David Reid

Latest posts by David Reid

Taiwan: Reasons for fights in the legislature

  9 July 2010

There were fights in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan yesterday over the procedure for reviewing ECFA, a trade agreement between Taiwan and China. Brennpunkt Taipeh has some comments from Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the chairperson of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, about some of the reasons for the opposition party's tactics.

Taiwan: Where is the mainland?

  21 June 2010

Tim Maddog at Taiwan Matters discusses the use of the word “mainland” by people in Taiwan to refer to China. He argues it is part of an indoctrination effort by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). He has translated an article which discusses how the use of the word affects people's...

Taiwan: The Chinese nation meme

  14 June 2010

Letters from Taiwan writes about the Chinese nation meme and how this is used by President Ma Ying-jeou to imply that both Taiwan and China are part of the Chinese Nation. However, this meme is just one of two competing memes about national identity in Taiwan.

Taiwan: Indigenous conference brings together Austronesian speakers

  11 June 2010

Life in Taiwan reports on an international conference for indigenous peoples held in Taiwan. The conference brought together people from Austronesian-speaking countries to discuss issues such as health, education and endangered languages. Austronesian languages are spoken in the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and parts of Southeast Asia.

Taiwan: Measuring masculinity

  12 May 2010

Michael Turton writes about how differences in masculinity between Taiwanese and Western males explain relationships between Taiwanese females and Western males.

Taiwan: Presidential Office curbs foreign press

  10 February 2010

The Far-Eastern Sweet Potato writes that the Presidential Office has excluded foreign reporters from monthly briefings on ECFA. The post includes a letter of protest from the President of the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club to the Presidential Office.

Taiwan: Blogger meets with former President

  5 February 2010

Blogger Ben Goren describes his meeting with Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the former President of Taiwan, in the Tucheng Detention Centre. Chen has been in detention for over a year while on trial for corruption related charges.

Taiwan: Prison important for education

  2 February 2010

Brennpunkt Taipeh writes about the changes to the Jingmei Detention Centre over the past one and half years. He argues that the place is important for educating Taiwanese people about their history. The Jingmei site was used to detain political prisoners during the White Terror period in Taiwan.