Some links. J Michael's piece at the top is a must-read.
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Daily Links:
- J Michael with an excellent piece on how the government is tormenting young activists using the legal system. Two points should be made: (1) the young activists are choosing causes which have no obvious Blue-Green split in them to create solidarity and avoid the Blue-Green divide and (2) the government has long hinted it would do this in its constant admiration for Singapore. Ma said six years ago: "Singapore is different from us (Taiwan) as its emphasis is not on democratization. Nevertheless, it is professional, corruption-free and efficient, which is worth our learning...The Singapore Government is very efficient. They can reach consensus easily and there is no squabbling or fighting." (heh) The government has apparently been doing this for quite some time in its prosecutions of DPP politicians, but since the attacks are on political entities such as talk shows or politicians, criticism has been dismissed as politically motivated complaints. The social activists are showing that in fact these complaints are quite valid. The international media will remain silent, of course.
- Haha: Transparency International to run new survey on corruption in Taiwan
- NYTimes: Taiwan debates medical parole for Chen
- Taoyuan Prosecutors office probes missing video in Hung case
- The White Wolf's political ambitions
- HSR tix price rise likely in the offing; fuel prices rise.
- Three mayors Chu, Hu, and Hau likely to become Vice-Chairs of KMT
- Taiwan tech firms remain afloat thanks to currency markets
- Taipei waits on Manila for report on fisherman's death; 88,000 Pinoys head home after their contracts expire: Ralph J in Forbes.
- MKL on the Taiwanese singer who incorrectly represented Taiwan in China
- Poagao: the city of Taipei and its rivers
- With global food demand set to rise 40% over the next twenty years, technology may be the only answer: Project Syndicate
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!
10 comments:
Cole's piece drips with the author's bias and is just painful to read. Persisting with the Chinese Nationalist Party meme that the Taipei Times loves but nobody else uses (if you do a news search, it's only the Times that uses such language), just makes it more ridiculous. Sentences such as "the stereotype with which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have become comfortable over the years. " would, to the casual reader, make it look like he's talking about China not Taiwan. Unless one is very familiar with the poor quality of English news in this country, there's nothing in that that shows he's talking about a democratically elected party in Taiwan, and an unelected party in another country. It's no wonder that the best he can do is write for the Taipei Times and the occasional opinion piece for the Murdoch press - he'd be a perfect fit over at Fox.
T.
Found on Yahoo! a man from TI Taiwan chapter said to BBC there will be no new survey on corruption in Taiwan:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/trad/china/2013/07/130723_taiwan_transparency.shtml
And you post a link to Taipei Time, which posted a report stating TI is going to do a new survey?
T,
Not to state the obvious, but I hardly think the Cole should be criticized for your lack of reading comprehension. Any normal reader should be able to discern the difference between the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party. Here's a tip if it has "Communist" the titled it is referring to the People's Republic of China.
Also, 國民黨(KMT) is translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party so no the Taipei Times are not the only ones using that title. As for your cheap shot at Fox News, judging by the two above examples of your misplaced criticism, it is painfully obvious that you should be the last one critiquing the content of an editorial or even "the poor quality of English news" in Taiwan.
wasabi, do a news search for the phrase "Chinese Nationalist Party". With the exception of 2 articles talking about the 1930's in China, and the Chinese civil war in the 40's, every reference to it on the first three pages of Google News search is from the Taipei Times. Every one. No other news organization is using it in anything other than historical reporting.
As for the "lack of reading comprehension" as you so nicely put it, I know what he means because I'm familiar with the Taipei Times language. To someone in the US or UK or anyone else who isn't, and who doesn't have a working knowledge of Taiwan-China relations, it looks like he's talking about two parties in China.
T.
T:
"No other news organization is using it in anything other than historical reporting."
have you tried searching in Chinese?
@T
"Sentences such as "the stereotype with which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have become comfortable over the years. " would, to the casual reader, make it look like he's talking about China not Taiwan."
The Chinese Nationalist Party appears at several, possibly dozens of reference sites. You are complaining about a lack of wheelchairs for ignoramuses on an intellectual B-road.
Meanwhile, it seems Transparency International have published a rebuttal of claims against their 36% result for Taiwanese corruption - but in a musical form: "I Know This Much Is True..." It's full of great little lines like "Why do I find it hard to pay the next bribe?"
Mike Fagen and anonymous,
I'm specifically referring to news reporting in English.
Everyone knows KMT. Using that in a report is simple, and explains who the players are. It's completely unnecessary to add Chinese Nationalist Party because it goes no further to increasing one's understanding of events, and may even confuse things for casual readers. It's just an awkward way of phrasing that is only done to push an agenda and reflect a bias.
@Anonymous
You say your concern is for readers who aren't as informed as you, and then you suggest using only "KMT". I can tell you that an awful lot of English readers have no idea what "KMT" means! However there are quite a few, particular in the older generation, familiar with the term Chinese Nationalist due to either having studied history or perhaps even remembering it. During the Chinese Civil War, and during the occupation of Taiwan, "Chinese Nationalist" is what English speakers heard, not "Kuomingtang" and not "KMT".
Readin - I made mention of historical reporting as being a time when it was used, ie chinese civil war (my comment 7/24 8.50am)
T.
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