Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Kenya Mess: What's the next step?

Mountain roads of Taiwan. 

Nobody does irony like the KMT. Yesterday KMT legislators warned that....
“We must not let Taiwan descend into a haven for fraudsters, nor see it become a major export of swindlers to the world,” she said.

“The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the New Power Party have been shouting empty slogans about human rights and jurisdiction, but in the end, it is our society that pays a huge price,” she said.
Yes, we must not let Taiwan become a haven for fraudsters, like it was for those guys connected to the old Green Gang in 1949. As a friend noted, it's a pity that the KMT didn't control the legislature for the last sixty years, so they could do nothing about Taiwan being a haven for scammers...

With Malaysia preparing to hand over the remaining 32 suspects after arrangements are made (like evidence, I hope), it is important to ask what needs to be done. In addition to cleaning up the judicial system (haha) and changing some of the laws, my man DK suggested that President Tsai Ing-wen should probably think about some political and propagada ju-jitsu. Put China on the defensive by offering increased cooperation in crime and emphasizing this as a non-political area of cross-strait relations. This would help disarm the attacks from commentators and the media that the DPP is anti-China. It would also limit robust cross-strait cooperation to definable and controllable areas. When China balks, Tsai can then criticize China when they start yak-yakking about the faux "1992 Consensus" being the basis for cross-strait cooperation even in crime -- "What? You place the 1992C ahead of the security of your people?"

UPDATE: Last week another batch of Taiwanese arrested in Kenya doing the same place in the district of Nairobi. By the time all the processes are finished, MOFA will be Tsai Ing-wen's MOFA. Let's see what happens....
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Daily Links:
  • MUST READ: The DPP's cross-strait oversight bill is a problem. Already it has stirred up the napping student movement by adopting the KMT legislative style and language. Further, Tsai's cabinet is full of technocrats often with Blue backgrounds. It would have been great if she had been more people-oriented. Don't be surprised when the student movement finally opens its guns on the DPP...
  • Solidarity: Taiwan reps forced out of int'l steel meeting by PRC, Belgian reps. Since China is major steel dumping nation, and Taiwan reps were always welcomed by China before, this may have been China's way of stalling the meeting and preventing it from reaching agreement, as the media announced today. Cole argues it is China turning the screws on Taiwan.
  • Obvious pro-China commentary on incoming Tsai Ing-wen administration. But it does have one interesting observation: China will be watching education system decisions to determine stance of Tsai Administration. Tsai is being urged to delineate her curriculum changes even as the pro-KMT curriculum issue simmers.
  • Pro-PRC commentator at The Diplomat also says that deportations from Kenya not about sovereignty, places them in context of China's ongoing campaign against scammers in the region, just as I said. Fortunately the nationalist frenzy is receding as some realize Taiwan is not exactly blameless, while others work to slot this into the conventional Blue-Green framework of Taiwan politics. *Sigh*
  • Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je accuses President Ma of protecting Farglory behind the scenes.
  • NOT TAIWAN: just discovered Einojuhani Rautavaara today. I love Youtube. Without it, I'd never know Raff, Wetz, Sgiambotti, or Melartin, or a hundred others. 
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lin Chuan's cabinet is the suicide squad and pathfinder. Its duty is to ensure smooth transition and find out a possible way forward. It's function is to draw the enemy fire so the follow up cabinet is better position to handle the situation.

China and US has not shown their hand yet, Lin Chuan's cabinet needs to find out.

anonymous turton reader said...

Yes, we must not let Taiwan become a haven for fraudsters,...

I agree but why has Taiwan been qualified to become a haven for fraudsters?

As long as China safe-havens 9/10 Taiwanese criminals and the US wings the remaining 1 under, Taiwan will remain such a haven.

Matt Stone said...

Interesting, I'd never even heard of Rautavaara.

Seems worth a listen...bleakly Nordic.

Quite a few of his works are also available for streaming on Spotify.

Anonymous said...

Taiwan Justice Department official had called their counter part in China to grab "criminals" before they were been shipped back to Taiwan. They have done it behind the back of other government agency.

This is very scary. Justice department has no right to do this unless it has been codify by a treaty or agreement.

if they do this for "common" criminal, they can do this for other type of people.

Anonymous said...

New Power Party Chairman's position on international fraudster mess:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJtHQZlfiBg&feature=youtu.be