Global Voices Online » Taiwan (ROC)

Taiwan: Observations on Yahoo! Taiwan's search filter

Portnoy — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:42:16 +0000

We hear a lot about issues on censorship on Global Voices Online and our Advocacy Project, and most of the cases come from Government policies or business self-censorship because of the Government policies. However, fierce business competition can sometimes result in censorship… or a kind of.

Famous Taiwan infotech blogger Briian recently protested against Yahoo Taiwan (Yahoo Kimo) filtering search results, calling Yahoo!Kimo “evil”.

In his post “Protest! Yahoo!Kimo's ‘Combined Search' monopolizes information! (抗議！Yahoo!奇摩「綜合搜尋」資訊壟斷)”, he pointed out that Yahoo Kimo's new search function, “Combined Search”, gives out web links, news, video clips, blogs results… only from Yahoo's own services.

首先，先看一下原本的Yahoo奇摩搜尋結果長怎樣，頁面最上面除了廣告跟新聞區塊，中間一大塊都是網頁的自然搜尋結果，最下面是知識+的內容。

First, let's take a look at the original look of search result page in Yahoo!Kimo. The upper part of the page is ads and news, the middle part is natural search result of web pages, and the bottom part is from Yahoo's Knowledge+.

下面這個Yahoo!奇摩新推的「綜合搜尋」的搜尋頁面：

And below is the search result using newly invented “Combined Search” from Yahoo!Kimo:

仔細看他的搜尋結果，新聞區塊全部只收錄有刊登在Yahoo奇摩新聞網站的新聞內容就算了（一直都是這樣），其他不受Yahoo青睞的媒體內容如果沒機會登上Yahoo!奇摩的新聞頻道，只能默默無名的在某個網路的黑洞裡呼吸新鮮空氣。

Look carefully at the result page. The news area contains news stories only from Yahoo!Kimo News (which seems like always), and other media outlets who are not favored by Yahoo and have no chance to get into Yahoo!Kimo News Channel would stay in some kind of unnoticeable Internet Blackhole.

最主要是「知識+」區塊下面的那個「部落格」搜尋結果列出來的全部都只有「Yahoo!奇摩部落格」跟「無名小站部落格」中的內容，意思是使用Yahoo的人全部都沒法藉由這個「綜合搜尋」的功能找到「奇摩」跟「無名小站」以外的部落格文章，全世界的部落格都不是部落格，只有寫在Yahoo所屬網站裡的才算是。

What's more important is the area of “Blog search result” under “Knowledge+” area, where all the results are from “Yahoo!Kimo Blog” and “Wretch Blog” (note: Wretch is the biggest blog service in Taiwan, also owned by Yahoo!Kimo). And that means people who search with this “Combined Search” cannot find anything other than blogs from “Kimo” and “Wretch”. Blogs all around the world are not count as blogs, while only blogs under Yahoo Services are counted as blogs.

The same situation happens when searching video clips with Yahoo!Kimo search. All videos showed in search result are from “Wretch Video”.

This hot post got 192 comments and soon was noticed by ZDNet Taiwan. ZDNet interviewed Briian on this issue and then he put whole 3 parts of Q&A on his new blogpost, which has 75 supporting comments when I write this report. I quote part of the Q&A below:

1) 你在重灌狂人上抗議雅虎奇摩綜合搜尋有資訊壟斷之虞，作為一個網路使用者與知名部落客，你期待看到雅虎奇摩會有怎樣的改變？

1) You protest Yahoo!Kimo Combined Search for its information monopoly on Reinstall Mad Man. As a web user and a famous blogger, what changes do you expect to see from Yahoo!Kimo?

以前我還以為美國Yahoo的「YST技術」是為了更快、更準確的找到更多東西，不過現在Yahoo!奇摩的作法看起來是要讓使用者找到最少的 blog跟影片，無名影音裡面的影片有比YouTube多嗎？可以囊括全世界的影片嗎？當越來越多使用者發現他在Yahoo!奇摩找不到想要的東西之後，大家轉往其他網站的速度會越快。

Previously I thought that Yahoo!USA's “YST” technology is to find information faster and more precisely, however, it seems like Yahoo!Kimo is trying to prevent their users to find more blogs and more video clips. Are there more clips in Wretch Video than Youtube? Can it cover the whole world's video? Once more and more users are aware of the fact that they can't find what he wants with Yahoo!Kimo, they will turn away quickly and decide to use other search engines.

2) 在我訪問過雅虎奇摩搜尋與工程部門主管後，他們告知我沒有作到全面性搜尋的理由，在於企業資源有限，因此是以先推出新功能為主要考量，並會再逐步增加搜尋來源，他們並認為無名加上雅虎部落格已是台灣大多數的部落格，在搜尋結果上已能滿足大多數使用者的需求，你怎麼看他們的回應？

2) After my interview with directors of Yahoo!Kimo Search and Engineer department, they told me that the reason they don't search comprehensively is due to limited corporate resources, so they decide to present new functions first and then step by step increase search resources. They also believe that Wretch Blog and Yahoo Blog represent most blogs in Taiwan, so the search result can already meet the need of most users. What do you think about their feedback?

這問題就得問他們自己囉，大家覺得這會是「技術能力」或「最賺錢卻資源有限」的問題嗎？

如果無名+雅虎已經可以滿足大多數使用者的需求，那Blogger、Xuite、Pixnet、微軟Spaces跟Yam天空、癮科技裡面的內容大概都是不重要的資訊吧？更別說是中文以外的語言與最愛寫BLOG的日本跟美國、歐洲、中國…等各地的各式資訊。

This question should be directed to them. Do people think this is a problem because of “technology capability” or “limited resources… while being the most profitable company”?

If Wretch and Yahoo can satisfy most users, then I guess contents in Blogger, Xuite, Pixnet, Windows Live Spaces, Yam Sky, and Engadget are all trivial wrecks? Not to mention languages other than Chinese and information from the most bloggy Japan, US, Europe, China….

3) 有一個很有趣的現象我不曉得你會怎麼解讀，像是Google在美國擁有很高的市佔率，搜尋並超越雅虎多年，不過雅虎在台灣近乎壟斷市場，Google的使用者仍以power-user為主，Google的開放策略似乎還無法吸引到台灣很多用戶的關注，尤其是20歲以下的用戶。對這些非power-user 來說，他們可能真的不關心雅虎有沒有壟斷的問題，你怎樣看這個現象？

3) Here's a very interesting phenomenon which I am curious about how you decode it: Google has very high market share in US, and its search has surpassed Yahoo for years. However, Yahoo seems to monopolize the market, while Google is still embraced only by power users. It seems that Google's open strategy does not attract many Taiwan users' attention, especially users under 20 years old. To these non power users, they perhaps don't care about the monopoly problem of Yahoo. What do you think about it?

Google的很多東西都比Yahoo!奇摩的好用，譬如說搜尋跟Gmail，但一般使用者並不知道有其他選擇。我可以在台灣的電視、報紙、雜誌、廣播甚至是外面跑的公車上看到Yahoo!奇摩的廣告，但是看不到Google的任何廣告，雖然在台灣的愛用者很多，但Google並不重視台灣市場。

Google很多產品在其他國家可能很受歡迎，可到台灣就幾乎很少人用，網站是給人用的，除了語言之外，還有很多文化、習慣與民族性或族群習性的差異，Google中國做了很多努力、併購了很多當地的網站，可是Google並不在乎台灣的使用者，全部就只有中文化而已。

Most of Google's services are much better than Yahoo!Kimo, such as search engine and Gmail, but normal users don't know they have other choices. I notice that Yahoo!Kimo's commercials and advertisements are everywhere on TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, or even buses riding on the streets in Taiwan, but I've never see any ads from Google. Although there are many Google lovers in Taiwan, but Google does not care about the Taiwan Market actually.

Google's huge amount of products might be very popular in other countries, but they are seldom used by Taiwanese. Websites are made for people to use, and there are a forest of differences around culture, habits, nationality or ethnicity, other than language waiting to be discovered. Google China has done a lot of efforts such as merging local websites, but Google just don't care about Taiwanese users while all Google Taiwan has done is having translated its services into Traditional Chinese.

What do you think? Do you consider it a kind of censorship? Do you find the same situation in your country? Please leave comment under after reading this report.

Japan: Chinese Novelist wins Akutagawa Award

Chris Salzberg — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:09:25 +0000

On Tuesday, the Akutagawa Award for Fiction, generally considered the most prestigious literary prize in Japan, was awarded to Chinese novelist Yang Yi (楊逸, Liu Qiao in Chinese) for her work, “Tokiga nijimu asa” [ja] [時が滲む朝, or “A Morning When Time Blurs”]. Yang, who was born in Harbin and whose native language is Chinese, came to Japan in 1987 and, after learning Japanese at a language school, studied Geography at Ochanomizu University [ja] in Tokyo. She was earlier nominated for (but did not win) the Akutagawa award in November for her first novel, “Wang-chan” [ja].

Below are some thoughts from blogs, forums and media in both Japanese and Chinese (Chinese links and translations thanks to Meng Zhang, Oiwan Lam and Pipper Lee).

There was a wide range of views on the award in Japan, with forums offering the most critical responses. In a thread at 2channel, one commenter refers to Zainichi Korean Miri Yu who won the Akutagawa Award in 1996:

44 ：名無しさん＠九周年：2008/07/16(水) 08:43:45 ID:kz9a78nd0
ここ最近の芥川賞受賞作品＆作家って、なんか話題性だけのおかしな選考多くね？
あの柳美里でさえ受賞してるんだぜ？

A lot of the works and authors that have won the Akutagawasho recently are weird choices, no? Just selected to attract attention or something?
Come on, even Miri Yu won that prize!

Another commenter wrote:

57 ：名無しさん＠九周年：2008/07/16(水) 08:47:55 ID:w3Rkufdc0
出来レースなのかもしれんが、日本人作家が受賞できなかったのは事実だ
次はどんな手を使ってもいいから受賞しろよ
純粋な作品の質でも負けてるかもしれんぞ

The race may have been fixed before it even started, but it is still a fact that no Japanese managed to win the award.
Next time let's win this award, using whatever means necessary
Even with the quality of a genuine work [of art], we may still bloody lose

Tiananmen came up a lot in comments. One commenter wrote:

68 ：名無しさん＠九周年：2008/07/16(水) 08:51:23 ID:7VuLmnlS0
反体制の人だろうな、どう考えても
天安門事件を扱って小説書いて中国に帰ろうものなら
即逮捕だろもう二度とでてはこれない

I guess [she must be] a dissident, however you think about it
if you write a novel about the Tiananmen Square Incident, and then try to return to China,
you'll get arrested right away, no? and never get out again

Bloggers offered generally more encouraging views. Japanese blogger pote741 described how impressed they were at Yang winning the prize:

私はまだ読んでいないので何とも言えないのだが…
この楊さん。凄いな〜〜〜〜。

I haven't read the book so I can't really say anything, but…
Yang-san, so impressive 〜〜〜〜

日本語を第一言語として普段使っている我々ですら
「日本語って難しいな〜〜」っと思っているのに
よくぞ外国人が日本語で小説を書き、しかも「芥川賞」を受賞したもんだ

Even us Japanese people who use Japanese as our mother tongue,
think to ourselves, “Japanese is so difficult 〜〜”,
so I am amazed that a foreigner has written a book in Japanese, and even managed to win the “Akutagawa” Award!

最近、日本の文学界では
「携帯小説」などのように
読み易く、文節の短い「詩」的な文章が流行っている
コレは字マスに規定があり、横表示の携帯ならではの文節なのだが
これによってクドクドと文字を並べる文章から
端的で人の心を打つ文体が出来上がったと思う

Recently in the Japanese literary world,
easy-to-read texts with short “poem”-like paragraphs,
such as “keitai shosetsu”, have become very popular.
This paragraph style is perfect for horizontal-display keitai [mobile phones] with a limit on the number of characters,
but as a result, from long verbose texts,
a literary style has been created that is plain and straightforward, and that targets people's emotions.

[…]

これらを考えてみても「楊さん」凄いぞ〜っと思うのだが…
その一方で何だか寂しい気もする
日本人の書いた小説よりも、外国人の書いた小説の方が優れていたのか〜〜
っという「ガッカリ感」がある

Even considering all of this though, I think Yang-san is awesome…
On the other hand, I also feel somehow sad.
A kind of feeling of “disappointment”,
that a novel written by non-Japanese is better than novels written by Japanese〜〜

Blogger physicomath was also impressed:

日本人でも多和田葉子さんだかがドイツ語で小説を書いてドイツ語圏で評価されて何かの賞をとったというので評判になったが、それでも母語でない言葉で書いて文学賞をとるというのはすばらしい。

Among Japanese, there was also Yoko Tawada, who wrote a novel in German that was well-received among German-speaking countries, and won some kind of prize. But even so, to write in a language that is not your mother tongue, and win a literature prize, that is incredible.

A visiting student in China studying Chinese language, blogger johny_gee searched through Chinese language media coverage of the prize and found some interesting results:

さて、受賞作品『時が滲む朝』は内容が内容だけに中国ではどういう扱いになるのかなぁと思っていましたが、日本でも既に報道されているように一部メディアは芥川賞受賞は伝えるものの、その内容、特に89年の件に関しては全く触れておりません。でもこういった報道もありますし、ココのように｢安｣の字を伏せて報道しているところや、三文字をそのまま出しているココのようなところもあります。それぞれのサイトがどういった性質のサイトだかは知りませんが、いずれにしても中国で普通に開けるサイトです。へ～、書いちゃうところもあるんだなぁって感じですね。

Now then, the content of the award-winning work “Tokiga nijimu asa” [”A Morning When Time Blurs”] being what it is, I wondered to myself how it would be handled in China. As it was already reported in Japan, only part of the media covered the Akutagawa award, and in what coverage there was, everything about the incident in 1989 in particular was left out. There is this kind of report, and also this one where the “安” [”an” from Tiananmen] is covered over, and this one that has all three characters [天安门] without any change. I don't know what kind of sites each of these three sites are, but they are sites that are ordinarily accessible within China. Hmm… so there are actually places where they write it all out like that [in China].

中国語版も出版されて中国でもベストセラーに!!!!…………なんてことはありえないんでしょうけど。

Maybe it will be published in Chinese and become a bestseller in China too!!!!……… well, that's a bit far-fetched.

Now turning to the Chinese-language Internet, johny_gee's observation about media avoiding mention of Tiananmen seems to be the state of affairs, as demonstrated by this description of the book (translation by Meng Zhang):

杨逸此次获奖作品描写了农村出生的一名中国男子东渡日本，他和其他中国人在此后十几年的生活中所体验的理想与现实的落差。

Yang Yi's award-winning work depicts the life of a Chinese man who was born in the countryside and then moves to Japan, experiencing the gap between ideals and reality with his Chinese friends in the following years.

One blogger writes (following translations by Oiwan Lam):

日本人为何将１３９届芥川文学奖为什么给一个不太著名的中国人?

来一个鼓掌就掌声雷鸣,来一个鼓励就桂冠加顶。
这就是日本人惯用的”捧杀”手段。日语里有”Homegoroshi”
的说法,如果用中文来诠释的话有”给你赞誉,让你混头,终为我用”的意思。

Why should Japanese give the Akutagawa Prize to a Chinese person who is not so well known?

Clap one hand and millions follow, give some encouragement and one feels like they have received a crown.
Japanese are used to these ways, in Japanese it is called “homegoroshi” (褒め殺し), which means “give you some praise, make you dizzy and become useful to me”.

Blogger warphotographer meanwhile notices that the novel is about the Tiananmen incident [zh] and wonders why foreign countries always focus on the painful experiences of Chinese people. At dongyangjing.com, “Tokyo doctor” (东京博士) wonders if it is necessary for yang to use Tiananmen as background:

说到底大背景是不是真的有必要采用天安门事件我也心存疑问，作者的初衷也许不一定是我们的小人之心，但客观上难以回避有点在海外哗众取宠追风的嫌疑

I also wonder if it is necessary for Yang to use the Tiananmen incident as background. Maybe her intention is not what we have been speculating about, but the fact that it has attracted so much overseas attention makes the whole thing seem suspicious.

Ning chun long, on the other hand, welcomes the news, reminding readers:

1、清记住这张脸，这是一个中国人，一个拥有中国国籍的中国人。
2、请记住她获得的是日本最权威文学大奖，日本人也同样值得尊重。

1. Please remember this face. She is a Chinese, a Chinese with Chinese nationality.
2. Please remember that she has won the most renowned award in Japan, and we should respect Japanese for that.

Commenter shy snow at this blog post (which quotes the media report) explains why they are concerned about reactions to the work:

我很怕有一些愤青在网上骂她啊，因为”大学生が1989年の天安門事件で挫折……”
其他的我不能评价什么，因为不了解这个作家，也不了解作品。

就是担心国人的仇日情绪乱发泄

I am so afraid that some angry youth will criticize her because of the story about “university students in the 1989 Tiananmen incident”. I can't really make any comment as I don't know the writer or her work. But I am worried that people will take this chance to express their anti-Japanese sentiments.

As a final note, although mention of Tiananmen was avoided or even blocked out in the Chinese media, the topic was picked up in Taiwanese media that covered the story (see this article at TTV [zh] and this one at Liberty Times [zh]).

Chinese links and translations thanks to Meng Zhang, Oiwan Lam and Pipper Lee

Taiwan: Blog and Ads

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:29:47 +0000

PipperL sums up the recent discussion among bloggers on the issue of Blog Ads, such as, whether blogger should explicitly tell the readers that the post is an ads.

Taiwan: Conflict over Diaoyutai Islands

Portnoy — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:03:29 +0000

On June 11, a Taiwanese recreational fishing boat United(聯合號) sank following a collision with a Japanese coastguard vessel 11km off the disputed Diaoyutai(釣魚台) (Japan: Senkaku) islands, an island chain simultaneously claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China. Passengers and crew on the sinking boat were picked up by Japan.

Shortly after, Taiwanese mainstream media covered the accident. Political talk shows and call-in programmes, in particular, ardently discussed the accident and the long-standing sovereign dispute over Diaoyutais. Meanwhile, issues of complicated sovereign claims and fishing rights challenged the newly elected Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou and his government.

In his youth, President Ma(馬英九) passionately defended Taiwan's claim to the Diaoyutais. He also blasted former Taiwanese President Chen shui-Bian(陳水扁) whose attitude, he felt, was not proactive enough on the issue of sovereignty claims. The accident, however, occurred in a sensitive time while talks between Taiwanese and China officials were taking place.

Although Taiwan, China and Japan all claim sovereignty over the Diaoyutais, it is recognized that Japan has jurisdiction. The handling of the accident intertwined these historical, political and economic issues, and made them more prickly. As a consequence for Taiwan, the sovereignty dispute is not only an inevitable task, but a pending problem.

Many Taiwanese politicians insisted on being harsh to Japan while dealing with the accident. Republic of China (ROC) Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said during an interpolation session in parliament that he would not rule out going to war with Japan, if Taipei and Tokyo fail to resolve the dispute over the Diaoyutai islands through diplomatic actions.

The tense situation between Taipei and Tokyo that suddenly arose shocked Taiwanese bloggers. From various ends of the political spectrum, bloggers expressed their opinions and comments on this accident.

Blogger, Da-Dou(大豆), cited coverage of this accident from Japanese media where the affair is simply being treated as an accident. Compared with the relatively balanced way in which Japanese media covered the collision, Taiwanese media quoted an overwhelming majority of statements from Taiwanese fishing boat crew and officials.

Da-Dou questioned, whether it was really the truth, as the fishing boat skipper claimed, that the fishing boat was deliberately rammed until it sunk by a Japanese coastguard vessel:

相較於日本媒體，台灣媒體並沒有對於另一方當事人的說詞作任何查證或基本的平衡報導。只是單方面強調船長的說法，並沒有作到客觀中立。 ………….

Compared with Japanese Media, Taiwanese media is unbalanced in their reporting the accident, where they have only adopted statements from the skipper of the sinking Taiwanese finishing boat without any investigations, and simply ignored statements from Japan, the other side involved in this accident. Taiwanese media did not reach objectivity and neutrality………..

無論釣魚台是否為我國領土，聯合號的行為都「顯然違法」，根據「娛樂漁業管理辦法」第24條規定

娛樂漁業漁船活動時間全天二十四小時開放。但每航次以四十八小時為限。娛樂漁業漁船活動區域以臺灣本島及澎湖週邊二十四浬內及彭佳嶼、綠島、蘭嶼週邊十二浬內為限。

也就是說，因為聯合號不是「漁船」，而是「娛樂(海釣)漁船」，照理說到釣魚台附近超過九十海浬的地方根本是違法的，並且根據出發前應繳交的娛樂漁業漁船航行計畫資料表，其「航行計畫」一欄也完全登載不實。而且聯合號違反法令航行顯然不是第一次了。

Whether the Diaoyutais are a port of Taiwan's territory or not, the recreational fishing boat United apparently broke the law. According to the article 24 of the Regulations of Recreational fishery:

‘Activity scheduled for recreational fishing vessels is permitted 24-hours a day. The limit for each sequence of voyages, however, is 48 hours.' And ‘The region of activity is limited to 24 miles surrounding Taiwan and Peng Hu, and within 12 miles around Pen Jia islet, Green island, and Lan Yu'.

That is to say, it is illegal for a ‘recreational' fishing boat like the United to go as far as 90 nautical miles near the Diaoyutai islands. Further, according to fishery operator handed in to the authorities before the recreational fishing boat United set out, a data table of the recreational fishery craft's navigating plan matched what they actually did. So actually, this is not the first time the United did this against the law.

Another blogger, Pau, points out that regardless of who claims sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands, Japan has to take responsibility for the sunken boat following a collision with a Japanese coast guard patrol boat:

回頭來看這次聯合號事件，日方絕對沒有任何理由跟立場扣留船上任何人。聯合號上插的是中華民國國旗，不是日本國旗，船上所有人都是中華民國國民。姑且不論釣魚台爭議，日方撞沉我方船隻就是侵犯我方主權，插著我方旗幟的船隻，就等於中華民國領土，豈能容日本人將之撞沉。撞沉我方船艦扣留我方人員，視我方主權為何物？

Going over this unexpected incident, there is no excuse or ground for Japan to detain anyone from that fishing boat. The flag hanging on “United” is of the Republic of China, not of Japan, not to mention the fact that all passengers on the boat are citizens of ROC. Besides, a boat with our flag on it, is regarded as a part of the territory of the Republic of China. Aside from the long-standing sovereignty dispute over the islands, Japan offends our sovereignty by ramming the boat bearing our national flag. This is unacceptable! Did they ever consider sovereignty issues while ramming our boat and detaining our citizens?

Blogger, Yu-Wen Huan(宇文渙), is reminded of the Boxer rebellion in this event:

台灣民意代表們鋪排的抗日秀真是精彩絕倫從高呼不惜一戰送霹靂幹員護漁要國防部長開飛機去繞一圈進而升高軍事對峙都有兩位聲望最低的部長—外交部和國防部這下好不容易找到可以翻身的機會都是狠話、大話盡出因為再沒有比愛國心更便宜、更方便販賣的道具了越遠離戰場人就越好戰

The anti-Japan show arranged by those representatives is fantastic. Those actions include claiming, “War if necessary”, sending SWAT teams to protect fishers, asking the minister of National Defense to fly to the islands, and heightening the military situation. The ministers of Foreign Affairs and National Defense, which have the lowest reputation, now have the opportunity to change the situation. Their tones are high-pitched and words are touchy, because nothing is cheaper and easier-to-sell than patriotism. People are more militant when they are away from the battlefield.

Xiao Ming(小明) in NanFangSao school appealed to everyone to face the music:

聯合號不是「漁船」，不是一般漁民去捕魚，是向釣客收錢載人出海釣魚去。這種攬客出海釣魚的營利船，居然可以到處走透透到處去享受姜太公釣魚樂趣，怪也不怪？這次沒被日本修理，會不會哪一天他跑到北極去賞北極熊呀！！現在是怎樣？「四海一家」，你家就是我家嗎？？怎麼可以這麼自由呀！什麼「海洋國家」，我棉的船老大早就這麼做了~>_<~ 釣魚台是台灣的？我的感覺，這種說法和「東起烏蘇里江、黑龍江…西到帕米爾高原噴赤河，南到增母暗砂……都是中華民國固有疆域」的說法，還真的有異曲同工之妙。乾脆說月球、火星也是中華民國領土不是更好？？

The “United” is not a fishing boat and (the crew on the boat) are not normal fishers. Instead they make money from driving passengers out for fishing. This kind of boats goes everywhere to enjoy the fun of fishing. Don't you feel that is weird? If they were not rammed by a Japanese coast guard patrol boat this time, would they go to Arctic to see polar bears next time? Now what, “The world is one family”, and your home is mine as well? How could they be so free? When people call for “Taiwan is a country of ocean”, I think those who are on “United” have already achieved that ~>_<~. For those who claim “Diaoyutai Islands belongs to Taiwan”, I think that is very similar to the saying that, “The territory of the Republic of China reaches east to Wusuli river and Heilongjiang River, west to the Pamirs and Panj River, south to TzengMoo sand…”. Why don't they just say that the moon and the Mars also belong Republic of China?

Meanwhile, Taiwanese blogger Walter argues that Taiwanese like to treat themselves as slaves. He feels sad for Taiwan's weakness and lacking of dignity:

我當然覺得上戰場打仗真是人生最大悲哀可能一槍就被不知道哪來的流彈爆頭而死、也可能一顆炸彈就讓你灰飛煙滅？ Than? 所以台灣該把戰爭這個選項移除？我也怕死，我也想組美好家庭、簡簡單單到老。但台灣人真的如此沒有尊嚴？別忘了，台灣對釣魚台在憲法上是劃為”國土”的。

Of course, in my opinion, going to war is the most sorrowful thing in a human's life. People could die just by a stray bomb or a bullet. For this reason, then, should Taiwan eliminate going to war as an opinion? I am afraid of losing my life. I just want to have an ordinary family and lead a simple life. But what about the dignity of Taiwan? Do bear in mind, according to the Constitution, that the Diaoyutai islands are part of our territory.

Katana from Hong Kong suspects the hidden reasons causing the accident are not that simple:

這一撞，可能是日本鷹派跟台灣那批不想眼見國民黨跟中共之熱擁情況的在野派，暗手出招，陷你馬英九一個政治危機，小馬哥強則得罪日本，不強又跟不上中國對此事件的強烈回應。中國此次如此強和快反應向日本罵，明顯跟暖春時態度不統調，可見又是中國鷹派給胡、溫的一個回馬槍。

This accidental collision could be a trap secretly set by Japanese war hawks and out-of-power politicians in Taiwan who are not willing to see KMT and CPP allied. It meant to drag President Ma Ying-Jeou into a political crisis. President Ma's attitude could not be too strong to rile Tokyo. However, if his attitude was not strong enough, he would fell behind Beijing's burning reactions to this accident. Beijing immediately and strongly condemned Tokyo on this accident, which is apparently different from the attitude showing on the ‘warm spring' meeting. It is thus clear that Chinese war hawks attempt to give Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao a back thrust.

On the official website of Ma Ying-Jeou's presidential campaign, commenter wiixdhsu said we should be harsh to Japan. Why not just set the Diaoyutai islands as a sightseeing spot officially recommended by the Taiwanese government, he says:

日本這國吃軟不吃硬，對於捍衛主權的做法應該在行動要更強硬一點，舉南韓為例，日本也宣稱獨(竹)島他們擁有主權，可是南韓採取強烈作法捍衛主權加派巡邏艦巡邏，最後甚至開放民眾遊客到獨(竹)島觀光，獲得人民一致支持，日本毫無辦法。我們政府應該規劃開放陸客來台並且也將釣魚台納入旅遊景點，派巡邏艦巡邏，徹底捍衛釣魚台主權，我相信此舉一定能獲得兩岸三地的民眾全面支持。

Japan always yield to soft approaches but rejects force. However, we should apply even more get-tough actions to protect our sovereignty. Let's take South Korea as the best example. Both Japan and South Korea claimed sovereignty over the Liancourt Rocks (Japan: Takeshima, Korea: Dokdo). South Korea took tough actions, sending petrol vessels and even allowed tourists to visit. South Korean people generally supported these actions. Finally, Japan cannot do a thing about this. Our government should include the Diaoyutais as a recommended sightseeing spot while planning to allow Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan. Moreover, sending coastguard vessels patrolling territorial waters nearby the Diaoyutai islands is necessary. We have to firmly claim our sovereignty by taking these actions. I believe these actions must be supported by people from the greater China area.

Blogger BillyPan says politicians only have very short-term passions on the issue of the Diaoyutai islands:

愛田友，蒼井空，穗花，小澤瑪利亞，麻美來台灣當Show Girl，台灣人馬上就忘記釣魚台在那裏了。

If Japanese AV (adult video) actresses Yua Aida, Sora Aoi, Honoka, Maria Ozawa and Asami were invited to Taipei as show girls, the Taiwanese would immediately forget where the Daioyutai Islands are.

There is a funny prank photo of former ROC president and military dictator, Chiang Kai-shek(蔣介石), which is created and published by a user of the popular scrabbling website VeryXD. Chiang's bluesy emotional expression is somehow funny, and the added caption says, “The Diaoyutai Islands cannot be given to Japanese”.

In the end, I would like to conclude with blogger, Lovelvislate's helpless words and drawing. His post, I believe, also represents thoughts of many Taiwanese.

釣魚台不是台灣的，也不是中華民國的，因為我們從來沒有保衛過它，馬總統也別再說屁話了，我們不可能保衛它，也不可能為它與日本一戰，不可能的。 ………………… 如果是別的國家的漁船靠近釣魚台，日本是不可能如此的，我們必須面對現實，就是我們很好欺負，個性溫和，總是逆來順受。

Taiwan has never had sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands, neither has the Republic of China. President Ma, please do not say stupid shit anymore. We can impossibly protect the Diaoyutai, nor fight against Japan for these islands either. Impossible. …… If there was a fishing boat of a country's other than Taiwan approaching the Diaoyutai Islands, Japan would not have done the same. The reality we must to face, is that we are easily bullied – we always bear bullies for our moderate manner.

我們必須面對現實，我們所有的不安都是來自不面對現實，現實是—我們不是一個國家，我們沒有主權獨立，只有內政獨立，我們的軍隊，是名符其實的自慰隊。美國也不可能會保衛台灣，美國、日本與中國都不承認中華民國的存在。別傻了，釣魚台從不是我們的，忘了它吧。

The fact leads to the reality, where all our agitations come from. The fact is that Taiwan is just a political entity dealing with domestic affairs independently, not an independent country holding sovereignty over itself. All our army can veritably do is self-consolation, not self-defense. The U.S. can definitely not send their troops to protect Taiwan, either. Anyhow, the U.S., Japan and the People’s Republic of China deny recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign state. Therefore, don’t be silly - Taiwan has never had sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands. Forget it!

Translated From Chinese by Abstract and Pipperl. Reviewed by Solana Larson.

China: Is the West afraid of our patriotism?

John Kennedy — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:57:36 +0000

Are there factors informing your perception of China circa 2008? Novelist-blogger and researcher of worldly affairs Yang Hengjun moves on from ‘How did America cover up the truth of the bombing of our embassy in Yugoslavia?' to his post last week, ‘Are Western countries afraid of the Chinese people's patriotic fervor?'

提起这个题目我又要提起一段往事——后来每每回想起来就让我有些黯然神伤的往事。1997年台海危机一触即发，台海周边形势紧张。当时我们在华盛顿做了一个日本和台海问题的研讨会，会议主发言人是来自日本防卫厅的主掌美日情报交换的某君。这位日本情报官在谈到周边各国对当前局势的看法的时候，使用了排列句子。说到美国可能出现的情况，他的排列是：白宫如何看待危局，国会如何做决定（出兵要国会批准），美国的民意又会如何演变（因为美国民意会最终决定总统如何介入台海危机以及介入多深）；他说到日本的各界的反应是这样的：日本首相会如何、日本执政党和国会又如何，右派势力会否抬头，以及日本民众的民意走向会如何影响事态发展，影响有多大；在他谈到台湾时，排列也是类似的：总统李登辉的意思、军方的忧虑以及台湾2千多万民众的态度如何决定台湾的政策……

Having brought this up, there's something else from the past I'd like to bring up. Just thinking back to it, though, leaves me a little depressed. In 1997, with the Taiwan Strait Crisis looming, the situation was tense all around the Taiwan Strait. At the time we were in Washington doing a seminar on Japan and The Taiwan Question, and the keynote speaker at that seminar was a gentleman from the Japan Defense Agency who oversaw intelligence exchange between the US and Japan. As this Japanese intelligence official spoke about each surrounding country's views on the situation at hand, he used very ordered wording. Arriving at the subject of the possibility of America's involvement, his ordering went like this: how the White House views dangerous situations, how Congress makes decisions (dispatching of troops needs to be approved by Congress), and how Americans' popular sentiment will evolve (because American vox populi in the end determines how the president is to get involved in the Taiwan Strait Crisis, and to what extent); He said that across the board the response in Japan was this: What will the Japanese Prime Minister do, what will the ruling party and the Diet do, will right-wing forces lift their heads up, and how will trends in Japanese public opinion affect the outcome, affect to what degree; As he then spoke on Taiwan, the arrangement was similar: president Lee Teng-hui's intent, the military's anxieties, and how the attitude of Taiwan's population of 20 million would determine Taiwan's policy……

最后他说到了中国大陆也是这样排列的：中国政府的看法（他又把它分成了温和派和强硬派），中国军方的一些看法，中国地方政府（诸侯的态度）——文章到此结束。

日本情报官对于可能进一步恶化的台海危机，提出了当时牵涉其中的各国可能持有的态度和采取的措施，基于公开资料和日本情报部门的研判，还是有一定说服力的。可是他的报告刚刚做完，美国前驻北京大使馆武官文某就提出了一个问题：你的报告在谈到各国各方势力的态度时，都提到了政府和民众的互动，比较全面。但是，我也注意到，在你提到中国各方面的反应和可能对最终政策的影响时，你唯独没有论及中国民众和中国的民意。12亿人的意见难道不重要？

Then in the end he said mainland China goes like this: the Chinese government's views (which he even broke down into the moderate clique and the hard-line clique), some of the Chinese military's views, then Chinese local government (attitudes of the mini-bosses)—and then his talk ended there.

In response to the possibility that the Taiwan Strait Crisis could begin to deteriorate, this Japanese intelligence official brought up the likely stances held and steps to be taken by each country involved, basing them on publicly available information and Japanese intelligence agency assessments, so it was rather convincing. But, just as he finished his report, a former American military attache stationed at the embassy in Beijing brought up a question: in your report you discuss the stances held by various countries and powers, mentioning the interaction between government and people, very thoroughly. But, I've noticed one thing, that when you brought up the various responses in China and their possible impact on a final outcome, the only thing you didn't mention are the Chinese people and public opinion in China. So what, are the opinions of 1.2 billion people unimportant?

事情过去很久了，而且我也在一些场合提到了这个例子对我的影响，可是，今天还是想起来了，并先记录下来。也许现在的中国有所不同了？但愿如此。但那天那个日本情报官为自己论文的辩护是这样说的，中国的民意应该是和官方一致的，至少是被控制的，他们自己的发不出来，就是发出来也不会影响政府的决定。而且，在没有任何独立的途径得到中国民意相关数据时，我还是认为不能写进论文里，不严肃。

12亿民众的民意竟然是无法预测的，是被政府控制的，是不严肃的，对于我这位12亿人中的一员，我的心情可想而知。

1997年后互联网迅速崛起，成为西方了解中国大陆民意的重要工具，然而，如果从学术的角度，那些数据还是有些问题的，而且最主要的是，互联网反应出的大陆民意就是准确的？没有被控制和删减吗？

The incident is long past now, and I've brought it up on several occasions the effect this example has had on me. Yet, I'm reminded of it today, so I made note of it first. Is it possible that China is different now? If only it were so. But on that day, that Japanese intelligence official's defence of his paper went like this: popular opinion in China is probably consistent with the official stance, or at least it is controlled. People are unable to express their own [opinions], but even if they were, it wouldn't influence the government's decision. Moreover, at a time when there are no independent channels through which to obtain data on popular opinion in China, I feel I cannot include it in my argument, that to do so is inappropriate.

The public sentiment of 1.2 billion people actually cannot be predicted, and being under control, it is unreliable. As one of those 1.2 billion people, you can easily imagine how I feel.

Since 1997, the internet has quickly risen, and become the primary tool with which the West is able to understand popular opinion in mainland China. That said, if one considers the academic's perspective, this data is still problematic, mainly the question ‘are mainland public opinion responses given on the internet accurate? Aren't they controlled or getting deleted?'

[snip]

Yang spends the next several paragraphs shifting the topic onto the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, considering the truth of the matter, the anger in China regardless of one, and proceeds with the assumption that the bombing might have been mistaken, as claimed at the time:

“误炸”使馆事件出来后，中方反应之大，出乎意外，中美关系一下子降到底点，甚至比1996年台海危机时还要恶劣。“误炸”大使馆的一个最大结果就是中国民众的爱国激情被炸了出来，这激情如此之烈，以致让人无法分清是爱国主义还是民族主义了。两年前那位日本情报官已经回到日本情报部门任职，我想这使他一定很吃惊，他会不会说：哇塞，中国民众的声音终于发出来了？

但发出来了是发出来了，问题却在于，这种声音有多少可以进入他的研究报告之中？或者他又会在现在的情报研究中如何评价中国民众的爱国热情呢？他会提醒日本和美国政府不要掉以轻心？研究周边问题的情报分析对于这种爱国和民族主义当然不会错过，但中国这种爱国主义和民族主义的大混合是否是政府处理对外关系的一种重要依据？或者只是政府掌控的一种用来达到自己对外对内政策的一种手段和策略？——相信这是美日情报机关最为关心的事情了。

这也是我今天要说的最主要意思，虽然和轰炸大使馆离得有点远。大家不妨思考几个问题：中国民间痉挛似的爱国激情和时不时冒出来的民族主义对我们国家的对外政策是否有影响？是否影响中国和世界各国特别是西方、日本等国家的关系？是否影响我们的国际贸易？是否影响到中国的经济发展，影响了中国融入世界？那么再思考一下，每一次的爱国热情过后，给中国带来了什么变化？

Following the “mistaken bombing” of the embassy, the scale of China's response went beyond expectations and China-US relations immediately hit rock-bottom, to an extent even worse than during the Taiwan Strait Crisis. The biggest outcome of the “mistaken bombing” of the embassy was that patriotic fervor within the Chinese public blasted out, and this fervor was so intense that one was no longer able to tell if it was patriotism or if it was nationalism. The Japanese intelligence official from two years prior by that time had already returned to his job at the Japanese intelligence agency; I think this must have taken him aback, and I wonder if he said, ‘WOW, the voice of the Chinese people has finally come out!'.

Voice coming out is fine and well, but the real problem is: of these voices, how many of them will end up in his research reports? I mean, how else could he be assessing the Chinese public's patriotic fervor in his reports now? Will he be warning Japan not to lower its guard with the American government? Intelligence analysis of research into neighboring countries' issues of course will not miss patriotism and nationalism such on this scale, but is China's super-blend of patriotism and nationalism a key foundation of the government's approach to foreign relations? Or was it just a sort of tactical strategy controlled by the government to demonstrate for others its own internal policy? I believe that this was the thing that American and Japanese intelligence agencies paid the most attention to.

This is also the main point I want to make today, even if the embassy bombing departs from that. People would do well to consider a few questions: Chinese civil unrest that appears to be patriotic fervor and the nationalism that occasionally pops out from that, does this have any impact on our country's foreign policy? Does this affect China's relationship with the world, particularly with Japan and the West? Does this affect our international trade? Does it affect China's economic growth, or China's place in the world? And consider also, following every patriotic fervor episode, what changes has it brought to China?

对于我来说，这尤其重要，因为我也爱国，也激情，但无论怎么激情的爱国，我的目标是要中国能够继续经济发展，社会稳定，而且政治不断进行与时俱进改革。而这也是我对一些爱国热情和民族主义非常之担心的，认为任何人不管你高调还是低调爱国，不过你说自己是爱国主义，还是民族主义，如果你的爱国不能够提高人民生活水平，让中国人的人权得到保障，生活安定，政治清明，如果你的爱国不符合人类日益接受的普世价值，你的爱国就是误国，你也就无异于爱国贼。爱国也就是爱民。

这就是每一次看到爱国又起的时候，我最担心的，会不会把国际关系全部搞坏了？会不会破坏我们的经济发展了？会不会，说到这里我是很欣赏“韬光养晦”的策略的 ——你还别说，经过这一段时间的观察和调查，我得出了也许让很多反对冲动爱国的人士不那么喜欢听的结论：中国民众无论是反日抵制日货，还是到抗议美国轰炸大使馆，再到把爱国大游行搞到国外去，保护圣火等等，所有的这些激情大爱国，都没有影响中国政府和外国政府正常交往，没有影响多边经贸关系。

Speaking for myself, this is of the utmost importance. Because I love the country, and fervently so. But regardless of how passionately patriotic I am, my goal is to see China be able to continue its economic development, social stability, and continuous political reforms so as to keep up with the times. But this is also what makes me worry about certain patriotic fervor or nationalism, the feeling that anyone regardless of how high-key or low-key your patriotism is, or whether you call yourself a patriot or a nationalist, that if your patriotism is unable to raise people's standards of living, or guarantee human rights, stable lives, and political transparency for the Chinese people, if your patriotism is incompatible with growing daily acceptance for humanitarian universal values, then your love for your country is actually wrong for this country, and with patriotism like this you're nothing more than betraying the nation. Loving your country also means loving its people.

This is what worries me every time I see patriotism rising up again, wondering if it will completely ruin international relations. Will it ruin our economic growth? Having said that, I really admire the ‘play dumb, keep quiet and bide your time' policy. Wait now–after some time observing and investigating, I've arrived at a conclusion that many people who oppose impulsive patriotism might not like: The Chinese people, whether in protesting against Japan, boycotting Japanese goods, or even protesting America's embassy bombing, then from there taking the big patriotic protests to other countries, protecting the sacred torch and what have you, none of this super patriotic fervor had any impact on the Chinese government's usual interactions with foreign governments or on multilateral trade relations.

从这一方面说，我对中央政府的清醒头脑大加赞赏。他们显然比爱国的群众更“理智”，你砸大使馆可以，但中美关系特别是和美国人做生意一如既往；你到街上喊两声抵制日货或者砸两部日本汽车可以，但在政府的主导下，一部日本小车被砸倒，千千万万辆日本小车站了起来；你说抵制法货可以，但如果真激情到家乐福门口去折腾，公安会伺候你；你把美国怎么骂都不为过，但中美贸易一日千里，人员交往日新月异……最主要的是，几乎所有的爱国热情都是被政府的某种言行及时划上了一个句号：就在海外留学生爱国爱得要死要活的时候，中央发话了：干好你自己的事就是爱国。就在抵制日货呼声没有停下来时，领导人说了，记住历史，忘记仇恨；就在愤青们都想把CNN吃掉的时候，却发现地政救灾中，CNN是最重要一家被中央政府允许进入灾区的媒体！而且就在部分民众包括那个余秋雨高叫海外反华势力的时候，政府只字不提不说，而且还和这些外国政府打得火热……

一次狼来了，西方人很紧张，两次狼来了，西方政府冷静了一些，等你一而再再而三地折腾以反西方某个国家和个人为主的爱国主义时，西方人终于笑了。他们笑什么？他们笑我们那种奇怪的爱国主义，看上去毫无内容的爱国主义，让他们折腾吧，他们的政府不会怎么样，他们照样和我们做生意，他们照样和我们来往，一切照旧。于是，我们看到了，当中国在西方主要国家的中国留学生挥舞五星红旗宣示爱国的时候，人家冷眼旁观，西方主流媒体甚至于不屑于报道，人家根本不把你当回事。人家知道，你在怎么折腾，你不敢不和他们做生意，不敢宣布自己把门关起来，当然那些留学生更不敢收起皮箱，打道回府，那人家还有什么好担心的，好怕的？

In this one sense, I couldn't be more admiring of the central government's clearheadedness. Obviously, they are more ‘rational' than the patriotic masses, so you can go smashing up embassies if you want, but China-American relations, especially with those Americans doing business here, have gone on as normal. You can take to the street and shout twice that that you boycott Japanese goods or go and smash up two Japanese cars, but under the government's guidance, for every Japanese car that gets smashed, a hundred million more will take its place; you can say you boycott French goods, but if you really go to Carrefour's front door and agitate, the police will just wait for you to finish; you can curse out the US every which way, but China-America trade goes on around the clock and only keeps growing…..the most important of this is, nearly all patriotic fervor stops in its tracks with just one word: when those students overseas got so patriotic with their patriotism that they almost lost it, the central government spoke out: minding your own business, that's what being patriotic is. Then when calls for a boycott of Japanese goods wouldn't stop, the leaders said, remember history, forget hatred; and when those fenqing wanted to eat CNN up, they noticed that during the earthquake relief effort, CNN was the biggest media allowed by the central government to enter the disaster zone! Then when some people including that Yu Qiuyu started hollering about overseas anti-China forces, the government didn't say a word, in fact just kept cozy with some foreign governments…..

Start acting up once, and Westerners get nervous; twice, and western governments calm down a bit, waiting for you to get over agitating about some western country or another, and get over your personal patriotism, and in the end westerners just laugh. What are they laughing at? They're laughing at our strange sort of patriotism, which for all appearances is completely void of patriotism, so ‘let them agitate,' they think, ‘their government won't do anything about it, they'll keep on doing business with us, keep on dealing with us, and everything will be just as it was. Then we saw that when Chinese exchange students in major western countries started waving the five-star red flag and declaring their love for China, people just watched with indifference, and western mainstream media didn't even bother reporting it, pretending like you weren't even there. Because those people know, no matter how agitated you get, you won't dare trying to stop doing business with them, or threaten to slam the door and lock yourselves away, and of course those overseas students wouldn't dare start packing up their suitcases and return home. So what else is there for people to be worried about, afraid of?

那么现在让我们涉入最深层的问题，既然中国民众的爱国热情不但对中国政府对外决策不起影响，而且弄得外国人也麻木了，人家不但不怕，而且觉得好玩，那么这种爱国激情为什么还像肌肉痉挛一样，过一段时间就来那么一次，而且每次到来的时候，还往往让你感觉到有人在煽风点火？真得一点作用没有？目的何在？

不抵制外国产品，也不会缩减经贸交往，连国际交往也没有减少，而且我们的爱国主义几乎没有几次能够真正成功迫使西方政府对我们政府让步的，很多时候反而造成西方政府对我们发难。那么这种爱国主义到底有什么作用？

Now let us tackle some deeper issues. Since the Chinese public's patriotic fervor not only has no impact on the Chinese government's foreign policy, but also makes foreigners indifferent, people not only aren't afraid of it, but actually think it's kind of fun. So, why is it that this kind of patriotic fervor ends up looking like some sort of muscle spasm, over in a minute with another following shortly, and why, when they do come, does it always feel like someone's stirring up the flames? Does it truly serve any purpose whatsoever? Just what is the goal?

If you don't boycott foreign goods, you won't reduce trade interaction, you won't even reduce international engagement, and what's more is that our patriotism it seems has rarely been able to successfully force western governments to yield to ours, instead most of the time it just leads to western governments raking us over the coals. So what exactly is the purpose of this kind of nationalism?

[Snip]

可见，中国的民族主义和爱国主义以及激烈的反对西方的运动，并没有阻止中国政府和西方国家的进一步交往，特别是没有影响中国和西方在经贸、科教甚至社会方方面面的交往，唯一影响的是中国老百姓对西方的认识，对西方以人权、民主和自由为主体的价值观的了解！

现在，让我回到这篇文章的假设和我的推论，美国误炸大使馆，可是却搞出了那么激烈的抗美爱国事件，中国人民被激怒了，于是去抗议去游行去示威，去砸大使馆，就在大家快要激动到忍不住要去“援越抗美”的时候，中央接受了美国提出的赔款要求，误炸事件被确认下来，爱国游行倏然收场。

可是，“误炸”大使馆事件却成为一个深深影响中国人的标志性事件。就在几天前，我和一位比较喜欢的80后聊天，他说到自己的思想变化时，说，我以前也会同意你的观点，但1999年美国轰炸我大使馆，让我突然清醒过来，改变了我对美国的看法，对中国的看法。

You can see that China's nationalism and patriotism as well as its intense anti-western movement weren't able to stop the Chinese government from proceeding to engage with western countries, and especially had no impact on China's trade, scientific and social exchanges of every kind with the west, and the only impact it did have is Chinese people's understanding of the west, of their understanding that human rights, democracy and freedom are key values in the west!

Now, let me go back to this post's assumption and my deduction from it, that America mistakenly bombed [our] embassy, and out of that came an intense anti-American patriotic incident. The Chinese people were enraged, and went to protest and went to demonstrate and went to rally, and smash up the American embassy, and right when people were so worked up that they couldn't hold themselves back from opposing America that the central government accepted America's terms for compensations, and once the mistaken bombing incident had been confirmed as such, the patriotic demonstrations ended quickly.

But, the “mistaken bombing” of the embassy incident went on to become a symbolic incident which is deeply affected the Chinese people. Just a few days ago I was chatting with one post-1980s kid that I'm really fond of, and when he began to talk of how his own thinking has changed, he said, ‘I used to agree with your point of view, but after the American bombing of my embassy in 1999, I quickly woke up and changed my views towards America, and towards China.'

我真是太震惊：你不会告诉我轰炸大使馆事件竟然能够改变了你的价值观？那真是太神奇了！！如果这个轰炸是误炸呢？难道你没有发现问题，你的价值观到底是被什么改变的？！轰炸使馆事件是把你震醒了？还是轰炸大使馆事件后发生的那些爱国游行事件把你弄糊涂了？！

有人说，你说了半天，还是基于这次轰炸是“误炸”，可如果不是误炸呢？好，那么就让我告诉你，如果我们的假设是对的，那是误炸的话，那么你如何解释这次误炸竟然阴错阳差地改变了一代人对美国（及其价值观）的看法？用你自己的脑袋想一想吧。

现在我再告诉你：我并不认为轰炸大使馆是误炸，“误炸”只是这篇文章的假设。但即使不是误炸，我也因那件事竟然改变了一些人对世界和自己的看法，而且开始塑造一代年轻人的世界观感到无比震惊。

而且，当你和我一起开始认定那次轰炸不是“误炸”的时候，在你对世界的观点改变之前，你最好和我一起问这样一个问题：以美国为首的北约为什么胆敢轰炸我大使馆？

I was truly shocked: ‘you're not actually saying that the embassy bombing incident was actually able to alter your values, are you? That's truly amazing!! And if the bombing really was an accident? Surely you're not saying you didn't notice any problems, so just what exactly was it that changed your values? Was it the embassy bombing incident that woke you up? Or was it those patriotic demonstrations that came after the embassy bombing incident that in fact messed you up?!

Someone said, ‘you've been going on about this forever, you might as well stick to the bombing having been “mistaken”. But what if it wasn't? Okay, well then just let me tell you, if our assumption is correct, and it was a mistaken bombing, then how do you explain that despite all odds how it was that this mistaken bombing was actually able to change an entire generation's views (and its values) regarding America? Use your brain to think about this one.

And now let me tell you: I don't believe that the bombing of the embassy was a mistaken. “Mistaken bombing” is only the assumption made in this post. But, even if it wasn't a mistaken bombing, because of that incident, I too have in fact seen some of my views of the world and of myself change, and have also begun to form a sense of incomparable shock at one generation's view of the world.

Moreover, when you and I begin to recognize together that that explosion was not “mistaken”, but before your view of the world changes, you'd be best off to do as I do and ask this kind of question: ‘Why would NATO, as headed by America, have the audacity to blow up one of our embassies?'

China: 2008 with Hu Jia…the other one

Portnoy — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:08:22 +0000

Soundsandfury, a Taiwanese writer and blogger, tells us the irony when he saw the advertisement poster about Olympics in the subway of Beijing(zh). The poster with a slogan saying “2008 with Hu Jia” is featured with a China Gold Medal sportsman whose name is the same with the human right and environmental activist, Hu Jia, who was put into jail for 3.5 years also because of 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Taiwan: Different Presidents, different media treatment

Portnoy — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:48:33 +0000

Tim Maddog compares the difference of how TVBS, probably the most influencial cable news channel in Taiwan, treats different presidents.

Taiwan: Bridging Digital Divide with Puncar

Leonard Chien — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:51:02 +0000

While Taiwan is well developed and people enjoy relative equal opportunities compared with other regions around the world, the digital divide between urban and rural area is still wide. Several projects are ongoing in the island with an attempt to reverse the trend. Project in Recycling and Transferring Used Computers [zh] (二手電腦回收轉贈計畫), founded and executed by Environment Protection Administration (行政院環保署), for example, collects, repairs and sends used computers to remote areas and schools. Digital Community (數位好厝邊), established by Chunghwa Telecom Foundation (中華電信基金會), is also introducing digital learning resources to deprived communities.

It is, of course, insufficient to have computers and internet access as people need basic skills in using technology. To help people in remote villages and tribes learn and understand internet tools and applications, such as blogs, Twitter, Google Maps, Facebook, etc., Association of Digital Culture Taiwan (ADCT) [zh] (台灣數位文化協會) starts a new project named “Puncar” (胖卡) [zh].

This 10-year-old second-hand car, although can only ride 80-90 kilometers per hour, is well equipped with cameras, computers, portable solar panels, and so on. In May 2008, volunteers have spent three weekends organizing training courses in five distant villages and tribes in southern and eastern Taiwan.

Participants in different age groups gather in the community center for the event.

One local participant A-shan (阿珊) records the event in her blog [zh]:

徐兄在台上跟大家解釋著部落格是什麼…怎麼弄…又如何使用。
[…]
伯伯轉動著滑鼠…重覆著剛才課程內容，讓自己進步每一分鐘。

Tim (CEO of ADCT), standing on stage, introduces and explains what blog is, how to use it and what can be done.
[…]
Participants move their mouses, repeat what are taught, and try to improve step by step.

Philsu(阿寬), joined the tour in the second week, reflects on his experience [zh] with Puncar:

在跟小朋友互動的舉手投足、言語交流間，
體會了好多好多事情。
那是一種內在性的衝擊，撞擊著自己習慣性的思考，
進而延伸出好多的問題跟反思。
哪怕只是短短數小時的相處，
哪怕我們只是將簡單的網路地圖＆部落格使用方法帶給你們，
但我似乎獲得了更多的東西。

I have learned so many things through interactions with these children. The experience has affected my old habits and thoughts, followed by many questions and reflections. In fact we only spent a few hours with them and taught them how to use online maps and blogs, but it turned out that I have learned more from them.

Qweaz (陳力), driver and photographer of Puncar project, offers a complete photo record in his Flickr album.

Tim Shyu (徐挺耀), CEO of ADCT, says [zh] in the Puncar blog:

部落格行動車將集結優秀及熱情的師資人才，設計活潑實用的網路教學課程，以實際走訪的方式，運用該社區已有的硬體設備，協助解決「軟體」上的不足。並進一步發掘各偏遠地區的經濟特色，給予資訊科技方面適合的建議與支援的可能。

Puncar will recruit more members with passion and skills, and design more interesting and practical internet learning programs. We visit different villages, make use of existing facilities, and help solve the problem of skill insufficiency. Through the tour, Puncar will look into the economic characters in these rural areas and provide suitable IT advices and supports.

Puncar project will last for at least three years. Carrying on with its experiences in May, Puncar will be on the road again in July. For further details, please contact ADCT through adct DOT npo AT gmail DOT com .

All pictures are used under Creative Commons license

Taiwan: Oil Free, Bike Smiling Day

Portnoy — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:44:43 +0000

David on Formosa reported on the Bike Smiling Day event in Taipei on May 25 with photo. The oil price is skyrocketing all over the world as well as in Taiwan, and the carbon emission produced by transportation is also causing serious environmental problems in Taiwan, especially in crowded cities, so a group of city bicyclers, environmentalists, and bloggers get together to host the Bike Smiling Day in order to encourage more Taiwanese people to try bicycling.

Taiwan: Tibet Issued Manipulated in Taiwan Election

Oiwan Lam — Sun, 25 May 2008 04:17:26 +0000

Kwang Yin from interlocals.net explained how Tibet March riot had been manipulated in Taiwan during the presidential election period.

Taiwan: Ma's Inaugural Speech

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:25:00 +0000

Michael Turton comments on Taiwan new president Ma Ying-jeou's inaugural address.

China and Taiwan: Cement Board Partition

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 19 May 2008 07:41:25 +0000

In the Sichuan earthquake, many new school buildings had fallen apart. Thousands of school kids lost their lives. Hsueh, a taiwanese blogger, explained in details, the danger of cement board partition in modern construction [zh].

Taiwan: April 26th 2008, a Usual Day and a Special Day

I-fan Lin — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:44:36 +0000

Photo courtesy of Alhorn.

April 26th, 2008 should be a usual day, no more.
However, this March, Wenwei mentioned about a 24-hr photo activity held in 1992, and Yangphoto decided to hold a 24-hr photo blogging relay on April 26th:

照片具有歷史意義
影像能表達生命力
相機掌握在你手上
按下生命感動的快門

Photos can help us remember our history.
Images can reveal our vitality.
When you hold your camera,
Press the shutter to record the touching moments in your life.

In response to this call,

來自台灣各個角落的一百九十位攝影者在當天拿起相機，按下快門，接力記錄台灣的24小時。
這些照片與連結將在今天（5月5日）在網路部落格完整呈現….

190 photographers all over Taiwan took their cameras and pressed the shutter for the photo blogging relay to make a 24-hr recording of Taiwan. These photos and links are uploaded to this blog on May 5th:

00:00-07:00:People finishing yesterday's work, people preparing for a new day, and people supporting the the former two groups of people.
07:00-11:00:People eating breakfast, people starting working, and people taking a day off.
11:00-15:00:Young people and cats waking up and hanging around, people keeping working, and people attending activities.
15:00-17:00:People keeping working, people playing, and more people playing.
16:54-21:00:People with their family, people with their friends, people with themselves, and people with food.
21:00-24:00:People keeping working, people going home, and people trying to find their home.

Yangphoto said,

而從這些照片來看，參與這次活動有媒體的攝影記者、高度使用網路部落格的學生、為人師表的老師、一般的市井小民…等[…]容或影像水準不一，容或是負面的台灣，但他們真實呈現了所看到的台灣。

From these photos, we can see who joined this activity: photographers working in the media industry, students who blogs often, teachers, and common people.[…] Maybe the quality of these photos is not even, and maybe some of them reveals the negative side of Taiwan, but they present what Taiwan actually looks like.

Wenwei said this kind of activity can

使在台灣的每一人有命運共同體的體認。

make every Taiwanese aware that we live together.

He also hopes that in the future we can have

台灣企業的２４小時、台灣勞工的２４小時、台灣婦女的２４小時.

24-hr recording of the enterprises in Taiwan, labors in Taiwan, and women in Taiwan.

There is also a video including some photos in this activity on youtube (uploaded by ohho0625):

Taiwan: What can a baseball do?

I-fan Lin — Mon, 05 May 2008 05:43:09 +0000

There are some Taiwanese playing in Major League Baseball: Chin-Feng Chen in Dodgers from 2002-2005, Chin-Lung Hu in Dodgers, Hong-Chih Kuo in Dodgers, Chin-Hui Tsao in Royals, and Chien-Ming Wang in Yankees. Although they are loved by Taiwanese, these baseball stars are not the focus of this article. Here are stories about how baseballs change the life of challenged people and students in remote elementary schools.

Photo courtesy of Haomei.

The first story starts when a screen writer, an actor, and a director, Nien-Jen Wu left a message in Haomei's blog about the Sacred Heart Home for the challenged people. Fr. Franz Burkhardt founded the Sacred Heart Home in Chia-Yi, Taiwan, in 1980, and he planned to build a larger building to help more challenged people. Although the Reverend Franz Burkhardt, a recipient of presidential and papal honors for his services to Taiwan over almost half a century, died in 2002, his colleagues keep working on this project. Due to the funding shortage, Haomei started to blog about the Sacred Heart Home and helps raise money and invite people to visit the Sacred Heart Home.

An episode for these fund-raising activities is about baseballs.

Chensumi talked about how Tai-Yuan Kuo signed baseballs for a fund-raising auction:

我跟郭泰源總教練提到聖心募款的事情，他聽得很仔細，也很豪爽答應簽名[…]我在一旁小心打探，「多簽一些可以嗎？」[…]郭總說，「可以啊，愛心的事情，當然沒問題！」

I mentioned fund-raising for Sacred Heart Home to Tai-Yuan Kuo. He listened carefully and agreed to sign some baseballs without hesitance.[…] I asked him, “can you sign more?” He answered, “sure. For doing good things, there is never a no!.”

This auction raised 182100 NTD for the Sacred Heart Home, and this success inspired some baseball lovers to contribute their baseball-related souvenirs to the second auction. The second auction raised 281861 NTD for the Sacred Heart Home. The result is not only satisfactory for the Sacred Heart Home but also for the baseball players and lovers–

以前只要提到金錢和棒球掛勾，大家都會想到簽賭，沒想到這次金錢跟棒球掛勾，居然成就這麼動人的好事。

In the past, when we talked about how the baseball is related to money, we thought about gambling. However, this time when these baseballs work with money, we have accomplished something so touching.

The second story is about helping some baseball teams in the remote elementary schools. Chensumi reported:

堅果團購夢想計畫已經募到新台幣72000元。[…]我們也將委請藍文成教練幫忙遴選最需要幫助的球隊，在賽後這段期間，儘快將球具送達學校，給那些有夢想的棒球孩子，充滿溫暖的禮物。同時感謝球魂網站好友林言熹與楊榮健的協助，取得球具配備最划算合理的估價單。[…]預估我們所募得的金額，將有機會補助三支以上的偏遠部落少棒隊。

Chien-Kuo Group's project has raised 72000 NTD.[…] We will ask couch Wen-Cheng Lan to help us choose some baseball teams that need our attention most. After this baseball game, we will send the equipments as a pleasant present to the elementary schools for the young players who pursue their baseball dream. We also thank our friends Yen-Hsi Lin and Jung-Chien Yang's help so we can get the most reasonable assessment for these equipments. The fund we raised should be able to help more than three baseball teams in the remote elementary schools.

Chien-Kuo Group's plan is based on the love for the children and baseball:

我們也許讓未來有機會站上大聯盟投手丘與打擊區的小孩們，未來要扛下國家隊第四棒或職棒中心打線的小選手們，可以有新手套，可以不必擔心練習用球不見，同時讓他們知道，這段辛苦的棒球路，不是那麼寂寞，因為我們相信，在棒球起步的階段，曾經受過幫助的人，會一輩子都懂得感恩，不會愧對棒球之神賦予他們的使命。」

We can help these children, who may stand on the MLB field or play in the national or professional baseball teams in the future, have new mitts and not worry about losing the practice baseballs. At the same time, they know they are not alone. We believe that if they receive help in the beginning of their career, they will be grateful for the potential they have when they play baseball.

Redyellow described what they saw when sending the equipments to one of the elementary schools:

這一天我回來後，心底帶著暖暖的滿足。意外變成先發登板的我，帶著大家的愛心來到汐止國小，看著天真活潑的小球員，心裏彷彿被純淨的水流洗淨一般。到底是我幫助了他們，還是他們幫助了我，讓我找回心中久違的感動。[…]替這些勇敢追夢的孩子們吶喊加油吧！因為這也是為我們自己加油啊！
終於我覺得自己是個棒球迷了。但是今天不當球迷。

Today I came home with warm satisfaction in my mind. I became the first one sending our love to Hsi-Chih elementary school by accident. When I saw these lovely lively young players, my heart seems to be washed by clean water. It may look like I help them. However, they help me to find the touching feeling I have lost for a long time. […]Let's cheer for these brave children when they pursue their dream! By doing it we also cheer for ourselves! Finally I feel I am a baseball fan, but I am not a baseball fan today.

Taiwan: What is the dream we have in the Olympic Game?

I-fan Lin — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:02:05 +0000

When China holds the 2008 Olympic Game and said “one world, one dream,” what do we expect for this dream?

Schumann explained the origin of the Olympic torch:

古代希臘人在奧運舉辦前,會按宗教儀式,在奧林匹亞宙斯神廟前的祭壇上點燃火種， […]火炬手高舉火炬,一邊奔跑,一邊呼喊：停止一切戰爭,參加運動會。
火炬傳到哪，哪的戰火就熄滅了。[…]人們忘記了仇恨,忘記了戰爭,都奔向奧林匹亞參加奧林匹克運動會。
久而久之，火炬這個本來用來傳遞信號的工具，便成了和平、光明與友誼的象征。

Before an ancient Olympic Game, ancient Greek people ignited a torch before Temple of Olympian Zeus.[…] The torch holder would run and shout, 'stop wars to join the Olympics!' Where the torch went, where the war stopped.[…] Greek people went to the Olympic Game, and they forgot hatred and war. As a result, torch, which is a tool for sending signals, becomes a symbol for peace, light, and friendship.

However, Schumann said,

原本具有神聖意義的奧運聖火,卻被中國搞得像過街老鼠,
中國, 污辱了聖火。

This blessed Olympic torch has been running around the streets to avoid protesters like a rat. China government stigmatizes the Olympic torch.

Many Taiwanese discuss if we should boycott the Olympic torch due to China government's records of repressing human right. AW talked what is the goal for China government to hold the Olympic Game：

舉辦奧運變成了中共向全世界展示其「合法性」[…]當奧運場上人們盡情歡呼的時候，在中共黑暗的監獄裡，可能良心犯們正在被折磨得痛苦的呻吟；當西方政要在開幕式上給予中共足夠面子用來貼金的時候，中共正下定決心一定要把共產黨獨裁專制永遠延續下去。

The Communist Party of China plans to exhibit its legitimacy (to be in power) by holding the Olympic Game.[…] When people cheer in the athletic field, the human right activists are probably suffering in the prisons. When the western political leaders show their respect for China government in the opening ceremony, the Communist Party of China is determined to rule China forever.

Door and window discussed who should take the responsibility for letting the Olympic torch be tarnished?

世界各國的領袖…..才是讓聖火蒙塵的主因…..
平日以民主自傲的國家那去了???
以自由為榮的國家哪去了???
自稱世界警察的傢伙呢….是癱瘓了嗎???
也好….讓全世界看清楚….
道德的糖衣….在強權面前….全都瓦解殆盡….

The leaders of all the countries should take the responsibility for letting the torch be tarnished.
Where are the countries proud to be democratic?
Where are the countries proud to be free?
Where are the countries called as world police? Are they paralyzed?
That's fine. We can see how their sweet cover of morality diminishes before powerful autocracy.

doctor61 is surprised by how this Olympic torch is being relayed:

一個國家辦奧運，搞到要動員海外學生華人保護聖火，甚至由中國主動派安全人員出國保護，實在也是創舉了。

It is the first time that the country that holds an Olympic Game needs to mobilize oversea Chinese and their “safe guards” to “protect” the Olympic torch.

On the other hand, many people are surprised by how people supporting Tibet can evoke the boycott of the Olympic torch. forumvisitor commented,

圖博人在海外的人數應該沒台灣人數多，可是他們能爭取到的國際友人的聲援能量, 我自己覺得真的很驚人。我覺得我們要好好學習, 至少要盡量幫忙保護這個可能的盟友。

I am surprised by the support Tibetans get from foreigners, especially when the oversea Tibetans should not be more than oversea Taiwanese. I think we should learn from the Tibetans and protect these friends.

Door and window supported the boycott:

奧運聖火的繞境…幾天看下來…
真的有不少感慨…..
中國鎮壓西藏的當時….抵制聖火的言論根本聽不到…..
新加坡甚至….變相支持…挖勒…
但….幸好正義沒有完全消失….
支持人權的民眾站出來之後….
各國也紛紛表態不參加開幕式…..
唉…..人民若不以行動發聲…..就真的沒聲音了……

I sighed while watching the torch relay for days.
When China government was repressing Tibet, we did not hear a thing about boycotting the Olympic torch.
Singapore was even supporting China government's action. Sigh.
However, justice does not disappear.
After people supporting human right come forward, many leaders said they will not go to the Olympic opening ceremony.
Sigh. If we do not voice through our action, there is no voice.

mobobeijing2008 thought Taiwan should join the boycott:

台灣長期遭受中國武力的威嚇[…]在2008北京奧運舉辦之前，大家應掌握這個關鍵時刻，共同參與跨國界的抵制行動[…]呼籲中國，不應「右手舉聖火、左手抓飛彈」[…]而應該公開承諾，放棄以武力解決台灣問題。

Taiwan has been threaten by China's armed force.[…] We should grasp this critical moment to join the cross-border boycott activity[…] and ask China government not to hold the Olympic torch with its right hand and hold the missiles with its left hand. […] China government should promise that they will give up armed force for resolving Taiwan's issue.

When the boycott becomes a serious matter to China, China government asks people not to mix politics and athletics. However, this request does not sell.

johnnio said,

中國過去有幾年都因為政治問題不參加奧運，現在反而喊很大聲，要政治歸政治，體育歸體育。中國人的雙重標準果然博大精深。

China did not join some past Olympic Games due to political issues, but now it tells us that don't mix politics and athletics. This double standard is hard to understand.

no justice argued,

政治歸政治？那台灣要加入世界衛生組織, 非政治機構, 他們在哭夭什麼？

Politics is politics? When Taiwan tries to join World Health Organization, which is not a political organization, why do they block us?

Boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Game is not only a political issue. It is about what dream people all over the world want to share with each other.