[quote]http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-02/22/content_6477843.htm
Frank Hsieh, a candidate in Taiwan’s leader election, might pay a price for his excessive frankness this time, after calling local men who have married women from the mainland of China as “piggy brothers”, according to Taiwan media reports.
In Taiwan, about 280,000 local residents have married mainland people. The total number of people living in families with mainland members has topped 500,000, according to local media.[/quote]
Well I guess that’s another 500,000 ROC citizens that won’t be voting for Hsieh. That and most of the green card holding, US dual citizenship ROC citizens, should give Hsieh 1,000,000 non-supporters due to his big mouth.
I wonder what his opinion of Taiwanese with Western spouses is?
I would be surprised if anyone in f.com is supporting the DPP candidate at this point, he’s basically one step away from denouncing anyone not Taiwanese married to a Taiwanese.
The sneering arrogance and gutter politicking that Hsieh has displayed throughout this campaign must surely have cost him whatever miniscule chance he may ever have had of winning the election. I’m sure a majority of non-partisan voters will have seen and heard enough to decide that there’s no way on earth they’ll be giving him their votes, no matter what reservations they may have about his opponent.
Thank goodness there’s only another month of it to go before the electoral boot lands on his butt and he’s consigned to his well deserved place on the scrapheap of politics.
The upper echelons of the DPP look at foreign spouses the same way they look at Chinese spouses–as second rate inhabitants of Taiwan. Just listening to what DPP political appointments had to say about Chinese wives was sickening. If they are willing to speak this way about other Chinese in Taiwan, what do you think they are saying about foreign outsiders from another race? Their callous actions towards foreigners in government and their nasty rhetoric against Mainland women [calling local men who have married women from the mainland of China as “piggy brothers”] only reiterates their nasty brand of “hoklo chauvinism.”
This kind of racism was evident in the United States in 1797, during the XYZ Affair under President John Adams, when the government made it a requirement for foreigners in the United States to reside in the US for 14 years before they could become citizens.
It’s saddening that in the 21st Century, the DPP increased the time period for Chinese women married to Taiwanese to gain citizenship. Vice President Lu once mentioned that aboriginals should go to Latin America, but I have a proposal for Lu, Hsieh, and Chen. When the DPP loses the election, they should go and live in Zimbabwe with Mugabe. Their brand of racism will be particularly welcomed in that failed African state.
[quote=“Ma Ma Ying-jeou”]
“If we launch direct transportation (with China), we can have closer trade links with Southeastern and Northeastern Asia and turn Taiwan into a regional hub to attract foreign investment,” he said. [/quote]
For Taiwan to become a hub, it has to attract global talent and make its environment more foreign friendly. This means eliminating the “this is they way we do it in Taiwan” mentality. This island has a long way to go in comparison with truly international ciities in Asia (such as Singapore). That Hsieh went after Ma for his former green card status makes it clear to me that Frank just doesn’t get it. He doesn’t realize that what Taiwan desperately needs is an infusion of outsiders–whether it’s overseas Taiwanese coming back home, caucasian white collar professionals coming over to work here, or other Chinese in Asia contributing their talent. The educational system here is not producing enough qualified and competent graduates.
Let’s hope this “hub speech” is not just empty rhetoric by Ma (as many other politicians have mentioned the regional hub thing. It gets brought up at election time and then conveniently forgotten).
The APROC Plan - to turn Taiwan into an Asia-Pacific Regional Operations Center - was Siew’s pet project when he was head of the CEPD back in the 1990s (I translated it into English for him when it was first drafted). With Siew as Vice President, the plan will surely be revived and become a main plank of the government’s economic development policy.
The APROC Plan - to turn Taiwan into an Asia-Pacific Regional Operations Center - was Siew’s pet project when he was head of the CEPD back in the 1990s (I translated it into English for him when it was first drafted). With Siew as Vice President, the plan will surely be revived and become a main plank of the government’s economic development policy.[/quote]
I like Siew a lot. He’s Taiwanese, has decades of experience in diplomacy and development, and has excellent project management skills. It will be good to see professionals of his calibre return to work.