Taiwan's international position (fully defined)

It’s not all because of the 1997 handover – the writing was on the wall as China opened up in the years before WTO accession in 2002. Hong Kong’s economy sucks because their prior business model was entirely built around being the bottleneck through which all the PRC goods used to flow. Those Hong Kong trading companies were not particularly good businessmen – they just used massive arbitrage to take doo-dads they bought for pennies in China and then sold for bucks around the rest of the world.

If you travel about America, you can find lots of old “Ghost Towns” where the mines were so succeessful that the locals built opera houses and 5-star hotels. Then the gold ran out and everybody moved on. Same goes for the cities that sprang up along the Erie Canal – when the railroads came, they had nothing left to offer. In modern America, any city that doesn’t warrant an exit on the interstate is effectively doomed.

That said, Hong Kong’s value has dropped in proportion to the increases of all the other Chinese cities. Politics have been secondary to the overall economic weight of having Guangzhou and Shenzhen shipping out goods on their own.

[quote=“Juba”][quote=“Some people who think Taiwan independence isn’t a very good idea”]
Mass Demonstration March

[b]
Oppose Taiwan independence!
Save Taiwan!

Fight unemployment - We want jobs
Stop buying weapons - We want welfare
[/b]

Date: Sunday 7 September 2003
Assembly time: 12.30 p.m.
Assembly place: West gate, the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Taipei (on Zhongshan South Road opposite the National Library - nearest MRT station Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall )
Route: Xinyi Road Sections 1 and 2
Destination: Da’an Park

Demonstration permit number: Taipei Municipal Police permit no. 09239304000

Organizers: The Organizing Committee for Action to Oppose Taiwan Independence and Save Taiwan

Called by: The Alliance for the Reunification of China, The China Tide Association, The Taiwan Region Political Victims’ Mutual Aid Association, The National Daonan Overseas Chinese High School Alumni Association, The Huaxia Political Strategy Research Society, The Labor Party, The Labor Rights Association, “Straits Review” Magazine, Renjian Publications

Contact address: 7th Floor, No. 50-1, Section 1, Xinsheng South Road, Taipei, Taiwan 100, China
Tel: +886-2-2321 4125 Fax: +886-2-2321 0397
Contact person for English inquiries: Mr. Wang Jinping[/quote][/quote]

Out of curiosity…were any American flags burned this time? Did anyone sing a rousing chorus of The Internationale or The East is Red?

On the news, it looked like a lot of people wearing red shirts at the pro-unification protest. The Taiwan independence protest looked like more fun, but that’s the usual nature of events built around flights of fancy.

You’re right, mofang, it was a lot of fun, except for the killer bus fumes near Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. I picked up some ceramics featuring A-bian and Mrs. A-bian – they make great Christmas presents – and had some good talks with the dentally challenged (my kingdom a for a huge spitoon). All in all, though, I did have a good time watching people have a good time, talking to some of the protestors, and making use of all of those snack carts and beer coolers liberally placed throughout the protest zone.

Unaware of the pro-independence protest, I stepped right out of the Yuanshan MRT station into the middle of the main staging area while wearing a Beijing U. shirt. No riots ensued, I am happy to say.