Finley, yes and no. They can do the F they want because Taiwan is small fries. And because they know business people generally have no morals and the ones that do don’t have balls so if the choices are given they chose the path of least resistance.
Taiwan is already fucked in this situation. Taiwanese are fat too lazy and complacent to turn back the tires. What’s interesting is Africa, the west, Asia and everyone else is also giving into this. It’s sad, pathetic and frankly frightening that nations with some kind of power still is just as complacent and lazy. Buckle up, you’re going to be ass hurt badly in the future if it isn’t already painfully obvious.
To be honest, it is too late to do anything. And when it could have been done, the Taiwanese were in no position of power to do so. The ones in power, who are not Taiwanese, chose for them and doomed us all.
At this point, that faint hope that US will think we are Kuwait and come to the rescue…it is another world. Not even Afganisthan. Heck, no hope to pull a Nicaragua.
It will be worse than Hong Kong because China has a petrified giant redwood on its shoulder when it comes to Taiwan, and needs a chicken to kill so their monkeys will stay in place.
Taiwan certainly hasn’t done itself any favours. I have a friend in the Air Force who is completely disillusioned about the country’s prospects - not because he believes that a military confrontation could ever end well for Taiwan, but because Taiwanese people in general are so soft and squishy. He’s upset that the Taiwanese not only aren’t interested in putting up some token resistance, but are kowtowing to the CCP in the interests of profit, which seems like a shortsighted game to play.
There’s nothing wrong with business engagement, of course. It usually pours oil on troubled waters. But countries that trade with China should stand on principle, because bowing to the CCP’s demands always backfires: corporate IP gets stolen, profits get whittled down by corruption, burdensome requirements, and unfair competition, and it ends up being pointless. Most people leave a couple of years down the line with their tail between their legs. I’ve seen it happen.
I was reading an insider account of Rupert Murdoch’s flirtation with the Chinese market. Basically, he got taken for a ride and booted out, despite indulging in a lot of ass-kissing. This is Rupert Murdoch we’re talking about - no stranger to tough bargaining and tough opponents. When the rules are stacked against you, the best way to win is not to play.
Unsurprisingly, China broke its promise to Obama in 2015 to not militarize the Spratly Islands chain. Now, not only are they threatening Taiwan, but they are threatening the US Naval flights by warning them that the entire South China Sea IS in fact China.
It was a book, “The Murdoch Method”. I wouldn’t particularly recommend it - it’s really just a lot of shaggy-dog stories about Murdoch - but yeah, that bit was interesting. It’s was perhaps the first time in his life Murdoch went in for some serious brown-nosing in pursuit of a profit (he’d bought satellite bandwidth beaming into China), and it backfired horribly. What a surprise, eh?
A good first step everyone can do easily is stop buying made in China. It’s maybe impossible with complicated things with lots of pets like cars and computers, but it’s still quite easy to find some brands that say made in (not china). I have never had a problem, although sometimes I don’t get the band or features I would prefer.
I hope to share an experience, both showing how rubbish 中國大陸 airlines are, as well as how Taiwan is still getting some recognition.
I asked the agent to help me book the cheapest flight possible. Big mistake. The cheapest was mainland 中國東方. Seven hour layovers at 上海浦東 airport both ways. Only thing to do was smoke in their congested smoking rooms (I’ve since quit smoking anywhere). Rude and obnoxious staff. Insist on trying their crap English with me. I genuinely didn’t even have a clue what they were saying until I spoke Mandarin to them. More fun parts of this story include my telling the bookstore salespeople that their books “中文寫錯” which made them furious. I mentioned that “我喜欢水果” had the third word misspelled. It should be “我喜歡水果” and that’s that. I showed them several other examples and left in a fake anger. Needless to say I bought nothing and left the b!tchy clerks upset. 哈哈哈！
At that time, once passing customs to return home to TW, there were two separate exits “國內” and “國際” or something very similar. I politely asked the attendants: “我要去台灣，他算國內嗎？還是國際 International”. With an annoyed face they pointed me to the international terminal! WIN WIN WIN!
Really? I found sometimes the opposite, but China’s cha bu duo culture is even worst in my experience, I’ve had stuff sent to me that no one could tell me what it was. Also the holidays there are annoying to work with. February is a mess before, during,and after
I’m talking about the initial engagement. Quality is easier to manage in Taiwan , but getting them to move fast on providing a quote has been more difficult for me. I recently had a really bad experience with glass bottle factories here and delightful experience in China.
I decided not to go with China airlines nor pass by China next flight home. A bit more expensive but better quality, faster and no fucking Chinese annoying me in their stupid airport.
Haha . Crazy fool . China airlines are basic but just acceptable , at least when they land on tarmac , EVA pretty high quality but expensive , generally . I have always tried to avoid multi- stopover flights , as they increase the risk of baggage / delay issues exponentially .
Nah, I have reasons for complaining about Air China too, but i wouldn’t mind to fly with them again if needed. China Airlines otoh… Will try to avoid them as much as i can.
. China airlines are basic but just acceptable , at least when they land on tarmac , EVA pretty high quality but expensive , generally . I have always tried to avoid multi- stopover flights , as they increase the risk of baggage / delay issues exponentially .