Here’s a couple more good ones, two are English friendly!

11:39 pm  •  4 September 2011  •  24 notes  •  View comments

List from Taiwan Insights, I put together some of the achievements that are ranked internationally. Take this out to your friends, kiddies!

July 19, 2011

As China overtook Japan as the second largest economy in the world in 2010, Taiwan was not focused on competing with China, but more on creating a higher quality of life for its citizens. Nowadays few people in Taiwan are bothered with comparing the island’s economy, military power and infrastructure building with China. By taking advantage of the island’s “soft power” – a notion pioneered by American scholar Joseph Nye of Harvard University – most Taiwanese people are focused on rebuilding the national sense of self-confidence that came with Taiwan’s “economic miracle” in the 1970s.

As the old saying goes “Someone knows little how lucky he is for being born into a rich family,” Taiwanese people are increasingly unaware that they already have a remarkably wonderful way of life. In its June issue, Global View monthly published a 400-page special edition listing the 100 promising achievements by Taiwanese people. Nine of those achievements are highlighted in the following article.

The best health service in the world

Taiwan’s health service is one of the best in the world, according to Nobel Laureate Economist Paul Krugman.

In 2009, Taiwan’s life expectancy surpassed that of the United States. Li Fei-peng, superintendent of Taiwan Medical University Hospital, said that American life expectancy was 78.2 years, while in Taiwan it was 78.97. Taiwan’s medical expenses account for 6.6 percent of GDP, while in the US these expenses account for 14.6 percent of GDP. Taiwan’s medical system is both exceptionally good and affordable. 

In Taiwan, there are 8.56 clinics for every 10,000 people, although not as many as in Japan, Taiwan’s physician density is much higher than Japan’s. In 2009, there were about 200,000 doctors in Taiwan, an average of 23.56 doctors per 10,000 people, while there were 21.2 doctors per 10,000 in Japan, 21.4 in Britain, and 26.7 in the US. These figures show that Taiwan is on a par with other developed nations.

The most reliable Metro system

For Taipei residents, taking mass transportation is a part of daily life. But for foreign visitors, the Taipei Metro is a marvel. The highly regarded system ranked first in five straight years (2004-2008) in terms of reliability, according to a study by the Railway Technology Strategy Centre of Imperial College and data gathered by Nova/CoMET. Since the Taipei Metro joined the Nova International Railway Benchmarking Group and the Community of Metros in 2002, none of the other 27 members has won so many championships for reliability since Nova’s establishment in 1997.

In 2010, the system, which was established in 1996, consisted of 94 stations and 63 miles of track, carrying an average of over 1.5 million passengers per day. Its annual revenue was over NT$500 million (US$16.7 million) last year.

Fifth in the world for higher education admission

There are 163 colleges and universities in Taiwan. Besides having ample schools, the island’s students also perform well in the rankings. In the 2010-2011, “Global Competitiveness Report” published by the World Economic Forum, Taiwan was ranked 5th for its higher education admission rate, 13th overall in terms of performance and, 11th in the category of higher education and training performance.

According to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the average length of schooling for Taiwan’s population over six years old is 16.11 years, while in Australia it is 20.63 years, in Finland 17.07 years, in Britain 16.13, in France 16.15 and in the US 15.85.

Growing popularity of charity activities

Less than two months after Japan’s destructive earthquake and tsunami in March, Taiwan has donated almost NT$6 billion (US$200 million) to the disaster relief funds for Japan. With only a population of 23 million, Taiwan was the world’s top donor to Japan’s disaster.

According to a Ministry of the Interior report compiled in 2008, total charity donations by all Taiwanese people reached NT$42.6 billion (US$1.4 billion). On average, every Taiwanese person donates NT$1,891 (US$63) a year. In an island of 36,000 square kms, Taiwan has over 40,000 non-profit organizations.

Blood donations are one of the easiest basic measurements of charity services. In 1991, Taiwanese donors accounted for five percent of the population, and the quantity of blood donated without financial gain reached one million bags (250 milliliter per bag). This total has since reached a record high of 7.9 percent (2.509 million bags).

According to the Asian Pacific Blood Network, Taiwan’s blood donation rate is the highest in Asia, with an average of 25.2 kiloliters per thousand people a year, equaling that of the United States.

Highest gender equality in Asia

This is an important year in Taiwan, not merely because it is the centennial anniversary of the founding of the republic (this is another worm to be dissected later), but this is also the first year that Taiwan will have female presidential candidates – Tsai Ing-wen and Ellen Huang.

In terms of gender equality, Taiwan enjoys the highest ranking in Asia. According to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics in January 2011, the gap between men and women in Taiwan is ranked No. 4 globally, only behind the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden. In Asia, Taiwan is followed by Singapore (11^th), Japan (13th) and South Korea (21st).

The ranking is based on DGBAS’s gender inequality index (GII) of the United Nations Development Program, which includes maternal mortality, adolescent fertility, parliamentary representation, educational attainment (secondary level and above) and labor force participation. Among these indexes, Taiwan’s female legislator participation is 30.4 percent, ranking sixth in the world, behind that of Sweden, the Netherlands, and Norway, but close to Germany’s 31.1 percent, and taking the top spot in Asia and the Pacific.

Of Taiwan’s 340,000 civil service workers, in 2000 there were 22 times as many men than women occupying senior grade posts. By 2010, this figure was a mere 3 times as many.

58 percent of garbage recycled or reused

On a global scale, Taiwan’s recycling and garbage reduction is exceptional, outperforming the US and Japan. According to the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), every year Taiwan recycles 4.5 billion PET bottles, 1.5 million metric tons of paper, 2,500 metric tons of batteries, and 200,000 metric tons of aluminum cans.

In the early1990s, the amount of garbage continued to increase as Taiwan’s economy grew and living standards improved. The amount of garbage collected reached a record high in 1998 with an annual volume of almost 9 million metric tons.

Taiwan started a new era of recycling when the revised “Act of Disposal Management” was passed in 1997, which imposed a recycling fee on electronic appliance manufacturers, established an independent recycling management fund, and provided subsidies for recycling businesses.

The first combined recycling system and factory of “Four plus One” (televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners plus computer information products) was established in Taiwan. The garbage recycling rate is remarkably high at 48.8 percent. The battery recycling rate is even higher at 53.5 percent, far ahead of the target rate of 45 percent set up by the European Union for 2016.

Taiwan has adopted the most advanced policy of garbage disposal in the world. Discount stores do not offer plastic bags to customers and every family has to buy special plastic bags for garbage disposal. Also, starting from July 2008, the EPA began to clamp down on the use of disposable chopsticks at convenience stores.

Today, the amount of garbage generated per person has dropped to 1.06 pounds from a high of 2.51 pounds in 1998. This is a reduction of up to 58 percent.

Source and FYI: Taiwan Insights is the e-newsletter from the Press Division of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in San Francisco. The division represents the Government Information Office (GIO),

7:56 am  •  19 August 2011  •  7 notes  •  View comments

The widespread biased blurb attached to all news articles attempting to pigeonhole Taiwan (Formosa) are incorrect and continues to add to confusion, aiding those with propagandistic intentions for the nation.  The facts are below.

Please enlighten me to further facts or truths. I will edit this for a revision to be sent to media outlets and post the comment whenever I see this grossly overused lie.  This is not a matter of political division or my opinions.  Readers of articles should be able to form their own opinions based on truths.

ERRONEOUS STATEMENTS:

 “Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, and the mainland claims the island as part of its territory.”

“China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, 62 years after the two sides split amid civil war.”

“China and Taiwan split in 1949 after a civil war but Beijing considers the island part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.”

“Beijing still considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though the island has ruled itself since 1949 at the end of a civil war.”

“…broken nearly 60 years ago when the two sides split amid civil war”

HISTORICAL FACTS:

1. The “ two sides,” referenced above, China and Taiwan, DID NOT split in 1949; did not split from a civil war – because Taiwan was not, is not a part of China.

     The civil war noted was the Chinese Civil War and the two sides that fought and split were the KMT (Chinese Nationalist Party, governing party of the Republic of China) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) having nothing to do with Taiwan. During the Chinese civil war in the first half of 1900s, Taiwan was under colonial rule by the Japanese from 1895 to 1945.  The Japanese actually held sovereignty on Taiwan until it was renounced on April 28, 1952 but still did not transfer sovereignty to any specific state or government.

2. The island has ruled itself since 1949 – this is an ambiguous statement.  Who are to be the true rulers of Taiwan with the various stages of migration and rule by a plethora of forces laying claim to Formosa? 

      In 1945 at the end of WWII when the Japanese were defeated, the winning allies’ United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration granted administrative control of the Taiwan to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek’s Nationalists (Republic of China or ROC) who was fighting and lost the Chinese civil war to the Communist Party of China (CPC).  It was following defeat in 1949 that the ROC government under the KMT escaped to Taiwan and declared martial law over their new home, over the current inhabitants.  What is the sound metric for any beginning (or ending) of Taiwan ever having truly being able to rule itself as simply as Taiwan during the course of its volatile history?  If the metric of a nation ruling itself is set by a period of bloody unrest bundled with martial law, then how are we to not designate the beginning of this nation having “ruled itself” in 1895 under the Japanese, or before then, even?

Note again that with neither with the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty (1951) or Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty (1952) was there any explicitly ceded sovereignty of Taiwan to any specific state or government. 

ABOUT TAIWAN:

Taiwan holds a rich hybrid history that is not subject to any form of “re”-unification claims by any country or regime nor are any of them truly Taiwan’s “mainland.”  Although enriched continuously by waves of immigrants from all cultures, the history and existence of Taiwan was developing long before the Chinese or Japanese or any Republic set their political sights on this nation.  A long meandering legacy includes habitation from indigenous populations, migration and rule by foreign forces from the Dutch, Spanish to the Chinese, and the Japanese with periods of uncertain status with spotted with failed attempts at Taiwanese independence altogether.

Framing the conclusion of any article pertaining to the relationship of Taiwan and China with this erroneous statement gives validity to China’s false claims of sovereignty over this striving democracy.   It is not a re-unificiation.  It would be a takeover.

OTHER RESOURCES

Feel free to read through any link on the history during said time period above from any sources, online or in print.  We can start posting CIA reports and all such if desired.  Facts and the chronological event happenings of events are solidified.

San Francisco Treaty http://www.taiwandocuments.org/sanfrancisco01.htm

Sino-Japanese Treaty (Treaty of Taipei) http://www.taiwandocuments.org/taipei01.htm

“Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan” by Jonathan Manthorpe

11:15 pm  •  31 July 2011  •  11 notes  •  View comments

It’s exactly what we needed in addition to Taiwanese, Chinese Taipei, R.O.C, Taiwan Province.  R.O.C-er.

This identity and name game by politicians, don’t fall for it!  It’s a well known tactic to play to the heart strings of constituents and I wanted to post this article from Mother Jones on Nikki Haley on when she turns on and off the minority switch.  Appealing to nationalism, patriotism, any -isms in general, are all advertising campaigns that do not in the end do not truly cater to the complete socio-eco realities and actual policies those elected/in power may employ.  A celebration of identity is very very cool but I’m also against it, on all fronts, from any parties, including those I may support, of deploying it purely for votes. 

I hadn’t posted this sooner, my apologies. Below is one of the videos from  presidential campaign video “Taiwan Next” from Ms. Tsai Ing-Wen’s campaign.  What are your thoughts on this and do you feel this plays up identity? Nationalism?  Patriotism?  Do you feel this is just a political tactic or all in innocence?

Caption:
Taiwan, where are you?
Taiwan, what do you want?
Taiwan, where are you going?
What’s next?
TAIWAN NEXT 現在決定未來! / Now determines the future!

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3:57 am  •  30 July 2011  •  19 notes  •  View comments

Tell TWITTER that Taiwan is NOT A PROVINCE OF CHINA!

TWITTER 把台灣訂位為中國的一省 (TAIWAN, PROVINCE OF CHINA)!

Photo courtesy of @Nisemono, I made some minor red markings

ACTION ACTION ACTION!

1) Fill and submit the form http://t.co/EmYYNe7?type=js (see example below)

2) Tweet @twitter #TAIWAN IS NOT A PROVINCE OF CHINA! Please change this outrageous labeling!

3) Retweet the bejesus out of any tweets that mention the above to let Twitter know you and others demand this correction!

4) Let everyone you know and especially Taiwanese & Democracy & Freedom related groups and forums on other social networks about this!

******

You might have noticed this elsewhere, including when you try to select Taiwan as your country for credit card payments.  Why?  Because of ISO 3166 - which is interesting because neither Hong Kong or Macau have “Province” or “SAR” behind them!  When the government is unable or cannot act, the people must act.  Bringing to attention all such mishaps in the future would be great, we have strength in numbers!

This was no good - I was so dismayed that I declined to go ahead with this purchase on my Taiwan credit card last month.

FYI from ISO Faqs

Why is Taiwan named Taiwan Province of China in ISO 3166-1?

The names in ISO 3166-1 - and thus on our Webpage - are taken from United Nations sources. These sources are authoritative inputs to the international country code standard. They are:

• The United Nations Bulletin Country Names
• Country and Region Codes for Statistical Use of the United Nations Statistics Division

Since Taiwan is not a UN member it does not figure in the UN bulletin on country names. The printed edition of the publication Country and region codes for statistical use gives the name we use in ISO 3166-1. By adhering to UN sources the ISO 3166/MA stays politically neutral.

Neutral.

9:11 am  •  28 July 2011  •  2 notes  •  View comments

This action of NTNU (National Taiwan Normal University) is a sickening move in order to make money off Chinese students and a degradation to itself as to alter its identity for money.  A lose/lose for both and I would encourage Chinese students to not even bother with a University that willingly compromises itself to be seen as a leader in the educational atmosphere; and for current and past NTNU students, such as myself, I would be ashamed of this supposed place of learning.

Without even getting into political reasons, this action in itself called “goodwill” strikes an image knee-bending groveling whilst grasping for RMB should serve symbolically as the image for Taiwan, the country herself.  Shame!  Short sighted.  Or maybe long sighted, after all.

Cheers to lettersfromtaiwan for writing a letter.

Does anyone know if we can write letters to the Uni itself? 

lettersfromtaiwan:

Well, that made me sad and angry so here’s my letter I wrote to the Taipei Times in response:

Dear Sir,

Name Games

It is claimed that Confucius once said to change the names of an environment would be to change the way people thought about it, and themselves.  The news that National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) has dropped the word ‘national’ from its promotional posters aimed at Chinese students as ‘a means to demonstrate goodwill to China’ should come as no surprise.  It is the logical extension and outcome of the KMT administration’s soft push for self-annexation via economic incentives.  It also illustrates how two different administrations have strategically fought over names as a means to determine the identity of the nation and shape its future.

Under Presidents Lee and Chen, administrations proud of Taiwan, the government led efforts to change names to better encourage and support the rising Taiwanese national identity that accompanied the transformation of the nation from KMT dictatorship into a democracy.  This was a top down approach to nation building.  The best Taiwanese could do with the amendments however was to draw from them a feeling a national pride.  It was thus more superficial than substantive.  Crucially there were few economic incentives for Taiwanese to ‘bank‘ the changes or convert them into opportunities for income creation.

KMT President Ma’s approach has, in contrast, been the opposite whilst retaining a similar goal.  Whilst claiming that he would not engage in ideological name games (a lie belied by his administration quickly acting to change back the names of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and the Chunghua Post Office), Ma has sought to encourage Taiwanese to ditch their national identity via the chimerical economic incentives of his disastrously short-sighted and naive cross-strait policy.  

First, he manufactured in Taiwanese imaginations a collapse of the Taiwanese economy under Chen’s administrations despite growth figures that suggested the opposite.  Under this excuse of a collapsed and soon to be ostracised economy, Ma pushed for economic agreements with China which grossly overstated the benefits and encouraged Taiwanese businesses to make themselves dependent upon a slowly stagnating Chinese economy.  Ma called on Taiwanese to be ‘pragmatic’ so as to take advantage of the untold riches that would come their way if they simply set aside contentious and ‘controversial‘ adherence to nomenclature that stressed the primacy of a Taiwanese national identity.  We were told ad nausea that we were all Chinese now.  Those that got ’on message’ would benefit whilst those holding to their pride in Taiwan as a nation would lose out.

Ma’s strategy has been clever, knowing full well Taiwanese inclinations to economic insecurity, pessimism and short-term thinking. Taiwanese have not been slow to get the message.  Many now believe that if they can appease Beijing and avoid ‘upsetting the Chinese people‘ they too can strike gold.  So it is that NTNU have dropped the ‘N’ to gain a few more students and increase income.  I suggest that since they are changing their name, perhaps they should just go all the way and now call themselves Taiwan Province Subjugated University. 

(Source: lettersfromtaiwan)

8:32 am  •  24 July 2011  •  7 notes  •  View comments

A response to a letter sent into Taipei Times by Ms. Yang Liu Hsiu Hwa, which is an indirect response to the recent (welcome to election time in Taiwan!!) heated issue of Taiwanese identity.  You can read President Ma’s answer here.

Second post is in regards to a Malaysian Chinese in China.  This ties into the “generational Chinese” effect.  Can I ask, really, honestly, is it only the Chinese who really really want to do that group thing when they try to bring it all back to China?  I’ve heard claims of Korea, of Japan, basically most other Asian countries spawning off China at some point in the billion year old history.  Do other countries do this outside of Korea and Japan sparring at times?  I don’t know anyone else being forced to squeeze out which generation of Chinese they “must have” come from.  Who says stuff like “my bloodline comes from the Yellow Emperor” like President Ma - I mean do the French say they came from Louis XIV or the English present themselves as the same bloodline as Henry the Whatever?  There needs to be some sort of scientific study or poll on a global level about this mentality.

We all know how difficult or annoying it may be to defend your identity to outsiders.  The fact is, that this occurs within Taiwan as well and the reason for why I spend a majority of my time countering this.  After all, if you don’t know yourself and love yourself, how will you be presented to others?

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5:11 am  •  24 July 2011  •  7 notes  •  View comments

Two more Taiwanese Identity Facebook Groups! “我是台灣人 (I am Taiwanese)” and “做一個堂堂正正的台灣人壹 I am Taiwanese, Not Chinese”

(updated to show name change of group)

I’ll have to say for sure that for identity, social media really has proved once again it’s strengths in drawing people together.  Hey everyone, no you are not alone.  There are others who understand the “I am Taiwanese” call.  There is NO shame. 台客？ What? SO WHAT!

No name calling, just positive, just love.

11:47 pm  •  20 July 2011  •  3 notes  •  View comments

I found this article on Taiwanese “I’m Taiwanese, Not Chinese” identity interesting.  It sometimes surprises people both in and out of Taiwan, that there are people in Taiwan, who in fact, do NOT associate themselves with Chinese at all.  I didn’t know about the Japanese provision either but all my grandparents and most of my elders fall within this.

Thanks to @TimMaddog for the original post

*********

I’m Taiwanese, not Chinese

Recently, the statement “I am Taiwanese” has become a hot topic in the media. This is such a strange issue. If you were born in Taiwan, grew up in Taiwan and lived for a long time in Taiwan, why can’t you proclaim: “I am Taiwanese”?

According to Japan’s provision dated Nov. 18, 1895, Order No. 35 stipulated that residents of Taiwan and Penghu had two years to choose their nationality, to decide if they wanted to be “people of the Qing Dynasty” or “Japanese.” At that time, my ancestors chose to stay and became naturalized Japanese.

Currently, the world widely recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as “China.” Since I am not a citizen of the PRC, I am not “Chinese.” This is such a simple truth. Some people might say that I am a citizen of the Republic of China (ROC) and I therefore have ROC nationality. In fact, before the end of World War II, when I was 25 years old, I was a Japanese citizen. Later, my nationality was changed to that of the ROC, though I was offered no choice and gave no permission. I was unconsciously made a citizen of the ROC under duress from the authorities at that time.

The Japanese Ministry of Justice’s Civil Affairs Bureau issued Civil Affairs No. 438, dated April 19, 1952, which stated that “effective from the day of the enforcement of the San Francisco Peace Treaty [April 28, 1952] … Taiwanese … would lose the nationality of Japan.” The fact that Taiwanese were forced to become ROC citizens on Oct. 25, 1945, when Japan surrendered Taiwan to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) authorities, is incompatible with principles of international law and violates the spirit of the UN Charter.

I often wonder, why is it so difficult to be Taiwanese? If you want to clarify the legal status of Taiwan and Taiwanese nationality, you can go to the International Court of Justice at The Hague for an interpretation. By then, I hope you will have woken up. Be proud of being Taiwanese and bravely proclaim that “I am Taiwanese, not Chinese.”

Let me ask President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九): Why did you come to Taiwan? Were you forced to flee to Taiwan? At that time, we did not deny you. Taiwanese welcomed you to stay in this country and worked hand in hand with you. Since then, you have lived a peaceful life in Taiwan. What else are you asking for?

If you do not like Taiwan and do not like to be Taiwanese, you are welcome to leave and go anywhere you like. Perhaps you might go to the US and tell Chinese Americans (including your two daughters) that “I am Chinese, not American.”

YANG LIU HSIU-HWA (楊劉秀華)

Taipei

Link is below

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2011/07/21/2003508736

********

I love that in Taiwan we come from all different walks, have different pasts and journeys but we are all Taiwanese.  I don’t understand with anyone that sees this differently and wants to trap me or anyone to a singular “identity.” 

11:35 pm  •  20 July 2011  •  3 notes  •  View comments

yes-butno:

I’ve been hesitant to post something like this for a while because of the huge debate I know it’ll spark. (TAIWAN IS NOT A PART OF CHINA/TAIWAN IS A PART OF CHINA BLAHLAHlAHH!!!!) My parents were born and raised in Taiwan, but 3/4 of my grandparents are from China. I speak Mandarin Chinese, but I don’t know any Taiwanese (my parents speak Taiwanese to each other when they’re talking about me :/). At home, where almost everyone I know is Asian, I usually say I’m Taiwanese. In college, where Asians are more rare, I say I’m Chinese because when I say “Taiwanese”, either they don’t automatically understand the connection to Chinese, or because they say “Isn’t that the same thing as Chinese?”… and I don’t feel like explaining. 

3:03 am  •  14 July 2011  •  425 notes  •  View comments