Monthly Archives: January 2018

Taiwan’s values versus Taiwanese values On January 23, 2018, Tsai Ing-wen said in her SET TV interview that Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je should define “Taiwan’s values” but she refused to define what she meant by “Taiwan’s values”. Since then, there … Continue reading →

Political autism Following Taiwan’s protest against the unilateral opening of the M503 flight corridor for south-to-north commercial airline flights by the Chinese mainland aviation authorities, many Taiwanese political commentaries have been using the terms “理盲”, “集體理盲”, “低智商理盲”, “迷思” and “集體迷思”. … Continue reading →

病態的善良 “Sick benevolence” and 政治亂輪 “political incest” Taiwan’s democratic politics in 2018 so far has certainly produced a plethora of new political jargon.  It is highly descriptive and interestingly amusing.  It has become a rich source for political scientists, sociologists … Continue reading →

Tsai’s apology not accepted Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen apologized for causing social anxiety because of revising the basic labor law twice within a period of a year and a half from may 20, 2016 to January 10, 2018. A Yahoo … Continue reading →

When no laughter is heard in children’s public playgrounds On January 13, 2018, Tsai Ing-wen was in the Chung Hsing New Village in Nantou where she addressed a crowd of several hundred supporters for 13 minutes.  A police force of … Continue reading →

Taiwan struggles with translation of “shit hole countries” Interestingly, Taiwan’s Central News Agency’s Chinese news out of Geneva on January 12, 2018, translated US president Donald Trump’s reported use of the term “shit hole countries” as “鳥 不 生 蛋 … Continue reading →

Dire warning for Tsai? A survey of 1,074 responses conducted by Taiwan’s Trend Public Opinion company on January 8-9, 2018, shows that satisfaction with Tsai Ing-wen is at 30.7% and dissatisfaction of her is at 51.1%. The survey also shows … Continue reading →

“自願爲奴” or servitude volontaire “自願爲奴” means “servitude volontaire”. It is used in a Taiwanese commentary about the passage after the third reading of the “revision of the basic labor law” at 8:44 a.m. on January 10, 2018, after 18 hours … Continue reading →

Taiwan to build wolf pack missile assault boats Taiwan’s Central Academy of Sciences is seeking bids from civilian companies in Taiwan to build 60 45-ton draft stealth missile assault boats for service in four years (2022).  The boat will be … Continue reading →

“水 餃 股” and “僵 屍 股” “水 餃” is a “meat dumpling”, either steamed or boiled in soup.  “僵 屍” is a corpse.  “股” is a “share” of a company stock. “水 餃 股” or “dumpling stock” thus refers … Continue reading →