Links and Links

A pony attracts attention on a road in Taichung.

• Awesome: longtime American Taiwan policy analyst says 1C2S is inappropriate for Taiwan
• CPI blog by Ben Goren and Li Ying-ysuan: Lien campaign, a tragedy.
• Ian Rowen from Hong Kong: In search of Sunflower Seeds in Hong Kong
• J Michael Cole: Why it's so hard to be neutral in the Taipei election. Because the Lien campaign is like the Plan 9 from Outer Space of political campaigns.
• Frozen Garlic on the evolution of the political map and money forces in local politics.
• CPI blog: Shelly Rigger argues the election is not a referendum on the KMT
• China's most feared foreign forces: Taiwan
• Global Voices: Young independent candidates in Taiwan's elections
• KMT's Sean Lien team leader Alex Tsai files suit against Ko's wiretapping claims. This is why you don't mention that kind of stuff even if it is true. Ko has no evidence implicating the Lien campaign. 
• Amazingly, right on the eve of the local elections, government announces unemployment is at a seven year low.
• Water efficiency improvements desperately needed -- next year big water shortages.
• Amazingly, after opening the big opera house right on the eve of the local elections, Jason Hu announces it won't actually open til next year. (no link)
• The 1% supports the KMT as financial pundits come out in support of Sean Lien
• Candidate drives car into city hall.
• Why O why can't we have a better media? Take 1: Jesse Kline, ace reporter for the National Post somewhere in Canada, avalanches KMT propaganda in the form of a report on the election. His trip was paid for by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here, which, it claims, had no editorial control. Their editorial control was not necessary, Jesse, you forwarded everything they wanted you to forward,  with no need from them to intervene in the writing. Great move. Next time just copy from the KMT party website and save us taxpayers the money. 
• Why O why can't we have a better media? Take 2: AFP says Ko is the candidate from the DPP (lol).
• The commentaries from the business community are fascinating. Not one ever takes a moment to look at the substance of the pacts with China and see whether they are in fact any good. Fail. 
• China-Taiwan to scrap over Dominican Republic?
• Taiwan dodges renewables responsibility thanks to diplomatic issues -- some good coverage of renewables/energy efficiency in Taiwan 
• Foreign Policy: the US and China are preparing for war

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