What is going on here?
The Taipei Times and their pro-independence ilk are already anti-American and now this. Is this just the start of things to come?
China Post pro-unificationists burn American flag
Scroll down a bit and you’ll find it.
I thought the Taipei Times loves George Bush for his support of Taiwan. Why do you say the Taipei Times is Anti-American?
As for The Pro-China Post, they hate anything which stands in the way of their dream of a united strong powerful commie China, so they don’t like the USA for protecting Taiwan from a commie invasion.
The pro-independence Taipei Times and Taiwan News are both supporters of America, primarily because the US supports a Taiwan that isn’t ruled by Beijing. The China Post, on the other hand, sees US as the obstacle to unification, because of its weapons sales to Taiwan and George W. Bush’s promise to do
It could also be that the story wasn’t put on the front page of all papers because we’re not in the USA and not everyone thinks it is such a big deal. Or is even the thought of that an impossibility?
Here’s the perspective from the Taipei Times:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/05/20/story/0000136827
They seemed anti-American because of their “America deserved it” editorial stance during 9/11. Or at least I thought so.
I did notice that China Post has this article on the front page and last week the pro-independence rally was on the third page. This issue clearly shows the biases of the papers.
quote:
Originally posted by MichaelA: The Taipei Times, however, buried the news on page 3 and ran no photo. This is because the Liberty Times is very pro-American and the Taipei Times has been instructed to run no photos of protesters burning the American flag, be they Palestinian or whatever.The view is this: Rather send the cockroaches scurrying by turning on a light to their activities, it’s better to leave the light turned off and pretend the cockroaches don’t exist. That’s why news such as yesterday’s protest gets buried on page 3.
Actually Michael I think you will find it was on page 4. BTW, the managing editor was specifically told yesterday that there MUST be NO picture of the protests.
Chessman 71 writes
quote[quote] They seemed anti-American because of their "America deserved it" editorial stance during 9/11. Or at least I thought so. [/quote]That editorial, if I remember correctly, didn’t imply America deserved it, rather it simply noted that America’s Israel policy might not be beneficial to its interests in the long run. Of course, emotions were running high that day so I can see how someone might have interpreted it that way.
But it is obvious now that even Bush is grappling with this issue after having admonished Sharon for his incursion into Jenin. Does this suggest that Bush is anti-American?
Don’t oversimplify, a pointed criticism of a policy doesn’t mean that someone is anti-the country that implements that policy.
I have friends who’ll tell me that I’ve got character flaws, but I don’t freak out and accuse them of hating me. It’s the same egregious logic.
It was awhile ago, maybe I don’t remember the editorial exactly. If that’s really all they were saying then that’s not so bad.
What really irks me about this flag burning is that I’ve been here a little while and I’m looking at putting down some roots here. But it’s things like this that make me wonder if I can ever call this place home…
Chessman71,
I don’t think you should worry about this too much. Taipei can give one a skewed vision of how Taiwan as a whole feels toward the US. The northern part of Taiwan (and Taipei) is where most of the mainlanders from Chiang Kai Shek’s regime settled. There is a small but very vocal minority that clamors for reunification but they are politically dwarfed by the Taiwan independence crowd (mainly DPP and TSU) as well as the “let’s hope Hu Jintao promotes reforms so we can all be a big happy Chinese democracy” group (a good part of the KMT and some PFP members.)
And even James Soong isn’t stupid enough to completely alienate the US until he figures out what his options are.
The people you saw burning flags are mainly New Party folks who were soundly trounced in the last legislative elections, so this is the only way they can get their voices heard now.
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Sanders: ...the managing editor (of the Taipei Times) was specifically told yesterday that there MUST be NO picture of the protests.
Told by whom? Presumably, if such an instruction was issued at the Taipei Times, then it would have been issued at its mother paper, the Liberty Times, too. No doubt in the case of last week’s pro-independence march there was an instruction that the MUST be a picture - but not of the pro-unification people getting pelted with stones by those drunken betel nut munchers from the TSU! OK, maybe they weren’t drunk - just high on Wisby.
I think that they should burn the Canadian flag once in awhile because those guys just never get any attention and it might just make them feel like they matter more in the world other than when people put maple syrup on their pancakes. It could work.
I don’t know what the big deal is with burning an American flag is. It is only a dyed piece of cloth.
Anti-americanism is a worldwide phenonmenon. There is no reason to take it all personally. 1/3 of the planet hates yanks. Unless the US government changes it’s imperialist interventionist policies your not going to be liked anytime soon.
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Originally posted by Gazza: I don't know what the big deal is with burning an American flag is. Anti-americanism is a worldwide phenonmenon. There is no reason to take it all personally. 1/3 of the planet hates yanks - get used to it. Unless the US government changes it's imperialist interventionist policies your not going to be liked anytime soon.
And what fine country do you come from???
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Originally posted by Mai Longdong:And what fine country do you come from???
I was born in the USA actually.
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Originally posted by Gazza:I was born in the USA actually.
And you use the term “yank”??? Odd. But then again I think Benedict Arnold was born in America also.
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Originally posted by Mai Longdong:And you use the term “yank”??? Odd. But then again I think Benedict Arnold was born in America also.
Yes, he most certainly was.
The Duke of Wellington once said that just because a man is born in a barn, that doesn’t make him a horse.
A poem for the American Empire:
Yes, Mr. Longdong’s implication that Gazza is a traitor simply because he criticizes US policy beggars belief.
I was always under the impression having been raised as a US citizen that Americans welcome debate and dissent. According to Mr. Longdong’s post, I am sadly mistaken.
I can think of a few national leaders who have taken such notions and implemented them as policy for their citizens. hmmm… Idi Amin, Robert Mugabe, Halie Selasie, Ferdinand Marcos, Ayatollah Khomeni and Jiang Zemin are a few that spring to mind.
Mr. Longdong, if you find my hyperbole a bit over the top, maybe you should go back and take a look at your own.
Well, what do you expect of someone that would quote something as moronic as “Gun control, the theory that 110lb. women should have to fistfight 210lb. rapists.”
Yeah, let’s do away with this gun control nonsense! I’m sure my mom and sister would feel a lot safer knowing that any criminal or nutcase could walk into a 7-11 and buy as many guns as he wanted. And that spare gun in my purse will come in real handy in case of a rapist attack – provided the rapist doesn’t shoot me dead with his Uzi first.
But back to the original discussion…
I think the whole premise of this thread is whack. There were perhaps a couple thousand people at this demonstration (some say mere hundreds). And a just handful of people burned the flag while a few dozen others applauded. IMO this hardly merits sensational front page reporting.
In any case it most definitely cannot be used to measure the general sentiment of the Taiwanese towards America. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find any other country that is as solidly pro-America as Taiwan, both in terms of official foreign policy and popular enthusiasm for American culture.
Spend some time in Canada or any country in Western Europe, and you’ll see much more widespread resentment of American hegemony, political and cultural, than you will here in Taiwan.
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Originally posted by Jellymister: Yes, Mr. Longdong's implication that Gazza is a traitor simply because he criticizes US policy beggars belief.I was always under the impression having been raised as a US citizen that Americans welcome debate and dissent. According to Mr. Longdong’s post, I am sadly mistaken.
I’m not aware that Gazza is an American citizen. Although he says he was born in the US, he also states “Unless the US government changes it’s imperialist interventionist policies your not going to be liked anytime soon.” So who exactly is “your”? Sounds like a couple of contradictions to me. Anyway, Benedict Arnold was a loyal citizen…sorry, not citizen, I should say subject. He was a British subject.
American do welcome debate. Supporting idiot flag-burners and calling US foreign policy “imperialist” is stupid. If the US really was imperialistic, there would be no flagburners in Taipei…they would be too afraid of US Marine guards shooting them followed by an invasion. That’s imperialism. Study your history.
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Originally posted by Mulan: Spend some time in Canada or any country in Western Europe, and you'll see much more widespread resentment of American hegemony, political and cultural, than you will here in Taiwan.
Ah yes, Western Europe. Actually, I have lived there. Christmas 1973 I was spit on by some German bitch at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany…I was wearing my uniform. So, Europeans don’t like Americans…well what can you expect? 57 years ago their Grandmothers were giving American GI’s BJ’s for candybars.