yahoo.com/news/taiwan-block … 26630.html
My question is: Why? This is the very definition of “authoritarian”.
Why? because he’s a shithead, obviously, and a China shill.
Can I say that on the 'mosa?
The US didn’t stop Jimmy Carter from going to Cuba.
Yeah, pretty much this, lol.
Just keepin ET from communicating with the mothership.
This was a good opportunity for Ma to go to Hong Kong and talk about Taiwan’s democracy, to help get the word out that Chinese people can move on from authoritarian government. Well, I guess not. Because this move by Tsai’s government goes against freedom.
I would not expect this from the Tsai government
Lol, yeah, because Ma is a good spokesperson for democracy.
Isn’t Ma a private citizen now? How can he be blocked?
Seems like a short-sighted move by Tsai to me. She tries to please the deep-greens but at the same time gives the fading KMT a shot in the arm, a cause to rally around. To many it will look like petty revenge and make her unity talk another empty slogan. Ma would have received less attention if they would have let him make his quick trip to HK. Now the thing has gone world-wide and is reported by Reuters, Time, VOA, etc.
Right, because people in Hong Kong don’t know about this ‘democracy’ thing.
A cause to rally around? Most people don’t care at all. It’s gonna be off the news in less than a couple of days.
It was a set up right from teh start. He had the tickets bought and bookeed before he even presented teh request. He should have made that request with more time, pending that one of teh rasosn is that the ROC relevant government agencies have to coordinate his security and other issues beforehand, and since they have never done that before, they need time to prepare. Yes, two weeks in government speak is too little time. So just the logistics of it was a bit tight, for starters.
In practical; terms, Ma and his entourage knew this. So, they were gambling to have Tsai’s Administration reject the petition. Then they can cry foul, we are being persecuted, and try to keep those flames of fear alive. If Ma had been given the go, then he would have used this visit for other propaganda purposes. But he knew that was not to be.
Told you they had set a few traps along the way. This is just teh beginning, and the theatrics are just starting. Grab the popcorn.
What if he went to HK and then disappeared like the booksellers, only to pop up in China a couple of days later, apologizing profusely on national television on behalf of the renegade province, and asking for it to be liberated?
He could always go swimming though. Over the years he has mastered the crawl.
The official rule is that a president may not leave the country within a month after stepping down. That is why President Ma had to apply and ask to be excused from that very regulation. The regulation is in place so that a new administration has enough time to change high security protocols and that the last president cannot leak the information voluntarily or otherwise.
Furthermore, Ma’s destination is Hong Kong, which is highly sensitive and the NSA has no past experience cooperating with the agencies in Hong Kong, so the 15-day heads up is insufficient.
LOL, why ever not?
[quote]The official rule is that a president may not leave the country within a month after stepping down. That is why President Ma had to apply and ask to be excused from that very regulation. The regulation is in place so that a new administration has enough time to change high security protocols and that the last president cannot leak the information voluntarily or otherwise.
Furthermore, Ma’s destination is Hong Kong, which is highly sensitive and the NSA has no past experience cooperating with the agencies in Hong Kong, so the 15-day heads up is insufficient.[/quote]
Now now, you’re talking too much sense.
Couldn’t he just e-mail them the nuke codes? Or fly to the USA and take a surprise transfer? I don’t see what confining him here unsupervised is supposed to accomplish.
In that case he could just wait a month
Suppose Ma is confined in Taiwan, how would he know he is unsupervised?
What is the exist strategy if there is an emergency in HK, say, an explosion caused by something anywhere in the city?
How about a delay in the airport? Is there a B plan route?