:

"More than six months have passed since the presidential election in Taiwan. After a hiatus of eight years, the Kuomintang is in power. This actually represents the restoration of the mainland-lineage forces for the first time in 20 years — if you count the Lee Teng-hui 李登輝 era as rule by non-mainland-lineage forces."

And:

"For one thing, I believe there is recognition that the awareness of Taiwanese identity is now irreversible. The KMT government did things like rename the 'Taiwan Post' to 'Chunghwa Post' 中華郵政 as soon as it came in. But it did not take much time to perceive that it would cause a backlash among the Taiwan populace. The cross-strait exchanges have also brought about opposition demonstrations from time to time. This appears to be one of the reasons for the abrupt decline in the approval rating of the Ma administration."

And:

"The biggest problem seems to be that China still does not have a Taiwan strategy and is responding with difficulty. Up until the presidential election, China had a clear policy of overturning the Democratic Progressive Party government. All its efforts — including diplomacy with the U.S. — were concentrated on this goal. However, it now looks as though they don't know how to reap the fruit of success."

As Okazaki sees things:

"...if China permits the Ma government to (become a member of international organizations), it will also have to do the same for future succeeding administrations...there is the possibility that it would lead to the gradual annulment of the one-China principle 一个中国; thus China seems undecided on how to respond. For a country with imperialistic intentions, a moderate, conciliatory adversary is a problem to deal with. The sympathy of the international community that Tibet's Dalai Lama ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ་ has garnered with a moderate stance must annoy China. China's real intention toward Tibet is a complete Han-ization. In fact, it may be aiming for an across-the-board crackdown on radicalized Tibetans after the demise of the Dalai Lama. In the DPP era, which advocated independence, China was able to entertain the expectation (which I believe was an illusion) that the U.S. would not act against the use of force or threats by China against Taiwan. But if China lays a hand on Taiwan, a free democratic system, without any provocation by Taiwan, an intense backlash in public opinion and in the U.S. Congress would be inevitable. In the end, the only option is a policy of unification through natural development of closer economic ties. On the other hand, that would mean doing nothing at all politically or militarily."

Okazaki is much more optimistic than I am about the days ahead:

"The only possible change in the status quo might be if the KMT government accepts a Hong Kong-type of 'one country, two systems'一国二制度 formula through peaceful negotiations. However, as far as I can see from my meager experience meeting with KMT people, that likelihood is small. Taiwan is a free and democratic society under the rule of law, and is prosperous and safe. Very few people are willing to play second fiddle to the mainland, a backward society under the one-party dictatorship of the Communist Party 中国共産党. Those individuals in Taiwan with ties to the mainland may be motivated to continue monopolizing political and economic privileges in the days to come, but that lacks moral legitimacy and cannot be a political objective. The KMT government already seems to be learning this from its brief experience this time. As a second consideration, the emergence of a KMT government this time may be good for Taiwan in the long run. The DPP must have realized that they could not stay in power only by stressing Taiwanese identity. The longer a regime stays in power, the harder it is to avoid a degree of scandal and a fed-up public. That's the principle of democracy. The KMT also must have learned that the Taiwanese identity — national self-determination and democratic principles — are deeply rooted in the Taiwanese people. There is no way that even the KMT can survive other than by accepting and adapting to that fact."

I hope he's right.

あけましておめでとうございます！

Changes in the weather

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. I was fortunate in that I was able to arrange my work schedule so that I would have the morning off, and thus get to see Amber open her gifts, of which she got too many, I'm afraid. The expectations bar has been raised!

Other than Christmas, things have been quiet on the Kaminoge front. This morning, as is becoming the case on Tuesdays, I woke up at 6 in order to get out into the mountains in the Sintian area and do some walking. Whereas the last couple of weeks I had been blessed with gorgeous (if not necessarily warm) weather, today was a case of non-stop drizzle. On the one hand, this meant having to tread carefully over slippery, muddy sections of trail, including one part which had been washed away by a previous rainstorm or typhoon. But then again, the rain meant the mountains were covered with mist, and the trails were free of other, more sensible souls.

 

"Self-Portrait in Mirror" circa 2008

No snow here

The last entry on this blog is the result of what happens when I leave my computer unattended in order to use the bathroom, and my 2-year 11 month-old daughter assumes control. If only I knew what she was trying to say!

Christmas is almost upon us, and while friends and family back home are digging out from under the snow, here in central Taiwan the weather has been clear, sunny and, while not warm, certainly nothing like the freezing temperatures being felt in most of the U.S. at the moment. Taking advantage of this, I got up early this morning and rode out to Cheung-chung Park. This time, however, instead of going up trails, I walked uphill along a road, and upon reaching the top, kept on going, eventually completing a long loop back to my parked scooter after just over two hours walking：

The top of the hill is covered with fruit orchards, with views of the mountains in the distance. On the right is the scene that greeted me as I walked down the other side, back towards Cheung-chung Park. In the distance, the cities of Fengyuan 豐原 and Houli 后里 can be seen on the left and right, respectively, with the Taiwan Strait 台湾海峡 far off in the distance. The Chinese-looking building in the foreground, on the left, is Fengyuan's Martyrs' Shrine. I've never seen it open, yet the grounds are still maintained.

On the left is the view looking down from the parking lot of the Fengyuan Country Club golf course. The bridge on the left serves trains of the Western Line 西部幹線 (or, more specifically, the Taichung Line 台中線 or Mountain Line 山線) of the Taiwan Railway Administration 台灣鐵路管理局. The bridge seen on the right is part of the original Mountain Line track, which has now been converted into the Houfeng Bicycle Trail. The photograph on the right shows some Bougainvillea. The building in the background is the dormitory for players on the Sinon Bulls 興農牛 professional baseball team.

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Xmas Shopping

Christmas is not widely celebrated here in Taiwan, but doing some final shopping today in Taichung (T'aichung) 台中 left me feeling as exhausted as I would have back home in the States. Or is it that I'm just getting older? My daughter, on the other hand, had a seeming inexhaustible supply of energy all through the afternoon and into the evening, before finally conking out in the car on the drive home. And while she may be too young to comprehend the meaning of Christmas or what it is that Santa Claus does exactly, she has figured out that something special is going on.

Some pictures from today:

 

We first went to the Tiger City shopping mall, where there was a Chibi Maruko-chan ちびまる子ちゃん event going on. This show is very popular in Taiwan, though mentioning the name "Maruko" will nonetheless draw a blank from many Taiwanese fans of the series (not with my daughter!).

Tiger City naturally had a Santa figure on prominent display, and Amber took this picture of her parents standing next to it. Not bad composition from someone who isn't even three years old yet.

From Tiger City, we drove over to another shopping mall, the name of which I can't recall. Suffice it to say it's the one near the NOVA computer mall. Here there were some illuminated displays set up out front, and Amber had her picture taken in front of them:

Shopping completed, we headed back to Fengyuan 豐原. And so the shopping is almost done, though the wrapping remains to be started. We have only a small, sad-looking artificial tree set up in the living room (which I'm too embarrassed to take a picture of), and I'll only have Thursday morning free to watch Amber open up her presents, before having to go off to work. And, of course, there's no snow (unlike my family and friends back home, who seem to have a lot of it at the moment). Still, I'm happy to see Amber beginning to feel excited by Christmas, and hopefully it won't be too far in the future for her to enjoy the genuine article.

Trying days

Taiwan has been obsessing about it for a while, but the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ editorial staff has only now gotten around to commenting on the arrest of Chen Shui-bian  陳水扁. You mean there were other news stories happening around the world all this time? Hard to imagine, isn't it? In "An ex-president heads for trial", the paper explains:

"Taiwan's former president, Mr. Chen Shui-bian, was indicted on corruption charges last week. This is a shocking development in the career of a man who campaigned on a pledge to clean up Taiwan's politics. In the supercharged atmosphere of Taiwan politics, all sides will be tempted to intervene in or influence the legal process. That cannot occur. This trial must be transparent and free from any taint of politics. Taiwan's future may depend on it."

If the future of this island is riding on this case, then what lies ahead for Taiwan are some very dark days. From the moment Chen was arrested, and through his lengthy, pre-indictment detainment (can people really be held that long without charge here?), this affair has been mired in Taiwan's political muck. It's hard to see Chen's upcoming trial suddenly rising above all that.

I get the impression the JT's writers already know what will transpire in the end, for the editorial's conclusion sounds like a desperate plea:

"The case has inflamed Taiwan's already caustic politics. Mr. Chen's supporters have taken to the streets to proclaim his innocence. After his election, Mr. Ma (Ying-jeou) 馬英九 said he wanted to reach out to the 42 percent of Taiwanese who did not vote for him. That will be impossible if Mr. Chen's trial is seen as a political tool. The judiciary must not become a device for political retribution or revenge, or Taiwan's democracy could be undermined. Much rides on the trial of Mr. Chen: It must be flawless."

Ma's idea of reaching out to those who voted against him appears to be to prosecute only opposition party politicians for alleged corruption, and by politicizing the judiciary (threats of impeachment have been made against the judge who had the temerity to actually let Chen out on bail before his trial, as if members of Taiwan's independence movement were actually entitled to civil liberties). Chen, along with members of his family, will no doubt be found guilty, and he will receive the maximum punishment. Those eight years from 2000 to 2008 when the KMT 中國國民黨 was inexplicably out of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei (T'aipei) 台北 is a mistake that cannot be allowed to happen again.

Being in purgatory, or a trip on a Taiwanese tour bus

Every year, the apartment complex where we live takes the money that it has earned from selling the residents' waste to recyclers, and uses it to pay for a bus trip for all the people who live here. Last year, it was to Tamsui (Tanshui) 淡水 and the Taipei Zoo. For this year's journey, the buses traveled in the opposite direction, to Kaohsiung.

Everyone met downstairs around 6:30am (OK, we were about 10 minutes late), and the four chartered tour buses parked across from the neighborhood Family Mart departed at 7:07. At 7:23, it began - the karaoke カラオケ singing. And it continued, non-stop (with the exception of a couple of brief visits to freeway rest areas), until we reached Kaohsiung 高雄 just after 10. It's one thing to go to a karaoke box (or KTV's, as they're known in Taiwan) - after all, you do so on a voluntary basis. But on a packed tour bus, there is no escape from the retread enka 演歌 (songs that were originally in Japanese, but retrofitted with Taiwanese lyrics). The view from the bus window certainly didn't provide an escape, for while the on-board TV set was playing videos of European castle towns and snowy scenes of Japanese villages, the scenery outside was 100% west coast. West coast of Taiwan, that is. Flat agricultural plains, broken up here and there by industrial complexes, and small towns with their concrete box skylines.

Amber posing at a rest stop; a video image from one of the karaoke songs, which looks like it was filmed in Magome 馬籠, Nagano-ken 長野県.

Kaohsiung looked almost beautiful after the long, concentrated assault on my eardrums, aka the bus ride down. And, in fact, the city has done a great job in cleaning up its act in recent years. The bus passed by several of Kaohsiung's new subway stations, including the Formosa Boulevard stop, but I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of that station's exterior architecture. I was able, however, to snap a photo of the former city government building/now current Kaohsiung Museum of History.

  

Our first destination was the Former British Consulate at Takao, completed in 1879 and used for customs administration until 1895. There were good views toward the ocean from the front, and of the city and harbor from the back. It was also already packed with sightseers at that hour of the morning.

 

After about an hour at the former consulate, it was back on the bus for the short ride to the Gushan Ferry Pier, and the even shorter ferry ride across the harbor to Cijin 旗津 Island. The guidebooks suggest visiting the oldest temple in Kaohsiung, a historic gun emplacement that was the scene of a battle when the Japanese took over Taiwan in 1895, and a lighthouse with great views of both the sea and the harbor. We didn't do any of that, unfortunately. Instead, with the 90 minutes we were given on the island, we walked up the very crowded Seafood Street (dodging cars and scooters, as well as people. The concept of a pedestrian-only road, at least on busy Sundays, doesn't seem to have caught on in many places in Taiwan), had a long (overpriced) lunch with some others from our tour bus, then spent the rest of the time letting Amber have some fun in a small playground in front of the beach. Had we been on our own, no doubt we would have taken in the above sights in a leisurely manner, with a break for lunch at a less-crowded eatery, all the while enjoying the ocean scenery. Eat-and-run, however, is the nature of travel, tour bus style.

   

After lunch and back on the bus, we left Kaohsiung, and made the first of two (count 'em, two) stops at souvenir drive-ins (for want of a better description), this one in Madou (Matou) 麻豆 in Tainan County. Ostensibly, the bus pulled in for a restroom break, but in order to reach the bathrooms, we had to run a gauntlet of vendors peddling various snack foods. Many of the sellers were using microphones to ensure their sales pitches could rise above the din of the crowd. The hard-sell didn't stop there, either. After leaving the drive-in, the bus drove on to our next destination, a "leisure farm" in the town of Jhongpu (Chungp'u) 中埔, but soon after passing through the city center, it pulled to the side of the road to allow a woman to get on, who proceeded to extol the virtues of salty raisins and vitamin pills all the way to the leisure farm's parking lot. It must have been an effective presentation, because several people ended up buying from her. For me, however, it was all the more annoying than usual because up until the saleswoman had gotten on the bus, we had taken a break from the karaoke and were watching the hit movie "Cape No. 7", which was nearing a key moment in the story when the DVD was paused to allow the raisin lady to do her thing.

The farm itself was a total tourist trap, with its cute farm animals, arcade games, snack and souvenir stands. On the other hand, for my as-yet-not jaded daughter (and may she never become so), this was the highlight of her day. She got to feed leaves to goats, run around on a spacious lawn, and enjoy yet another playground with slides. And I've got to admit, the location deep in the betel palm-covered hills was an attractive one. Still...

By now it was dark when we returned to the bus. "Cape No. 7" had almost reached its conclusion when we arrived at the second roadside souvenir emporium, the "Small Elephant Original Coffee & Mountain Tea Theme And Leisure Park". At least there were free coffee samples, and somehow me managed to get out of there without buying anything. Back on board, I was expecting to see the end of the movie, but instead it was karaoke time again! This time, the accompanying videos were not of the Travel and Living Channel variety, as the following screenshot shows:

After the pachyderm pit stop, it was time for dinner. When you travel by tour bus, large, noisy institutional dining halls are the order of the day. These places appear to be expressly set up, along with the souvenir stand rest stops, to serve the needs of Taiwan's huge tour group industry. Hundreds of people sitting at dozens of round tables, all eating the same courses, which are brought out on a continuous stream of large trays, while tour leaders use bullhorns to guide their charges to the proper tables, and the kitchen uses a PA system to communicate with the servers. The following short video clip, while of poor quality, I hope gives some idea of our intimate, relaxing dining experience:

Group Dining, Taiwan Style

It still took more than an hour to get back to Fengyuan 豐原 after dinner, 60 minutes of not only karaoke, but games, the point behind which I couldn't really fathom, and which I didn't bother asking my wife to elaborate on. It was close to 8:30pm by the time we got back, and I was knackered.

Knackered, and amazed. Amazed at why people here seem to go on these kinds of trips time and time again, when the whole process just left me exhausted, and anxious to get back home. Taiwan is a small enough island that most sightseeing spots can be easily done as a day trip without being part of a large group, with the advantages of being able to see and do things at your own pace. But no doubt I'm missing the point. There is some kind of bonding experience going on here. It doesn't really matter where you go (because you have probably been there before) and what you do when you are there (except eat, preferably something connected to the place you are visiting), it's the fact you are doing it with the others in your group that is most important.

So was it a hellish experience? No. As I noted at the beginning, with the exception of lunch and a small insurance charge, this outing didn't cost us anything. Everyone was very friendly, especially towards Amber, and I got to see most of "Cape No. 7" (though only with Chinese subtitles). So I wouldn't call this "hell". On the other hand, Dante might have included a Taiwanese bus tour as part of his description of Purgatory, had he actually had the chance to go on one. Unless, of course, he loved karaoke.