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AnonymousFor the past a few days, all medias in Taiwan focus on a diplomatic scandal that Vice Premier Chiou I-jen of Taiwan is suspected of corruption involving an alleged attempt to defraud the government of nearly $30 million. Chiou was responsible for choosing two intermediaries who were entrusted with the money in 2006 as part of an attempt to induce the South Pacific country of Papua New Guinea to grant diplomatic recognition to Taiwan. Senior officials said the two men hoodwinked the Foreign Ministry and took the money for themselves. However, many people in Taiwan believe that Chiou was part of it and may know it from very beginning. Since Chiou has been one of Chen Shui Bian's (the president of Taiwan) closest aides, this scandal is giving a tarnish on Chen's second term just 15 days before Chen hands over the country to the new president Ma Ying-jeou.
Given China's growing financial power, Taiwan has lost ground fast in recent years in terms of diplomatic recognition. It now has relations with 23 states, compared with more than 170 for China. Since Taiwanese government is extremely eager to induce some small countries to grant diplomatic recognition to Taiwan, it has spent a lot of "secret money" on building up relations with authorities of those small countries under table. It also gives some ambitious intermediaries and authorities of those countries a chance to take advantage of Taiwanese government for getting a huge amount of money from it. Taiwan should learn a lesson from this scandal and review its diplomatic policy thoroughly. It cannot afford of being fooled again.
The news is on Washington Post website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/05/AR2008050501248.html
AnonymousContinue to talk about this Taiwanese diplomatic scandal. Taiwan's Vice Premier Chiou I-jen said on Monday that he will quit the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, effectively immediately, and soon resign from his Cabinet post to take responsibility for a two-year-old diplomatic scandal involving Papua New Guinea. He also vowed to drop out of Taiwan's political scene forever after leaving the government.
What a good news for all Taiwanese people. However, I think the most important thing is that the government has to find out where those $30 million went and to whom. Now one of the middlemen, Jin, is disappeared and the other one, Wu, remains in Taiwan and is under 24-hour police surveillance to protect his personal safety and prevent his escape. If it is as some media suspecting that Chiou and other government officials (including the president Chen Shui-Bian) may have colluded with these two middlemen to bilk money from the state coffers, we have reason to believe that the first middleman, Jin, might be threaten not to going back to Taiwan forever. Hopefully, this scandal will be cleared soon not like the other previous unsolved scandals in Taiwan, such as the scandal of purchasing French Fregates Lafayette in 1993 and two bullets before general election in 2004.
The related news can be found on the website:
http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=117464&ctNode=45 (Taiwan Headlines)
AnonymousPiraro, Dan. “Bizarro.” Cartoon. Daily Breeze [Torrance] 27 Dec. 2007, South Bay ed.: 13.
This cartoon depicts two men wearing hardhats, long coats, and carrying briefcases who are standing on the Great Wall. As one man reads a piece of paper, the other says, "The whole thing is going to have to come down. It’s full of lead." After three recalls in Summer 2007 of lead paint detected in toys from China by Mattel and dozens of other companies, China agreed to ban lead paint in toys exported to the USA.
AnonymousInternational Herald Tribune reports today that he foreign minister of Taiwan and two other top officials, Vice Premier Chiou I-jen and Vice Defense Minister Ko Cheng-heng, resigned Tuesday over a botched attempt to win diplomatic recognition from Papua New Guinea. This is the first time in Taiwan history that three top officials resigned on the same day for such a diplomatic scandal. Taipei was very embarrassed by the public disclosure that about $30 million, which had been intended for Papua New Guinea in exchange for its switching diplomatic allegiance from Beijing, had disappeared.
As a Taiwanese, I totally agree with the comment of a political analyst at Chinese Culture University in Taipei. He said "People feel humiliated by the government's incompetence. It's a joke to the outside world - how could the government be cheated like this? It's proof to many that they're a bunch of Boy Scouts and amateurs." Although I am not living in Taiwan anymore, I still watch the Taiwanese news channel and newspaper everyday for further information about this scandal because it's really a ridiculous and unforgivable mistake. The new president and his new cabinet is going to inaugurate within 14 days. I hope they will continue to investigate this scandal and find out who actually are behind it and took money away from people in Taiwan.
This news is on the website:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/06/asia/taiwan.php
AnonymousPresident Hu Jin-tao of China arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday for a visit. Hu is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Japan in a decade. China-Japan relations have taken after years of friction over disputed borders, Japan's treatment of its wartime invasion of China, protests against Japan in China and general Japanese unease over Beijing's rapidly growing diplomatic, military and economic power. Hopefully, this visit will become a new starting point for both countries. After all, the peace and stability and economy in the region rely on both countries to work on together.
The related news is on the website:
Anonymoushttp://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/05/japan.china.ap/index.html
Japan-China summit will stress goodwill
"Chinese President Hu Jintao makes China's highest-level visit to Japan in a decade this week to stabilize newly warming ties between the longtime rivals, in a trip likely to gloss over the knotty issues that bedeviled relations for years.
During the five-day visit that begins Tuesday, Hu is expected to play pingpong with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and chat about pandas. ......
......
One item on Japan's wish list is a panda. Ling Ling, a 22-year-old giant panda at Tokyo's largest zoo and a symbol of friendship with China, died last week of heart failure. "I heard that the main reason people used to go to Ueno Zoo was the panda. It would be nice if we have a panda there again," Fukuda told reporters in Tokyo last week."
......
AnonymousTibetan Envoy Calls Talks With China a 'Good First Step'
An envoy of the Dalai Lama says talks between Chinese officials and representatives from the Tibetan government-in-exile were a "good first step." The talks in southern China followed international pressure on Beijing to open discussions after weeks of unrest in Tibet. Naomi Martig reports from Hong Kong.
Following the one-day talks in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, special envoy Lodi Gyari confirmed that a second round of talks will be held between Tibetan and Chinese officials.
"We had a very candid discussion," said Gyari.
Lodi Gyari was speaking at Hong Kong's international airport, where he and another Tibetan envoy were preparing to return to Dharmsala, India, the home of the exiled Dalai Lama.
A date for the next round of talks was not set, but Lodi Gyari says talks with Chinese negotiators went as planned. State-run media are reporting that Chinese officials told the Dalai Lama's envoys that recent protests had created new obstacles to communication.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry official on Tuesday told journalists that the Beijing government was sincere in wanting to pursue talks with the Dalai Lama's representatives. But the official said, the Tibetan exiles must show sincerity also, if talks are to continue.
The talks were the first meeting between the two sides in more than a year, and came less than two months after anti-Chinese protests in Tibet. The Beijing government says 23 people died in the riots, but exile groups and human rights organizations say the death toll from the subsequent government crackdown is much higher. The casualty figures cannot be independently verified.
China's government accuses the Tibetan spiritual leader of inciting the violence, a charge the Dalai Lama has denied.
Barry Sautman, an associate professor of social science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, says the talks are useful because it forces both sides to sift through sensitive issues.
"The Tibet question is going to eventually have to be settled by some compromise solution short of China falling apart," he said.
The Dalai Lama's representatives and officials from China have met numerous times in recent years, but with no improvement in relations. Sautman says that although the issue is decades old, the two sides have the ability to improve the situation because the violence is not severe.
"In Tibet by and large, most of the demonstrations that occurred recently were peaceful demonstrations, although a few of them especially the one in Lhasa was violent. But there aren't any guerrilla organizations, for example, operating in Tibet," said Sautman. "And by and large there haven't been many bombs that have been set off either in Tibet or China proper. And the two communities contrary to popular opinion don't necessarily hate each other."
The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. China claims Tibet as its territory, but many Tibetans say Beijing is trying to suppress their traditions and culture.
China has accused the Dalai Lama of trying to split the country. The Dalai Lama, however, says he is only calling for Tibetan autonomy, and not independence.
AnonymousNepalese Police Detain More Than 50 Pro-Tibet Protesters
By VOA News
06 May 2008
Police in Nepal have detained more than 50 Tibetan protesters as they prepared to demonstrate near the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu.
The protesters were traveling to the embassy in buses when they were stopped by police and driven to detention centers.
Nepal is home to some 20,000 Tibetan refugees and has seen daily, pro-Tibet demonstrations since violence erupted in Tibet in March.
Police have been detaining the protesters but are generally freeing them the same day.
Nepal regards Tibet as part of China.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
AnonymousCohen, Sasha, perf. Secret Talents of the Stars. CBS. Los Angeles. 8 Apr. 2008.
"Secret Talents of the Stars," is a weekly television show on Monday at 8:00 p.m. that reveals the unknown talents of well-known celebrities. Each week, celebrities compete to determine who has the best-unknown talent. Each celebrity on "Secret Talents of the Stars" fulfills his or her dream by practicing, and then performing live. Olympic figure skater, Sasha Cohen’s secret talent is becoming a contortionist. However, in order to fulfill her dream and to perform her talent she worked countless hours on a routine with a Chinese contortionist team from Beijing. It was amazing to view such talent, as well as watch such young Chinese girls perform contortionist routines. This episode of "Secret Talents of the Stars" reminded me of the performance we saw last year in China.
AnonymousPhilharmonic performance helps soothe strained Beijing-Vatican relations
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24506531/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24506531/
Associated Press
updated 9:44 p.m. ET May 7, 2008
VATICAN CITY - The China Philharmonic Orchestra performed for Pope Benedict XVI in a landmark concert Wednesday that could indicate warming relations between Beijing and the Vatican.
Benedict called it a "truly unique event" and offered a "thank you" in Chinese at the end of the hour-long concert.
He praised music as a bridge between cultures and peoples and expressed greetings "to all the people of China as they prepare for the Olympic Games." The pontiff said he wanted to reach out "to your entire people" and that he had a "special thought" for Chinese Catholics loyal to the papacy.
Benedict, a classical music lover, sat in an embroidered ivory velvet chair and listened intently to Mozart's "Requiem." He applauded at the end.
"This is a glorious moment that will be cherished long in our memories," conductor Yu Long said in brief remarks to the pope and guests before the concert began. "I hope tonight's performance will help spread a message of peace and love."
Strained relations
Ties between the Vatican and China's communist government have been strained for decades.
"Music is beyond any religion, culture, language, and I would say music is the language of God because language is understanding each other," the conductor told The Associated Press in an interview before the evening concert in the Paul VI auditorium.
He said he wanted to send a message to the Chinese people about the value of understanding Western culture — and added: "especially I hope the whole world can also understand us."
Yu led the 75-member orchestra in the "Requiem" and a Chinese folk song, "Jasmine Flower."
The orchestra was accompanied by the 70-member Shanghai Opera House chorus.
"I am especially honored to perform at the Vatican and for the pope," he said, calling it a "double honor" because Benedict is a Mozart expert.
Relations with Beijing takes front seat
Benedict has made the improvement of relations with Beijing a priority of his papacy.
China's officially atheist Communist Party cut ties with the Vatican in 1951 and the two sides have not restored formal ties.
Beijing objects to the Vatican's tradition of having the pope name his own bishops, calling it interference in China.
China appoints bishops for the state-sanctioned Catholic church. Still, many of the country's estimated 12 million Catholics worship in congregations outside the state-approved church.
It wasn't clear if the event would move the Vatican and China toward reconciliation, but the Vatican's No. official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was quoted by Italian news agencies as saying Wednesday that the concert was a sign of hope for improvement.
Although they have no diplomatic ties, China's ambassador to Italy attended the concert.
Diplomacy through music
It is not the first time that classical music has served a diplomatic purpose. In February, the New York Philharmonic played in North Korea.
The Chinese orchestra played for the Italian Senate in 2004 but did not stop at the Vatican then. Still, Yu called that performance a first step toward performing for the Vatican.
"I'm not in politics but everybody feels that music can bring peace and love to peoples," he said, speaking in English at a hotel near Rome.
Yu, who studied in Berlin, said earlier that he planned to greet Benedict in the pontiff's native German.
Before the concert, violinist Chan Zhao said she was "very honored, very moved and a little bit nervous."
The orchestra will also perform in Venice, Italy, and Vienna, Austria.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24506531/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24506531/
AnonymousFrom Times OnlineMay 9, 2008
China shows little desire to exert pressure on BurmaJane Macartney in Beijing
Many countries are looking to China to play a role in persuading cyclone-devastated Burma to open its doors to foreign aid workers in addition to emergency relief supplies.
But it is unlikely that Beijing would take such an active part. Its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries has for decades been the linchpin of its foreign policy.
......
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3900686.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093
AnonymousMany Chinese believe feng shui or some superstitious things. I am Chinese, but I don’t believe those things. When I was young, my parents believed superstitious things. They told me I would be poor because the time I was born and other things. I did not believe it after I have my religion. I am glad that I did not believe it because I am not poor right now. I feel that when people believe superstitious things, it will really happen. If you are not, you are fine. You will not be bothered by those things.
AnonymousThere was a conference in Beijing. This conference was about to modernize their nuclear weapon because they felt their nuclear weapon had fallen behind their major power. China guaranteed that China would never use nuclear weapon to against a non-nuclear country. I hope that China will keep his words. If nuclear war happens, it will destroy much of the earth and many of the people. [Edit by="ganderson on May 9, 8:33:48 PM"][/Edit]
AnonymousThis article was on the nytimes.com website.
It is an article about the recent investigation into child labor law infringement. Many children are recruited from the poorest areas to work as migrant workers in factories.
"A scandal involving Liangshan’s children first came to light late last month, when Southern Metropolis, a state-run newspaper, reported that as many as 1,000 school-age workers from the area were employed in manufacturing zones near Hong Kong.
The report was deeply embarrassing for Beijing, which is preparing to host the Olympics and coping with international criticism of its handling of riots in Tibet. Last week, the authorities in Liangshan said they had detained several people for recruiting children and illegally ferrying them off to factories."
Although the Chinese government is now downplaying the numbers, the writer was able to interview at least 2 dozen families in just a week that report of the hardship and abuse that has happened to children that have returned from working in factories. Not only are they underage, these children are also being exploited and there are reports of abuse. Many are also underpaid, making less than 25 cents a day compared to the minimum lawful wage of 65 cents a day. The article also tells of the poor living conditions in the rural communities that force children to leave home in order to help support their families. The video we saw in class seems tame compared to what is reported in this article, especially since this is about children.
Anonymous"The economy is booming but behind the successes lurk some uncomfortable questions – about poverty, pollution, censorship and a catalogue of human rights abuses. How the government answers them may define China’s image for decades to come."
This article briefly touches on issues such as gender imbalance, pollution, execution, Tibet, censorship, the wealth gap, etc.