The agricultural fair in Boao should be interesting. I drove past the conference center earlier this year; they’re doing a credible job in terms of turning that place into a meeting place for international conventions.
Only in the PRC can Lien Chan freely speak his mind. If he tried to say the same thing in Tainan, they probably try to beat him with sticks and throw rocks at him.
Gee, no mention of the petulant fiscal position the KMT adopted in bringing down the country’s stock market when he was in charge? No mention of his party’s support for illegal paid mobs rampaging around the country’s financial hub? Or is it simply that poor old Lien is finding NT$500 lunch boxes not to his taste anymore?
The sheer hypocrisy of that speech is mind numbing. Believe me, your shallow little game is also glaringly obvious in posting it
What about you ac, care to address the threat to AWOL and his family by your beloved mob?
Fuckwits!
HG
:roflmao:
now if he were to say that president hu is an inept moron, or that tianamen was indeed a massacre …
If any of the above contradicts Lien’s comments, I’d be interested in hearing it. The idea that the value of the stock market has anything to do with the economy at large is a stretch, even if you accept that whatever % of saving were invested in the market… besides, TWII is already at 1999 levels, and actually outperforming all major US indices (S&P, Nasdaq, Dow) for the past 5 years.
If your point is that Lien Chan hasn’t given a complete analysis of the history of the Taiwanese economy since 1895… I don’t get it.
Not sure why your panties are twisted so tight recently, HGC.
Now, is it really so bad to live in a green utopia, even though everybody is equally poor? Oh, no, the Greenies are RED. I knew it. :raspberry:
Wouldn’t a better headline have been “Political Has-been Upset Everyone Else Getting Attention Now”?
I suppose this is one of the pleasant aspects of modern democracy. Everything is yet again diluted down to cult of personalities: for and against. You’re either passionately in support of Bush/CSB/Lien/SMT as an individual, or you despise him with a passion.
Politics would be more efficient if we got rid of names, colors, and parties. Perhaps if we assigned all politicians numbers and kept them in total anonymity, there might actually be more informed discussion about the issues.
I, too, am a believer that in the ideal world, the selection of a leader should be done like a double-blind drug test, with anonymity on both sides and carried out over a period of time to ascertain a confident result.
I suppose this is one of the pleasant aspects of modern democracy. Everything is yet again diluted down to cult of personalities: for and against. You’re either passionately in support of Bush/CSB/Lien/SMT as an individual, or you despise him with a passion.
Politics would be more efficient if we got rid of names, colors, and parties. Perhaps if we assigned all politicians numbers and kept them in total anonymity, there might actually be more informed discussion about the issues.[/quote]
More meaningless paff. The term cult of personality is almost uniquely reserved for political leaders on your side of the strait. Since none of them have had anything even vaguely representing personality since Mao, it’s largely fallen into disfavour there also.
Why that cynical piece of crap about Lien? You do see how cynical his comments are, right? What is your point? Although I dio think you are capable of immense stupidity CCtang, I don’t think you are a complete imbecile. Please enlighten us.
HG
I don’t know how you can say that with a straight face considering what’s going on in Taipei and Kaohsiung right now. It’s not Mao-esque (not much could be), but it’s clearly a high degree of irrational obession about individuals… on both sides.
The point isn’t about Lien, although apparently your blinders go on as soon as the name appears. As I said above, the article’s just as interesting if we took out the name and replaced it with politician X.
The point is: pan-Blue and Communist cooperation continues on the basis of shared interests (the economy, primarily). It’s becoming increasingly institutionalized with every passing year. Every conference that brings together (even mid-level) KMT and CPC bureaucrats strengthens this bond even further. Business cards and phone numbers are being exchanged, and joint business ventures are being established/funded. This is different from taishang and local CPC secretaries turning a blind-eye towards each other (as had been the norm for much of the past 15 years)… this is the two sides shaking hands and agreeing on policy as it applies to Taiwan.
What happens in the streets of Taipei is largely irrelevant, as far as I’m concerned (not residing on Taiwan)… it’s a circus that serves no meaningful end. The real action is happening at the tectonic level, where gradual movements is changing the nature of cross-strait relations in far more fundamental ways.
Okay CC, I see I misread your motive on that one. Apologies.
However, surely you can see that Lien’s arrival in China and talk about the economy is all about point scoring at home? As we have discussed several times here, the economy is actually doing quite well, thank you. Albeit, with the stock market, which is how most Taiwanese gauge the economy, no longer the reliable little earner it once was. Mind you, this is in no small part due to the blow to sentiment delivered by the KMT under Lien’s watch.
I am with you in the hope for eventual stronger ties, though.
HG
[quote=“cctang”]
…
The point is: pan-Blue and Communist cooperation continues on the basis of shared interests (the economy, primarily). It’s becoming increasingly institutionalized with every passing year. Every conference that brings together (even mid-level) KMT and CPC bureaucrats strengthens this bond even further. Business cards and phone numbers are being exchanged, and joint business ventures are being established/funded. This is different from taishang and local CPC secretaries turning a blind-eye towards each other (as had been the norm for much of the past 15 years)… this is the two sides shaking hands and agreeing on policy as it applies to Taiwan.
What happens in the streets of Taipei is largely irrelevant, as far as I’m concerned (not residing on Taiwan)… it’s a circus that serves no meaningful end. The real action is happening at the tectonic level, where gradual movements is changing the nature of cross-strait relations in far more fundamental ways.[/quote]
Oh yes, sure … grabbing some more foreign money, including Taiwanese, to buy more military gear, missiles to point at Taiwan …
I think the more immediate need is to buy some more red t-shirts. 
HG
Only problem for Lien is that he is wrong.
Taiwan’s stock market is above 7,000 again despite chaos on the streets of the capital, unemployment is below 4%, and Taiwan exported a record US$20 billion in September. If more of that US$35 billion had been invested in Taiwan, instead of China, things would probably be even better.
Taiwan’s economy is nothing like Guangdong’s anymore, and that’s a good thing.
Damned right. How can there ever be any hope for patching up things at home when this loathsome fucker can so cynically drop bullshit like that on the mainland? Obviously there’s not going to be a single journalist there that would question his statments about the economy.
Interesting how the SCMP took it hook line and sinker. You could blame that on outrageously sloppy journalism if it wasn’t for that paper’s track record. It really is no longer fit for fish wrap.
HG
If this is about point scoring at home, at least pan-Blue stalwarts like the UDN and China Times would’ve covered this in great detail. They didn’t. The Taiwanese press is worrying about the game of tag being played on the streets of Taipei and Kaohsiung. The press’s focus is to sell papers, not to study the issues that really matter. In the long run, the cooperation between the KMT and the CPC matters far more than which individual stole what from which supermarket.
As far as whether the economy is actually “doing quite well”… it doesn’t really matter in this context, does it? Money flows downhill like water; you can’t tell a pool of water it’s already “low enough”… given a gap, gravity will pull it somewhere lower. Taiwanese capital will continue to flow to mainland China because that’s what makes the most economic sense. I’ll say this again: there’s nothing in business or technology that the Taiwanese can do that the mainland Chinese can not do. If a Taiwanese company is kept out of the mainland Chinese market by whatever artificial barrier, then it’ll (eventually) have its ass kicked by its mainland Chinese competitor. If Taiwanese companies continue to integrate with Chinese manufacturing/partners and sell to the Chinese market, the Taiwanese economy will continue to show the strength you mentioned above.
And the CPC and the KMT are today exploiting a gap in the temporary dam restricting the already steady flow, and working towards establishing an even wider channel between the two straits.
In the mean time, the DPP administration continues to either call for a “Blue Ocean” strategy, or organize pathetic conferences trying to rally investment for Costa Rica, India, and Vietnam. Basically, the DPP is trying to design a system that’ll help water flow uphill. Good luck with that.
What percentage of that $20 billion export headed to mainland China? 40% ($8.18 billion). If more of the $35 billion had been invested in Taiwan instead of China, that number would be lessened by the Taiwanese companies that subsequently went bankrupt trying to compete with international companies investing on the mainland. Cut off investment in mainland China tomorrow, and you wouldn’t be as impressed with these numbers a decade from now.
Actually, Lien Chan is a pathetic old worm that doesn’t give shit about the Taiwanese and their economy, living off the ill-gotten fortune of his father … now trying to claim his place in Taiwan’s history …
And if you think that moving labour to a low cost economy will strengthen Taiwan’s economy, think twice … it will just inflate the wallets of the rich that invest in slave labour in China …
The role of the press is to question, not regurgitate. Sadly the economic imperative has seen a lowering in standards everywhere. In the case of HK and the SCMP this is particuarly galling. Well at least to anyone who cares about democracy or democratic institutions.
Flowing up, flowing down, black cats/white cats?
Right. How is SMIC coming along these days?
Taiwan’s economic fundamentals remain rock solid by any measure you care to take. Obviously some improvement in cross strait relations could mean a vast and faster uptick. But even with the barriers that are in place, Taiwanese companies simply have not slipped in global rankings.
Now the real problem is that the KMT is simply no longer the sole rep for Taiwan, or likely to be ever again.
India and Vietnam, at least, are very promising indeed. Trust me, there are a considerable volume of investors that prefer these two countries to China.
HG