WaPo has a commentary on how Mad Chen, the Crazed Independence Radical, "provokes" China, in its WaPo Global Forum section, by a Chinese-American "journalist." It consists entirely of the standard propaganda lines.Don't get me wrong. I'm very much of a Western pro-democracy type of mentality. But I really think Taiwan's president is using his version of "democracy" to create chaos and to agitate the mainland.
Are Taiwan's people better off under the current leadership? I have many Taiwanese friends who complain to me that life isn’t as good as it used to be. They say that Taiwan has become an "M society" -- the rich are richer and the poor poorer, with hardly anyone in between. At the same time, both my Hong Kong and mainland Chinese friends in general think their life is better off than before.
When looking at the Taiwan issue, we can't simply say that Taiwan is a democracy and China is totalitarian, so Taiwan should have the freedom to decide its independence. Apart from politics, emotional ties, economic ties, nationalism and a sense of pride and unity all play very major roles in this sensitive issue.
Taiwan has its own independence without the public voting on it. Taiwan’s leader wants to hold a democratic vote on whether to declare independence from China not because he believes that Taiwan’s people should decide their own fate; this move is not for the sake of the Taiwanese people at all. Despite the cloak of referendum and democracy, the purpose of such action is to provoke the mainland and play hardball with mainland China's leaders.
I believe that the best way for Taiwan's leaders to protect Taiwan’s democracy is to avoid direct confrontation and possible war, especially when mainland China is engaged in its own slow process of democratization.
Shame on the Post for giving space to such nonsense. It's bad enough that propaganda gets space, but the really frustrating, infuriating thing is that with so many informed and knowledgeable people out there who could comment meaningfully on Taiwan and China relations, and on President Chen, and on our democracy here, the Post gives precious space to a clueless journalist who obviously knows nothing about Taiwan.
Note the other question posted by the Post on the Taiwan issue:
Should Taiwan hold a democratic vote on whether to declare independence from China, or do Taiwan's leaders have a greater responsibility to their people to avoid war?
Talk about your loaded questions! It's curious how nobody ever asks whether China's leaders have a responsibility to avoid war. Apparently you're only irresponsible if you want to live at peace in a democratic state.
Stop by both forums and leave a comment. We can't have too much pro-democracy commentary out there.
[Taiwan] [media]
4 comments:
Michael, i just want to make sure i got this straight:
its OK for a reporter in a newspaper to say that Taiwan is independant. its not OK for the President of Taiwan to say Taiwan is independant.
the former is "reporting" while the latter is "provoking."
did i get that right? am i being provocative>
That kind of nonsense really makes me angry. I have left a comment on the Post's site:
"The Washington Post is an independent source of news and a forum for its readers. Sure you can enjoy your freedom of speech and send whatever you want to the Post, and everyone respects your right, at least in the US. Of course, I understand your difficulty that you are only allowed to publish this kind of propaganda against democracy and the self-determination of an independent country if you wish to live in China, but you need not publish it and help the Chinese government to belittle the value of liberty and democracy. I lament the virtue of the Post that is lost in the rise of another irresponsible player of world politics, and I wish one day the Post will find the way back to its past quality and let people express their own views instead of propaganda."
Amen.
That was an atrocious article. I can't fathom the decision-making process that led the WaPo to publish that. Not just because it reads as though it was written by a sixth grader, but because the all of the data was anecdotal "my friends say" crap. Who are your friends? How many do you have? Even if you have twenty Taiwanese friends, does their opinion give credence to your belief that Taiwan is not better off as a democracy? What social class, what background, what sort of education, etc. etc. do they have?
Hopefully you guys do go back to check that page. It has now become a forum that helps spreading hatred of Japan, China, Taiwan, and of the UN. I guess there are just too few educated participants on that commentary page.
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