An Animated Taiwanese Perspective on Scottish Independence

Taiwan-based Next Media Animation (NMA) regularly provides entertaining takes on a variety of newsworthy events around the world. Given the debate within Taiwan over the future of its own political status, it is not surprising that NMA expressed one of the many global perspectives on today's Scottish independence referendum. In addition to its usual creativity, NMA's takes a side on the issue. Responding to an offer of more power for Scotland if it remains part of the United Kingdom, NMA recommends skepticism and a vote for independence:

But we here in Taiwan understand that no amount of false promises are enough to sate a people's desire for "FREEDOMMMMMMM". So people and unicorns of Scotland on Thursday vote "YES".

NMA's advice may more reflect its views regarding Taiwan than any deeply held beliefs about Scotland's specific situation, which differs in many key respects. I am not at all convinced that "freedom" per se will have taken a blow if Scotland remains part of the United Kingdom. There are sacrifices to be made when living in a political structure of any size, and there are reasonable arguments that people in Scotland will enjoy more overall freedom as a part of the United Kingdom. Whatever the best choice may be for Scotland, the people are now able to freely express themselves and vote on an important part of their future. And whatever the result, the status quo will have been changed, and the Scottish people will maintain many significant freedoms.

So for probably the only video on the Scottish independence referendum with backstabbing, casino tokens, people carrying skyscrapers, and, of course, a freedom-loving unicorn, watch NMA's latest creation:

Zhongyang Road in Tucheng

Yesterday on Zhongyang Road in Tucheng District, New Taipei City, Taiwan:

Even if you find the above scene mundane, you may be surprised by who makes an appearance on one of the political campaign signs in this area. More on that and other nearby indications of democracy are on the way.

Taiwanese Dog Dozing

Earlier I shared photos of dogs riding a wheelbarrow, sitting in a park, taking a walk, and swimming in a river in Hengyang. In Taipei I have seen many more dogs. So to continue the theme, here is a dog I saw sleeping yesterday evening:



Despite where its leash was anchored, I doubted it would later have an experience like another dog I saw in Hengyang: one running in front of a motorbike.

Keeping Order in Taipei

At a police station in Ximending, Taipei

Two Sunsets in Taiwan

The sun setting in Taipei:

And the sun setting at Tamsui in New Taipei:

These two scenes are my way of saying I am in Taiwan at the moment. More soon . . .

More Reaction to the "Taiwan Coup" and a Metro Vancouver Correction

Metro Vancouver mistakenly identifying Taiwan as the location of a coup has led to a variety of responses. In the Taipei Times, Shelley Shan reported reactions which highlight that, for some, Metro Vancouver's error was a familiar one:

[Canadian Joel Charron, an English teacher in Taiwan,] added that the editor of Metro was probably not the only person in Canada who confuses Taiwan with Thailand.

“When I first got here [Taiwan], some people back in Canada thought I was in Thailand. I got concerned e-mails after the tsunami in 2004, asking if I was safe,” he said. . . .

Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Wayne Liu (劉喜臨) said the incident has served to remind the bureau to work harder to promote Taiwan abroad so foreigners will not keep confusing it with Thailand.

As Shan also notes, additional reaction included the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Vancouver formally requesting a correction.

Not surprisingly, Metro Vancouver has agreed that there was not a military coup in Taiwan. In its Monday, May 26, print edition a correction was provided. Here is a screen shot from the online version of a portion of page 3:

So I believe that ties things up regarding Metro Vancouver's eye-catching headline. But as Taiwan's Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General's comment indicated, challenges lie ahead if Taiwan desires to reduce the number of people confusing it with Thailand.

Finally, even though I am already familiar with both Taiwan and Thailand, in the process of writing these posts I still learned a few things, including, based on the information below the correction, that Vancouver has a Gastown.

Hopefully nobody confuses it with Gassville.

A Very Short "Taiwanese or Thai" Beer Quiz

In response to my post about Metro Vancouver incorrectly claiming there was a coup in Taiwan, I have seen many people comment elsewhere that, like me, this wasn't their first time seeing or hearing someone confuse Taiwan with Thailand. So I will now present a brief beer quiz that may be useful for helping raise further awareness of the Taiwan / Thailand distinction.

Question 1 (no time limit): Is Mystery Beer #1 a Taiwanese beer or a Thai beer?

Mystery Beer #1

Question #2 (no time limit): Is Mystery Beer #2 a Taiwanese beer or a Thai beer?

Mystery Beer #2

I will refrain from providing the correct answers. If you need, ask a friend familiar with Taiwan and Thailand to score your responses. I can't offer any prizes for acing the quiz but, if they are available where you live, feel free to treat yourself to a Taiwan Beer or a Chang Beer to celebrate. You are also welcome to provide your answers in the comments section. Perhaps of more interest, though, would be your answer to a deeper question:

Which beer would you choose?

And this concludes today's (and possibly this year's) tests here.

Taiwan's Government Not Overthrown By Military Coup

One time in the U.S. when I mentioned I had been to Taiwan, a person I was speaking to replied, "Oh, I LOVE Thai food!"

After a brief brain freeze, I explained that Thai food is Thailand's cuisine and Taiwan's cuisine would be described as Taiwanese. The person was clearly embarrassed, although I explained I thought it was understandable and suspected many others could make a similar mistake.

Despite my familiarity with this potential confusion in English between Taiwan and Thailand, I was still rather surprised to see several recent tweets including this photo of a newspaper page (earliest source I found):

The article headline "Government overthrown in Taiwan as military stages bloodless coup" contains a not-so-minor mistake. As the AP article below correctly states, the coup was actually in Thailand.

Text indicates the newspaper page is from Metro. According to Metro, it is "Canada’s most read national daily newspaper brand". The error is not a photoshop trick and appears to be specific to Metro's Vancouver edition (HT to Chou Peifen for this point--article in Chinese). Here is a recent screenshot I took from the Metro Vancouver weekend May 23-25 print edition currently available online:

Other Canadian Metro editions I have seen do not contain the error. For example, here is a screenshot from Metro Toronto of a page with the same AP article :

So, to be clear, Taiwan is not the home of pad thai or tom yam goong, and the Taiwanese military has kindly refrained from overthrowing its democratically elected government. I recommend the Vancouver Metro staff take a visit to Taiwan. If I am there at the same time, I would be happy to treat them to some of Taiwan's many delicious local specialities. Afterwards, they should be less likely to ever confuse it with Thailand.



UPDATE: See the new post with more reaction and a correction from Metro Vancouver.

Healing and Hugs in Taipei

If you are looking to get over a failed relationship, some help can now be found in Taipei. As reported in Want China Times (via Shanghaist):

Hundreds of people flocked to an exhibition, centered on failed relationships and their ruins, in downtown Taipei Saturday to take part in a hugging event that organizers hope will heal locals who have experienced broken relationships.

The visitors, mostly young girls, held cards reading "Can I hug you?" or "Can you hug me?" during the event, in which strangers are expected to share stories about their previous relationships.

Organizers of the exhibition, titled Museum of Broken Relationships, also had an elephant mascot on standby for those who were too shy to ask for hugs from humans.

The exhibition began in Croatia and according to its website:

The Museum of Broken Relationships grew from a traveling exhibition revolving around the concept of failed relationships and their ruins. Unlike ‘destructive’ self-help instructions for recovery from failed loves, the Museum offers a chance to overcome an emotional collapse through creation: by contributing to the Museum's collection.

Whatever the motivation for donating personal belongings – be it sheer exhibitionism, therapeutic relief, or simple curiosity – people embraced the idea of exhibiting their love legacy as a sort of a ritual, a solemn ceremony. Our societies oblige us with our marriages, funerals, and even graduation farewells, but deny us any formal recognition of the demise of a relationship, despite its strong emotional effect. In the words of Roland Barthes in A Lover's Discourse: "Every passion, ultimately, has its spectator... (there is) no amorous oblation without a final theater."

If you are interested in attending, the exhibition will remain in Taipei until September 1 (details here).

The news about the hugging reminded me of an experience I had in Taipei in April. While walking around a popular shopping area, I met five friendly people.

They held signs declaring "Free Hugs -- Share Your Love", and I hugged everyone. There was no mention of failed relationships. Instead, they said their goal was raising money for a children's charity.

Both events were remarkable to me since Taiwan was a bit more "conservative" regarding hugging when I first stayed there over 10 years ago. So even when the The Museum of Broken Relationships leaves Taipei, a variety of opportunities may remain for hugs in Taipei. Finding an elephant to hug might be harder though.

A Dragon and a Tailor in Taipei

A spiritual and urban view from Taipei's Chingfu Kung (Jingfu Gong / 景福宮) temple:

The Keelung River

I have yet to receive a correct identification of the city seen in photos I posted here and here. Given the prominent sign of the Tainan noodle restaurant in the first photograph, I was not surprised that the best guess by far was Tainan--a city in southern Taiwan. However, the correct city is found farther north in Taiwan.

Both photos from Taipei included Songshan Road and were taken from areas north and south of the Songshan Train Station. Several sights are in the area, including the Raohe Street Night Market and the Keelung (Jilong) River:

Even if the above river scene is not familiar, I suspect some readers will recognize the iconic Taipei 101 skyscraper on the left side of the photo.

As you may have already assumed, my recent series of explorations in Southeast Asia have concluded. Perhaps I will share some more thoughts about that later. For reasons I'll explain in several more days, during the next few weeks my posting might be lighter than usual. Or it might not be. Whatever the case, more is on the way--including some new perspectives on a place I have only occasionally discussed here in the past.

Zigong, Google Maps, Baidu Map, Bing Maps, and Taiwan

I shared the previous posts about a friendly lunch and a friendly family not only because Zigong, Sichuan province, was on my mind but also because I don't yet have a post ready to follow up my earlier comments about Google Reader. I'm not sure when I will finish it, but in the meantime there are two earlier posts which now seem convenient to "refresh" since they mention both Zigong and Google: "Google Maps and Baidu Map in China" and "Maps in (and of) China: Baidu, Bing, and Google". They are both comparisons of map services in China and were written almost two years ago. They were inspired by some findings in my research on youth in China and some claims in Western media that Baidu Map's hand-drawn 3-D view was a sign of how it had surpassed Google Maps. After providing some evidence highlighting the limitations of Baidu's 3-D view, I compared the two services in other regards. In the second post, I added Bing Maps China into the mix as well. I also included some views of Zigong to show who correctly depicted the existence (or non-existence) of a river and a street.

I would not have the exact same stories to tell if I again wrote about these three services. But some points would remain the same, including the extreme lack of detail on Baidu Map for regions outside of China. And related to that, there is one thing I will add. In the 2nd post I pointed out that in both Bing Maps China and Google Maps China:

... there is a dashed line around the South China Sea and around Taiwan to presumably make it clear they are parts of China. To say the least, these are both areas where any such claims China may make are under significant dispute. The dashed lines do not appear in Google Maps US and Bing Maps US.

Not surprisingly, those dashed lines also appear in Baidu Map. Now, here's the interesting part. Baidu Map has no details for city-level views of Taiwan--a heavily populated region. Zoom in to the city level and Taipei is not there at all. In fact, it's indistinguishable from Washington D.C. Bing Maps China at least offers a few very broad details at the city level*, although they would be rather limited in their usefulness. Only Google Maps China has rich city-level maps for Taiwan. An explanation for Baidu's lack of detail in Taiwan can't simply rest on a distinction between mainland China and the other areas administered / claimed by China, because Baidu Map has detailed city-level maps for both Hong Kong and Macau.

At least for now, I won't have the chance to research this further, so I'll just say again... "interesting".


*Yes, the results can be better for non-China-based versions of Bing Maps. That's another story, and I touched on related issues in the 2nd maps post.

Halloween in Changsha and Taipei

[Update at end]

Although the Halloween holiday is becoming more popular in some parts of Asia, I haven't seen much signs of it in Changsha, Hunan province. While stopping by a bar that brews its own beer (an extreme rarity in Hunan) on Friday night, I could not avoid noticing the ongoing Halloween party. But it seemed to be mostly comprised of foreigners who are working in Changsha. I heard there was a pricey Halloween party somewhere Saturday night and there may have been something happening in an area with many clubs, but walking around a popular shopping district yesterday during the early evening I saw no signs most people or businesses were aware of the holiday. However, I did feel a bit of the Halloween spirit when I saw this spider that had made its home next to a construction site at a pedestrian shopping street:

Since I have no other Halloween-themed photos from Changsha, I will share some more from last year when I was in Taipei where I saw signs of Halloween in several areas. These scenes are all from near Taipei 101, Taiwan's tallest building, where a number of clubs had Halloween parties during the weekend:

For more scenes of Halloween in Taipei see my post from last year here.

UPDATE: There's much more Halloween spirit in Changsha than the above. For the Halloween scenes I saw in Changsha during the next couple of days see my more recent post here: More Halloween in Changsha, China.

Hong Kong Versus China in the Olympics

As can be apparent in sports such as keirin (a cycling event) and table tennis (ping pong), Hong Kong fields an Olympics team that is distinct from China's team. China permits Hong Kong to do this under a right detailed in Chapter VII, Article 151, of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China:

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may on its own, using the name ""Hong Kong, China"", maintain and develop relations and conclude and implement agreements with foreign states and regions and relevant international organizations in the appropriate fields, including the economic, trade, financial and monetary, shipping, communications, tourism, cultural and sports fields.

Not only does Hong Kong compete in the Olympics, it came close to facing off with China for the gold medal in this year's table tennis team event. However, Hong Kong lost in the semifinal and will compete for the bronze medal while China will face South Korea in the gold medal match. [Update: China won the gold medal in both the men's and women's team event. Hong Kong lost to Germany in the men's bronze medal match.]

If the idea of Hong Kong competing against the rest of China in the Olympics seems peculiar, things get only more complicated when considering who is on Hong Kong's table tennis team. According to the AP:

Hong Kong’s three players were all born in mainland China and moved to Hong Kong when they could not make China’s national team.

This may raise questions about whether the Hong Kong team provide a double opportunity for some mainland Chinese to compete in the Olympics. As reported by Reuters, the Hong Kong table tennis players tried to explain their situation:

"We are definitely loyal to Hong Kong, otherwise we would be playing for China," said Hong Kong's Chu Yan Leung.

But then his team-mate Tang Peng pointed out: "We are playing for Hong Kong but there is no difference between Hong Kong and China, we are in the same country."

Their words seem to raise more questions than answers. For example, what are the implications of Cheung's "loyalty" to Hong Kong? And the claim of "no difference" further highlights Hong Kong's unusual situation. Although Hong Kong is part of China, Hongkongers enjoy more freedoms than mainland Chinese and there are numerous other differences which exist. There is even a border between Hong Kong and mainland China which can make it easier for someone from India than someone from China to be allowed entry into Hong Kong.

One might think that a Hong Kong team could create a distraction for China that it would prefer to avoid. But I suspect China has no interest in dissolving it. The reason has nothing to do with Hong Kong's laws or providing some Chinese two opportunities to compete in the Olympics.

Instead, the reason has much to do with another team in the Olympics that China would prefer not to stand out too much and may want to send a signal.

Chinese Taipei.

Meet Fresh: Taiwanese Dessert in Shanghai

A photo of a Taiwanese dessert restaurant in a recent post of scenes from Shanghai's Xuhui district apparently left some readers puzzled. They wanted to know, "What is a Taiwanese dessert?"

I am pleased to say that I had already conducted some research:

Taiwanese dessert making an appearance in Shanghai

The name in Chinese of the restaurant in my earlier post is "鲜芋仙" (xiānyùxiān). In English the name used by the restaurant is "Meet Fresh". The Meet Fresh chain of restaurants originated in Taiwan and now has branches as far away as Malaysia and Australia. One of their specialities is taro balls, included in the dish I tried. Taro is a root vegetable native to Southeast Asia. I would claim that the closest equivalent in Western food is probably the potato or sweet potato. However taro has its own unique taste. It can be included in a variety of dishes and even cooked similar in style to french fries or potato chips. My favorite version, though, is when it is sweetened and used in desserts.

I first tried taro while in Taiwan about 10 years ago. My lack of any Chinese language skills at the time led to some minor chaos while trying to order a milk tea. I was quite surprised to receive a purplish drink and realized there had been a communication problem. But I decided to give the drink a try. I still have no clue why the young employees at the Taiwanese store I visited gave me taro milk tea, but I am not complaining. I immediately became a big fan of taro.

Meet Fresh's Taiwan website can be found here. For those who cannot read Chinese, their Australian website in English here will be more useful. The online menu on the Australian site does not appear to be exactly the same as what I saw at the Shanghai store, but you can find a close approximation of the dish I tried here. Follow that link to see other desserts served at Meet Fresh. There are also some examples of Taiwanese desserts from other restaurants at the end of my post comparing the food culture in Taiwan and Italy. The examples there and on the Meet Fresh site provide a hint of the great variety of Taiwanese desserts. I hope more people will soon hear "coming to a store near you".

Seeing What is "Out of Sight"

In the "About Me" section of this blog I wrote "I'm fascinated by the similarities and differences in how people 'see' the world around them." And in a previous post I shared how following a dog led me to some interesting discoveries in Yuli, Taiwan. In that spirit, here is a short animation made by three graduates of the National Taiwan University of the Arts about what a little girl "sees" while searching for her very helpful dog (no Chinese required and thanks to a Taiwanese friend for introducing it to me):

Update: For those who cannot watch YouTube due to the Great Firewall here is a version on Tudou (possibly not the same quality):

[Update 2: the Tudou version no longer loads so it has been removed. If you are here now, the Great Firewall likely isn't a big factor for you now anyway.]

The "Out of Sight" website  can be found here: http://evaty.main.jp/oos/

A Taiwanese Perspective on Michele Bachmann

Early last September when I was in Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second largest city, I spent an evening with a Taiwanese friend who lives there. While driving to a cafe for desserts my friend told me she was fascinated by Michele Bachmann and hoped she would continue her campaign to be the Republican nominee for the 2012 U.S. presidential election. I found it surprising that a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives and strong supporter of the Tea Party movement might not only be known to at least some people in Taiwan but also have some followers.

The ensuing conversation proved rather enlightening. I will share it here since it provides an example of how American politics are perceived in a part of the world that in recent decades has seen a variety of democratic reforms and last month had an important presidential election of its own. To be sure, my friend's opinion is just one voice out of many in Taiwan, and I make no claims as to whether it is representative.

I recently communicated with my friend and everything she wrote is consistent with my memory of our earlier conversation. So, I will simply provide her recent written responses. [I have made some very minor edits for clarity since my friend is not a native English speaker. I have also reorganized the text for better flow since some content is the result of requests for her to elaborate.]

How do you know Michele Bachmann and what is your opinion of her?

Michelle Bachmann is a public figure so it was hard to ignore her when all of the spotlights were on her. I first noticed her when she appeared on the cover of Newsweek. It seemed she was being bullied by some of the media so I started to wonder if people had been unfair to her. But it turned out she’s a very interesting individual.

She had my attention particularly for her very conservative speech as well as her ambition for the presidency. I understand ambition is sometimes a good thing. It’s the very same quality I see in Hillary Clinton, but she’s not like Clinton at all! I mean, it’s just hard for me to relate a “submissive” wife to also being an ambitious / calculating politician. That didn’t sound very convincing to me.

What also amazed me was that she seemed to have loads of followers/supporters. She won Iowa, right? [She did not. My friend may be thinking of the Ames Straw Poll] I don’t understand why people voted for her. I was confused and also curious. Later I decided to give up wondering why. Like I said, I enjoyed seeing her. Every time she was on the news I had so much fun, like I was enjoying a daytime soap opera. She’s not dull at all!

As a matter of fact, it’s not Bachmann that I am interested in. It’s the world politics that attracts me, and I am particularly fond of US politics because of all the conflicts between parties and all the ups and downs in the recent Republican primary. It brings me a lot of fun.

What makes Michele Bachmann seem like a soap opera?

She's funny. She likes to put things in a dramatic/exaggerative way, and her talks are mostly odd, absurd and ridiculous… and I guess those are the crucial elements of soap opera?

Would you want Bachmann to be President of the U.S.?

NOOOOOOOOo I don’t want her to be the president of the US. I can’t imagine her being the leader of a super power. I think one good old Bush is good enough for all of us.

She and Bush are equally silly, only Bush is funnier (his choking on a pretzel or wiping his glasses on some poor woman’s clothes...). If she became the president, I am afraid the US would return to medieval times, gay rights would be banned, girls would not be allowed to wear bikinis, wives would have to be submissive to their hubbies....

So, Michele Bachmann may feel a little pride in knowing that her celebrity has spread all the way to Taiwan, although maybe not in the fashion she would likely prefer. And I assume my friend now has mixed feelings to know that Bachmann dropped out of the Republican primary after a poor performance in the Iowa caucuses.

I would be curious to hear what others think about my Taiwanese friend's views of Bachmann. In an upcoming post, I will share some photos (and probably video as well) of a large parade I saw in Taipei after I had left Kaohsiung. It highlights an issue that my friend fears would worsen in the U.S. if Bachmann became President. At the very least, I am pretty sure the people in the parade would not agree that they were celebrating, as Michele Bachmann has described it, "personal enslavement".

Translated Version of "Unhappy Hong Kong"

In my earlier post "The Chinese Reaction to Taiwan's Election" I included a video about the election as seen from the point of view of some in Hong Kong and said I'd post a translation if one became available. The video's creators, Derrick Tao & Helene Chow, contacted me to say they've created a new translated version, so I'll share it here. The video can be found below along with their translation of the accompanying text and some additional notes they added for those who may not be familiar with some of the references. Again, I think the video is a sign of how the recent election had reverberations that extended far from Taiwan.

香港不高興 Unhappy Hong Kong from MagicHour Studio on Vimeo.

It's been said that "democracy" is a Western concept that will never work with the Chinese, who, according to folklore, are descendants of the dragon.
"The Chinese need to be controlled, as part of their nature", said a Chinese celebrity with the word "dragon" in his name. [Note (4)]

The embark of the long march to freedom and democracy may have started off in a difficult, awkward, laughable or ineffective manner.
The costs of this choice may even be an economic regression.

The rise of a super rich and powerful China has turned Hong Kong into a "wealthy second generation" kid. [Note (5)]
Chinese-style socialism seems to be telling us: democracy and economic development could only grow at the expense of each other.

"We do not want to be the next Hong Kong," says Taiwan.
This year, there was no bullet, no melodrama. The Nationalist Party nonetheless took criticisms from the opposition party all the more seriously, because the Taiwanese people have shown the world their ability to say no calmly with their votes.

Hong Kong could either join Taiwan as pioneers of freedom and democracy in the Chinese societies, or she could accept the status quo and let go of her ideals and beliefs.


Note (1): The names mentioned in the video: Peter Lam, David Li, Francis Choi, Stephen Chow, Joseph Lau and Lee Ka Shing are members of the very exclusive 1,200 election committee.
They may be banker, real estate tycoon, businessman, actor by profession. They are known to be among the wealthiest class in Hong Kong.

Note (2): The political leader in Hong Kong (the Chief Executive) is about to be elected by the exclusive 1,200 election committee. Both candidates are known to be approved by Beijing.
It is a common belief that Beijing would, via the controlled election committee mechanism, appoint the desired candidate.

Note (3): The closing remark "shall ye revive" is in response to a recent popular quote from a Hong Kong drama - "this city is dying."

Note (4): This reference is made to international actor Jacky Chan's public statement in 2009.
He also mocked the election in Taiwan in 2004 as "the biggest joke in the world".
telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/5182114/Jackie-Chan-says-Chinese-people-need-to-be-controlled.html
chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-03/29/content_318903.htm

Note (5): "wealthy second generation" (富二代）is a popular term commonly used to describe the offspring of the new super-rich government officials and entrepreneurs.
The general image of a "wealthy second generation" is arrogant, spoiled, irresponsible, takes pride in his privileges and acts in uncivilized and unsophisticated manners.

Cinematography : Derrick Tao
Text by : Derrick Tao, Helene Chow
English Translation by : Marcus Chan (Thanks Marcus you are the best!)
Edited by : Derrick Tao
Music by : Tim Mcmorris

The Chinese Reaction to Taiwan's Election

I recall the time in November, 2008 when I was watching the live news reports of the results for the United States Presidential Election. Given that I was in Shanghai, it was morning and I was at my office desk. As Barack Obama was speaking after the election results had been announced an American co-worker had tears streaming down his cheeks. This amazed several of our Chinese co-workers, and one of them asked him why Obama's speech was affecting him so much. Seeing democracy in action, especially unfiltered, isn't a common experience in China.

I've sometimes heard people in China express a desire for democracy or a reduction in censorship only to then argue that the Chinese people as a whole aren't ready for it or that it can't work in China's current culture. As I've shared before using access to Facebook as an example, awareness of the freedoms available in Taiwan can have a significant impact on whether some people accept such arguments. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to me that Taiwan's recent election process has caused reverberations in China. As noted by Andrew Higgins in The Washington Post:

Taiwan’s example has raised a prickly question for a leadership [in China] that rejects elections as an alien and chaos-prone Western import, said Zhang Ming, a professor of politics at Renmin University in Beijing.

“Why do all the neighboring countries and regions have direct elections but not China?” Zhang said. Taiwan, he added, “shows that Chinese people can handle democracy, although it’s not perfect” and has “vigorously refuted a fallacy that democracy is not suitable for Chinese.”

Andrew Jacobs in The New York Times shared other reaction in China:

As the election played out on Saturday, a palpable giddiness spread through the Twitter-like microblog services that have as many as 250 million members. They marveled at how smoothly the voting went, how graciously the loser, Tsai Ing-wen, conceded and how Mr. Ma gave his victory speech in the rain without the benefit of an underling’s umbrella — in contrast with the pampering that Chinese officials often receive.

Another sign of the interest in the election process is a photo of a Taiwanese ballot that the Shanghaiist reports to have gone viral on Weibo, a leading microblog service in China:

While China didn't fully clamp down on reporting of the election (see the NYT story quoted above for more details), the election was apparently enough of a worry for China that it constrained travel to Taiwan during the election. Mark MacKinnon reported on The Globe and Mail that there were even restrictions placed on Chinese traveling in Taiwan during the election:

The 26-year-old tour guide said she has been instructed – by mainland Chinese authorities – to keep her charges indoors until the final results are announced. They’re not allowed to get too close a look at Taiwan’s democracy in action, lest all that choosing proves infectious.

“There are sensitivities,” Ms. Geng explained with a shy smile as her group toured the vast Chiang Kai-shek Memorial (a Lincoln Memorial-style shrine to the man who fought a losing civil war against Mao Zedong’s Communists more than six decades ago) in central Taipei this week. “On Election Day we are not allowed to go out into the street. We have to stay in our rooms [on Saturday] until the results are announced. Then we can go out.”

The identity of the "authorities" requesting the sequestering of tourists does not appear to be totally clear, and such measures may have only applied to tour groups (it's also not clear to me whether all tour groups followed the same policy). Other Chinese were apparently not as shielded from the election process. Andrew Jacobs noted cases of Chinese traveling to Taiwan and leaving with positive impressions of the election process:

Interest in the race snowballed in recent weeks and a number of high-profile mainland businessmen decided to travel to Taiwan to see the contest up close. Among them was Wang Shi, one of China’s biggest real estate tycoons, who sent out regular microblog dispatches from political rallies. “Everything went orderly and there were no surprises,” he wrote over the weekend to his four million followers. “The political environment has really matured.”

Another mainland businessman who spent several days in Taiwan said the election had a profound impact on his understanding of politics. Seated on a plane bound for Beijing on Sunday night, he described how he had been led to believe that Taiwan’s democracy was chaotic and shallow, its elections prone to violence. Not anymore, he said.

“This is an amazing idea, to be able to choose the people who represent you,” said the man, who asked to remain nameless so he could speak without restraint. “I think democracy will come to China. It’s only a matter of time.”

Whether or not democracy is in China's future, it appears that the elections and in particular their peaceful and orderly nature significantly influenced some in China. It has even had an impact in Hong Kong, where people enjoy many freedoms not found in mainland China. As an example, I'll share a short video that was introduced to me by a friend who is a Hongkonger. I don't have a translation of the text in the video, but I'll provide an introduction to the video and a rough summary (not a formal translation) of the text accompanying it on Vimeo (thanks to Yaping Wang for help in interpreting).

In short, the video "Unhappy Hong Kong" is from the viewpoint of a Hongkonger expressing admiration for the elections in Taiwan. While Hong Kong is supposed to receive democracy-like rights in 2017 there is much that remains uncertain in the eyes of many Hongkongers. The accompanying text asks whether Chinese people need to be controlled in order for their countries to succeed and considers it a shame that a city as developed as Hong Kong can't enjoy democracy. It also says that Taiwan doesn't desire to become a 2nd Hong Kong, and that the KMT (the party that effectively won the election) is paying more attention to the ideas expressed by the opposition party given the numbers of people who expressed their views peacefully through voting. It also asks the question of whether Hong Kong will forge ahead alongside Taiwan as a pioneer in establishing democracy for Chinese people or will give up and become a puppet of China.

Here's the video (all scenes appear to be from Taiwan):

香港不高興 from MagicHour Studio on Vimeo.

If anyone can provide a formal translation to the video and the description accompanying it on Vimeo I'd be happy to post it.

While there exist a mix of feelings in Taiwan regarding the results themselves and some believe more political reform is required, the election process showed that many valued the opportunity to voice their opinion freely -- whether through speech, voting, or other forms of expression. Their actions have not only had an impact in Taiwan, but in mainland China as well.


UPDATE: Translated version of the video can be found here.

Time to Vote in Taiwan

This Saturday many Taiwanese will do something that can't be done in mainland China. An entry on Wikipedia [choose your own adverb] states: "The election for the 13th-term President and Vice-President of the Republic of China (traditional Chinese：第十三任中華民國總統副總統選舉) will be held in the Free Area of the Republic of China (ROC) on January 14, 2012."

It's an important election, but I'll refrain from writing about the election itself. Instead, I'll simply point you to the informative "Taiwan 2012" section of the blog Ballots & Bullets which is "produced in partnership with the School of Politics and International Relations, the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies and the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham" and can be found here.

In the election spirit a Taiwanese friend of mine who is currently working in Beijing shared the image that currently exists on the homepage for Google in Taiwan:

And on Friday she returned to Taiwan to as she wrote "excercise my democratic rights". Apparently she isn't the only Taiwanese to be returning to Taiwan for this purpose. As she shared and CNN reports:

As many as 200,000 people -- most of them mainland China-based Taiwanese - are expected to return to Taiwan this weekend for an election viewed as critical to the future of an economy that has boomed thanks to warmer ties with Beijing.

Taiwan does not allow absentee voting and the growing political clout of Taiwan's expatriate businessmen -- known as Taishang in Chinese -- will be a determining factor in elections that will set the tenor of the relationship with Beijing.

"Because of the closeness of the race, this election has the highest ever number of returnees," says Professor Ray-Kuo Wu of Fu Jen University, adding that estimates could be as high as 250,000 returnees. "Corporate bosses have mobilized their employees to participate in these elections like never before."

It would be interesting to know whether the voting patterns of the returnees from mainland China significantly differ from other Taiwanese.

I won't express my thoughts on which candidates I hope will win. Instead, I'll simply express that I'm happy for the Taiwanese people on their election day.