tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post5810457315517471037..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: Why Hsieh Will WinMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-35363956117821395232008-08-08T01:40:00.000+08:002008-08-08T01:40:00.000+08:00No matter what the result came out with last presi...No matter what the result came out with last presidential election. Hsieh had won not only my heart and my mind, but also the supporters of Taiwan.Usherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17128988552816795691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-5297848754975987132008-06-02T10:47:00.000+08:002008-06-02T10:47:00.000+08:00Wow! Ma didn't pass his BAR?!? That's news to me...Wow! Ma didn't pass his BAR?!? That's news to me! Are you sure?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-76783323903680570342008-03-21T07:23:00.000+08:002008-03-21T07:23:00.000+08:00Above Anonymous comments obviously are from a PRO-...Above Anonymous comments obviously are from a PRO-BLUE nuts. Have you got any proof that the shooting was fake. If not, stop speculating rumors. <BR/><BR/>Michael, this is a very nice well-written article. I am very surprised you could see and understand all these while some Taiwanese are just blindly believing that Mr. Ma is great. If he can't manage a city, how can he manage a country? Moreover, he has no guts. I strongly believe that people without guts can not be leaders.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-84093515973697684862008-03-20T15:44:00.000+08:002008-03-20T15:44:00.000+08:00You mentioned Chen's successful win in the preside...You mentioned Chen's successful win in the presidential election. What a joke. Anyone remember the fake shooting that they pulled to sway the voters? Talk about dirty politics. Don't even try to deny it was a fake shooting.<BR/><BR/>If the DPP party really want Taiwan to succeed, they would use the nationality issue to try to convice the voters "Vote for Green because your a native Taiwanese." What a crock.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-25901819631491955302008-03-20T15:31:00.000+08:002008-03-20T15:31:00.000+08:00What a bunch of crap this blog is. This guy obviou...What a bunch of crap this blog is. This guy obviously has been teaching English in Taiwan for a few years, made a few pro-green friends (in pro-green country- Taichung) and thinks he's got the full understanding of Taiwan politics. Typical Gui Lo. First of all, all politics is driven by money. And to say that the economy is doing well under the DPP regime is a farce. You've mentioned that the stock market is at its 7 year high. Hello, Genius...most stock markets have grown in the past 7 yrs! And you've made mention of the terrible job that past president Lee of the blue party has done for Taiwan (which I agree with)...But if you were to do some research, you've find that he is a traitorous fool that caused the Blue party debacle and went over to help the Green Party; btw he is now abandoned by his Green colleagues. <BR/>Understand this, it is because of the DPP and their outspoken desires to be independent from China that has helped weakened the Taiwan economy. Don't think so? Then why did the voters sided with the Blue party at this year's elections? Just as the people around, they say down with President Chen. This is what happens when you let a blue collar president run the show. He has no business or the intelligence to run the Country. What pisses me off is this guy’s disrespect for history and legacy. Changing the name to a national memorial is something that an uneducated group of people would do. Has anyone changed any government building in the United States that is named Robert E Lee of the confederate army? No, because its history. You also mentioned pillaging of Taiwan. Hello, Taiwan was a part of the Japan during WWII. Do you know how much pillaging the Japanese did in China and its neighboring countries? Don't even get me started about Taiwan and independence. I'm tired and don't even know why I bothered with this biased blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-51744307186115552332008-01-31T07:53:00.000+08:002008-01-31T07:53:00.000+08:00By this article alone, I know the author of this a...<B>By this article alone, I know the author of this article has no friggin clue what he is talking about. The economy is in deep recession, the job market is absolutely horrid with businesses folding left and right, the relationship with China is worse than ever. If the author of this article were from Taiwan or have lived there in the past few years and actually knew what the reality there is, he would not write such nonsense.</B><BR/><BR/>LOL. I've lived here for many years. The reality is that at present economic growth is 5.46% (not recession), trade with China is booming, unemployment is less than 4% (not horrid). When I wrote that, the stock market was at a high. Not all the news is good, of course. Business closings are at a high right now. But on the whole, your claims are merely a farrago of KMT talking points. It would be nice if people who commented on the economy actually took the time to study it, instead of simply acting like robots who believed whatever they are told.<BR/><BR/>People believe the economy is bad because incomes are stagnant, not because it is in recession (there hasn't been a recession in seven years). Incomes are stagnant for many complex reasons.<BR/><BR/>MichaelMichael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-10143506466675811652008-01-31T03:24:00.000+08:002008-01-31T03:24:00.000+08:00"Economy -- Oh yeah. It's rolling right now. Stock..."Economy -- Oh yeah. It's rolling right now. Stock market at 7 year highs. Unemployment falling gently over the long term. Exports at record levels and likely to continue as the China market continues to boom."<BR/><BR/>By this article alone, I know the author of this article has no friggin clue what he is talking about. The economy is in deep recession, the job market is absolutely horrid with businesses folding left and right, the relationship with China is worse than ever. If the author of this article were from Taiwan or have lived there in the past few years and actually knew what the reality there is, he would not write such nonsense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-27323590609651497162007-11-13T00:38:00.000+08:002007-11-13T00:38:00.000+08:00Anonymous, you misunderstand what real GDP means. ...Anonymous, you misunderstand what real GDP means. That makes it doubly disturbing that you want to censor blogs from saying things you don't want to hear.<BR/><BR/>The fact that <A HREF="http://toshuo.com/2007/economy-taiwan-vs-korea-2000-2006/" REL="nofollow">Korea's real GDP has passed Taiwan's</A> means that Korea is now ahead <I>in actual international buying power</I>. Simply "jacking the shit out of inflation", as you put it, wouldn't help the real GDP or PPP-adjusted GDP.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09652288045145591799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-75366777224340508812007-09-29T18:54:00.000+08:002007-09-29T18:54:00.000+08:00花枝:That you consider not caring about politics and...花枝:<BR/>That you consider not caring about politics and just giving up is exactly why no one cares about your so-called "centrist" opinions. (The harshness is only due to my honesty).<BR/><BR/>There are a lot of opinions about the economy in the Taiwanese media, but you're really going to have to look at the numbers yourself if you want any truth. The Korea garbage shouldn't be allowed to make its way to the English blog world--Korea's per-capita GDP in dollar terms is higher, but in <B>real</B> terms, i.e., how high is your salary when we consider what you can buy with it, Taiwan's per-capita GDP is higher. Think about it like this--if you just want nice numbers, jack the shit out of inflation, and there, everyone has huge salaries, and can... buy the same shit with that salary.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-23665135435013558992007-09-29T04:51:00.000+08:002007-09-29T04:51:00.000+08:00Michael said:"Is the smart money betting on the DP...Michael said:<BR/><B><I>"Is the smart money betting on the DPP? Hard to say, but I'm inclined to think so.</I></B><BR/><BR/>That's a <B>very</B> interesting question. Is there a Taiwanese equivalent of something like Intrade? I've been a close follower of futures on various politicians in the US, and I'd love to get in on the action here. If it's legal.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09652288045145591799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1802700738972922942007-09-19T19:48:00.000+08:002007-09-19T19:48:00.000+08:00Wifly failure story is described in the August 200...Wifly failure story is described in the August 2007 of Infopro Magazine(資訊傳真). Check it out if necessary!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14985176281870279924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-90345206224423117852007-09-18T22:57:00.000+08:002007-09-18T22:57:00.000+08:00Great analysis. You area real taiwan expert. One...Great analysis. You area real taiwan expert. One thing I don't agree with you is about WiFi success. Actually, it's a disaster. It's just a propaganda. You can check how many subscribers/users it has and commercial transaction/political exchange(President and Fareast groups) behind the WiFi network.<BR/><BR/>YourdonAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14985176281870279924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-72681222652974649902007-09-14T05:58:00.000+08:002007-09-14T05:58:00.000+08:00This is so humorous, I couldn't stop laughing!This is so humorous, I couldn't stop laughing!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-59658163456651042942007-08-20T11:46:00.000+08:002007-08-20T11:46:00.000+08:00Blue wig on a stick... LOL! Good one...Blue wig on a stick... LOL! Good one...Joe Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17894492509260086955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-18338006461845431812007-08-15T20:35:00.000+08:002007-08-15T20:35:00.000+08:00Nice to see some thorough analysis and debates in ...Nice to see some thorough analysis and debates in English. Glad to know that people who aren't so-called 'Taiwanese' interested in this issue.rustyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03388483402828189487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-91344314269949798772007-08-15T20:32:00.000+08:002007-08-15T20:32:00.000+08:00Nice analysis. It's good to see a thorough rundown...Nice analysis. It's good to see a thorough rundown and a nice debate on this issue in English. Good to know people still care.rustyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03388483402828189487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-77680517672100737912007-07-27T14:56:00.000+08:002007-07-27T14:56:00.000+08:00Right, Wulingren. The Green and Blue positions are...Right, Wulingren. The Green and Blue positions are quite complex. You can't extricate the "economic" factors from the "identity" factors.<BR/><BR/>MichaelMichael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-56335882482299204692007-07-27T08:09:00.000+08:002007-07-27T08:09:00.000+08:00I should add that Green and Blue are also economic...I should add that Green and Blue are also economic positions. The Blues are basically taking the position of the American Chamber of Commerce: Taiwan's economic woes are the result of restriction's on investment in China and the bans on direct flights. This leads Ma to propose the idea of a common economic market between Taiwan and China. The Greens have an opposite view on this. Many are saying the problem is that too much investment is going into China, and that all of the factories have moved there, which produce cheaper goods that then flood the Taiwanese market. Hsieh has been supportive of opening the three links, but has also been very critical of Ma's common market, saying that it would lead to an unemployment disaster. So, I think this is another place where green-blue is not just some superficial color-coded axis.Elihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03648566751513055517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-40113203118438260312007-07-26T21:13:00.000+08:002007-07-26T21:13:00.000+08:00wulingren said: But I think there is another reas...wulingren said: But I think there is another reason why the DPP would focus on the recent past. The experience of 228, the White Terror, Martial Law are all part of the shared memory that hold the greens together ethnically and as a voting block, just as the loss of the mainland is a shared memory that holds the blues together. I don't think you can really trivialize these issues. They mean something to a lot of people, especially people who themselves or their families suffered during this period. It's easy to say: "just move on!" but that is never easy. I guess, as a Jew who grew up with stories of the holocaust, I understand that memories do not die. Yes, I agree we must channel our energy into the future, but the past holds a vital place in that future.<BR/><BR/><BR/>This is a very important comment. Taiwanese (at least in their 40s and up) know in their bones what a repressive regime is. I know it as an abstract concept, without emotional force. Is living in fear of unemployment more acceptable or living in fear of prison? My intuition in that Taiwanese know they can survive tough economic times- they aren't scared of being poor. What they don't won't is for their dignity to be diminshed by an authoritarian government. But I haven't been in Taiwan for 10 years. Maybe the memory of the White Terror has diminshed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-20188569404998157322007-07-26T14:56:00.000+08:002007-07-26T14:56:00.000+08:00I know you've given a lot of thought to your theor...<B>I know you've given a lot of thought to your theory of the Taiwan electorate and voting preferences, and I'm not dismissing it out of hand, but I see no convincing evidence to support it.</B><BR/><BR/>Ok, then. We'll know in six months.Michael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-50350471430452947062007-07-26T13:32:00.000+08:002007-07-26T13:32:00.000+08:00Some news:About the cable car(貓空纜車)that Ma claims ...Some news:<BR/><BR/>About the cable car(貓空纜車)that Ma claims as his big achievement: after it started operation on July 4th <I>this year</I>, <A HREF="http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2007/new/jul/26/today-f2.htm" REL="nofollow">113 interruptions of operation</A> due to malfuncitoning in 22 days --- <B>It has to stop to fix problems 5 times a day</B>. Can u believe that?Runsunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00943096071902196841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-30339205793386427302007-07-26T12:37:00.000+08:002007-07-26T12:37:00.000+08:00As I noted before, you're thinking like an America...<B>As I noted before, you're thinking like an American.</B><BR/><BR/>That's not an argument, but a tautology. And until the day you get a green ROC passport, it's pot calling kettle.<BR/><BR/>I know you've given a lot of thought to your theory of the Taiwan electorate and voting preferences, and I'm not dismissing it out of hand, but I see no convincing evidence to support it.<BR/><BR/>I look forward to the coming campaign season.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-55404964061698567112007-07-26T12:22:00.000+08:002007-07-26T12:22:00.000+08:00Prince Roy:"you must be kidding. A candidate who h...Prince Roy:<B>"you must be kidding. A candidate who has publicly stated on more than one occasion that independence is an option for the people of Taiwan? (even though it would not be his choice...)</B><BR/><BR/>Maybe I didn't follow the news closely? To my knowledge Ma only said it in public once or twice. And after that idea was bombarded heavily by KMT core elites and deep blue supporters, he never mentioned it again for months. <BR/><BR/>What it means to me is that Ma really wants to grab some middle stream of voters (doesn't matter if he really wants it), but was tighten up by the strong opposition of Deep Bluers. Since he never mentions it again, I suppose that he can't fight off the blue pressure and already give up the idea of "independence is an option."<BR/><BR/>The way I look at it is that those dieheart deep bluers, even though not the majority of blue camp, they can exercise most powerful influence and thus is dominating where blue goes. <BR/><BR/><B>I don't think that is the driving issue for most people here. For most, it will be which candidate can offer the best policies to turn around the perceived economic malaise that has allowed Korea's GNP to overtake Taiwan. This has resulted in a huge psychological blow to people here</B> <BR/><BR/>This is a foreign idea to me. I am not aware that Taiwanese have ever been so worried about "losing to Korea (or any other countries) in GNP" such that they have to choose a president to beat Korea. Can you elaborate it a little bit more? What made you think or learn that "economic malaise that has allowed Korea's GNP to overtake Taiwan" is haunting Taiwanese so much ?Runsunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00943096071902196841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-31267621887473157752007-07-26T12:02:00.000+08:002007-07-26T12:02:00.000+08:00花枝,The question is: are you representative of the ...花枝,<BR/><BR/>The question is: are you representative of the general voting public here? And because the blue-green axis does nothing for you, does that mean politicians can ignore it? <BR/><BR/>Interestingly, Ma had a similar criticism of the DPP memorializing the lifting of martial law. It seems like a perfectly reasonable occurrance to memorialize. Hsieh made some comments during those days, but frankly I haven't been hearing him say a lot about it the past couple of weeks, especially since he has been in the states.<BR/><BR/>I think asking Hsieh to stop talking about the martial law era is a bit like asking him to surrender, because the martial law period is the flipside to Taiwan's current vibrant democracy. Many people associate Ma with that period, as someone who profited from it. And Ma has every reason to shift attention away from it. His strategy is to focus on: "The DPP screwed everything up" and "I promise you peace with China" and "I will save the economy."<BR/><BR/>But I think there is another reason why the DPP would focus on the recent past. The experience of 228, the White Terror, Martial Law are all part of the shared memory that hold the greens together ethnically and as a voting block, just as the loss of the mainland is a shared memory that holds the blues together. I don't think you can really trivialize these issues. They mean something to a lot of people, especially people who themselves or their families suffered during this period. It's easy to say: "just move on!" but that is never easy. I guess, as a Jew who grew up with stories of the holocaust, I understand that memories do not die. Yes, I agree we must channel our energy into the future, but the past holds a vital place in that future.<BR/><BR/>Hsieh was also a human rights lawyer who came of age during this time, and a politican who learned the art as an outsider in a single party state.Elihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03648566751513055517noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-19180060604808913172007-07-26T11:54:00.000+08:002007-07-26T11:54:00.000+08:00Michael:"Hsieh's achievements blow away Ma's but t...<B>Michael:"Hsieh's achievements blow away Ma's but then, Kaohsiung was so bad that any positive leadership would be good, whereas Ma started from the strong base left by Chen, making clear achievement harder."</B><BR/><BR/>The above statement did make some point. However, Ma's administration is so terrible not because that he can't compete with Chen, but because he can't even do a simple thing right. In some sense, he actually brought more destruction (waste of resource, endanger people's lives, allowing corruptions ...) than construction. <BR/><BR/><B>I think the WiFi thing is a major step forward for the city. But other than that, it is hard to think of a Ma success.</B><BR/><BR/>Really? According to what I heard, the WiFi stuff Ma built for Taipei is a disaster too. Poor connectivity in most area of the city after he spent a huge sum of budget on it. Since it's very inconvenient, the number of customers is far far below the expected. To compensate for the loss, Ma ended up ordering Taipei government departments to order large amount of accounts for his employees. Still not many people made use of it, even it's free. Its fate is the same as all other things that Ma claims as achievements -- disaster. <BR/><BR/>But this is what I heard over the net. Maybe you have personally experienced it and think that it's a <I>positive</I> contribution ?Runsunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00943096071902196841noreply@blogger.com