Jerome Keating reminds that Sec Rice's comments that the referendum is a "provocation" may be responded to at the following email addresses:Be nice when you talk to the Administration, I'm sure it will be a new experience for them..... Alton Thompson over at Conductor's Notebook has a good response:
Dear Secretary Rice:
Like many Americans living in Taiwan I think your recent statement is a provocative action. It unnecessarily raises tensions between the democratic ideals Americans cherish and the policies of your administration. The statement promises no real benefits on the international stage for the people of either America or Taiwan. Or even China.
The moment was not worthy of you, Ms Rice. History has recorded your name already as a crucial player in the advancement of democracy. You were your country's Russia expert during the fall of the Soviet empire. The people of central and eastern Europe did not achieve peaceful liberation from their nightmare because you or your boss sent mixed messages from your side. The motto then was peace through strength, not status quo.
I think the US has reached the point of self-defeating overkill -- which may in fact be the goal. This bombast-by-proxy policy may be intended to have the opposite effect than it conveys on the surface. Perhaps they are just subtle...
...but I sorta doubt it. It should also be noted that the Chinese wanted Bush himself to make a statement, and instead they got Rice. Since westerners often get rice when they want something else in Chinese settings, it's only natural that we return the favor. (badda bing!). Sec. Rice's comments were certainly uncalled for, but it could have been worse....
I wish Chen would stop misrepresenting the referendum:
Responding to Rice, Chen said the referendum was an engagement the government had made in response to the request of the people.
"The referendum comes from the bottom up, from the 23 million people of Taiwan. The people took the initiative to make the proposal and enthusiastically put their signatures on the petition to sustain the referendum," Chen said.
The referendum was initiated by the DPP and approved by the people. It was not initiated by "the people." This is a game that is beneath our dignity. It might also be wonderful if Chen would shut up until the election and step down as Chairman of the DPP, but I haven't seen any pigs flying outside my window lately.... one thing everyone is saying is that they are tired of Chen, who says things that everyone is thinking, but probably should not be said by any major politician ('there's no cap on the Pacific ocean'). Is the DPP's strategy to make everyone sick of Chen, then trundle out Hsieh to hit the big time for the last six weeks of the campaign?
[Taiwan] [KMT] [DPP] [Chen Shui-bian]
10 comments:
Ah. Yes. Secretary Rice is right. The referendum will not bring real benefit for Taiwan in the international stage at the moment. Nevertheless, the referendum process will show the collective will of the Taiwanese people. The process will also give the Taiwanese badly needed self-confidence and self-respect. The referendum must go forward. US relation is very important to Taiwan. However, before Taiwan becomes one of the States, Taiwan needs not to go along with everything US administration says.
It looks like as if a fashion to vilify President Chen. He did not take any piano class growing up. He speaks little English. He speaks not-so-chinese Mandarin. He does not belong to upper class. But, he definitely speaks for me, a 1-high-2-low camper. President Chen is doing a fine job spreading the Taiwan gospels. Keep up with the good work, President Chen.
madisonia
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From the letter you posted, Michael:
History has recorded your name already as a crucial player in the advancement of democracy
LOL! Methinks this is being far far too kind to a lady who has had an oil tanker named after her.
'Democracy' is double-speak to this administration. The word is used when it is to the advantage of the corporate interests. And similarily, it it NOT used when it is to the advantage of the corporate interests.
The only thing Secretary Rice has "advanced" is hatred towards her country from the rest of the world.
Oh, and you may hand-deliver her your message the next time the U.S. has a natural disaster like Katrina. You can find her at the nearest Gucci store in New York buying $500 boots. (What am I saying -- she's no longer National Security Advisor).
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Will Chen step down leaving Hseih to do his own campaigning en force? I wish. Hsieh is running out of time to make some marks. Taiwan is only a precious few months from the election, and whose face does everyone see? Chen's. If Ma wins, he can quite ironically thank Chen for it.
There was a real good program comparing the economic platforms of Frank Hsieh and Ma Ying-jeou last week. Hsieh's platform focuses a lot on trying to help those left behind in the era of globalization, while Ma's platform is very much the Japanese-style... build. lots. of. public. works.
They also touched on the inflation/CPI problem South Korea faces that is seen largely as a result of setting a goal in terms of nominal GDP growth (versus real GDP growth) and even worse, average income in terms of... US dollars. All the mistakes that your friend Mark at toshuo makes. Basically if you set a goal in terms of nominal GDP and US dollars, you will be pressured to allow high inflation and allow your currency to increase relative to the USD, whether or not it's sound economic policy. Hitting nice nominal numbers isn't the same as hitting nice real numbers.
Interesting stuff, both the Taiwan English blogging world and the Taiwanese populace at large isn't aware of the real economic situation in Korea.
The funny thing is the Koreans may not be so aware either, because they just elected a guy that promises even higher nominal growth.
Anyways, the economist doing the comparison is not ideological and pointed out problems with both Hsieh and Ma's problems. Check it out.
Taiwan Politics and Economics [Mandarin]:
The particular episode in question is 12/17. Blogger doesn't seem to allow a direct link.
List of all episodes (Taiwan Economics is on Monday's, weekly)
"one thing everyone is saying is that they are tired of Chen, who says things that everyone is thinking, but probably should not be said by any major politician ('there's no cap on the Pacific ocean')."
I am not one of "everyone,"
I am not tired of Chen. He spoke out my concerns.
Secretary Rice is DEFINITELY right and so was Colin Powell.
Listen guys:
As long as Taiwan stubbornly holds on onto Republic of China, it will go NOWHERE.
I don't care if Taiwan says it's "Taiwan" in name, not even the United States will recognize or roll out the red carpet for the President of ROC.
That's why Chen goes to Alaska instead of Washington.
The problem is INSIDE Taiwan. That problem is Republic of China.
Anonymous, unless you have a 0% savings rate, and you do no international trade whatsoever, real GDP matters. PPP adjusted GDP matters too, but neither metric give the whole picture. Like anyplace, Korea has its problems, but its economy is doing relatively well. I'm not sure what your specific complaints against their economic policy are, but their growth has been faster than most similar economies.
Also, if you're going to take a swipe at me, it's a bit cowardly to do so anonymously.
Like anyplace, Korea has its problems, but its economy is doing relatively well
So is Taiwan's, Mark, by any standard. Growth is above 5%, unemployment is under 4%, we've passed Korea as #2 exporter to China. We're massively overinvested in China, but recent legal changes to the employment laws may well cause many firms to pull out. If we could only solve the pesky income issue that drives so many complaints about Taiwan's economy, things would be rosy. At least in the short term....
Michael
Mark, commenting anonymously has the very nice effect of forcing an evaluation based solely on the information I provide and my argumentation. I don't personally blog, so even if I gave my name, you wouldn't know who I am. Internet's a big place. I was swiping, but I was swiping what you say, not you the person.
Your comment shows a continued misunderstanding of terms, if not also of economic concepts. Real GDP can't be what you mean in your comment. There is nominal GDP growth and real GDP growth. I believe Michael explained all this to you previously in his explanation of how to calculate such values. Korea's nominal GDP growth looks very nice, and if I were doing foreign investment, nominal is relevant since I wouldn't care what the cost of spending money in Korea is since I'm just going to move my money out of Korea after I've made a profit. But for Koreans real GDP is much more relevant since they have to spend the money they've made in Korea.
If your Chinese is good enough, you can check out the program to hear what I meant by problems with Korea's economy. That the current president's party overwhelmingly lost this presidential election on the basis of the current state of the Korean economy should sound alarms in the head of anyone that thinks Korea's economy is doing really well (hint: maybe it's not really benefiting the population at large).
Again, over the past 5-6 years, Korea's economy has only grown about 4-5 percent in real terms, the same as Taiwan's. This is significant, because your analysis and that of many others simply ignore this fact.
The referendum was initiated by the DPP and approved by the people. It was not initiated by "the people." This is a game that is beneath our dignity.
True, but Chen has now also pointed out several times that now that it has been initiated and that enough signatures have been collected, it is now part of a process that he has no way to stop. He simply does not have the power to remove a legitimately constituted referendum from the ballot. As he pointed out today he is the president of a democracy, not the emperor that his political enemies imagine him to be.
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