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Friday, August 01, 2008

Stevan Harrell Interviewed in Blogging Beijing, and other tales

Dr. Stevan Harrell, longtime Taiwan and China scholar who used to live in Taiwan and has produced some wonderful work on it, was interviewed on his work in China and on the Beijing Olympics, on Blogging Beijing. A sample:
How were you drawn into studying minority people in southwest China?

After the Mosher affair , it was impossible for foreigners to do field research in Han areas. My student Dru Gladney had done research with Hui in various areas, and encouraged me to give minorities a try.

For readers who know little about Chinese minorities, what are three essential kernels of information?

1. There are as many minority people in China as there are people in Japan, and way more than there are in any one European country.
2. Not all Chinese minorities have active independence movements. In fact, only two of them do: Tibetans and Uighurs.
3. Minority people participate actively in incorporating themselves into the Chinese state, even when they have resentments against the state and against the Han.

What do the 2008 Games mean for China - Chinese people, Chinese government, Chinese minorities, and Chinese academics?

More than anything else, the Games are a chance to show the world that China is a grownup country. That's really about all.

I've long followed the issue of casinos here in Taiwan, partly because I suspect they will be involved in my PhD thesis. Taiwan Journal has a piece out on the Penghu's desire to get gambling:

Penghu has good reason to look for a financial boost from casinos as the gambling industry is expanding rapidly in Asia. According to a survey released by the American Gaming Association in June, gambling revenues in the region could surpass those generated in the United States by 2012.

Booming gambling meccas in Macau as well as new casinos in Singapore were expected to drive this growth, the AGA predicted. The association reported that U.S. casinos raked in US$34.1 billion in 2007, while Asia's casino gambling market was estimated to have made between US$15 billion and US$20 billion during the same period.

The industry's potential has reignited the debate on whether casinos should be legalized in Taiwan. With neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore either preparing to or having already lifted gambling bans, there is a growing sense that Taiwan should jump on the bandwagon before it is too late.

In order for that to happen, the Legislature would have to pass the so-called "casino article" in the Offshore Islands Development Act. Legislators have already rejected the article twice: in January 2002 by a 51-vote margin and in December last year, by 27 votes.

An aide to Lin Pin-kuan, a fourth-term independent legislator from Penghu County, suggested it might be a case of third time lucky. While the previous Democratic Progressive Party government was firmly opposed to gambling, the aide said the ruling Kuomintang's position on this issue had softened in recent years.

"Lawmakers have long blocked the article because many Taiwanese people consider gambling immoral, but the enormous successes of the casino industry in other Asian countries made for a powerful argument," said Lin's aide. "Taiwan has legalized lotteries. People should be able to discuss casinos more reasonably now," he added.

The water issue is a severe one, but a friend pointed out that casinos might actually be a benefit on that front, since the government might at last put in pipes to bring H2O over from Taiwan instead of straining the delicate local ecosystem.

++++++++

Lastly, the arms freeze. To complement the Senators who wrote to King George on the arms freeze, 25 members of the House Taiwan caucus have also sent a letter to the President asking about it. Below:

The Honorable George W. Bush July 31, 2008
President
The White House Washington , DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

For decades, the United States and Taiwan have maintained a mutually beneficial economic and political relationship. Taiwan is one of our strongest allies in the Asia Pacific region and we believe it is essential that there be a peaceful environment in the Taiwan Strait . The U.S. has a long history of making available to Taiwan defense articles and services that are essential in the goal of enabling Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.

In 2006, Taiwan ranked 5th among worldwide recipients of U.S. foreign military sales, receiving $970 million in defense articles and services. In December 2007, Taiwan approved their 2008 Defense budget which included a significant package of weapons to further its military modernization efforts. Among those requests were 12 P3-C planes and 3 PAC-II missile upgrades which you approved in April, 2001. Other requests that are still pending include 8 diesel submarines, 30 Apache helicopters, E-2 aircraft upgrades, sea-launched Harpoon 20 missiles, precision attack missiles and 66 F-16 fighter aircraft.

We welcome Taiwan 's request of support for its security and growth of its defense capabilities. Upon reception of Congressional Notifications, we look forward to the opportunity to work with the Administration in completing these sales as soon as possible. Recently, we have been aware of a possible freeze on all foreign military sales to Taiwan . We believe that a freeze on foreign military sales to Taiwan violates the spirit of the Taiwan Relations Act. We request a briefing on the status of these sales from all appropriate agencies, and urge the Administration to expeditiously execute consideration of these requests.

In March 2007, China announced that their 2007 defense budget would total $46 billion, although Secretary of Defense Gates estimated that China 's total defense spending for 2007 could be as high as $139 billion. The military and strategic imperatives for Taiwan are real and urgent, and if we fail to show the necessary resolve it would mean missing a significant opportunity to improve cross-strait peace and security - a vital U.S. interest.

We would like to echo your statement on March 22 regarding Taiwan 's recent election, stating that you are "confident that the election and the democratic process it represents will advance Taiwan as a prosperous, secure and well-governed society." We understand our administration' s "One China" policy and all agree that a strong, defendable Taiwan is in our nation's best interests.

In our view, a secure and prosperous Taiwan requires the means to provide for its own self defense and the ability to engage its neighbors without fear of military intimidation. Taiwan 's ability to maintain its defense rests heavily upon its ability to acquire defense articles that are capable of deterring aggressive neighbors. As your statement also points out, Taiwan has a right to be "secure," and that can only be guaranteed by an unambiguous and non-negotiable commitment from the United States to provide Taiwan with weapons systems consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act.

Sincerely,

SHELLEY BERKLEY D-NV STEVE CHABOT R-OH GENE GREEN D-TX VIRGINIA FOXX R-NC ELLIOT ENGEL D-NY 05 THADDEUS MCCOTTER R-MI MICHAEL MCNULTY D-NY TOM TANCREDO R-CO MAURICE HINCHEY D-NY DAN BURTON R-IN ROBERT ANDREWS D-NJ MARK SOUDER R-IN SHEILA JACKSON-LEE D-TX ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN R-FL BARNEY FRANK D-MA 15 DOUG LAMBORN R-CO STEVE ROTHMAN D-NJ JOHN CULBERSON R-TX G.K. BUTTERFIELD D-NC JOE BARTON R-TX 20 DONNA CHRISTENSEN D-VI SCOTT GARRETT R-NJ DAVID WU D-OR
GUS BILIRAKIS R-FL DENNIS CARDOZA D-CA 25

The Taipei Times had several pieces on the arms issue today. Dennis Wilder of the US NSC says there's no arms freeze. Legislators say there is no realistic possibility of arms sales this year. J Michael Cole says that US arms freeze is example of US hegemony at work.

19 comments:

  1. --way more than there are in any one European country.--

    I swear, one day i will by a ticket, travel to his home and kick a whole stupidity out of this guy!

    1: you should never compare China with one European country. because Peoples republic of China is a same big like WHOLE EUROPEAN CONTINENT.
    2: Russian Federation is a european country and Russian Federation has MUCH more minorities.

    ONE DAY! I SAY YOU, ONE DAY!!

    seriously guys. such talking just show a bad education and knowledge of ethnology and geography and makes your message looking like a lie.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Re: Casinos, this sentence stood out in the Taiwan Journal article:

    "...There is really not another minute to lose. The industry could have generated more than 20,000 job opportunities in Penghu"

    I have to ask, is he and anyone else not paying attention to what the hell is going on in the US financial sector? The US banking industry, FED and GSE's are in crisis mode. Things are going to get much worse very quickly, perhaps even a bond market crash because the world has lost faith in the value of the US$. Now is the time for extreme caution on any .gov or private sector investment, imho.

    As a casino example, look at the City Center being built in Vegas now that can't get funding to finish the project. (owned by the Arabs ~ DubaiWorld) This is an $11B dollar investment on the Strip that is turning into a white elephant.

    BTW, for most of the jobs created, the pay will be menial. It's easy to create 20K+ jobs in Taiwan, just don't import foreign guest workers. I know many Taiwanese think its beneath their social status to work in a factory or be a care giver, but Taiwan could create something like a JobCorps and give these types of jobs more status + social bonuses. (example no income tax or maybe high interest for savings accounts) Plus you get discounts coupons to many things in Taiwan such a movies, parking fees, car scooter loans, etc. Just an idea..

    Casinos are not the answer. They are a sieve for Taiwanese to lose their savings to int'l investors and a washing machine for the KMT to launder their dirty $.

    ReplyDelete
  3. er, anon, i think you missed the point - which was one province of China has more people than any one country of the EU.

    Btw, Russia is not a EU country. Even if it was, there are only 142M people in all of Russia.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Funny, I would have said that the arms freeze is an example of "US stupidity at work.

    A mysterious article in the SCMP today quoted "Asia experts" in the US as saying that the next US president must pay more attention to Asia than the current one. (No Shit)

    Why don't we say that the arms freeze is an example of declining US hegemony at work?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think the point was that there are a lot of minorities in China, anon. It was not a way of equating China with a European country. And Russia is kind of an oddball. It is so large that it is Asia one day and Europe the next, depending on the article it appears in. I wouldn't read too much into these examples. They simply say: China has more minorities than most countries do.

    The register seems to be one on the level of the average, passively interested reader. I don't think his light comparisons are meant to be examples of serious ethongraphy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What are your thoughts about the casinos anyway?

    My thought is that if I have to get on a plane to go gambling, I'd might as well go to Macau. If they opened up casinos somewhere relatively convenient to get to, I'd give them a try.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Regarding arm freeze:

    I PRAY U.S. will freeze selling weapons to Taiwan. For too long, U.S. has treated Taiwan like its guard dog, but what kind of master makes its guard dog pay way above market price for the arms to guard its door. It defies common sense to see a group of people, Taiwanese, being treated like this and yet to beg for more!!

    I will only believe U.S. sincerely wants to help Taiwan when it helps Taiwan like it does to Israel. Look at the amount of aid U.S. gives to Israel a year PLUS the most advanced weapons that the Jewish state gets. Not to mention the amount of money that U.S. has wasted in the war against Iraq- ye.. thanks to the Neocons. No wonder the rest of the world feels that U.S. acts more like a Jewish state than an American state.
    http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/cost_of_israel.html

    M.T.- 98% Taiwanese are Chinese and only foreigners and stupid Taiwanese will want to become independent from China. If independence didn't happen during Chen's 8 year rule, it's NOT going to happen. U.S. is NOT going to help Taiwan become independent, period. So stop writing all this crap about Taiwan is a country, needs arms to defend itself. U.S. will only use Taiwan until the day Taiwan becomes useless to its strategic position. It's about time that Taiwan does what is good for Taiwan: save all the money it can find, stop paying so much for 破銅爛鐵 from U.S. Unification with China or not is something we should deal with later when both sides are ready. It is NONE of your business as an American 在這裡說三道四的.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Personally I think they should open the casinos at Sun Moon Lake, which does not suffer from water problems, and which is the dullest tourist site in Taiwan, and which has plenty of aborigines living off the tourist trade, and which is now getting 4 lane highway access from a spur hwy. It's all there. Opening them in Penghu is not a good option, in my view. You have to fly, there is no water, the ocean resources are fragile, etc.

    Michael

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  9. It is NONE of your business as an American 在這裡說三道四的.

    Wow! Anonymous insults! You da man!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's the anon troll I was taking about!

    Anotroll,

    You really need to do two things:

    1) Read.
    You like to make all kinds of assertions, but you fail to back them up with any references or sources... and I don't think you can. I have no idea where you get your info...and I don't think you do either.

    2) Start You Own Blog.
    Don't come after Michael for what he writes. He does such a wonderful job presenting information and informing us where he gets it... and often includes the criteria he uses to arrive at a point of view statement. If you can do a better job... well...

    ReplyDelete
  11. er, anon, i think you missed the point - which was one province of China has more people than any one country of the EU.

    Btw, Russia is not a EU country. Even if it was, there are only 142M people in all of Russia
    ---------------------------------
    yep.. another dude who missed the point and education.. My tip fpr you; make homework before you are going to talk about.

    1: EU is not EUROPEAN CONTINENT.

    2: The most populated administrative region: Henan Province (92.56 million)

    http://www.sites.si.edu/press/Chinese%20cities,%20chinese%20province.htm

    ------------------------------

    -It was not a way of equating China with a European country.-

    BINGO! thats exactly my point!

    -It is so large that it is Asia one day and Europe the next, depending on the article it appears in.--

    Sorry but because Moscow is in Europe Russian Federation (Russia is only a Part of it) count as european country.
    (not EU but european)

    --They simply say: China has more minorities than most countries do.--

    (The Russian Federation has 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples)

    so noooope..

    First of all China is only a part of Peoples Republic of China.

    Second China itself has officialy only 56 minorities. so does PRC.

    (dont blame me, blame chinese idiots who counted nations and nationalities instead of ethnics and ethnical groups.)

    ps.. here are 3 different anons. wich should leave this blog again?
    psps. Michael, i like your blog please dont kill it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. "what kind of master makes its guard dog pay way above market price for the arms to guard its door...Taiwan is a country, needs arms to defend itself. "

    So you pray the US will stop selling the arms because it is taking advantage of poor Taiwanese, yet admit that the arms are needed for Taiwan's defence. Interesting.

    "98% Taiwanese are Chinese and only foreigners and stupid Taiwanese will want to become independent from China. "

    Odd that you can identify the identity of people across the board like that. Tell me, are you a Belle Epoque ethnographer?

    Even assuming you were right, how would that preclude an independent Taiwan or ROC? North Koreans are Koreans, but they are not South Koreans.

    "It is NONE of your business as an American".

    Actually, why should you care? If things are as you say they are, then the foreigner/s you are talking to must be just windbags. As Obi Wan says with a wave of the hand, "You can go about your business."

    ReplyDelete
  13. "So you pray the US will stop selling the arms because it is taking advantage of poor Taiwanese, yet admit that the arms are needed for Taiwan's defence. Interesting."

    I am laughing out loud hard now, just from reading your counter comment. This goes to show how little you know about how U.S. treats Taiwan and not really looking after Taiwanese interest. U.S. doesn't want to stop selling crappy 破銅爛鐵 to Taiwan at high price. The current "freeze" is a poly to force Taiwan to accept the above market price for more 破銅爛鐵. Luckily for the Taiwanese tax payers, KMT and DPP are busy with the power struggle, so KMT has learned to say NO for now until U.S. agrees to sell Taiwan the kinds of weapons that Taiwan wants and needs at a reasonable or market price, NOT the kind of 破銅爛鐵 that U.S. has forced Taiwan to swallow for so long. American arms dealers have not stop pushing its government to sell Taiwan 破銅爛鐵, either. I bet you the senators who wrote the letter to urge the lifting of freeze are really lobbying for the arms dealers and the weapon manufacturers.

    If you and Mr. M.T. really cares that much about Taiwan's interest, go write letters to YOUR American president and congressmen to stop this madness of forcing Taiwan to buy outdated weapons at 3, 4 or 5 times the market price. If U.S. does decide to sell Taiwanese the advanced weapons, don't forget to include the training, or the Taiwanese strawberry army is stuck with the weapons that no one really knows how to use or maintain.

    "Even assuming you were right, how would that preclude an independent Taiwan or ROC? North Koreans are Koreans, but they are not South Koreans."

    哈哈哈... I dare to ask you if you even know "what" the price of declaring independence would be to Taiwan? If it's war, do you seriously think that the Taiwanese strawberry army has the resolve to "defend" Taiwan to death? Based on my observation, the answer is "NO".
    1) Parents are already planning on how to game the system so that their sons won't need to serve the army in 2012 before the current proposed all-voluntary army to start in 2013.
    2) Have you seen the recent complaint from people about the nighttime military drill? Why the complaint?
    http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2008/08/01/2003419136
    People don't want to turn off their freaking lights for 30 minutes!! Don't tell me that this is a group of people ready to fight to the last man standing until 'independence' is achieved if they can’t bare a 30-minutes light out drill.

    Gone is the generation of KMT solders who came with Chiang who did fight to death in the 金門823炮戰. DPP complains and bitches about KMT, 228, CKS all the time. However, without KMT that Mr. M.T. also bitches about so often, Taiwan is already part of China today. Where will these DPP clowns be today with the Communist party? Chen and his clowns are where they are because of KMT and the old solders who fought to death in 金門 823炮戰 to hold the Communists back. Ok.. if a war does break out, maybe you and Mr. M.T. will sign up with the Taiwanese army to defend Taiwan and you will be the last two men standing against the Chinese army. Or more likely, you will be standing on AIT's roof top waiting to be airlifted out of Taiwan.哈哈哈....

    I decided to post in M.T.'s blog, because his view is so often one sided and biased against KMT. Perhaps KMT was bad, was evil, but they saved Taiwan from Communist rule during the worst of times in Mainland China and it did contribute to Taiwan’s economic development and it did pave the way for the current “democracy”. Taiwanese were spared of the culture revolution, the poverty because of Mao’s craziness. Foreginers like you and M.T. romanticize the "independence" dream for Taiwanese. It's a pipe dream at this point, just go listen to your own president talk about how the "status quo" should be maintained.

    DPP was in power for EIGHT long years, and what have they done for "independence"? If Chen had the guts and "LP", they should have declared independence and let the chips fall where they may. DPP didn't decalre independence, because indepence is more a politcal tool that helps them hold on to their base at a huge cost to Taiwan's economic adevelopment, racial identity and unity.

    I think George Bush is not a smart guy, but the idea of maintaining "status quo" between China and Taiwan sounds like the most sensible thing he has said in a long time. If only he would sell Taiwan the most advacned weapons at the price that U.S. sells the Israel, then I would have even more respect for him. I guess we can all dream until the cows come home. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. The guys a clueless fuck....

    ,DPP was in power for EIGHT long years, and what have they done for "independence"? If Chen had the guts and "LP", they should have declared independence and let the chips fall where they may. DPP didn't decalre independence, because indepence is more a politcal tool that helps them hold on to their base at a huge cost to Taiwan's economic adevelopment, racial identity and unity.

    ...not much you can say to someone as dumb as this. Chen didn't have the power to do that, or, since the legislature and military were controlled by the KMT, the position.

    U.S. doesn't want to stop selling crappy 破銅爛鐵 to Taiwan at high price.

    Examples, please, of specific systems sold in last twenty years, that fit this description.

    Or someone who simply mindlessly regurgitates propaganda...

    Perhaps KMT was bad, was evil, but they saved Taiwan from Communist rule during the worst of times in Mainland China and it did contribute to Taiwan’s economic development and it did pave the way for the current “democracy”.

    The KMT did not "save" Taiwan. Rather, by foreclosing other forms of status for the island (decolonized territory, trust territory, independent state etc) that offered eventual independence for the island, it created the Chinese threat to Taiwan. Without the KMT Taiwan would have been independent a long time ago.

    Some people can think for themselves. Others, well, they spew what other people have thought for them. Sad.

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  15. yep.. another dude who missed the point and education.. My tip fpr you; make homework before you are going to talk about.


    WTF?
    Time to break out the clue-by-four.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anybody else notice that the Democrats outnumber the Republicans in that list of signatories to that letter to Bush?

    And here's a bonus: "A chorus of trolls."

    Tim Maddog

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  17. Anon, I have noticed that you still have not answered my question: "Even assuming you were right, how would that preclude an independent Taiwan or ROC?"

    "The current "freeze" is a poly to force Taiwan to accept the above market price for more."

    This makes no sense. The freeze is primarily on weapons systems for which the price has been quoted and funding has been approved. The negotiation phase of purchasing process has passed. So how can this be a ploy to get Taiwan to pay a higher price?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Yeah, that sounds like a better way to go than Penghu, Michael.

    ReplyDelete

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