Wolves in Sheep Clothing

This Sunday afternoon the Kaminoge family drove over to the Fengyuan Culture Center (apparently there is culture in this city after all) to check out some kind of fair that was being held there. Various government and local groups had set up booths to display a variety of things, including a number of arts and crafts. It all sounded innocent enough, but once we got there something started to bother me, something about all the tricolor (blue, yellow and red) flags flapping in the wind:

I was trying to work out the connection between this fair and an as-yet-unidentified European country when the answer appeared right in front of me, on the backs of the vests being worn by hundreds of volunteers at the event:

SGI - Sōka Gakkai International. Sōka Gakkai 創価学会, for those of you who don't know, bills itself as a "Buddhist lay organization". In reality, it's about as Buddhist as the Mormon Church is Christian, and is more like a cult, led by the Kim Il-sung-like figure of Daisaku Ikeda 池田大作. Like the Mormons, SG has been around long enough, and has grown large enough in size, that it has become respectable - almost. SG members still have a reputation of being aggressive, intolerant proselytizers, which combined with the group's supposedly unaffiliated political wing, the New Kōmeitō Party 公明党, has resulted in most ordinary Japanese being distrustful and wary of the organization.

Sōka Gakkai and I have had a long, mutually antagonistic relationship, going back to my early days living in Tōkyō. I used to date a woman who was a member, and through her, I was able to witness firsthand the level of control and brainwashing the organization had over its followers. She tried her best to convince me to join - by going to concerts to see bands made up of SG converts, eating out at restaurants owned by SG followers, and most of all, by giving me lots of English-language literature by and about Ikeda the Great One. Instead of seeing the benefits of chanting "Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō 南無妙法蓮華經 day and night, I only saw a group that was preying on...er, recruiting those in Japanese society who did not already belong to large groups - the self-employed, homemakers, part-timers and bar hostesses and others from the nighttime "entertainment" business 水商売. After 18 months of subtle and not-so-subtle attempts at getting me to see the light, my Dedicated Follower pretty much gave up and our relationship came to an end. I may have been a waste of time, but judging from the number of people serving as staff for today's event, it seems Sōka Gakkai International has established a significant presence in Taichung County 台中縣. Are all those Mormon missionaries I see around Fengyuan 豐原 aware of the formidable competition they are up against?

SGI-organized though it may have been, we still enjoyed ourselves at the fair today. My daughter was able to try her hand at painting...:

...my wife went for a spin on an earthquake simulator:

...and we came away with two free cherry trees, though I'm not sure where we can keep them in our small, dark apartment:

 

Meanwhile, Fengyuan's mausoleum kept watch over the city from its perch in the hills:

 

Silence is Golden

Last night I was feverish and my joints were aching, and today was rainy. So of course I took advantage of a free afternoon today to ride out to the Dakeng Scenic Area to do some hiking. I arrived at the start to the No. 1 Trail just after 12:30, and set off in a steady downpour. Fortunately, the rain let up as soon as the repaired trail started climbing in earnest, and for the entire two hours I was out on the trails (up No. 1, down No. 2), not a single other walker was encountered. The hike was far from quiet - birds were singing, (more ominously) there were continual sounds of falling rocks, and at one point I was sure I could hear monkeys moving about - but the sounds of the mountain are never annoying. It was great to be alone in the mist, even for a brief couple of hours.

Young Taiwanese children in public places, on the other hand, are often far from quiet. This evening I was teaching a private lesson at the local KFC when a mother came in with her young son. As is sadly too often the case in this country, Mom proceeded to let her child run riot all over the dining room, never looking up from the magazine she was reading (or the cell phone she was speaking into) while Junior climbed over various chairs and tables, stood up on countertops, yelled at the top of his little (but still powerful lungs) and had a good, up-close look at the hairy barbarian in his midst. As a parent of a small child, I can understand (and sympathize) how one might want to take a break from constantly having to tell their little one not to do this or that, but when we're out in public places, I'm always conscious of what negative effects Amber's actions might be having on the people around her, and therefore do something about it, if necessary. However, and to be honest, unsurprisingly, many parents in Taiwan just don't seem to care. My students, who are no doubt used to these things, just tried to ignore it. Had I been on my own, I might not have.

Them computer blues

This weekend was supposed to have been one in which I replaced my five year-old laptop (the one with the loose keys and occasional electric shocks) with a relatively new desktop computer that my brother-in-law, having recently sold his printing business, no longer needed. Unfortunately, the continuing thread running throughout my life - Things Which Are Supposed To Make My Life Better Usually Don't - popped up again. Basically, I found that I couldn't get a number of plug-ins to work on the desktop, including the software to upload photos from the digital camera. So now I'm back on the old notebook once again, and wondering if I should invest in a new one. Wait, what is that theme music I'm hearing?

Now that it's back to business as usual, here are a few photographs from this weekend, beginning with my daughter modeling her new swimsuit:

Saturday was Amber's first proper swimming lesson. For the past 18 months, she had been taking classes to familiarize herself with being in the water, but now that she is three, it's time for her to learn how to swim. It was also her first time to be in a class without either of her parents present (we were watching from a distance, through a window), and everything appeared to go well yesterday morning. Last one in the water...

This morning we went into Taichung 台中 again, to the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts . The purpose wasn't to expose Amber to the world of art (that time will come later), nor to check out the facilities there for children (which I've read are excellent, and thus hope to see for ourselves in the very near future). It seems that my wife had posted some photos of our daughter online, and in short order, she received an email from a professional photographer saying that he thought some companies specializing in clothing for children might be interested in her as a model. So we agreed to meet at the museum in order to have some sample photographs taken. Amber wasn't the most cooperative model at times, but for the most part, things went well and she seemed to enjoy herself. The bubbles certainly helped:

My wife is much more interested in this than I am. We'll wait and what, if anything, happens.

The attractive grounds of the art museum also brought other photographers and models this morning:

The woman in the top photo was being photographed by no less than seven cameramen, all male and all looking like the stereotypical otaku おたく.

Before heading back to Fengyuan today, we stopped off at Dunkin' Donuts. Yes, the interior really does look like this:

It was a good run...

They say that all good things must come to an end, and so it was with my morning class of more than three years. One of my employers decided that it was no longer affordable to keep the morning classes going, and so this past Wednesday was the last lesson. I won't dwell on the lack of communication (I was never officially told of the decision, and only learned about it from a Chinese-language announcement placed in the class attendance record one morning), and instead thank those students who attended regularly. Today some of them treated Amber and I to lunch at a local hot pot 火鍋 restaurant. Hopefully, I'll get to see some of them again in my remaining evening and Saturday classes. As for me, I'll be going full-time at a kindergarten/cram school from Monday, so I won't be losing any income. Still...

 

Blink and you will miss it

11 seconds of a Taiwan High Speed Rail 台灣高鐵 train whizzing by in Shengang 神岡:

What's in a Name?

Call it what you want, but one of the hottest issues of recent weeks in Taiwan has been the CECA/ECPA. In an article carried by the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ ("Clinching a free trade accord with Beijing"), Frank Ching sets the scene:

"Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao recently offered to hold political and military talks with Taiwan in order to end the state of hostility between the two sides, which has existed for 60 years. Taiwan immediately rejected the offer, with President Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 saying through a spokesman, 'At this stage, we will only talk about economic and trade issues.' That is certainly the right attitude to adopt. Relations with China have improved dramatically since Ma became Taiwan's leader last year, with four agreements — none of which were overtly political — signed in 2008. But he must move cautiously if only because there is a great deal of suspicion within Taiwan of Beijing's intentions. So sensitive is the situation that the president has had to change the name of the trade agreement that he wants to negotiate with Beijing, previously called a cross-strait Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). Political opponents felt that sounded too much like CEPA, the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement that Hong Kong and Macau have signed with the mainland, and feared that such an accord would signify that Taiwan, like Hong Kong and Macau, came under Chinese sovereignty. Partly for that reason, Ma decided to change the name. Now, it is called ECFA for Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement. Taiwan also feels that a framework agreement will be easier to negotiate than a comprehensive one."

Ching has never been a supporter of an independent Taiwan, so his enthusiasm for the CEPA/ECFA comes as no surprise:

"To Taiwan, a trade agreement with Beijing is crucial not only because the mainland is now the island's most important trading partner but also because it hopes that such an accord will pave the way to agreements with the countries of Southeast Asia and end Taiwan's marginalization in the Asia-Pacific region. Beijing and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have reached an agreement under which most tariffs will be eliminated by next year between China and the six original ASEAN members. The remaining four members will be included in the FTA by 2015. This will create a free trade zone with a population larger than either NAFTA or the European Union. Moreover, Japan, South Korea and India also have FTA deals with ASEAN. And last month Australia and New Zealand signed FTA accords with ASEAN. Thus Taiwan's major trading partners are weaving an FTA network among themselves that excludes Taiwan. Unless this changes, Taiwan will find it more difficult to trade since it will have to pay export duties that other countries do not. Studies show that if China, Japan and South Korea join ASEAN in an FTA, Taiwan's GDP will shrink by more than one percentage point. The more countries involved, the greater the impact on Taiwan. That's why Taiwan is feeling increasingly desperate. It wants to reach a trade agreement with China after which, it hopes, other trading partners will be willing to sign similar accords. There is a danger that if Taiwan does not achieve a breakthrough, it will find itself in nearly the same boat as North Korea — an outcast within the international community."

Strong words. But how much more integration with the Chinese economy does Taiwan really need? Since restrictions were lifted in the early 1990's, billions of dollars have flowed from Taiwan into China, along with hundreds of thousands of businesspeople, and most worrisome of all, a lot of manufacturing jobs. In return for this growing dependence on the Chinese, what has Taiwan received in return? The Anti-Secession Law and a growing number of missiles pointed at it, are two things that come to mind, as well as the ongoing efforts to block or limit Taiwan's participation in international organizations. Even Ching admits that signing an accord on closer economic integration may not help Taiwan in the international arena:

"It is Ma's hope that once Beijing has reached a trade agreement with Taiwan, it will not object to similar agreements between Taiwan and its other trading partners. This will not necessarily be the case. Beijing may still object to other countries reaching trade agreements with Taiwan."

Of course, if the ultimate goal is political integration with China, then Taiwan, to paraphrase Ching's conclusion:

"...has everything to gain and little to lose."

Ahoy There!

My wife read online last night that there was going to be an open house at Taichung Harbor today and tomorrow involving three vessels from the ROC Navy, so this afternoon we drove down to take a look at the ships. The weather was warmer than expected, the crowds were not overwhelming and everyone was in a good mood, with the exception of our three year-old, who got a little cranky at times. But even Amber said later that she liked the ships. For once, there wasn't a food vendor in sight, which was unfortunate, because we didn't eat lunch before arriving at the waterside. Just like the police - when you really need one, they're nowhere to be found.

上: "Cute" military characters were available for photo ops, but Amber found them to be a little creepy, and refused to be photographed with them. Her father didn't blame her.

下: There were three ships at the harbor, all of which could be boarded by the public. We ended up visiting two of them. I'm not a military geek, so I couldn't tell you what kind of ships they were, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they were destroyers.

上: The view from the bridge of one of the ships.
下: Amber tries out the captain's chair.

On the way home (after finally finding something to eat), we stopped off at the rest area near Qingshui 清水, located on the No. 3 Freeway 福爾摩沙高速公路. This place is always packed, on weekends anyway, and especially around sunset. It's hard to find what all the excitement is about - young couples watching the sun set through the haze, over a parking lot filled with cars, and with a landscape of factories and apartment buildings stretching down to the barely visible sea. On the other hand, the facilities at the rest area are some of the best in Taiwan. There are plenty of shops and places to eat, and even a large fish tank that never fails to enthrall the kids.