Stupid names, Part I
Dear Johnny,
After reading “Hey, ISO: Taiwan isn’t China” by Craig Crawford in Tainan (Letters, Feb. 1, page 8), I was outraged. I clicked on the link provided at the end of the letter, and informed the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) of its naming error for Taiwan. This morning, I received a response, including this: “The purpose of the standard ISO 3166-1 is to provide codes for the representation of names of countries, territories or areas of geographical interest, such as “TW”, “FR”, “GB”, etc. It is not established to provide the names of countries, territories or areas of geographical interest.”
It seems that the ISO takes its cue from the UN, and I’m guessing that e-mailing the UN on this matter will be a waste of my time and energy.
Unsure of where else to turn, I’m writing to you and to an ex-colleague at the Bureau of Foreign Trade. I’m guessing you both will be as outraged as I am but have more resources at your disposal to effect change.
On another subject, I thoroughly enjoy your column. It was one of the highlights of my Saturdays when I lived in Taipei, and it still is, almost three years after my move back to the US.
Sara Reals
East Syracuse, New York
Johnny replies: Wow, Sara, you’ve been with me since near the beginning. You can probably write my reply for me.
1. Your colleague will sympathize but say nothing for fear of demotion or retrenchment.
2. The ISO must be on crack to think that deferring to the UN lends it legitimacy.
3. Never underestimate your ability to effect change. The right combination of lobbying, embarrassment and the truth can corner and influence even the most cloistered bureaucrat.
Stupid names, Part II
Dear Johnny,
Its always amusing to see the boilerplate propaganda phrases churned out by the PRC/CCP ministry of propaganda. But you can get a lot of mileage out of inverting their phrases.
“Chinese Taipei” can become “Chinese Beijing.”
“Hurt the feelings of the Chinese people” can become “Hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people/Tibetan people/Falun Gong people.”
I’m sure you can think of more. The great thing is that they are memes that everyone can start using, and will spread because they are funny.
Big Jim
Johnny replies: Problem is, the only people who talk this way are politicians and journalists.
Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan in late February. During their various meetings with Taiwan’s leaders, this delegation never missed an opportunity to emphasize the strength of their cross-party consensus on issues relating to Taiwan and China. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Their instruction upon taking the reins of the committee was to preserve China issues as a last bastion of bipartisanship in an otherwise deeply divided Washington. They have largely upheld their pledge. But in doing so, they have performed the
It is well known that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ambition is to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by unification of Taiwan, either peacefully or by force. The peaceful option has virtually gone out of the window with the last presidential elections in Taiwan. Taiwanese, especially the youth, are resolved not to be part of China. With time, this resolve has grown politically stronger. It leaves China with reunification by force as the default option. Everyone tells me how and when mighty China would invade and overpower tiny Taiwan. However, I have rarely been told that Taiwan could be defended to
It should have been Maestro’s night. It is hard to envision a film more Oscar-friendly than Bradley Cooper’s exploration of the life and loves of famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. It was a prestige biopic, a longtime route to acting trophies and more (see Darkest Hour, Lincoln, and Milk). The film was a music biopic, a subgenre with an even richer history of award-winning films such as Ray, Walk the Line and Bohemian Rhapsody. What is more, it was the passion project of cowriter, producer, director and actor Bradley Cooper. That is the kind of multitasking -for-his-art overachievement that Oscar
Chinese villages are being built in the disputed zone between Bhutan and China. Last month, Chinese settlers, holding photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), moved into their new homes on land that was not Xi’s to give. These residents are part of the Chinese government’s resettlement program, relocating Tibetan families into the territory China claims. China shares land borders with 15 countries and sea borders with eight, and is involved in many disputes. Land disputes include the ones with Bhutan (Doklam plateau), India (Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin) and Nepal (near Dolakha and Solukhumbu districts). Maritime disputes in the South China