David on Formosa

• The Razzel Berry goes to a baseball game.
• Letters from Taiwan has a fantastic SF piece on future Taiwan-China relations.
• Bike Hugger on Taipei’s bike rental system (with video).
• Michael Turton on the factional infighting in the DPP. Taiwan Echo translates the DPP’s nomination rules.
• My Several Worlds interviews LP author Joshua Samuel Brown.
• Sponge Bear on links between Taiwan and Hokkaido.
• A-gu translates an article by Lin Cho-shui: Becoming a vassal of Beijing.
• Jerome Keating asks who owns Kinmen and Mazu.
• Scott Sommers on alternative models of education.
• Rolands recommends the Taichung Airport.
• Craig has great photos of Sun Moon Lake.

News: Peter Huang explains why ratification of UN rights covenants is important. Retired prosecutor criticises the death penalty. Michael Turton in the WSJ on how Chinese culture is used as a political tool in Taiwan. (Also see 中文 translation and discussion on the Talking Show). Former CNA Chair Su Tzen-ping writes that press freedom is threatened. US court avoids political decision in Taiwan sovereignty case.

History I never knew about: the 6 April 1949 incident at NTNU. Strong opposition to nuclear waste in Taidong. Electronics executive critical over government’s slow pace on green tech. Sewage discharge is killing Kending coral. The Philippine Star on scooters in Taiwan and lessons for the Philippines.

Events: This week is Australia Week at NCCU. The main event is a conference on Tuesday 14 April. Monthly breakfast meeting on 18 April. Michael Turton has the details.

Earth Day is on 22 April. Urban Nomad Film Fest kicks off on 23 April.

Twitter: I am now twittering as @davidonformosa. You can follow me if I don’t follow you first. My twitter updates are also on the right hand sidebar of this blog.

Thousands of Thai people gathered at the Taoyuan Stadium today to celebrate Songkran, the Thai New Year. The festival is also known as the Water Festival and often includes riotous water fights. It was a beautiful sunny day for the event in Taoyuan, although the water throwing was rather tame in comparison to what goes on in Thailand.

The event began with the monks chanting blessings before accepting alms. Here the people are lined up ready to offer food to the monks.

Later there was more chanting by the monks on the stage. Read more »

Detours to Paradise (歧路天堂), directed by Rich Lee (李奇), portrays the lives of “runaway” foreign workers in Taiwan. Statistics from the Council of Labor Affairs state there were 365,060 foreign workers from Southeast Asia in Taiwan at the end of 2008. In addition there were 25,821 runaway foreign workers. They are a significant group in number and must struggle to make a living in often harsh and difficult circumstances.

The movie revolves around Setia (Lola Amaria), an Indonesian maid, and her boyfriend Supayong (Banlop Lomnoi), a Thai construction worker. Both the lead actors learnt Mandarin especially for their roles in the film. They communicate with each other via their second language. Read more »

• Global Voices has a fascinating post on eel fishing in Taiwan.
• Michael Turton on the worshipping of the Yellow Emperor.
• Craig has photos of the Oasis concert in Taipei.
• Fili translates an article on Taiwanese student’s math skills.
• Darren has photos of Guandu Temple.
• Pinyin News has arguments in favour of romanisation.
• Scott Sommers’ blog is now at WordPress. The Wild East profiles Scott.
• Jerome Keating says Taiwan needs resistance art.
• dosivy has photos of Spring Scream.
• Far-Eastern Sweet Potato reports on Wang Jin-pyng press conference.
• Joshua Samuel Brown reviews a Taipei cultural cocktail.
• East Cathay observes history rhymes not repeats.

News: Gerrit Van der wees argues dual recognition is the rational approach. Jonathan Adams on China’s military rise and Taiwan. Asia Times on the declining economy. Taichung City and County set for merger. Lin Cho-shui expresses opposition to city-county mergers.

Event marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕). NGOs criticise Parade & Assembly Law amendments. Justice system is failing the mentally ill. Taiwan-born engineer founds green bank in the US.

10 April marks the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). Conference in Taipei discusses the TRA. Vincent Wang also looks at 30 years of the TRA. Li Thian-hok writes on the gathering crisis in the Taiwan Strait.

The CCP may be spying on your computer. The Christian Science Monitor also discusses the cyber spy network. Freedom House releases report on internet freedom. Read some more about the Freedom on the Net Index at Global Voices Advocacy.

Taiwanese embrace Indian culture. Taiwan hopes to become an education destination for Indian students. Taiwanese youth take to Australian working holidays. Chinese Antarctic research ship visits Kaohsiung. Taipei Times carries tales of fake panda sex on April Fools’ Day and provokes some mixed reactions.

Events: Memorial for Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) at 228 Park in Taipei at 6:00pm Monday 6 April. Blue Sky band are performing at the Thai New Year Concert at Taoyuan Stadium on Sunday 12 April. Michael Turton has details of a seminar on “Dutch Formosa in Perspective” at Academia Sinica on Friday 10 April. Alton advises the Taiwan Wind Ensemble is performing on 9 April in Taipei and 12 April in Taichung. Details here.

Check the Taiwanderful events calendar for details of more events in April.

Monocle magazine includes a feature on Taiwan rock factory looking at Taiwan’s music industry. You can view it online as a flash video with photos and commentary. ChthoniC (閃靈) bass player Doris Yeh is in the above photograph.

The report includes Freddy Lim of ChthoniC and part-owner of Taipei live music venue The Wall. The commentary somewhat confusingly says, “ChthoniC are tuneful poster boys and girls for the politicised youth angry at China’s tentacles in Tibet and Taipei. Taiwan is officially part of the Republic of China.” I suggest the script should be changed to, “Taiwan is officially not part of the People’s Republic of China.”

The Liberty Times (自由時報) also reports on Freddy’s appearance in Monocle. It says the photo shoot was done on the roof of Freddy’s house. Freddy says his house is very normal and doesn’t contain any skeletons. He also reveals ChthoniC will play at the Free Tibet concert in July and their new album will be released during the summer.

When law enforcement officers and possibly plain-clothed national security agents broke into a room occupied by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taichung City councilors at Taipei’s Grand Hotel without a warrant on Nov. 3 last year, many shrugged it off as an isolated incident.

When police ordered the closing of the Sunrise Records music store in Taipei during Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin’s (陳雲林) visit last year, there were reports of people being harassed and mistreated by police.

When an 18 year-old student was taken away by police, questioned for half an hour and had his fingerprints taken on March 12 for shouting “Step down” at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), many dismissed it as a one-off incident.

They also laughed off concerns of a “return of the White Terror era” when media reported that a family member of a 228 Incident victim was questioned by police over her plans for taking part in a memorial.

People easily and quickly dismissed these incidents as isolated cases. But how many “isolated” cases must there be before alarm bells start ringing about the possibility of autocratic governance returning to Taiwan?

The above text is from today’s editorial in the Taipei Times. It was written in response to the most recent incident of police overstepping the limits of their powers when they interrupted a meeting of the Taiwan Blogger Association in Taipei over the weekend. The Taipei Times reported on the incident here and Taiwan political blogger Billy Pan has an on-the-scene report (中文). Read more »

• Hanjie on the use of human flesh search engines in Taiwan.
• Pinyin News explains how to write verbs in Hanyu Pinyin.
• A hungry girl recommends Shin Yeh Table.
• Save the Dolphins has before and after photos of the Songshan Tobacco Factory site and photos of humpback dolphins.
• Taiwanonymous on naming conventions of movies and how to search for the Chinese names of movies.
• Letters from Taiwan on the politics of harmony.
• Michael Turton visits the Handicrafts Institute and Lugang.
• Global Voices on the reality of the Rural Renewal Statute.
• Jerome on Kuo Kuan-ying and the GIO.

News: US releases new report on China’s military rise. Congress backs strong resolution on TRA. Former President Chen Shui-bian accuses KMT of judicial persecution. DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen says charges against leading DPP members are an attempt at judicial liquidation of the party. Activists call for end to death penalty.

Chinese women face racism in Taiwan. Huang Luo-feei on the DPP and ethnic issues. Cao Changqing writes the system breeds contempt. TSMC employees protest lack of labor rights. Filipino workers  forced to return home by downturn.

Jonathan Adams on the Mazu pilgrimage and the web. MTAC (蒙藏會) head says Dalai Lama can’t visit now. South Africa also rejects Dalai Lama visit. The Hollywood Reporter interviews movie director Wei Te-sheng. Giant Chairman King Liu to bike from Beijing to Shanghai. Kaohsiung World Games Stadium is an eco-architectural model.

Events: Spring Scream (春天吶喊) is on from 3-5 April in Kending. UK rock invasion: Oasis in Taipei on 3 April, Dragonforce on 9 April.

The Bitan Music Festival was a series of free concerts held on the bank of the Xindian River in Bitan. The festival began on 10 January with performances every weekend. I only attended a few days of musical performances, but I saw some fantastic performances.

Yerboli Ahmethan (葉爾波利) is a Kazakh musician from Xinjiang, China. He plays a two-stringed instrument called a dombra. David Chen wrote a great article about Yerboli in the Taipei Times. He played on 7 & 8 March. Read more »