Rectify this
Dear Johnny,
Several weeks ago I was listening to a podcast of Bill Moyer’s Journal. The topic of the podcast was completely unrelated to Taiwan, but during the course of the discussion, countries with politicians that flout the law or change it to suit political ambitions, prosecute previous administrations based on policy differences and have a lack of due process were described as “Banana Republics.”
Well, you can imagine what that reminded me of. Given the proceedings of the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) trial and now the refusal to release him to prepare an appeal — despite the comments of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “mentor,” Jerome Cohen — I think it’s high time we engaged in some name rectification and updated the name of our fair island to reflect reality.
Although it may be more accurate to refer to Taiwan as a “Betel Nut Republic,” there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel given that the term “Banana Republic” has been around since 1904. Therefore, without further adieu, I give you “Taiwan, BROC” — the Banana Republic of China.
MARVIN HILLER
Taipei
Johnny replies: Excellent suggestion, Marvin, though we might have to take into consideration the destruction of the banana harvest by Typhoon Morakot. By the way, do you really think this government gives a rat’s ass what Jerome Cohen thinks?
Rectify this, too
Dear Johnny,
Are you aware that Taiwan’s government makes a distinction between ordinary “foreigners” and “overseas Chinese” and charges the foreigners twice as much for health insurance, ARC renewal and presumably many other things as well? Why was this relic of Chinese chauvinism not removed by the DPP back when they were in power?
I’d also like to ask if the Taiwanese have ever campaigned to change names to something, well, Taiwanese. Besides the Chinese place names that proliferate throughout Taipei’s road network (especially in Wanhua District (萬華), home of “Tibet Road”), pretty much every town in the country has a Zhongzheng Road (for Chiang Kai-shek, 蔣介石) and a Zhongshan Road (for Sun Yat-sen, 孫中山).
Worst of all, some townships, like Sansia (三峽, formerly known as San-kak-eng, but renamed by the KMT in honor of Sichuan’s Three Gorges), have prominent streets named Jieshou, or “Long Live Chiang Kai-shek.” And don’t even get me started on the Aboriginal townships inexplicably named Renai (仁愛), Sinyi (信義) and Heping (和平). It’s 2009, for Matsu’s sake — you’d think bentuhua would have taken hold by now.
NICK
Johnny replies: On your first questions, I was vaguely aware of this, and I note that in line with our de facto status as an independent country, this discrimination now represents de facto Taiwanese chauvinism.
On the last question, there were some changes: Ketagalan Boulevard consigned Peanut to the grave in Taipei, while Mangka Boulevard (using Wanhua’s old name) is a newish artery. Elsewhere, Namasiya Township (那瑪夏) replaced “Three Principles of the People” (Sanmin, 三民) but as God is a Nationalist, Morakot duly punished those insolent folks.
China has not been a top-tier issue for much of the second Trump administration. Instead, Trump has focused considerable energy on Ukraine, Israel, Iran, and defending America’s borders. At home, Trump has been busy passing an overhaul to America’s tax system, deporting unlawful immigrants, and targeting his political enemies. More recently, he has been consumed by the fallout of a political scandal involving his past relationship with a disgraced sex offender. When the administration has focused on China, there has not been a consistent throughline in its approach or its public statements. This lack of overarching narrative likely reflects a combination
Father’s Day, as celebrated around the world, has its roots in the early 20th century US. In 1910, the state of Washington marked the world’s first official Father’s Day. Later, in 1972, then-US president Richard Nixon signed a proclamation establishing the third Sunday of June as a national holiday honoring fathers. Many countries have since followed suit, adopting the same date. In Taiwan, the celebration takes a different form — both in timing and meaning. Taiwan’s Father’s Day falls on Aug. 8, a date chosen not for historical events, but for the beauty of language. In Mandarin, “eight eight” is pronounced
US President Donald Trump’s alleged request that Taiwanese President William Lai (賴清德) not stop in New York while traveling to three of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, after his administration also rescheduled a visit to Washington by the minister of national defense, sets an unwise precedent and risks locking the US into a trajectory of either direct conflict with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or capitulation to it over Taiwan. Taiwanese authorities have said that no plans to request a stopover in the US had been submitted to Washington, but Trump shared a direct call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平)
It is difficult to think of an issue that has monopolized political commentary as intensely as the recall movement and the autopsy of the July 26 failures. These commentaries have come from diverse sources within Taiwan and abroad, from local Taiwanese members of the public and academics, foreign academics resident in Taiwan, and overseas Taiwanese working in US universities. There is a lack of consensus that Taiwan’s democracy is either dying in ashes or has become a phoenix rising from the ashes, nurtured into existence by civic groups and rational voters. There are narratives of extreme polarization and an alarming
RSS