Way too busy to blog, but some great stuff out there. Enjoy...
- This article which interviewed an obviously reflective and aware local African-American expat, a response to the recent incident of racism/xenophobia/trolling for $ on the metro, generated massive commentary on Facebook, most of it lacking the above two qualities.
- Saving Taiwan's Marine Corps
- Indian newspaper column on Taiwan's economic engagement with India
- Ralph Jennings on the recent Chinese interference with a beauty pageant. The Taiwan beauty queen wouldn't wear a "Chinese Taipei" sash. Apparently she's "anti-China" according to Jennings, not "pro-Taiwan" -- another stance the media can't seem to wrap its head around. Jennings also quotes rabidly
pro-Chinaanti-Taiwan former KMT legislator Joanna Lei without mentioning which team she bats for. As a local Taiwan expert pointed out, the young lady is quite mainstream here in Taiwan and has strong support, especially among the young. - Asia Pacific Memo on our water shortage problem
- A friend observes "MKT chairwoman and Soong running mate Hsu Hsin-ying's Zen Master, Miao Tian, was formerly a member of the ROC secret police. This week the MKT gave the #3 spot on its party list to Chen Yi-chiao, formerly Chen Hu-men, one of the secret police chiefs jailed for involvement in Liu's murder." http://www.storm.mg/article/74713
- Even ISIS can do good: it recognizes Taiwan as a country in its video threatening the world with retribution.
- Beitou, home of the Shaman.
- Eric Chu, with typical deft political sense, nominated for vice-president Jennifer Wang, who angered labor and was found to be living in government housing while speculating in the housing market.
- Latest poll from Liberty Times has KMT Presidential candidate Eric Chu at under 14%. Let's hope this affects the legislative polls.
- AmCham on the history controversy.
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3 comments:
"This article which interviewed an obviously reflective and aware local African-American expat..."
Hmm, obviously.
When I read the article the guy they interviewed didn't seem especially reflective and aware. "But, would it have been news if the victim had been any other color than white? Carlo JaMelle, an African-American who is enrolled on a PhD program studying classical Chinese literature at National Taiwan Normal University, doesn’t think so." Of course it would have been news. Would it have been as interesting news? No because everyone knows whites don't as much negative attention as blacks. It's not that no one would care if it were a black person, it's just that people wouldn't have been as surprised.
"How many white dominated countries can say they are less racist than Taiwan?" Most. White dominated countries pretty much invented the concept of racial equality because white countries have been the most racially mixed. To the extent that white countries continue to have racial problems it is largely a result of still being the most racially mixed. Living in America, I find that most of the racism I encounter in person comes from people who moved here from overseas and brought their racist attitudes with them. The racism I see in the news is usually people who try to go so far in fighting racism that they don't realize they've become racists themselves. The few traditionally racist incidents in the news are handled pretty severely (usually with overreaction that becomes racist in its severity).
And then there is this: "He says after 245 years of slavery and 100 years of Jim Crow, it didn’t get much better for black people." I'm not sure if he really said that or whether the journalist mis-paraphrased, but either way it is a ridiculous statement.
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