Taiwan's Foggy Bottom

I was only being sarcastic the other day when I referred to the Japan-U.S. Mutual Security Treaty 日米安保 as an "obscure" document, but apparently it is to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs 中華民國外交部, at least judging by this article from today's Taipei Times newspaper ("Ministry unaware of US view on Diaoyutai islands"):

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was unaware that the US had recently said the US-Japan security treaty includes the much-disputed Diaoyutai archipelago in the East China Sea, Department of North American Affairs Director-General Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) said yesterday during a weekly briefing...He said the reason that MOFA was unaware of the State Department’s position was there had been no public announcement and it only existed as a guidance note for dealing with direct questions from reporters. 'I didn’t ask the US for more information on this particular issue,' Tseng said. 'For a more thorough explanation of the statement, I would suggest you go and speak to the AIT 美國在台協會. The government’s stance is very clear: That we have rightful claim over the Diaoyutais.'"

Doesn't anybody at MOFA bother to read newspapers or check the wire services? The statement from the AIT last week wasn't even the first time the US government has clarified its stance on the Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島. A quick Google search revealed that:

"The 1960 US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security applies to territories under the administration of Japan, including the Senkaku Islands. In November 1996, Assistant Secretary of Defense (Kurt M.) Campbell stated that the basic position of the US is that the Japan-US security treaty would cover the Senkaku Islands. Secretary of Defense William Perry reconfirmed this fact on 03 December 1996"

"On March 24, 2004, Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman at the US State Department said 'The Senkaku Islands have been under the administrative control of the Government of Japan since having been returned as part of the reversion of Okinawa 沖縄 in 1972. Article 5 of the 1960 U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security states that the treaty applies to the territories under the administration of Japan; thus, Article 5 of the Mutual Security Treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands. Sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands is disputed. The U.S. does not take a position on the question of the ultimate sovereignty of the Senkaku Diaoyu Islands. This has been our longstanding view. We expect the claimants will resolve this issue through peaceful means and we urge all claimants to exercise restraint.'"

(http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/senkaku.htm)

So apparently MOFA employees don't know how to use search engines, either. You would think those who are tasked with the job of managing Taiwan's foreign affairs would have been more familiar with Japan's security treaty with the United States (it doesn't take a Master's in International Relations to figure out the implications of the aforementioned Article 5) , but it seems that isn't the case at all.

In addition to Japanese islands, it appears Taiwan is also eying Japanese know how, according to Japan Focus ("Taiwan to set up company to solicit U.S., Japan DRAM patents"):

"Taiwan announced Thursday it will set up a company to attract overseas technology, including from Japan, for the manufacture of dynamic random access memory chips in a bid to rescue the island’s $28 billion DRAM industry. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ plan to establish the Taiwan Memory Co within the next six months comes as the island’s chipmakers are reeling from a supply glut and plummeting exports amid the global financial crisis."

If the bureaucrats at the MOEA are anything like their counterparts at MOFA, Taiwan's chipmakers are probably doomed.

Have mercy 観音山の写真

A few photos from a morning walk in the area around the mountaintop Guanyin (Kannon) 觀世音菩薩 Temple in Taichung (Taichū) 台中:

A small temple built into the side of a hill, looking like something from "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari". For some reason, plastic colored bowling pins were hung along the covered corridor:

The Guanyin Temple complex off in the distance:

These statues at the temple appear to be arhats, those who have achieved nirvana:

Even on the edge of the city, people are crammed into the modern, Taiwanese equivalent of tenement blocks (for the middle class, no less):

Why was there a vehicle, made up to look like a ship and representing the city government of Keelung 基隆 parked by the side of the road? And what is the apparent connection to Double Ten Day 國慶日?:

Back in the material world, the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ carried an article the other day that should give pause for thought to any Chinese patriots determined to restore the beloved Diaoyutai Islands 釣魚台群島 to the bosom of the sacred motherland (U.S. reassures Japan that defense pact extends to Senkaku Islands):

"With Japan, China and Taiwan trading barbs over sovereignty of the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島 in the East China Sea 東シナ海, the United States has reiterated that the islets are covered by the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty 日米安保. 'The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security signed by Tōkyō 東京 and Washington in 1960, which states that it applies to the territories under the administration of Japan, does apply to the island,' Larry Walker, a spokesman for the American Institute in Taiwan 美國在台協會, the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei 台北, said Saturday. But Walker said the United States reserves judgment on ultimate sovereignty of the islands, which have been under Japanese administrative control since the reversion of Okinawa 沖縄 to Japan from U.S. administrative rule in 1972...The comments came after China on Thursday expressed 'strong dissatisfaction' over remarks by Prime Minister Tarō Asō 麻生太郎 that Japan and the United States would work together to deal with any attack by a third country on the disputed islets, which are claimed by China and Taiwan."

I guess those Taiwanese officials who were stating last year that war was an option over the Senkakus were unaware of the obscure security treaty.

掃除をしている

My daughter Amber decided that the floor for what passes as our "dining room" needed some cleaning this evening - click on the link below (on the left):

A little house cleaning

MOS No. 7

 

MOS Burger in Taiwan has hired "Cape No. 7" 海角七號 star Chie Tanaka 田中千絵 to be its celebrity spokesperson. Seeing as a Yahoo Taiwan poll named her as the third most visible person in the local news last year, it is no doubt a smart business move.

Houli Smokes

I met up with Michael Turton this morning, and the two of us rode out into the hills on the outskirts of Houli 后里. Our stops included the Pilu Temple 毘盧禅寺, originally built in 1928 during the Japanese era 日本統治時代; and the Funghuwangshan Leisure Path, which culminated at a pavilion 162 meters (531 feet) in elevation that provided a panoramic view of Houli and beyond. A few photos from today:

(上) The construction site for the new Houfeng Bridge. The old one partially collapsed in a typhoon last year, killing several people; (下) Michael poses in front of a scenic paper mill.

(上) The Pilu Temple is set in scenic grounds; (下) A small garden area showing its Japanese influence.

Education

Things have been quiet recently post-Lunar New Year holiday, and will continue to be so until next month when financial stability hopefully resumes in the Kaminoge household. One thing we did do this past week was to check out a local preschool. Now that Amber is three, the time may be right to broaden her horizons, and give her a chance to make some friends and playmates. The place we visited wasn't much to look at architecturally speaking, but the grounds did have a lot of plants, bushes and small trees to offset the concrete and corrugated metal.

More importantly, the program (for the youngest ones, anyway) seemed more like an American day care center and less like an Asian cram school. I want Amber to learn things, of course, but at the same time, I want her to have plenty of time to play outside and with other children her age, and to have fun. The last thing I want is to turn my daughter into a "super child", spending her all time at cram schools in preparation for getting into "good" schools, a "good" job and, eventually, finding a "good" husband. Whether or not Amber attends this (or any other) school until the age of compulsory education will depend on my wife finding a part-time job that would be able to pay for the registration and tuition costs.

While Pamela is enthusiastic about sending Amber to school, my feelings are mixed. I want her to have friends and learn about the outside world, but I wish it were someplace other than Taiwan. Should Amber start school, it would mean we would have less time together. As it is, I don't see her as often as I would like due to work, but at least we have almost all of our meals together, which is an important time to talk. It would also mean putting her more into a Chinese-language environment. Although the school we visited offers English lessons, Amber's language requirements are much different than those of her peers (though I have trouble getting my wife to understand this). I'm the only native English speaker she is exposed to, so I'm concerned as to what affect attending a school would have on her progress in English. Then there is the socialization factor. Once Amber starts on the Taiwanese education track, what would be the influence on her ways of thinking, and on her outlook on life? I would like my daughter to be an American who is proud of her Taiwanese heritage, but the longer we stay here, and the longer Amber goes to school here, raise the risk that she will develop into a Taiwanese who happens to have a foreign parent (of course, there is also the question of whether she will treated the same as any other kid or if she will be constantly reminded that is "different" from the others). Will I be "losing" my daughter in the long run?

Perhaps I'm worrying too much. I suppose once Amber starts school, we could do things to ensure the household is a mainly-English environment in order to maintain a language and cultural balance. And of course we could just leave Taiwan and move to the U.S. (though I'm afraid to do so without some idea of what I could do and where we would live there). Whatever happens, I don't want my child to go through the pressures and stresses that many Taiwanese parents place on their kids (whether or not my Taiwanese wife goes along with this will be another story!).

My little girl is, sniff, starting to grow up. Is it happening all too quickly?

I'm on an Island

If you're looking for something to do this spring, here's a suggestion, courtesy of Japan Today:

TAIWAN GROUP PLANNING PROTEST VOYAGE TO SENKAKU ISLANDS

"A Taiwan-based group is planning a protest voyage to the disputed Senkaku Islands 尖閣諸島 in May, the group’s leader said Tuesday, in an outing that could trigger a fresh row between Taipei 台北 and Tōkyō 東京. The Chinese Association for Protection of the Tiaoyutai will charter ships, send them to the disputed islands in the East China Sea 東シナ海/東海 and people on board the vessels will attempt to set foot on them, the association’s leader, Huang Hsi-li, a Taipei County 台北縣 official, said by phone."

If you go, make sure you know how to swim. You wouldn't want to end up like David Chan, a Hong Kong idiot...er, activist/Chinese imbecile...I mean, patriot who, in September of 1996 (according to Wikipedia), "drown(ed) near the islets, after leaping off one of the protest vessels with several companions with the object of symbolizing Chinese claim(s) of sovereignty."

Unless you wish to be a Heroic Martyr in a Great And Noble Cause, that is. Oh, and be sure to bring along lots of plastic bottles to hurl at the Japan Coast Guard 海上保安庁 vessels that will no doubt be there to greet you.