A reporter from a local TV station, CTI-TV, is interested in recording the viewpoints and outlook on local politics from Westerners and other English-speaking foreigners living in Taiwan. She suggests taping several (maybe 5-6?) people who have an interest in Taiwan politics getting together in some social setting such as a restaurant or (quiet) pub and having a half hour or so discussion with each other, initially based on some provided points of interest. The timing is not fixed yet but an afternoon or evening this weekend in Taipei is suggested. Anybody interested? If you would be (or if you think this is inappropriate), return a quick post here and i will follow up later if there is enough response.
Afterwards we could follow up with another quite ale or three…
Hmm. Interesting that CTI, of all stations, should care what white foreigners think (and let’s face it, why would CTI be interested in any other breed of foreigner?). The question is, can CTI be trusted not to edit out the opinions that will inevitably clash with its dark-blue political line? Such as: “Lien Chan and James Soong would have been put behind bars long ago in [insert country of speaker].”
The risk in participating in this is that you will make some brilliant insights, but you will instead end up looking and sounding like that white guy speaking Taiyu in the Chinese medicine commercial: cute but absurd.
Good luck anyway - it might make some people think. But do try and get hold of the full transcript for the rest of us.
AC Dropout
JiveTurkey
Hartzell
cmndjing
hsiadogah
and for the light entertainment and random commentary:
bob
With an honorary mention for Poagao - who’s almost guaranteed a spot should he apply. After all, how many white Taiwanese citizens are they likely to be able to round up?
Granted, most of them fail on the unspoken “be white” criterion, but still, can you imagine how fun a half hour of TV that could make?
white? i never mentioned that word at all… and i am assured that that is NOT the intended criterion at all…unspoken or not. they simply want a short piece on how westerners (tourists or residents) see taiwan politics before the upcoming election. it’s topical, man.
(automatically include ‘woman’ in this statement, please)
as for the “blue” ness of the station, there are pretty much just as many green as blue voters working in the news department there, and the editing for this story is in the hands of the reporter, not her superiors. and i will be more than happy to provide a transcript if possible (but less than happy to type it up ). maybe tape it yourselves for piece of mind?
so, while the station may well be owned by a company seen to be in the blue camp, they have far less say in the daily running of the news department than you might like to think. i also suspect that you won’t get a whole half hour…maybe two minutes of interesting points of view, if i know how TV works at all…
any in tetsuo’s list are encouraged to attend, i have been reading their posts with more than a few smiles… PS love the catmeat, tetsuo
I wish I could be less cynical, but I’ve come to realize that “westerner” by default means “white” when it comes to most Taiwanese. And if the media are organizing some show for “westerners” the odds are pretty good they want - whether officially stated or (more likely) not - that group stacked with white faces. I sincerely hope to be proven wrong, though.
I seem to have opened an unintended can of very lively worms here forgive me, i am a relative newbie…check the wet ink in my passport…much of this is news to me, and obviously i am still learning my way around this inscrutable country
Yes, but why Westerners, precisely? Why not Filipinas, Indian businessman, African students? Come on!
You obviously don’t work in the news media. If you came across as authoritative and were to say “James Soong is irrevocably tainted by his authoritarian past and his venal present and holds Americans in the deepest contempt even as he impresses them with his passable English,” or “Lien Chan was prepared to see blood on the streets on election night to cover up for his abysmal performance in the polls,” both of which are fair comments, do you think that the reporter would not think twice about how she’ll be received back in the office if she let them through in the final cut? Or if she did, that some comprador in middle management wouldn’t quietly deal with it?
I’m not casting aspersions against the reporting staff of CTI, blue or green, but you cannot expect that CTI would allow its target audience to be under the impression (which I share) that most “white foreigners” in this place who care about anything and have any respect for democratic principles think that the KMT is a parasite that once stole all it could from China and now wants to sell it all back.
But I would be delighted, and humbled, to be proven wrong.
I’d be interested, provided that the others on the panel have lived here for at least a couple of years. One misinformed foreigner on the panel and we’ll all be tarred with the same brush…
My dream team?
1.Hartzell
2.Hexuan
3.Brian Kennedy
4.Cranky Laowai 5.Me.
Hell, who among us can say that we don’t have more to learn?
By the way, as much as generalizations mean anything, I find Taiwanese to be some of the least inscrutable people I have met anywhere - but this can be masked if one doesn’t make the effort to communicate, learn a little history and especially a local language. “Disarming” is a far more appropriate word, unless of course you have to deal with political types. But you already knew that.
Any of the folks from the IP or Taiwan Politics forums would be perfect for this piece.
And by the way,
I didn’t see anything about white folks in there. Filipinas, Indian business people, African students are all welcome, as long as they can speak English.
And of course, being Taiwanese news, this piece would likely be preceded by news on what supermodel Betty bought at the last LV sale and followed by which entertainer insured her legs for millions of dollars.
I didn’t see anything about white folks in there.[/quote]
There’s nothing about white folks in the ROC Constitution, either, yet look at all of the efforts of Hartzell to bring legal rights to the fore, and not just for whites.
As welcomed by you, of course, but do you seriously think that this piece would run if there were no white people on the panel, even though whites are a minority presence among foreigners here? To its target audience, “informed opinion” starts with color, and it helps to be a man, too. Maoman’s list would therefore be perfect, from what I can make out.
This is a short news piece. This thread was started by Urodacus asking Forumosans if anyone wants to be a part of it. I volunteered. However, if the fellows from the IP and Taiwan Politics forums all volunteer then I think Urodacus should use them as they are more involved with politics than myself. I will gladly stand back and wait to watch this piece on TV!
Urodacus also said everyone who speaks English is welcome! Nothing has happened yet, no updates on when, or where, or what. They will filter out who they want when enough people volunteer! The poster is Urodacus and Urodacus only. Nothing about the ROC Constitution. Nothing about white people’s opinions or men’s opinions. Nothing. You are speculating. I am just reading Urodacus’ post.
It’s not if we think this piece will run or not. The only question now is, who is up for it. That’s it.
I don’t think so. If the group is going to be made up of Forumosa posters who have been posting for a while then I hardly qualify. My intention was to offer a few minor caveats, as expressed in the first reply, about the distance between what is being offered and what will likely eventuate and why. I will be interested to see the result - a foreign commentary that has a bit of assertiveness will be very welcome, especially in contrast to the superficial reporting of foreign news agencies and CNN, and despite the pre-set limitations.