Deputy MAC minister Chang is out this week:
The Presidential Office confirmed yesterday that the president received a letter from former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) defending himself against an accusation that he had leaked national secrets, before Chang issued a statement on Sunday last week that suggested he had been forced to resign.The removal caused the People's First Party (PFP), little more than the faction of former KMT heavyweight and former important politician James Soong, to make furious noises, since Chang was a PFPer. The local media is claiming that he was actually forced out is not spying but because he is a Soong man and not a Ma man, and he was removed at the behest of King Pu-tsun, Ma's "Little Dagger" and the man to whom such moves are always attributed. It seems there is always someone accused of playing Rasputin to Ma's Tsar Nicholas. Yet another example of the way underlings are said to convey the real message while the Big Man remains aloof and exudes beneficence, to deflect criticism from the Big Man (in many cases the wife often fills this role of criticism magnet -- "Oh, X did all those negative things because he was misled by his scheming wife...)?
Two Mormon missionaries were found dead in a local apartment. Word has it that they had a water heater indoors which killed them via carbon monoxide poisoning. This type of tragedy happens with depressing frequently. Please make sure your house is ventilated -- remember that concrete houses don't "breathe" like wooden houses.
Bad news: the KMT government is considering putting the banking sector outside the agreements and moving on it before any other cross-strait agreements with China are signed. Argh. How much public oversight do you think that will have?
________________
Daily Links:
- Jerome Cohen on Cross Strait Relations and Human Rights
- Taiwan is #3 machine tool supplier
- I am sure you are as amazed as I am to learn that the corporate world has shown little interest in meeting wage hike.
- Concerns grow about eroding competitiveness. What? You mean increased tourism from China and selling out Taiwan to China via ECFA didn't solve our problems? Who could have predicted that?
- Ma asks Japan to review the tourist imbalance between Japan and Taiwan. Please stand by while I attempt to tamp down another sarcastic comment.
- Awright! Tsai to make government competence an issue. The use of the word "incompetent" will naturally like the KMT with Ma, that being a common epithet to describe our President. I've noticed on my jaunts around Taiwan this month that the President AND KMT party chairman is persona non grata on signs around the island.
_______________________
[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!
Geitas? I approve. Best foot-gear to hit the streets of mushy Taihoku.
ReplyDeleteBack in spring, I advised the youth holed-up in the LY to get their geitas on for a raucous "sawagi" on Ketagalan.
On Ketagalan they went. But they only held sunflowers. Which, in a sense, I interpreted as a pregnant gesture.
At dawn, all sunflowers always face the rising sun, right?
Re: Ma asks Japan to review the tourist imbalance between Japan and Taiwan
ReplyDeleteDuring the CSB years, the number of Japanese tourists in Taiwan was recorded at an average of 300.000 visitors yearly.
That data was the basis for Ma's claim that his administration would bring the number of Chinese tourists to Taiwan to same level.
Presently Taiwan has a surfeit of raucous, uncouth Chinese tourists who keep the Japanese away.
Oh well, the Taiwanese tourism industry sounds definitely like it is in a China mood. As reported by Japanese tourists, "we are all Chinese now," tour guides were overheard blaring.
Yep, Chuuka Taihoku is in. So, why bother?
Here is an interesting image for your next article on conflict in Taiwan.
ReplyDeleteIt happens everywhere. If the destination was popular with Japanese, it will become unattractive to them once the Chinese start showing up in numbers. I cannot imagine the Ma government would not have realized this would happen. The number of Japanese tourists could only fall once the number of Chinese started to rise. It's pretty disingenuous to shoo your guest out the door and then ask why he's leaving.
ReplyDelete