tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post116359791867958878..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: The Politics of PersonsMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-81326171359383089422007-03-18T02:02:00.000+08:002007-03-18T02:02:00.000+08:00"Anyone who does business with the Chinese (Taiwan..."Anyone who does business with the Chinese (Taiwan or mainland) knows........", It is a historical misunderstanding to call us Chinese because Taiwanese is not all Chinese. Most of our ancestors lived in Formosa 400 yeas ago, being called Ping-Pu. A little genes came from Chinese ancestors in Ming and Ching dynasty. We, native but not being classified as aborigines, are different from the mainlanders, 12% of population, who came with Chiang-Kai-Shek in 1949.tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12025398880707582509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1170021813810966112007-01-29T06:03:00.000+08:002007-01-29T06:03:00.000+08:00To discuss the foibles of Ma and Chen over these f...To discuss the foibles of Ma and Chen over these funds is to address the greater issue of transparency.<BR/><BR/>Anyone who does business with the Chinese (Taiwan or mainland) knows how far they will go to disassociate themselves financially in a deal.<BR/><BR/>Also in regard to any transactions you have to keep in mind that a decision may or may not be really that depending on whether it has passed muster with the family behind its maker.<BR/><BR/>Will we ever see good bookkeeping? More likely only if you get both sets.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1169425858798358222007-01-22T08:30:00.000+08:002007-01-22T08:30:00.000+08:00So this whole stink over Chen is just a case of th...So this whole stink over Chen is just a case of the pot calling the kettle black? <BR/><BR/><I>People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.</I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1163666451490943122006-11-16T16:40:00.000+08:002006-11-16T16:40:00.000+08:00Nice post Michael.Ma has spent the last few days i...Nice post Michael.<BR/><BR/>Ma has spent the last few days insisting that he is not Chen. It's funny because YES HE IS. He too has access to a fund that he basically has discretion to lawfully spend however he sees fit! They are both being ensnared by a contradictory charge that says though you can do whatever you want, you must use REAL RECEIPTS! Wow.<BR/><BR/>Institutionalized, systemized problems are always the ones overlooked. It's like the inherent unfairness in elections in Taiwan where the KMT has a huge money stash that is KMT property while the DPP has to go out and raise its own and still get totally outspent. Everyone's numb to it so a fake receipt is seen as a bigger deal than the fact that these unsupervised funds that basically allow a mayor like Ma to create a loyal, obsequious following through the doling out of public money to those under him even exist in the first place.<BR/><BR/>And Chen's fund is no better obviously--secret diplomacy sounds like the American CIA and we all know how great the CIA has been to Central and South America and elsewhere.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1163655746556851692006-11-16T13:42:00.000+08:002006-11-16T13:42:00.000+08:00Michael,Another accurate analysis. The more that c...Michael,<BR/>Another accurate analysis. The more that comes out about this issue the more I believe that this is all about 'creative accounting' in Taiwan. I'll give you one real life example. The Taiwan branch of our company (a NASDAQ listed company HQ'd in the US) provides a benefit for employees of about $1K per year for travel. All you need is receipts to show that you actually spent the money on travel and you will get reimbursed. A Taiwanese senior manager saw this as a good opportunity to buy a new high performance bike - but that's not exactly "travel". The solution? Simple, buy the bike and have the store manager make the receipt out for 'camping equipment'. Done deal. The interesting part is that most everybody in the company must have known this as he talked about it freely. But does it matter if people know? Not really. Think about it - the company has budgeted the money to give to people as a benefit. It only needs a receipt as a paper trail so it can then write off the expense at the end of the year. So, the fact that this receipt-based creative accounting is institutionalized in Taiwan comes as no surprise to me.......Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1163603215050719992006-11-15T23:06:00.000+08:002006-11-15T23:06:00.000+08:00It always amazes how so many of these officials re...It always amazes how so many of these officials resign in disgrace then get appointed to new positions of similar seniority a few months later.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com