Taiwan’s Front Line

It’s not Penghu Island that was the site of conflict between Mainland China and Taiwan. Rather, it was the World CyberGames in Seattle, Washington. According to the Taipei Times, several jealous Chinese gamers took out their frustrations on their Taiwanese counterparts:

Taiwanese player Liu You-chen (劉祐辰) won the bronze medal in the grand final of Project Gotham Racing 3 and displayed the Republic of China (ROC) flag during the award ceremony.

More than 10 Chinese gamers and Chinese media employees scrambled toward the stage to grab the flag.

Surely, several pairs of plastic-rimmed glasses were broken during the fisticuff. Whether this bizarre behavior came from the Chinese without provocation is unknown. Seattle police were called to maintain order.

Taiwan still plans to participate in the 2008 Olympics held in Beijing. It should be interesting to see the reaction if and when a Taiwanese athlete stands on the podium in front of a Chinese crowd.

Forgot Myanmar Already, Huh?

A recent article in Irrawaddy claims that nothing is known about several Burmese comedians where were arrested during the recent protests. Popular comedian cum political performance artist, Zaganar, is the most high profile of these arrests. To this date, no one knows of his condition or whereabouts.

Irrawaddy also cites sources inside Myanmar who claim that several people arrested during the late September demonstrations have died while in police custody. If that is,in fact, the case, then the bloodiest part of the conflict between demonstrators and authorities is just getting started.

Unfortunately, Myanmar is no longer making front page news. The junta seems to have been successful in its tactics. They are now able to carry out their brutal reprisals away from the public eyes.

Two Sides to Every China

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the selection of Beijing as the site for the 2008 Olympics. Critics cite China’s human rights record as a reason the Middle Kingdom should have been passed over. Still, China seems to be embracing its role as Olympic host, if only to promote their country.

Others, including activists campaigning for a free Tibet want to show another aspect of China to the world.

As far as sheer cleverness, the anti-Beijing Olympics crew has a leg up.

The bottom line: The Olympics will go on as planned.  There just too much money to be made by companies and individuals from all over the world.  If the past few Games are anything to go on, the Olympics is more about advertising and broadcast rights than athletics.  Surely, though, Bob Costas and NBC will try to convince us otherwise.

Indonesia Gears up for 2009 Elections

And you though the campaigns began early in the US. The Jakarta Post reported early this week that the archipelago’s heavy hitters are positioning themselves for a run at the presidency.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is currently chaired by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, while another former leader, Abdurrahman Wahid heads the Party for National Awakening. Thosewho are seeking high political office are trying to court these two groups as they try to gain support. It is rumored that Megawati Soekarnoputri will attempt to run for president herself. Soekarnoputri served as Wahid’s V.P. before winning the presidency herself. The two remain close allies even though they now head different parties.

Also preparing to run is Jakarta’s Governor Sutiyoso. He is a former army general who has the support of the military. The Jakarta Post reports that he has met with both Wahid and Soekarnoputri in an attempt to gain support.

Meanwhile, plans are being put in place to appoint members to an independent election commission to oversee elections. This is a recipe for controversy and there have already been accusitons of cetain parties trying to fix the appointments.

Unlikely Bedfellows

A summit between North Korea’s Kim Jong Il and South Korean leader Roh Moo Hyun has been surprising for several reasons. That such a meeting occurred at all is, however, not unbelievable. North Korea is basically a pariah state, with no real allies and a grinding poverty problem, Mr. Kim is willing to reach out to anyone who isn’t going to criticize him for being an authoritarian dictator.

The meeting, which is only the second between leaders of the 2 Koreas since 1950, was supposed to take place to build inertia for a unified Korea. In reality, President Roh’s goals were much more modest.

Rather than grand statements, his aides said, Roh may aim for concrete economic and military tension-reducing projects that would gradually nudge the North toward economic openness — the only viable option the South sees for the future of the divided Korean Peninsula.

It will be interesting to see if dangling a carrot from a stick will work. One could argue that it was the desire for economic opportunity that led China and Vietnam to open up to the world. Both saw the writing on the wall when their former allies in Russia and Eastern Europe turned away from communism. Perhaps North Korea is just slower to react. Surely, Mr. Kim sees that despite opening up to international business, the leaders in Vietnam and China have managed to maintain their hold on power.

Fighting Pollution in Thailand

Siting recent complaints about pollution problems, residents of Map Ta Phut in Thailand’s Rayong province are taking some government officials to court. They are suing “Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras and the National Environment Board for failing to declare Map Ta Phut a pollution control area.”The reason is that the Mr. Panpiemras and the board are supposed to help regulate pollution and help residents clean up polluted areas. A study of Rayong found that respiratory illnesses and cancer occurred at a significantly higher rate that the rest of Thailand. Several factories in the area seem to be to blame, including manufacturing sites for US-based Dow Chemicals.Despite the complaints about the recent military coup in Thailand, there seems to be less tolerance for corruption than in the past. The Map Ta Phut case is just one example of a showdown between the populous and their public officials. Could the days of said officials remaining above the law be over? Probably not, but kudos to Thailand for at least allowing such cases to go to court.

Spy Games are Expensive

Taiwan has had trouble recruiting new spies. Substantial cuts to the intelligence budget have made it hard for the island to keep an eye on the mainland, the Taipei Times reports. Also to blame is the indiscretion of Taiwan’s leaders:

Lin Yu-fang (林育方) said in a statement that one of the reasons fewer spies are working for Taiwan in China was President Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) failure to keep some of the intelligence gathered by the spies confidential. During an election campaign in 2003, Chen made public the number of missiles China had pointed at Taiwan and also mentioned the sites where the missiles were deployed.

This is not good news for Taiwan, which has long been under the gun because of its refusal to accept China’s authority. The renagade island remains one of Asia’s flashpoints.

The question is, though, would China risk its booming trade with countries like the US to invade Taiwan, a US ally. This would surely lead to sanctions, if not outright war between the two powers.

For now, anyway, it seems like the brash and unpredictable moves of the Communist Party leaders are a thing of the past. Still, Taiwan still needs to keep its spy network in order, if only to keep China on its toes.

Thailand Gears Up to Fight Corruption

With the national elections slated for the end of December, Thai officials preparing for a fair election in a way which only Thai officials can.

Deputy Prime Minister Sonthi Boonyaratglin approved on Wednesday a master plan to fight money politics, including the offer of rewards for tipsoff on vote buying and a series of awareness campaigns on democratic rule.

This plan seems to be an attempt by the government to make sure that someone like deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra does not gain power. It is widely believed that Thaksin literally bought the votes of Thailand’s lower classes with his billions. The former Prime Minister remains popular amongst those who suffer from poverty in Thailand.

Whether this policy will be useful in insuring fair elections, remains to be seen. It seems that it could very easily turn into a witch hunt or just as easily be ignored by everyone as another policy which pays lip service to the “free and fair” idea but actually is unenforceable.

Ang Lee Plays a Good Guy

Celebrated director Ang Lee, known for films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountian, is doing his part to support grassroots filmmakers in his home nation of Taiwan. According to the Taipei Times, Lee wants to help would-be directors make it big:

“I am happy to receive the award, but I cannot pocket the money because I am one of those few lucky filmmakers who can really rely on this business to make a living. I shall use the money to help more of my kind get a break,” Lee said.

Lee has broken into Hollywood in a big way, but other art house filmmakers, like Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, and Tsai Ming-liang, have not had much success outside the festival circuit. As Ang Lee knows from earlier in his career, artsy films don’t necessarily pay the bills.

If You Can’t Beat Them, Laugh at Them

Sure, some people are cheering Myanmar’s recent demonstrations. What few people know is that there have been individuals who have been fighting the current regime for a long time. Their weapon: laughter.Perhaps that is a bit clique, but it is the truth. Government troops arrested a comedian known as Zargana (real name Maung Thura) two days ago. However, that was not his first run-in with The Man. He has spent several years behind bars, first for helping pro-democracy demonstrators during 1988, then for helping his mother campaign for public office in 1990. Still, his brand of humor and political performance art was not silenced. Here is an example:

(D)uring the government-sponsored “Visit Myanmar Year 1996”, he wore dirty clothes and stood holding traditional Burmese Hpa, or baskets in front of a propaganda billboard. Then he raised a banner which said “Burmese Hpa have to be made famous all over the world.” Hpa in Burmese means prostitute.

This mix of politics and humor is not unprecedented in Myanmar, despite the government’s violent responses to dissent. Most comedians have been banned from performing in public. The recent demonstrations will probably only prolong their absence from the limelight.In a 2006 article published in the Washington Post, Zargana spoke about comedy being something bigger than himself:

Even faced with a performance ban, Zargana seems resolute and brash. He speaks of a “whispering campaign” and insists under-the-table humor will persist in Myanmar’s taxicabs, teashops and dining rooms.”Burmese people love to laugh,” he said. “But if I can’t speak, jokes will still spread. The people will make them up themselves.”