Bad news from Taiwan
by tdaxp ~ November 11th, 2008
The extent that this is the fault of the political immaturity of the KMT (jailing an opposition figure), the Communist Party (encouraging it), or the Democratic People’s Party (perhaps committing the crimes implied)… Taiwan’s arrest of its former President is a bad sign:
Taiwan’s former president jailed in corruption probe | csmonitor.com
Taipei, Taiwan - Former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian was detained on suspicion of corruption Tuesday, continuing the fall from grace of a prominent champion of the island’s pro-independence cause.Taiwan TV showed Mr. Chen being led in handcuffs from a prosecutor’s office to a courthouse-bound car, as police lined the streets. He raised his cuffed hands before getting into the car, yelling “Political persecution!” and “Go Taiwan!”
Late Tuesday night he was taken to a hospital and reportedly claimed to have been injured by police while in custody.
The detention of the defiant nationalist comes amid a warming trend in cross-strait relations under the current, China-friendly president Ma Ying-jeou. Last week China and Taiwan signed another raft of economic agreements during a visit by a top Chinese negotiator, though the visit was marred by violent anti-China protests here.
The KMT ruled Taiwan as a dictatorship for generations, and is currently showing what happens to successful politicians who oppose it. A disturbing move for this little democracy near mainland China.
November 11th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
The rats that are running Taiwan are kissing asses of those chinese commies and are selling Taiwan to china.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:29 am
On the bright side, this confirms Tom’s thoughts: [1]
The KMT’s even arresting anti-Chinese politicians, which certainly indicates which direction it favors.
The downside, of course, is that Taiwan is not as democratic as we had hoped.
The world is signaling that it is watching [2], at least.
[1] http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/2008/11/ha_i_regained_my_balance.html
[2] http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/11/13/2003428552
November 13th, 2008 at 1:45 am
It’s time to just watch what happens out there, not directly or indirectly involved. We are broke!! Whether it’s Taiwan or Iran or Georgia, we should let them do what’s right for them. We shouldn’t be sending stupid signals such as we’ll protect Taiwan or attack Iran or support Georgia. I’m not advocating isolation but we need to realize that we shouldn’t be borrowing money and helping others. Let’s help ourselves first.
November 13th, 2008 at 4:12 am
How prescient! That is just the subject of a chapter I am writing, tentatively titled “An Outbreak of Democracy,” for the new collection of threats in the Age of Obama, edited by Mike Tanji [1,2]!
[1] http://haftofthespear.com/2008/11/in-the-age-of-obama/
[2] http://www.nimblebooks.com/wordpress/2008/10/call-for-nimble-books-on-the-age-of-obama/
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:09 pm
[...] unfortunate news from Taiwan, and not Thailand, shows the potentially destabilizing effects of free elections. If China can [...]