Live from Chinese Taichung

I am the Warr-i-or!

Or so Ma Ying-Jeou has loudly sang before. To be specific, he hails from the Diaoyutai Warrior branch of warriordom.

Sounds cool. How do I become a warrior? First, pick a remote place that has been ignored by your government for 20 years. Next, spend 30 years yelling bad things about the evil owners of this place, the Japanese. Make clear your successes. The world must know that although Taiwan has not reclaimed the islands, the movement is meaningful in that constant action has prevented the Japanese from advancing their plans to build a helicopter landing area, weather station, and lighthouse in the islands (Ma).

Wow! That is some major whoop-ass! But what will The Warrior do about the ramming and sinking of a Taiwanese fishing boat by the Japanese in the Diaoutais? No room for pansies here. Immediately issue a 4-Point Statement! Be sure to use words like "never," "absolutely" and "vehemently" to let them know you mean business. If they are too dense to fathom the gravity of these words, have your sidekick [ Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄)] let them know that war is an option.

Related story #1: Taipei reaffirms sovereignty over Tiaoyutai Islands - The China Post (Yay!)


President Ma Ying-jeou, once a Tiaoyutai warrior, had a statement issued by his spokesman Wang Yu-chi reaffirming the eight islets... are part of the territory of the Republic of China.
No official statement on the Tiaoyutais has been made over the past ten years...

Why so long? Maybe the following related story might help.

China, along with Taiwan and Japan, claims sovereignty over the islets under whose waters lie vast natural gas and oil reserves waiting to be tapped.

Taiwan? Taiwan? Come on China Post. What happened to the Republic of China? Weren't you up in arms for eight years at the previous administration's use of the word Taiwan?

Related story #2: Taipei, Beijing reach historic pacts - The China Post

They have agreed to open direct charter flights and establish permanent offices in each others territory. If you have been following the links you will know that China is also a claimant to the islands. Now, with Taiwan's new BBFL ( pardon if my web-speak is not up to par, but I believe that the first B stands for butt) they have no reservations whatsoever about barking like a big dog.

Click on the link and look at the picture of the two representatives shaking hands. Without reading the caption, which one is the Chicom? Now read the caption and note the venue for the meeting. Interesting in several ways that I won't go into here.

Related story #3: Ma Ying-Jeou elected Mister (Mr.) of Taiwan

After the Taiwan election and before the latest Diaoyutai incident, The Warrior sent KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) to meet with Hu Jintao, general-secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, among others. The leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Taiwan's KMT), majority party and upholders of the Republic of China (中華民國) would not use the R.O.C.'s 民國 97年 designation for the year (it dates from the 1911 revolution). As a bonus Wu also felt the best way to uphold the sovereignty of the R.O.C. was to refer the President Ma as Mister Ma.

The Warrior has said he wants to live, die and be buried in Taiwan. I just didn't know he was referring to the Taiwan Province of China. Or maybe he is just practicing some of that tact and diplomacy Brett was always trying to teach me about.