David on Formosa

Taiwanderful recently announced the 2011 Taiwan Best Blog Awards. To enter your blog you need to make sure you are registered at Taiwanderful before 10 December. Voting will take place from 10-30 December. I am no longer directly involved in running the awards but this blog will not be entered in the awards even though it is registered at Taiwanderful.

In previous years I have used the blog awards as a time to post links to some of my favourite Taiwan blogs. Even though I’m no longer in Taiwan I still read a number of Taiwan blogs and find them a great way of keeping in touch with what’s happening in Formosa. A list of some blogs I like in several categories follows. Read more »

I had a letter about the need for election observers published in the Taipei Times today. While I hope the forthcoming election will be trouble free, I note in the letter that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters have engaged in violent protests following election losses in 2000 and 2004. The risk of violent protests destabilising the political system and affecting the transfer of power should not be ignored.

It is disappointing to see that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not provided funding to European academics to observe next month’s presidential and legislative elections (“European election observers denied funding by MOFA,” Dec. 2, page 1).

The elections should be an opportunity to showcase Taiwan’s democratic development to the rest of the world.

DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has a good chance of winning the election. If Tsai is victorious, it will mark another transition of power and solidify Taiwan’s transition to democracy that began with the lifting of martial law in 1987.

However, one hopes the transition will be smooth and trouble-free. A look at Taiwan’s recent history suggests the possibility of trouble. Read more »

The website Taiwanease, with the slogan “Making Taiwan easy!”,  is the brainchild Anthony van Dyck. Some readers may know Anthony as a long term resident of Taiwan and for his ten year involvement with the well-known online discussion forum Forumosa.com. Taiwanease is a new and expanded website where Anthony is continuing to build an online community. I asked Anthony some questions about Taiwanease via e-mail. Read more »

In the introduction to Why China Will Never Rule the World author Troy Parfitt sets out his motivation for writing the book. Neither academic nor journalist, he simply wants to see things for himself. However, Parfitt does not arrive in China as a naive foreigner. Instead he has already spent more than a decade living on the periphery of China in Taiwan and South Korea. This experience, combined with the author’s Mandarin speaking ability, gives the book a refreshing perspective that differentiates it from other travel books about China.

Parfitt’s journey begins in Hong Kong, another place that is on the periphery of China. It is both part of China, yet distinctly different. The opening chapters about Hong Kong and Macau provide a good counterpoint when the author’s exploration of China proper begins. Read more »

A couple of months ago I wrote about the possible vice presidential candidates for both the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). I correctly predicted that Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) would be the candidate for the KMT. However, the DPP is yet to select their candidate and there are a number of possible candidates who didn’t even appear on my original list.

It was expected that the DPP’s presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would announce her running mate this weekend. However, a report from CNA today suggests that Tsai may delay the announcement until October. Tsai is certainly keeping everyone guessing about who she will choose.

While a number of names have been mentioned there seems to be no certainty about who Tsai will pick. Some potential candidates who have been the subject of media speculation are listed below. Read more »

It is more than a decade since I first came to Taiwan. During that time Taiwan has played a big part in my life, but my time there has finally come to an end and I am returning to Australia. This news may come as a surprise to some readers of this blog, but I have spent the past few weeks meeting with and saying goodbye to friends in Taipei and Taichung.

These past few years in Taiwan have been a rich learning experience. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to study at National Chengchi University (NCCU) where I completed a Master’s degree in Taiwan Studies. Dr David Blundell gave me some great guidance in the process of writing my thesis. David is currently editing a book titled Taiwan Since Martial Law. I have written a chapter for the book based on my thesis research and it should be published in the next few months. I will post the details of the book on this blog when it is available. Read more »