Please see the post in the Taiwanese Identity blog.
A few quotes:
"Whereas Ma Ying-jeou pretended to a Taiwan-centric consciousness during the presidential campaign, upon his election and inauguration, he has pursued the ruthless Greater China ideology of the authoritarian one-party KMT dictatorship of his father's generation."
...
"Fortunately for the Siraya people, they had registered their ethnicity in the Japanese colonial era, and some had taken very unique Han surnames. So their descendants have been able to ascertain their ancestry and now seek to reclaim their cultural heritage while throwing off the Han culture that was forced on their ancestors.
But with the colonialist "Greater China" ideology of the Chinese Nationalist Party now currently in power in Taiwan, any attempts to revive non-Chinese Austronesian culture are either treated with neglect and indifference or even suppressed if neglect and indifferent do not do the trick to put out the fire of the cause."
The Taipei Times has an April 23, 2009 article exposing the Ma Ying-jeou administration's opposition to the struggles of the Siraya people to restore their ethnicity.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
A World-wide problem: Journalism's Propaganda, Lies, Spin and Distortion
We need a reformation in Taiwan's journalism and in the journalism of the world. We also need to educate and equip the readers and watchers of the news to sift what they see and hear with critical and logical eyes and ears. The citizens in today's nations, including the nation of Taiwan, seem very susceptible to manipulation and even brainwashing by the media. Corrupt politicians, parties, regimes and despots, together with ideology-driven power wielders in the media and society seem eager to take advantage.
In Taiwan, in particular the Chinese Nationalist Party with its massive bank accounts and stolen assets from the one-party dictatorship era -- along with the Communist party in China which is being given more and more open doors, open windows and inroads by Taiwan's president Ma and the KMT-controlled legislature -- are in the best position to take advantage of and subvert the media of Taiwan even further than it already is. Taiwan Thinktank chairman Chen Po-chih issued a warning about this threat at a freedom of speech forum in Taipei on April 12, 2009 [more... from A-gu]. Furthermore, the KMT authoritarian era designed the education system to create compliant citizens who could easily be brainwashed and manipulated. Even though that era is behind us, there has not been a drastic reform of the education system.
Now more than ever, it is time for us to encourage our neighbors and friends to get educated and inoculated from this pernicious influence in the media.
Following are a few good quotes from a book, Flat Earth News by Nick Davies:
Everyone reported that "The Earth is flat." until someone bothered to check.
Definition of Flat Earth news: "A story appears to be true. It is widely accepted as true. It becomes a heresy to suggest that it is not true -- even if it is riddled with falsehood, distortion and propaganda." (p. 12)
"... the more I looked, the more I found falsehood, distortion and propaganda running through the outlets of an industry which is supposed to be dedicated to the very opposite, i.e. to telling the truth. The more I searched for an explanation, the more alarmed I became by the scale of the problem and by the complexity of its causes."
"... Over the years which I spent running around with a notebook in my pocket, of course I came to see that frequently we fail to tell the truth. The unavoidable reality of journalism is that all of our work is tethered by a deadline and we can never be free to roam as far as we want in search of the evidence we need..."
"... almost all journalists across the whole developed world now work within a kind of professional cage which distorts their work and crushes their spirit..." (p. 2-3)
"The truth is that there is ideology in journalism. Our stories overwhelmingly tend to cluster around the same narrow set of political and moral assumptions about how the world should be run."
(Flat Earth News © Nick Davies 2008, ISBN 9780701181451)
---------
Here is an editorial from Peter Wilby from the Guardian. He seems to single out the Wall Street Journal which might be considered a more "conservative" less "progressive" newspaper which might reflect his own political preferences. But his comments can be applied to the New York Times or any of the major newspapers and wire services around the world.
In Taiwan, in particular the Chinese Nationalist Party with its massive bank accounts and stolen assets from the one-party dictatorship era -- along with the Communist party in China which is being given more and more open doors, open windows and inroads by Taiwan's president Ma and the KMT-controlled legislature -- are in the best position to take advantage of and subvert the media of Taiwan even further than it already is. Taiwan Thinktank chairman Chen Po-chih issued a warning about this threat at a freedom of speech forum in Taipei on April 12, 2009 [more... from A-gu]. Furthermore, the KMT authoritarian era designed the education system to create compliant citizens who could easily be brainwashed and manipulated. Even though that era is behind us, there has not been a drastic reform of the education system.
Now more than ever, it is time for us to encourage our neighbors and friends to get educated and inoculated from this pernicious influence in the media.
Following are a few good quotes from a book, Flat Earth News by Nick Davies:
Everyone reported that "The Earth is flat." until someone bothered to check.
Definition of Flat Earth news: "A story appears to be true. It is widely accepted as true. It becomes a heresy to suggest that it is not true -- even if it is riddled with falsehood, distortion and propaganda." (p. 12)
"... the more I looked, the more I found falsehood, distortion and propaganda running through the outlets of an industry which is supposed to be dedicated to the very opposite, i.e. to telling the truth. The more I searched for an explanation, the more alarmed I became by the scale of the problem and by the complexity of its causes."
"... Over the years which I spent running around with a notebook in my pocket, of course I came to see that frequently we fail to tell the truth. The unavoidable reality of journalism is that all of our work is tethered by a deadline and we can never be free to roam as far as we want in search of the evidence we need..."
"... almost all journalists across the whole developed world now work within a kind of professional cage which distorts their work and crushes their spirit..." (p. 2-3)
"The truth is that there is ideology in journalism. Our stories overwhelmingly tend to cluster around the same narrow set of political and moral assumptions about how the world should be run."
(Flat Earth News © Nick Davies 2008, ISBN 9780701181451)
Here is an editorial from Peter Wilby from the Guardian. He seems to single out the Wall Street Journal which might be considered a more "conservative" less "progressive" newspaper which might reflect his own political preferences. But his comments can be applied to the New York Times or any of the major newspapers and wire services around the world.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Ma, Mafia, and the KMT
Developing --- Present and recent past evidence show links with president Ma Ying-jeou, the KMT and organized crime.
Most recent: Bamboo United gang members meet and escort anti-Taiwan racist and former GIO member Kuo Kuan-ying
(More from: The View from Taiwan)
Earlier this year: on the same week as the legislature passed laws allowing for gambling casinos in Penghu, President Ma met with the "civic organization" wing of Chinese mafia in the U.S. -- "Hip-Sing Association". He did not only meet them, but actually welcomed them into the presidential office. (For perspective: what U.S. president would dare to welcome mob bosses into the White House?). Of course correlation does not necessarily equal causality, but if the Penghu Casino's are allowed by residents, you can be certain that they will not benefit much, but rather the money will go to the mafia and other investors. You can also be certain that the mafia will organize prostitution and drugs and other associated activities as well as extortion, racketeering and other applications of force to keep its control over the gambling industry money there. (A January 9, 2009 Taipei Times article quotes comments made when Ma was hosting the U.S. Chinatown Mafia's association in the presidential office.)
In prior years: before death of exiled notorious mob boss and assassin of Taiwanese professor in the U.S., Ma Ying-jeou's older sister visited him to pay him respects. Later when his body was brought back to Taiwan and a funeral held, his funeral was like a funeral for a head of state with many KMT politicians and many in the media visiting to honor him. (It is also true a few DPP politicians went, but the vast majority were the KMT elite.) I
And more and more questionable and shady deals will go on. As long as KMT elites are in power -- those who do not love Taiwan -- Taiwan will be treated as a place for exploitation, corruption, and making one's fortune before some glamorous retirement in China.
For a crash course on the myriad ties of corrupt politicians and the mafia, Dr. Ko-lin Chin's book, Heijin, is a must read.
Chin, Ko-lin
Heijin : organized crime, business and politics in Taiwan
(An East Gate Book)
© 2003 by M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
ISBN 0-7656-1219-4 (cloth)
ISBN 0-7656-1220-8 (paper)
------------------------
UPDATE 1: More evidence of KMT-Mafia connections -- reported by Taiwan Matters
Take a look at the police allowing mafia thugs to harass students participating in a legal protest at an event when president Ma was giving a speech. How high up did the order come from to the police that they must not interfere with the thugs? Were the thugs actually planted there by the KMT party or Ma himself? If President Ma Ying-jeou is not party to it, he should be outraged that police behaved this way in his country.
UPDATE 2: More on the abuse of student's rights in Tainan by police and unidentified thugs.
Most recent: Bamboo United gang members meet and escort anti-Taiwan racist and former GIO member Kuo Kuan-ying
(More from: The View from Taiwan)
Earlier this year: on the same week as the legislature passed laws allowing for gambling casinos in Penghu, President Ma met with the "civic organization" wing of Chinese mafia in the U.S. -- "Hip-Sing Association". He did not only meet them, but actually welcomed them into the presidential office. (For perspective: what U.S. president would dare to welcome mob bosses into the White House?). Of course correlation does not necessarily equal causality, but if the Penghu Casino's are allowed by residents, you can be certain that they will not benefit much, but rather the money will go to the mafia and other investors. You can also be certain that the mafia will organize prostitution and drugs and other associated activities as well as extortion, racketeering and other applications of force to keep its control over the gambling industry money there. (A January 9, 2009 Taipei Times article quotes comments made when Ma was hosting the U.S. Chinatown Mafia's association in the presidential office.)
CNA photo -- Ma greeting members of the Hip Sing Association
In prior years: before death of exiled notorious mob boss and assassin of Taiwanese professor in the U.S., Ma Ying-jeou's older sister visited him to pay him respects. Later when his body was brought back to Taiwan and a funeral held, his funeral was like a funeral for a head of state with many KMT politicians and many in the media visiting to honor him. (It is also true a few DPP politicians went, but the vast majority were the KMT elite.) I
And more and more questionable and shady deals will go on. As long as KMT elites are in power -- those who do not love Taiwan -- Taiwan will be treated as a place for exploitation, corruption, and making one's fortune before some glamorous retirement in China.
For a crash course on the myriad ties of corrupt politicians and the mafia, Dr. Ko-lin Chin's book, Heijin, is a must read.
Chin, Ko-lin
Heijin : organized crime, business and politics in Taiwan
(An East Gate Book)
© 2003 by M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
ISBN 0-7656-1219-4 (cloth)
ISBN 0-7656-1220-8 (paper)
------------------------
UPDATE 1: More evidence of KMT-Mafia connections -- reported by Taiwan Matters
Take a look at the police allowing mafia thugs to harass students participating in a legal protest at an event when president Ma was giving a speech. How high up did the order come from to the police that they must not interfere with the thugs? Were the thugs actually planted there by the KMT party or Ma himself? If President Ma Ying-jeou is not party to it, he should be outraged that police behaved this way in his country.
UPDATE 2: More on the abuse of student's rights in Tainan by police and unidentified thugs.
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