Han has been on a roll, traveling much of Asia, to market Kaohsiung and its produce. To some, this represents hope and optimism. To others, this points to deeper political agenda. But the use of the word ‘threat’ seems too heavy-handed!
I’m not a fan of DPP clap trap, but I do think it’s inappropriate for mayors to be engaging in national diplomacy without aligning themselves with MOFA. Ko has also done this too.
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I’m surprised anybody takes the musings of this Taiwan News columnist seriously.
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Of course. KMT literally wants to sell Out Taiwan. He is the National Sales Manager.
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KMT is always going over to meet CCP, they would sell out Taiwan in a second given the chance.
Diplomacy is one thing. Meeting with CCP officials in order to sign deals with CCP enterprises…That is a problem. It us the starting point.
At times when the CCP is covering issues like porcine fever epidemic, business with them should be done with out most care.
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Economy and politics are hard to separate, in the case of China nigh impossible. How many of those companies and enterprises that buy 40% of Taiwan’s exports worth billions of dollars (US) are CCP run or connected? And many of Taiwan’s state-owned companies do business with China. Where does economy stop and politics start?
doing business with china comes with strings attached. taiwan should especially know this. how this guy has any support whatsoever is beyond me.
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It’s all about the $$$.
There’s a lot of greedy so and so’s here.
They think he will open a magical money tree.
Remember his media campaign is not getting all this coverage for free either right…where’s all that cash coming from to get blanket coverage on TV from?
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short term money with long term strings attached. strings that are designed to F you over and only benefit china. its not rocket science, taiwanese only need to look at what has happened in recent years or… africa.
The most worrying aspect isnt this arse, its the quantity of people who seemingly like him and what he stands for. Thats a far more telling problem than just this idiot.
All us foreigners, i suggest keeping your home countrys passports for a fee more years and see how it goes…
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“Han-mania” only exists because of the media structure here. And interestingly university students are pushing back:
Guy
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Here’s a follow-up anecdote about our friends in the KMT.
This morning, I was hoofing it toward an MRT Station in Daan District in our nation’s lovely capital. A KMT candidate was outside the station canvassing votes. He made eye contact with me, and I flashed him a “thumbs down”. As I strode by, he yelled out: “OK, you should go home!”
If I had my wits about me, I would have retorted “Taiwan is my home. Don’t sell it to China!” : D
But this encounter did remind me about how little progress we made in advancing basic non-resident rights during Ma’s administration, despite the fact that the KMT controlled all aspects of government at that time (executive, legislative, etc). I guess too many of us are simply the wrong race. Certainly my colour indicated to this KMT man that I am not part of his nation.
Guy
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I can’t see how Han Guo-Yu can possibly sustain this kind of enthusiasm for another year (or five, depending on when he plans to run for higher office). He’s like the koalas / penguins / pandas in the zoo, or the yellow duck mania–wait awhile, and people will get tired of him and move on to the next craze. There’ll be a scandal or gaffe of some sort. On the other hand, Ma Ying-jeou was also popular before he ran for president… Hmm.
I would have thought that a politician in his position would avoid appearing to genuflect to China, given that the KMT is vulnerable on this point, and would be wiser to emphasize economic problems / dissatisfaction with Tsai Ying-wen. Doesn’t he want to attract middle-of-the-road voters who aren’t KMT partisans? So maybe he’s doing the DPP a favor.
I guess he’s following the Donald Trump tactic of hogging all the media attention from the other candidates, by saying or doing something every day that media people can’t resist covering, even if it is fairly stupid? And now the mania itself has become its own story.
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He agreed to the 92 Consensus, told people here to their faces that he did not say that - hmm, wish we ha live recordings of that event.
People here get what they deserve. Ask any youngster about the situation with the Uighurs, they have no idea. Ask any young pieus Buddist who is planning to go to Tibet if they have any idea what is going on there and that it is about as real as Disneyland. Ask any amah going shopping/sightseeng in China about concerns about liberty and such, she is only concerned about getting cheap stuff. Ask any Taiwanese businessman with factories and he´ll be happy to live as a kingwith servants.
Sigh.
Talk about propaganda. That news channel said he was responsible for the shapes in the sky…made him out to be a god.