Johnny’s blind countrymen
Dear Johnny,
I have been amused on many occasions by the sheer irony that you present on cross-strait matters. Your article “Hey babe, wanna see my identity?” (June 14, page 8) conveys exactly the labyrinth of complications that exist between Taiwan and China, which unfortunately not many people seem to realize, or else choose to put aside.
Metaphors like “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” should be made known to everyone, and I strongly suggest that you translate this article and distribute it among the Taiwanese population, because at times it seems that Taiwanese don’t seem to know what is happening to them.
Alice
Johnny replies: Ah, Alice, it’s a universal truth that the older you get, the less people are inclined to listen to you. This is no less true in Taiwan, despite our alleged heritage of venerating the elderly (exceptions are made for choice of spouse, but even on this matter I was not consulted).
The fact is that in writing for a foreign audience I have to change my style so much that the jokes — or so I am told — are too difficult to translate. What about a rejigged Chinese version of the column, I asked? But no, there were no takers.
One time I was contacted by a local financial magazine for an interview. I said: “I’ve got grandkids to mind. Let’s do it by e-mail.” They said: “In person or not at all.” I said: “Later, dude.”
I may appear grumpy to foreign readers, but to locals it’s much worse: Sarcasm is pretty much taboo, unless you’re a legislative thug on the talkshow circuit. It’s a shame, really: Sarcasm was one of the most valuable things I took away from my jaunt across Europe in the 1970s.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
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