Back to school

After a number of days of spring-like weather (temperatures in the high 20'sC/high 70'sF), things suddenly took a turn for the cold and wet today - 10C/50F, windy, raining in the morning and overcast the rest of the day. Intrepid fellow that I am, however, I rode the 20 or so kilometers in the cold this afternoon to pay a visit to T'aichung 台中, and Tunghai University 東海大學 in particular. Naturally, when in Tunghai one has to photograph the university's most noted site, the Luce Memorial Chapel, and so one did:

The previous couple of occasions when I'd visited the university and checked out the chapel, the sun had been out and the building had reflected the light, so it was a little strange to see it under more subdued conditions. Also, the other times had both been on weekends, when the area around the chapel becomes a park, and the site is teeming with people. Seeing it standing all alone this afternoon, it struck me for the first time what a simple, yet beautiful design Chen Chi-kwan and I.M. Pei came up with back in the early 1960's. Postwar Christian churches in general have been architectural bores, but not so the Luce Chapel.

Unlike the other times I'd come to Tunghai, with plenty of time on my hands today I took a walk through the campus. I was glad I did so, for there is plenty of greenery, and many of the buildings are Chinese-themed in design:

I haven't visited too many universities in Taiwan, but I'd wager that Tunghai's campus is arguably the island's most attractive. I was a little put off that there is a Chiang Kai-shek 蔣中正 Memorial Hall (where are the student activists when you need them?), and it was simultaneously funny and scary to see that the female dorms were surrounded by high brick walls topped with shards of glass and razor wire (one mustn't forget that Tunghai is a Methodist university!), but all in all the school grounds make for a pleasant walk, and a respite from the typical Taiwanese chaos lurking just over the walls.

Leaving Tunghai, I rode up the hill the short distance to Tunghai (aka International) Art Street. This area of boutiques, crafts shops and cafes is hopping on the weekends, but was understandably deserted on a bleak Tuesday afternoon:

Next week, weather permitting, it'll be back to the mountains, something I haven't done since before the Lunar New Year holidays.

Lantern Festival 元宵節

The Kaminoge family went to see the 2010 edition of the Lantern Festival in T'aichung 台中 on Saturday evening. Here's a view of the streets of the big city on our way to the festival site:

Because this is the Year of the Tiger 寅, and tigers are one of the world's most endangered species, the festival organizers decided to draw attention to the great felines' dire situation by having all the displays of lanterns incorporate a tiger theme...not.

No, because this is the Year of the Tiger, the main motif was that traditional tiger character from the legends of Chinese history, Tigger. Amber, however, insisted on having her picture taken in front of Piglet:

For my wife, the primary point of interest wasn't what could dazzle her eyes, but what could fill her stomach. For her, the highlight was the walk through the many food stands, seeing, smelling and tasting what was for sale. 屋台 and people everywhere you turn.

In the news

From today's edition of the Daily Yomiuri ザ・デイリー読売 ("Elpida won't need funds from Taiwan"):

"Elpida Memory Inc. エルピーだメモリー will not receive 20 billion yen ($225 million) as initially planned by a Taiwan firm set up by the island's authorities, Elpida President Yukio Sakamoto 坂本幸雄 told The Yomiuri Shimbun 読売新聞 on Tuesday. The company, which is under corporate rehabilitation, has showed recent signs of improved business due to rebounding semiconductor demand. Taiwan Innovation Memory Company was set up by the Taiwan authorities last year to reorganize the island's dynamic random access memory market."

The article provides some background information behind the decision:

"The demand for semiconductors used in household appliances and information technology related devices had declined from autumn of 2008 due to the global economic crisis. In June 2009 Elpida became the first company to which the revised Industrial Revitalization Law was applied. It planned to raise 160 billion yen ($1.8 billion), including 30 billion yen ($338 million) in public funds from the Development Bank of Japan 日本政策投資銀行 and 20 billion yen from TIMC. However, Elpida's business has taken a sharp turn for the better on demand spurred by economic stimulus measures as well as increased demand, especially in China and other emerging economies. The company posted operating profit of 30.4 billion yen ($343 million) for the October-December 2009 quarter."

Elpida is a name often seen in the business sections of Taiwan's two main English-language dailies, an example of how important chips are to this island's economy. The TIMC is a controversial attempt by the government to restructure the DRAM industry. Its intention was to consolidate three Taiwanese chip manufacturers (Powerchip, ProMOS and Rexchip Electronics) and utilize technology from Elpida, but with the market appearing to pick up again, the fate of the state-backed venture is up in the air.

Back from the US of A

We're back in Taiwan after a much-needed visit home to the United States (Bremerton, Washington, to be exact. It isn't exactly my hometown, but it's where my parents have been living since my father retired). It's always great, of course, to be able to see my family again, but I was especially happy to see the positive effect this trip had on my daughter. Not only was she able to reconnect with her other grandparents again after a year apart, but I was pleased to see how well she quickly adapted to an all-English environment, both inside and outside the home. As for me, the simple pleasures of rediscovering favorite foods and catching up on sorely-missed TV programs and community radio were icing on the cake of an all-too-short 15-day visit. Now it's back to the daily grind of ugly environments and imbecilic motorists, but until the next opportunity to go back to the USA, here are a few photos from our visit:

One of the Izu Islands 伊豆諸島 as our plane approached Narita International Airport 成田国際空港 from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport 台湾桃園国際空港. Just after snapping this pic, we experienced some of the worst turbulence I've ever felt.

We didn't make any lengthy trips while in Washington, but we did go out a lot. There's a network of walking trails not far from my parent's house that starts at Puget Sound, and continues for several miles:

Amber naturally enjoyed visiting the fudge shop in Port Orchard. If there was one drawback to being in America (other than having to come back to Taiwan!), it was that my daughter discovered she had a sweet tooth (the fact that she was exposed to her first Valentine's Day didn't help)!:

One rainy afternoon was spent looking around the main street on Bainbridge Island, followed by a visit to Chief Seattle's grave. Being in Washington, we had to visit Seattle at least once, taking the ferry from Bremerton. Amber got a kick out of the water jets at the Bremerton waterfront, which are supposed to represent salmon swimming upstream:

The ferry makes for a stress-free commute to and from Seattle:

Once in Seattle, getting to the International District/Chinatown was easy, thanks to the free underground bus:

Yes, it's somewhat ironic that while back in the U.S. we visited Uwajimaya supermarket 宇和島屋  and Kinokuniya bookstore 紀伊国屋, but both are great places to spend time in, and much better than anything we have here in Fengyuan 豐原. Should we ever move to Seattle, I'd like to live in or around the International District.

In addition to Seattle, we also paid a visit to downtown Tacoma. There really wasn't much to see and do there (the admission fees for the Museum of Glass and Washington History Museum were too high, especially considering that Amber wouldn't have gotten much out of going to them), but getting around was easy, especially as the Tacoma Link light rail train was free (and the weather was gorgeous)!:

The weather was overcast and rainy for the first half of our stay, but things really cleared up towards the end, resulting in some nice sunsets. Unlike the rest of the country, this winter has been relatively mild in the Pacific Northwest. Flying from Washington, D.C. to Seattle, the view out the window of the plane was an unbroken vista of whiteness until reaching Washington state.

Amber and her Nana and Granddad thoroughly enjoyed the pleasure of each others' company!:

I enjoyed the pleasures of some of Washington's craft beers (in addition to Samuel Adams). I don't even want to look at a can of Taiwan Beer ever again!:

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, so it was with much regret we had to leave family and country behind. I know Amber is looking forward to the next trip back!

Those schooldays...

Shanchiao Elementary School in the Miaoli County 苗栗縣 town of Yuanli 苑裡 is much like any other Taiwanese primary school, with one difference. Tucked away in one corner of the expansive school grounds is a collection of four wooden Japanese-style buildings dating from the 1930's. Originally constructed as dormitories 寮 for teachers, it's great to see they have been preserved. And not just as relics from the past, either, for these buildings are still being used by the elementary school as classrooms. The tatami 畳 mats are long gone, but the interiors still retain their original floor plans, and the flooring is made of beautiful wood. Kudos to whichever authorities made the decision not only to retain these beautiful structures, but to keep them in service to the local schoolchildren. There are lessons to be learned in Yuanli - will other locales in Taiwan pay attention, please?

Some requisite family photos on what was a family outing this afternoon. The expression and posture of yours truly is what happens when ancient knees complain about being forced to sit seiza 正座 -style:

There were a lot of people taking photographs of the buildings while we were there, but thankfully not in overwhelming numbers. This is one unknown "tourist attraction" that I hope remains unnoticed by snack-eating, souvenir-buying tour bus hordes.

Amber does Japan...sort of

Fengyuan 豐原 is my daughter's hometown. She was born here, and except for the yearly visits to the States to see her grandparents and aunt, it's the only place she knows. For one afternoon, however, Amber could have been walking the streets of any provincial Japanese city, as virtually everything the two of us did today in downtown Fengyuan seemed to have a Japanese theme.

First off, we had lunch at a Japanese restaurant called Yanagikawa 柳川, run by our next-door neighbors, where Amber proclaimed that tonkatsu 豚カツ (along with steak) was her favorite food in the whole world:

Then we walked up the road to a tea stand called Kurokawa 黒川, where many of the teas are named after Japanese regions (静岡, 宇治 etc.) Amber was quite happy with the complimentary strawberry she was given there:

Still feeling a little hungry after lunch (we did split one set meal, after all), we crossed over to a shop called Sanco that specializes in onigiri おにぎり. Amber did her best Peko-chan ペコちゃん impersonation while we waited for our fried chicken rice ball:

Our final stop was at the local department store, and in particular, a small shop located on the first basement floor that stocks nothing but imported Japanese snack foods. Amber was satisfied with her purchase of a box of Hello Kitty Biscuits ハローキティビスケット (Dad picked up a can of UCC Milk Coffee 缶コーヒー):

Our father-daughter afternoon finished off at a field of cosmos flowers not far from our apartment complex. Amber had a lot of fun making her way among the flowers and butterflies, and she borrowed the camera to take a number of pictures, including the shot below:

More of my 4 year-old budding-Ansel Adams' works can be seen on her photo blog.

On a completely unrelated note is the following Kyōdō News 共同通信社 article from today's Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ ("Law to allow exhibition of Taiwan art"):

"The Diet 国会 will enact a law to smooth the way for an exhibition of ancient Chinese artworks from Taiwan's National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院, the speaker of Taiwan's Parliament 立法院 said Thursday, according to local media. Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng 王金平 made the remarks after holding discussions earlier in the day with Tadashi Imai 今井正, Japan's new representative to T'aipei 台北, the Central News Agency reported. 'Imai told me that the Japanese Diet is likely to approve the legislation in the first half of the year,' Wang was quoted as saying. He added that several Japanese parliamentarians promised during a recent visit to Taiwan to help push for passage of the act. 'Given the geographic proximity, cultural links and long-term friendship between our two countries, I believe a public exhibition of Palace Museum art treasures in Japan will definitely attract a large audience and turn out to be a resounding success,' Wang said. The National Palace Museum in Taipei is home to the world's largest collection of Chinese art, which was amassed by Chinese emperors over a millennium. The works have only been exhibited in three foreign countries — the United States, Germany and France — all of which enacted laws to guarantee their return to Taiwan after the exhibitions. Without a legal guarantee, Taiwan is concerned China might pressure countries to impound the art collection. After its defeat by communist forces in 1949, the Nationalist 中國國民黨 government fled the mainland to Taiwan, taking with them some 650,000 valuable works of art. Beijing claims sovereignty over the self-governing island and the artworks housed in National Palace Museum as its own."

It's somewhat ironic that Taiwan's most notable non-natural sight has very little to do with Taiwan itself. Calling it the "Chinese Louvre", as one Belgian writer recently did, is overstating the case, but the museum is a must-see for anyone interested in Chinese art. In the (sadly) increasingly unlikely event that this island can one day free itself from its Republic of China 中華民國 shackles and become an independent state in its own right, the question would have to be answered as to what to do with the National Palace Museum's huge collection of mainland artifacts. Perhaps that same Belgian writer could describe them as "Taiwan's Elgin Marbles".

To arms, to arms!

"It's better to help arm Taiwan than to defend it" is the headline for a somewhat odd opinion piece by one Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute, by way of today's Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ:

"The Obama administration is preparing a new arms package for Taiwan. Ironically, selling weapons to T'aipei 台北 may be the best way for Washington to get out from the middle of one of the world's potentially most volatile relationships, between China and Taiwan. Relations between China and Taiwan are improving. Yet the former continues to point more than 1,300 missiles at the latter. The threat of military force remains a backdrop to expanding economic and tourist contacts across the Taiwan Strait 台灣海峽. The U.S. is positioned uneasily in between. Formally committed to the principle of one China and providing weapons to Taiwan for its defense, Washington cannot easily square the circle. As China grows in economic strength and international influence, pressure will grow on America's relationship with Taipei."

According to the 1972 Shanghai Communique, the U.S. recognizes the One China principle  一個中國原則, but in language that implies that Washington merely acknowledges that China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, without actually endorsing China's position. The Taiwan Relations Act 台灣關係法 of 1979 requires the U.S. "to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character", and "to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan", but does not formally bind American military forces to come to the defense of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.

"(President) Ma (Ying-jeou) 馬英九 has downplayed Taiwan's quest for a separate international identity and promoted ties with China. Yet the underlying substantive issues remain unchanged. China sees only one outcome, whether the result of negotiation or ultimatum: Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan. In contrast, President Ma, no less than his predecessor, opposes submitting Taiwan to rule by China."

That last sentence is debatable considering the Kuomintang's 中國國民黨 rush to sign an ECFA with China in order to more closely bind the two economies together, and thus act to contain the influence of pro-independence forces. It seems many Western commentators accept Ma's proclamations on the defense of Taiwan's sovereignty at face value, without examining what has actually been taking place on the ground (and behind closed doors).

"At some point China's patience is likely to fade. Continuing arms sales may be the best hope of forestalling conflict. During the Cold War no one doubted Washington's will and ability to prevent China from attempting to conquer or intimidate Taiwan. Neither is certain any longer. Go to war with China and the 21st century looks a lot uglier, even if the U.S. handily wins round one. And round one no longer would be a slam dunk. While China cannot for the foreseeable future match American military power, it can create a substantial deterrent capability, sharply raising the potential cost of U.S. intervention. Beijing's increasing ability to sink U.S. carriers with submarines and missiles alone would force any president to hesitate sending the 7th Fleet into the Taiwan Strait for battle. As protecting Taiwan goes from being a guaranteed freebie to a potential catastrophe, Taipei will no longer be able to rely upon America. Taiwan has been a good friend for many years, but few U.S. presidents would decide to protect Taipei if doing so put Los Angeles and maybe New York at risk."

Bandow adapts an age-old concern regarding the American nuclear umbrella - namely, would the U.S. sacrifice New York for the sake of London, Tōkyō 東京 etc.? He thinks that arms sales are an easy out, that somehow providing weapons for Taiwan will mean the U.S. won't have to face the possibility of having its deterrence "bluff" (if it is, in fact, a poker move) called. Of course, one could easily argue the opposite position - selling weapons could serve to ratchet up tensions and make the likelihood of conflict all the more greater (though this writer personally doesn't take that point of view).

"...the Bush administration showed its pique with former President Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁 by freezing arms sales to Taipei. The result was to accelerate the already disturbing erosion of Taiwan's defensive capabilities. Taiwanese weakness could be dangerous. Should China grow impatient — and believe that victory would be swift and bloodless — the temptation to act could prove overwhelming. Of course, even fulfilling Taiwan's 'wish list' would not enable the island state to defeat China in a full-scale war. But Taipei needs sufficiency rather than equality — a military capable of making any attempt at coercion more costly than the likely benefits of victory...there should be no American retreat from the principle of selling Taipei the weapons that it needs for its defense. The Taiwanese have built a free and democratic society. They deserve access to the tools that will enable them to defend that society."

Here, Bandow seems unaware that there was a long-standing American arms package on offer from the Bush administration that was held hostage in the legislature by the then-opposition KMT - the very same folks who are now running the show, and claiming to put Taiwan's defensive needs first!

"...the best strategy for ensuring a peaceful resolution of Taipei's status is a robust Taiwanese defensive capability. Selling arms is a far better option than intervening militarily in any conflict. To presume that China, with far more at stake than America, will forever back down would be a wild gamble. Whether Chinese concerns are driven more by nationalist passions or geostrategic concerns, the more direct Washington's involvement, the more dangerous Beijing's likely response. And there would be no greater calamity than a war between the U.S. and China. The U.S. should not be expected to risk major war with nuclear powers to protect other states, however friendly or democratic. But Washington can help other nations defend themselves. Selling weapons to Taiwan would empower the island state without inserting the U.S. into any cross-strait crossfire."

Actually, Washington was expected to risk a major war with a nuclear power during the Cold War (NATO vs. the Warsaw Pact), and it still is when it comes to the mutual security treaties with Japan 安保条約, and to a lesser extent, South Korea. Arms sales or not, it's difficult to imagine the U.S. managing to stay out of the way should fighting break out between China and Taiwan. Bandow also completely overlooks the other major player in the region, Japan.

It's hard to disagree with Bandow's conclusion that Taiwan needs to have the means to defend itself, and that it's up the American government to help. Still, he should have done some research into the motives behind the policies currently being pursued by the Ma administration. A weapons package may look attractive, but all that sexy hardware could be just for show if the Taiwanese government doesn't really intend to put up much, if any, of a fight.