8Asians | An Asian American collaborative blog

In Greece yesterday, the Olympic torch was lit and the ceremony was briefly interrupted by members of the Athens chapter of Reporters Without Borders. It was broadcast live by Greek television, but China state television cut away to a prerecorded scene. In “Olympic Event: Protests Kick Off The Torch Relay,” The Wall Street Journal reports:

“The gold-medal venue on the activists’ calendar is San Francisco, the Olympic torch’s only stop in North America when it arrives April 9. There, activists are expected to oppose a long menu of Chinese policies, including what they call repression in Tibet and Beijing’s support of oppressive regimes in Sudan and Myanmar. Demonstrators plan to take up banners on behalf of Taiwan and the spiritual group Falun Gong.”

The newspaper goes on to report what the coalition of Dafur groups are doing, as well as The Burmese American Democratic Alliance (plans an aerial event with a plane to tow a “Free Burma” banner” as well as lead a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge (possibly stopping lanes of traffic), and Students for a Free Tibet, (launching dozens of helium balloons carrying signs as well as placing banners on high-profile structures around San Francisco – possibly the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and/or the Transamerica Pyramid).

For the life of me, I don’t see how the Chinese picked San Francisco as the only city in the United States to do the torch relay – they might have as well picked Berkeley. I think Los Angeles would be a “safer” choice in regards to local activists protesting against the Chinese government. Then again, any city in the United States would be ground zero for anti-Chinese activists. I can only imagine what it will be like if the protesters steal the day from the Olympic Torch relay – a huge embarrassment to the Chinese and a diplomatic nightmare for the United States. But the Chinese can only censor their country’s media, not the rest of the free world’s.

Today, Taiwan held it’s fourth truly democratic election for president, where it elected its first president who had campaigned for closer economic relations with Beijing, paving the way for a considerable lessening of tensions between the Taiwan Straits, as reported in The New York Times “Taiwan Elects a Leader Who Seeks Closer China Ties“:

“Ma Ying-jeou, a Harvard-educated lawyer and former Taipei mayor from the Nationalist Party, won by a convincing margin. He prevailed despite a last-minute effort by his opponent, Frank Hsieh of the Democratic Progressive Party, to warn that the Chinese crackdown in Tibet represented a warning of what could also happen to Taiwan if it did not stand up to Beijing. With all votes counted, Mr. Ma prevailed 58.45 percent to 41.55 percent and Mr. Hsieh quickly conceded defeat…in election day interviews, voters echoed Mr. Ma’s stance that closer relations with the mainland and its fast-growing economy represent the island’s best hope of returning to the rapid economic growth it enjoyed until the late 1990s.”

The referendum on calling to for the island, which was mostly symbolic rather than realistic in nature, to apply to the United Nations as Taiwan and not using its legal name, the Republic of China failed. The Republic of China remains status quo and falls under the “One China Policy,” which China and the United States, and in the past, the Taiwanese government has often agreed with.

The voter turn-out was estimated to be around 75.7 percent of the electorate, which is pretty impressive when compared to America’s traditional voter turn-out rate of 50% – but not as high as in 2004, where turnout was approximately 85%.

For most of the Taiwanese-Americans and their parents I know, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) loss is disappointing. From what I have read though, outgoing (DPP) President Chen Sui-Ben’s eight years in office has been disappointing, controversial (for his strong stance on independence), and full of corruption and mismanagement with also a decline in the economy which lead to “Chen” fatigue. Despite the tensions in Tibet, the Taiwanese electorate clearly want a more moderate approach to dealing with China than the previous eight years.

Apparently San Francisco’s own Nancy Pelosi, along with others, in a Congressional delegation are currently in India, and had an opportunity to meet the Dalai Lama, as reported in The New York Times: “On Visit, Pelosi Offers Support to Dalai Lama“:

“Buddhist nuns waved American flags, and the Dalai Lama ordered his followers to offer a standing ovation Friday morning as Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, came to Dharamsala, the emotionally charged headquarters of Tibetan exiles, and seized the opportunity to stick a finger in the eye of China…The visit by Ms. Pelosi, accompanied by nine other members of Congress, most of them Democrats, was arranged some time ago as part of a visit to India. As it happened, though, it came on the heels of the largest protests in Tibet in nearly two decades, followed by a broad crackdown by China, and almost nonstop demonstrations in solidarity in this town, where the Tibetan government in exile has its base.The timing could not have been better, at least for the Americans.”

I’m sure the Chinese government is pissed off. I really wonder how much China will complain and push back against international pressure. Just the other day, the Chinese government admitted that there had been Tibetans as well as Chinese who have been injured and killed during the protests. Talk about being a little bit more “open.” Also reported recently is that the Chinese government may be preventing live broadcasts during the Olympic games from Tiananmen Square, where it previously was going to allow broadcasters such as NBC to do so. China pledged to the International Olympic Committee, when bidding for the games, that the games would promote greater openness. Yeah, right.

Tomorrow is Taiwan’s presidential election. Along with the election, there is a referendum for Taiwan (officialy, The Republic of China – R.O.C.) to change its name from R.O.C. to Taiwan the next time Taiwan applies for the United Nations. China sees any such move as a referendum for independence and will complain loudly if the referendum passes.