Global Voices » I-fan Lin

East Asia's Appetite for Eels Pushing Species to the Brink

I-fan Lin — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:50:52 +0000

In Japan, summer is the season of eel.

On the sweltering midsummer days between mid-July and early August, it's traditional to eat a plate of golden-brown broiled unagi kabayaki, or broiled eel. The popular dish is believed to help people stay healthy during the hot weather.

But the tradition is now at risk. Skyrocketing demand for glass eels, once considered a highbrow delicacy, is pushing fishermen to exhaust the population and causing prices to soar. A number of East Asian countries including Japan have proposed ideas on how to preserve the wild eel, but there are so far no concrete efforts underway to curb the trend.

Ida Tetsuji, a columnist from Nippon.com, a Japanese news website, described how the production of eels has been increased fourfold over recent decades to satisfy the increased eel consumption:

Domestic eel production in Japan held at about 40,000 tons a year through the mid-1980s. This was supplemented by imports from Taiwan, which ranged from about 25,000 tons to a high of around 40,000 tons. [...] In 2000 a record high of over 130,000 tons of eel products were imported from China and Taiwan, and domestic sales volume rose to almost 160,000 tons, also a record high. This was almost double the volume of sales 15 years earlier.

Specially cooked eels in Japan. Photo from ysishikawa (CC: AT).

A common misconception is that glass eels can be farmed to keep up with the increased demand. However, eels are catadromous, meaning that part of their life circle is in freshwater and part in saltwater. Since there was no current method to reproduce the eel larvae, the fishermen need to catch the wild glass eels when they enter the river and travel upstream and farm them in ponds.

So without a way to replenish the eel population in the face of such demand, the number of these glass eels caught by fishermen in recent years continues to decrease. “Dogfamily”, an independent reporter in a Taiwanese citizen news portal, Newsmarket, reported [zh] the reality on March 18, 2013:

過去亞洲一年日本鰻苗捕獲量接近100噸，但近4年產量急遽下滑，2010-2012的產量遽降為41、35、26噸；以台灣為例，過去一年有20噸，但2010-2012僅剩4、4、2噸，今年（2013）約1.5噸。

The number of caught glass eels of Japanese eels has dropped dramatically in the recent four years from an average of 100 tons per year to 41, 35, 26 tons in 2010-2012. Take Taiwan for example, Taiwanese fishermen used to catch 20 tons of glass eels annually (e.g., 20 percent of the glass eels caught among the countries along the Kuroshio Current), but the total number dropped to 4, 4, 2 tons in 2010-2012. This year (2013), the number is around 1.5 tons.

Total eel production. Figure from the TRAFFIC report written by Vicki Crook.

The price of glass eels has soared as a result. Dogfamily [zh] pointed out:

幾年前，鰻苗1尾10元[…]今（2012）年的平均價達到180元/尾。以每公斤6000尾來換算，一公斤的鰻苗要價108萬，接近黃金的市價。即使價格如此驚人，但因為捕撈量嚴重不足，苗戶的收入還是下降。

Several years ago, one glass eel was sold for 10 Taiwan dollars [0.34 United States dollars] [...] This year (2012), one glass eel in average is sold for 108 Taiwan dollars [3.62 US dollars]. Since 6,000 glass eels are about one kilogram, one kilogram of glass eels is 1,080,000 Taiwan dollars (36,249 US dollars). This is close to the price of gold. Nevertheless, despite the amazing price, the fishermen’s income decreases because the amount of caught glass eels is so little.

The shortage in supply has resulted in smuggling activities, Dogfamily [zh] explained:

即使台灣經濟部已訂定3月31日前鰻苗禁止出口，但在日方出價高的誘惑力之下，苗商仍透過各種管道以走私的方式將苗輸出至日本。去年12月間，桃園機場就查獲以行李箱攜帶20,000萬尾鰻魚苗走私的案件。根據業者私下透露，1月15日前捕獲的鰻苗，幾乎是100％供應到日本。

Although the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan has set up regulations to forbid the export of glass eels before March 31, the Taiwanese merchants still find ways to smuggle glass eels to Japan because the price provided by Japanese businessmen is so tempting. Last December, 20,000 glass eels were discovered to be smuggled in suitcases in Taoyuan International Airport. Based on private conversations with the Taiwanese merchants, almost 100 percent of the glass eels caught before January 15 were sold to Japan.

European eels have already been listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in June 2007. Earlier on this year, the U.S had considered submitting a proposal for an international trade regulation on eel catches in CITES. At the same time, the Japanese Environment Ministry also designated the Japanese eel as a species at risk of extinction on its red list of endangered freshwater and brackish water fish in last February. However, the move is not legally binding.

In reaction to the pressure for eel preservation, a number of East Asian countries, including Japan, China, Taiwan, and Korea have held several conferences and several preservation procedures have been proposed, including rehabilitation of the eels’ natural environment, restrictions on eel export, and release of adult eels in the rivers.

Production of different species of eels. Figure from the TRAFFIC report written by Vicki Crook.

Nevertheless, with such a huge consumer market, eel merchants will continue to find new ways to make profit. In fact, the Japanese merchants have turned to African eels as an alternative, Dogfamily [zh] reported:

美國意圖將鰻魚列入貿易保護名單的舉動使得日本相當緊張，開始尋找替代的鰻魚來源，最近觸角伸向馬達加斯加的養殖業者，將購買非洲鰻來因應日本鰻價格節節升高以及美洲鰻前途未明的情況。

America’s intention to list eel in CITES makes Japan very nervous, and they have started to find an alternative source for eels. Recently, they contacted eel farmers in Madagascar and plan to buy African eels to avoid the soaring price of eels and prepare for the possible ban on American eels.

At the same time, international NGO, the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC) has also discovered that the Philippines has started exporting large amount of Japanese eels and Luzon eels, a newly discovered species, out of the country:

In July (2012), TRAFFIC surveys found almost 50 listings from businesses in the Philippines offering eel fry or glass eels for sale through online B2B platform Alibaba.com. Several reported they could supply for export hundreds of kilos of glass eels of a variety of eel species every month.

Amount of caught eels. Figure from the TRAFFIC report written by Vicki Crook.

To break the demand-supply cycle, some Japanese have started consumer campaigns to reduce the consumption of eels. Ida Tetsuji on Nippon.com wrote:

Consumers and distributors of eels also bear considerable responsibility for the situation. As a result of the unsustainable inflow of large quantities of imports, eels, formerly considered a deluxe food, have turned into a cheap item sold in bulk through convenience stores and supermarkets […] We need to take this opportunity to transform the eel business from its low-profit, high-volume “quantity over quality” model back to a “quality over quantity” approach. Otherwise the stocks will become even more seriously depleted, and we are liable to sink into a descending spiral in which consumers tire of low-quality eels and stop buying them, causing the eel industry’s profits to decline further and the business as a whole to weaken.

Tirrano, a Japanese blogger from Decent Point, also believed [ja] that despite the gravity of the problem, the solution is rather easy:

どうしたらよいか、激減した原因の反対のことをすることなら簡単に始められそうです。つまり、不必要の多くのウナギを食べないこと、安いからといってウナギを食べないことです。日本の消費量がとてつもなく多すぎるのです。それを30年前ぐらいに激減させればいい。それには、スーパーなどの特売にある、それほどおいしくはない、ウナギを無理して食べないことです。

What to do to avoid the dramatic decrease of Japanese eels is actually easy. In short, we should not eat eels if not necessary, and we should not eat those cheap eels. Eel consumption in Japan is too high. If the amount of eels consumed can be reduced to what it was 30 years ago, conditions would be better. In other words, we should not eat eels only because there is a super sale on eels in the supermarket.

Taiwan Denies Entry to Anti-Nuke Visitor Ahead of Protest

I-fan Lin — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 03:03:43 +0000

A German man who marched in an anti-nuclear protest two years ago [zh] in Taiwan was detained at Taiwan's international airport and denied entry [zh] into the country on March 8, 2013, a day before protesters planned to hold a large-scale anti-nuclear demonstration there.

Daniel Andres Helmdach is scheduled to be deported from Taiwan, a suspected consequence of his participation in an anti-nuclear demonstration in Kaohsiung on April 30, 2011 [zh] while he was in Taiwan working as a volunteer on conservation projects.

This is not the first time that Taiwan has zeroed in on the participation of foreigners in anti-nuclear activities in Taiwan, where the recent construction of the fourth nuclear power plant in Taiwan has been met with strong criticism because of security concerns. Two Japanese people from Fukushima were warned by the country's immigration office [zh] immediately after they gave a speech at an anti-nuclear demonstration on April 30, 2011.

Photo from International Cultural Youth Exchange (ICYE) Taiwan which Helmdach had participated in 2011.

The country's premier, Yi-Hua Chiang, has called for a referendum to be held on the construction of the Fourth nuclear power plant in August 2013.

After becoming aware of Helmdach's detention, Helmdach's friend Rui-Guang Huang put out a call for help on his Facebook page:

我們的好朋友今天傍晚入境台灣旅遊，在桃園國際機場被擋在外面不得入境，原因是他兩年前來台灣時，觀察紀錄我們的環境教育活動，結果竟被標記，在未被告知的情形下，此時此刻被擋在機場準備送回德國。

Our good friend arrived in Taiwan this evening for sightseeing. His entry was rejected at the Tauyuan International Airport because he joined our environmental education observation activity two years ago in Taiwan. To our surprise, he was targeted and is now prepared for deportation without any notice in advance.

Legislator Shu-Fen Lin called the head of the immigration office and requested them to explain the deportation of Daniel. The immigration office said [zh] that the National Security Council made the decision in 2010 that should a foreigner conduct anything not described in his or her visa, the person would be denied entry to Taiwan three years.

Helmdach worked as a volunteer in Taiwan for one year during 2011 through arrangements made by the International Culture Youth Exchange (ICYE). Rui-Guang Huang explained the nature of Helmdach's volunteer work at that time:

協助麟洛教會莫拉克風災社區重建工作、參與台南社大海灘廢棄物監測及相關環境關懷行動，在台期間認真學習，並善盡國際志工責任，充分配合服務單位的工作需要，並無任何不當行為。

He helped the Linluo church’s communication reconstruction project after Typhoon Morakot and joined the surveillance activities of the waste on the beach and related nature conservation activities. He worked very hard in Taiwan and fulfilled his responsibility as an international volunteer. He cooperated with us and helped complete our projects. He did not conduct anything unseemly.

After the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, Daniel studied issues related to nuclear power and walked with his friends from the Community College in Tainan City during the anti-nuke demonstration [zh] in Kaohsiung on April 30, 2011. Soon after the demonstration, special agents visited the Community College in Tainan City and the Tainan branch of ICYE, but they did not mention anything about Daniel's involvement in unlawful activities.

Taiwanese Writer Finds Poetry in Laid-off Workers’ Railway Protest

I-fan Lin — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:39:37 +0000

Laid-off factory workers facing a lawsuit from the Taiwanese government over “unpaid debt” protested February 5, 2013 [zh] by lying across the tracks at a Taipei train station, bring traffic to a standstill.

The group of workers, who lost their jobs 16 years ago when many factories fled Taiwan for China and other countries to cut labor costs, received money at the time from the government body in charge of protecting labour rights meant to help them get back on their feet. But last year, that government body, called the Council of Labour Affairs, decided to sue the victims, demanding that they return the so-called “loan”.

Image from BoTh Ali Alone.

Not so many people are sympathetic to the plight of these desperate workers. So, inspired by the latest protest, Taiwanese writer-animator ‘BoTh Ali Alone’ [zh] created an illustration to show his support for these victims of de-industrialization.

BoTh Ali Alone's illustration is accompanied by a poem titled “Lying on the Railway”, which he wrote to describe a demoralized world in which people view other people's misery without any sympathy:

《臥軌》

Lying on the Railway

有一座小島，人從出生就住在電車裡。
居民的人生目標就是沿著軌道向前衝
手持車票的居民
從未見過外面的世界，
因為車窗上都是螢幕
播着美麗的風景

There is an island, where people live in the train since they were born.
The goal of their life is moving ahead along the railway.
They have the tickets for the train,
but they have never seen the world outside.
All the windows are covered by the monitors
that show all the beautiful scenery.

別下車
下車你就回不去了
你會發現
政府不停地建設鐵路
電車能去任何地方
卻讓整座島變得沒有任何值得去的地方
除了一望無際的鐵路之外一片荒蕪

Do not get off the train.
If you get off the train, there is no way to go back.
You will find that
the government keeps building railways,
so the train can go everywhere,
but there is no place on the island worth going anymore,
because there is nothing other than the railways.

而買不起車票的人，
住在鐵軌的夾縫中間求生存。
被碾過的時候，
車裡的人還會抱怨路途顛簸。
— with 需要被支持的人.

For those who cannot afford the ticket,
they try to survive between the railways.
When they are crushed by the train,
those on the train only complain about the jolt.
–with those who need to be supported.

Taiwan's Nuclear-free New Year's Wish

I-fan Lin — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 06:48:19 +0000

Every year, Taiwanese gather around Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taiwan to see fireworks and celebrate the coming of the new year.

This year, the celebration was very special as popular singers, environmental and youth activists worked together to present a nuclear-free homeland as Taiwanese people's common wish [zh] for 2013. Singers performed in new year's eve parties and sang anti-nuclear songs. Environment groups organized a joint signature campaign to build consensus among Taiwanese for a nuclear-free policy.

The most eye-catching action was delivered by a number of youth activists under the Citizens No Nuke [zh, en, jp, de] network, who projected an anti-nuclear sign on Taipei 101 during the annual fireworks. They uploaded their action to Youtube afterwards.

Below is an explanation of their action in the group's website [zh, en, jp, de, fr, ko]:

Taiwan bears critical risk as two nuclear power plants, NPP1 and NPP2, which the seismic resistance coefficient is estimated evidently less than that of Fukushima Daiichi NPP, are located tightly alongside the active fault zone of the volcanic arc…According to nuclear energy researcher Koide Hiroaki, once the radioactive materials of NPP4 Taiwan are released, the exposure to the Northern region will result in 30,000 death immediately and 7 million residents with chronic diseases or cancer. The radioactive material will spread out through sea current and atmosphere, bringing the disaster to neighboring countries, and eventually global-wise. Every person in the world inevitably shares the potential risk and consequences of nuclear power technology.

Regardless of the debates and anxiety from the society, or the technical issues of safety and management, the officials of the government haven’t clarified the problems without the determination of self-responsibility. The discontent of the situation has reached a critical point.

It is time to end the technopoly… With no pains or bloods split, we declare that Taiwan as a democratic country, our will not to be dominated by the privileged 1%. And without the responsibility of our government to the beings of the Earth, the 99% will join together and exercise for their right.

We are the 99%, and you will see us in the end.

Anti-nuclear sign projected on Taipei 101. Image from Citizens Nonuke.

There are some comments under the Youtube video. ksutgman found the action meaningful:

謝謝好感動這比101煙火好看精彩100萬倍

Thank you. I am moved. This is a million times more fabulous than the fireworks at Taipei 101!

While some people found this alien-like sign ruined the fireworks, 朱想容 said:

惶恐這個反核標誌，卻不去反思台灣的核電多可怕，我該說什麼呢？

If you are afraid of this anti-nuclear sign but you do not think about the danger of the nuclear power plants in Taiwan, what can I say?

Though many netizens are excited about the action, the management of Taipei 101 is unhappy [zh] and is considering taking legal action against the activists. Sophia Hong pointed out that while an image projection that harms no one is disturbing to some, people should pay attention to the Tao people who have been living with nuclear waste everyday for 30 years:

Anti-nuclear sign projected on Taipei 101. Image from Citizens Nonuke.

你覺得核廢料那些玩意是合理應該出現在別人的島上，讓別人生活何止充滿惶恐，他們一輩子要面對的是健康上的恐懼!!!!

Do you think it is reasonable that something like nuclear waste is present on other people’s island? The nuclear waste not only fills their lives with great fear but also makes them face health threats for their whole lives!!!!

Is Taiwan ready to become a nuclear-free country? On Jan 9, 2013, the Legislative Yuan will start to examine the draft law on the promotion of a nuclear-free homeland [zh], which was proposed in 2005. If this draft law is passed, the three nuclear power plants will cease to operate once their service lives have expired and the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant will be stopped.

Currently, the residents affected by the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant are pressing for a referendum [zh] to stop its construction in 2013.

Campaign Against Pro-China Media Monopoly in Taiwan Turns Global

I-fan Lin — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 01:23:17 +0000

After the Taiwan-based media company Want Want China Times Group acquired 60% of the country's second largest cable television service this July, it continued to expand this November, acquiring 32% of the country’s best-selling newspaper Apple Daily [zh], from Hong Kong-based Next Media Ltd.

It is obvious that the pro-China chairman of Want Want China Times Group, Tsai Eng-Meng, aims to extend his influence in Taiwan and its monopoly in media is generating a lot of anxiety among local Taiwanese who are worried about Chinese government intervention in Taiwan politics.

Despite mass students’ protest against media monopoly following the latest acquisition in Taiwan, the government ignored their concerns and demands. Now overseas Taiwanese have organized an online protest across the world.

Yu-Hsi Liu, an economist, explained why she supports this protest. Use with permission.

Yu-Hsi Liu, an economist, explained why she supports this protest:

I know libertarians do not support Anti-monopoly law. But in Taiwan, anti-monopoly has different context: we are facing a exogenous force which threatens our free market and freedom. Its monopoly power does not come from a natural market process; it comes from the rent-seeking of [ruling party] KMT and CCP [Communist Party of China]. It is why we are opposing to monopoly in the media market.

A group of Taiwanese students in Egypt [zh] also explained how media monopoly would bias the audience’s viewpoint:

兩周前加薩砲火再起，西方主流媒體大多單方面的報導以色列政府所發出的聲明，而輕描淡寫報導以色列軍隊造成慘烈的平民死傷……各大西方媒體的不平衡報導是背後有無數政治和資金操作導致。……再反觀台灣，當我們的媒體被中國資金控制，為財團利益屈服，我們該如何能看見真相？

Protester holding protest slogan at Beijing Tiananmen Square. Photo from What's Next Facebook page, non-commercial use.

Two weeks ago, when the war started again in the Gaza Strip, most of the mainstream media in the western countries only reported the statement released by the Israel government and slightly mentioned the tremendous casualty caused by the military force sent from Israel[…]The bias in reports in western media is due to the manipulation of numerous politically influential entities and money[…]When we look at Taiwan, if the finance of our media is controlled by China and the media yields to the syndicate, how can we see the truth?

To protest against the influence of the Chinese government, a Taiwanese protested at Tiananmen square, a place symbolizing the civilians’ resentment and political repression in China.

Protester from Germany. Photo from What's next's Facebook Page, non commercial use.

An online protester’s note [zh] submitted from Germany may summarize the thoughts of these supporters across the world:

趁我現在還能夠說話，言論發表不會被莫名其妙撤掉，趁你現在抓不到我，趁你現在封不住我的嘴，我要大聲說:「不管你是錢賺得不夠多，還是手上握有更多更黑暗的政治利益，長遠來看，這麼做就是出賣了國家的安全，我不願意被你們控制，我不想當個愚民，我只是一個大學生，但我堅持抗議到底。」

When I still have the opportunity to speak, when my post will not be removed without any reason, when you cannot catch me, when you cannot stop me from talking, I would like to say it loud, ‘whether [you do it] because you did not earn enough money or you have more dark political motives, in the long-term, you are selling out our national security. I do not want to be controlled by you, and I do not want to be a stupid person. I am only a college student, but I will keep protesting until you change.’

Laid-off Workers Turn from Victims to Debtors in Taiwan

I-fan Lin — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 04:47:41 +0000

In a rather ironic case, Taiwan's Council of Labour Affairs (CLA), a government body in charge of protecting labour rights, wants to sue workers who were laid-off by factory owners sixteen years ago. The council seeks money from the Legislative Yuan to bring legal action against more than 2,000 workers, who they say never returned the ‘loan’ the government offered as compensation for being laid off.

Since July 2012, members of the Alliance for Workers of Closed Factories (AWCF) and their supporters have been protesting against the CLA‘s [zh] decision. One of the most widely reported action was the occupation of the Taipei Subway station on August 10, 2012.

Victims turn into debtors

On August 10, 2012, workers from AWCF occupied the Taipei Subway Station against the CLA's lawsuit. Photo from coolloud.org. Permission for non-commercial use.

The story begins in 1998, when many factories in Taiwan relocated to China and other countries [zh] to cut their labour costs. Some of these factory owners announced bankruptcy and refused to pay their workers salary, retirement and other compensation. Many of the factory owners fled to other countries and reopened their factories, leaving the workers in Taiwan protesting in despair. The CLA was then assigned to negotiate with these labourers and the factory owners. While the factory owners refused to pay the compensation, the CLA decided to settle the conflict by granting “loans” to the workers to release them from financial burden before they found new jobs. The understanding was that the workers would not have to pay-back the so-called “loan” as the workers were also victims.

But recently, the CLA broke their promise and asked the Legislation Yuan for NTD20.56 million (approximately USD 709,000) to sue more than 2,000 workers who have not paid back their “loan”. In reaction to the decision, the AWCF protested in front of the Legislation Yuan [zh] on Oct 31. The CLA's action is outrageous, as Tiny fatty pointed out [zh] in his blog:

一個勞工工作了近半輩子結果領了退休金竟然還要做償還，
如果事件發生在你我身上的話，你不會想上街頭為自己討回公道嗎？

A worker spent half of his life-time working and finally get his pension. Now he has to pay it back. If such a thing happens to you or me, won't you demonstrate and seek justice?

To avoid further conflict, the CLA agreed to suspend the lawsuit, but refused [zh] to revoke the budget for the lawsuit, which means it may pursue the lawsuit later. In fact, according to Taiwan independent media, coolloud.org's report [zh] CLA's representative Keng-Pei Li (李庚霈) insisted that the money distributed to the workers 16 years ago was a “loan”:

不管過去的政府跟工人們談過什麼，現在也沒有記錄作憑證，目前勞委會只想找到一個雙方都能接受的處理方式。

No matter what the government negotiates with these labourers, we do not have any record as evidence. Now CLA only wants to find a solution that both CLA and these labourers can accept.

Jack and the beanstalk questioned [zh] the function of CLA:

勞工局不是應該要替勞方權益著想嗎?
現在竟然為了控告勞工,編列了2千萬預算……

Isn’t it CLA’s responsibility to take care of labours’ right?
On the contrary, CLA is asking a budget of 20 million to sue these labourers…

Taiwan: Indigenous Amis Musical Performed at National Theater

I-fan Lin — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 05:23:52 +0000

Indigenous culture has become more and more important in the Taiwanese performing arts scene. The recent Amis musical, “La Michael“, has been performed at the National Theater, a primary national performing arts venue in Taiwan and a landmark at the center of the Taipei city.

The musical was presented by an independent music company, Taiwan Colors Music Co. in September 2012 led by a famous Amis singer, Suming, and many young Amis performers.

The cultural crossing of Amis and Michael Jackson

In the Amis culture, the name for a group of young people becoming full-grown is decided by the elder in the village. During the coming of age ceremony, the young adults are given a new shared name, which is usually decided based on the important event in that year. For example, the group of Amis people in 2000 were named “La Millennium”.

The story of “La Michael” describes a group of young Amis people who try to convince their elders to name them “La Michael” so as to commemorate Michael Jackson's death. However, since the elders do not consider Michael Jackson a very important person, these young people need to prove his importance by winning a national dance competition with their team name, “La Michael”. Below is a video uploaded by Catherine Lin showing one of the dance numbers in “La Michael”:

The Amis singer in this musical, Suming, commented on one of his Facebook photos after the musical [zh]:

我是部落青年的一份子，也是在都市裡為著夢想打拼的年輕人，接觸著傳統文化，也接觸著流行音樂，生活，試著讓這些看似很衝突的事情，可以有很剛好的結合.

Photo of the performance “La Michael”, via the Facebook page of “You haven't given me a toast for a long time”.

I am one of the young people in our village. I am also one of the young people who struggle to make our dreams come true in the city. I am immersed in our traditional culture. I am also immersed in pop music and life. I try to integrate these seemingly conflicting things perfectly.

On her self-titled blog Annpo highlighted [zh] the charisma of mixed culture in this musical:

整場表演最讓人血脈噴張的部分, 就是所有學生在大跳傳統舞蹈後, 突然接了場急劇張力的black & white表演, 全場嗨翻. 他們知道外面的世界有什麼, 也知道自己有什麼, 那麼他們才知道自己是誰, 也才知道怎麼結合雙方的優勢 [..] 雖然製作單位沒說, 節目單沒說, 但我猜想’麥克傑克遜’知所以變成主題, 除了他的音樂舞蹈是流行的標記外, 麥克傑克遜本身不也是在文化認同中徘徊, 而後結合變奏的一個代表? black & white正是經典…’拉麥克’正也是藉著那個黑白麥可, 再次針對文化認同對話後, 一次精彩的演譯.

The most exciting moment in their performance was the shift from traditional dance to intensive “Black or White” performance. Everyone was yelling! They know what other people have, and they know what they have. As a result, they know who they are, and they know how to integrate the advantage of both [..] Neither the producer nor the play bill explained why they chose Michael Jackson to be the topic of this musical. In addition to choosing the hallmark of pop culture, I guess they made this choice because Michael Jackson is a representative for working across different culture identities by mixing them. “Black or White” is a classic…”La Michael” is a wonderful interpretation for Michael’s “Black or White” and his contribution to cross-cultural dialogue.

Photo of the performance “La Michael”, via Facebook page “You haven't given me a toast for a long time”.

Dr. Cheng-Liang Tsai, an anthropologist living in an Amis village, explained the importance of this dance culture in one famous Amis village, A’tolan, from an anthropologist’s viewpoint in his thesis,

these Amis young people have been creating an alternative style of body exhibition which comes from a complex interplay among global hip-hop music, Amis socio-cultural concepts, and pan-indigenous identity.

by means of collective body exhibitions, dance is a socialization process for Amis youth. Not only does it revitalize the age-grade organization system of Amis society, but also represents a sense of belonging to an age set, village, and to an ethnolinguistic group that is Amis people.

This is the second indigenous musical presented by Taiwan Colors Music Co. Their first musical, ‘You have not toasted to me for a long time (很久沒敬我了你),’ was led by many famous Puyuma singers two years ago in the National Musical Hall.

Taiwan: Corporate Lawsuit Threatens Academic Freedom

I-fan Lin — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 04:16:23 +0000

Dr. Ben-Jei Tsuang, a professor at the Department of Environmental Engineering in National Chun Hsing Universi ty [zh], is the latest victim of a defamation lawsuit brought on by a big corporation, the Formosa Plastic Group.

Increasingly, big corporations in Taiwan are using defamation lawsuits to silence activists and scholars. In fact, many legal experts suggest that the current criminal defamation law is in violation [zh] of international covenants.

Dr. Tsuang worked with a research team to evaluate the environmental impact of 66 factories in Taichung and Yunlin. His team found that heavy metals and dioxins were being released in to the air, close to the Formosa Plastic Group (FPG)'s Six Naphtha Cracking plant. Dr. Tsuang presented his findings at several expert conferences held by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.)

In response, two affiliates of FPG, Formosa Chemicals & Fiber Corporation and Mailiao Power Corporation, filed criminal charges at the Taipei District Prosecutor's office in early April, 2012, seeking NT$40 million (about USD1.33 million) in damages for defamation [zh, pdf].

Dr. Tsuang explains the environmental impact of the petrochemical industry at an anti-Kuokuang petrochemical project protest. Photo by Gea-choas, used with permission.

Dr. Tsuang's findings are critical for several civil groups who have been advocating to stop the Kuokuang petrochemical project. In fact, these groups already won the battle, as later FPG failed to persuade any local government in Taiwan to approve their petrochemical project and decided that the project be moved out of Taiwan and relocated to Malaysia in May 2012.

With this in mind, Shih-Wei Lu, a lawyer who is assisting Dr. Tusang's defense team pointed out [zh] that the lawsuit is a ‘strategic lawsuit against public participation‘, in other words it is intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition.

Many scholars and civic groups are demanding the FPG to drop the case. A joint letter by several civil groups states [zh]:

民間團體要感謝包括莊秉潔教授等多位學者，以各自不同領域的專業，不斷揭發六輕汙染環境、影響民眾健康的科學研究。

We, a coalition of civil groups, would like to thank these researchers, including Dr. Ben-Jei Tsuang. With their diverse expertise, their researches have revealed how FPG’s Six Naphtha Cracking plant has polluted the environment and affected citizens’ health.

汙染者應負舉證責任，六輕應公開所有汙染物排放資訊…若無法證明其創辦人王永慶先生所說六輕「空氣清新、景色宜人」，應儘速撤告，勿漠視此事將使你們的企業形象雪上加霜，惡化社會對你們的觀感和評價。

The polluter should prove their innocence by providing data to the public. FPG’s Six Naphtha Cracking plant should give the public information of its pollutants emitted into the environment…If FPG cannot provide the evidence that “the air is clean and the scenery is beautiful” around the plants as depicted by its founder Yung-Ching Wang, FPG should drop this lawsuit. Ignoring our suggestions will worsen your corporate image and the society's impression and evaluation of your company.

Dr. Ming-Yi Wu from National Tsing-Hua University also wrote an article [zh] to support Dr. Tsuang:

FPG's Six Naphtha Plant is considered a serious pollution source. Photo by Changhua Coast Conservation Action. Used with Permission.

台塑大可尋求學界支援，以學術挑戰學術…但台塑以官司取代研究，加以巨額求償…台塑這場控告，證明了對抗粗野的、惡質的企業是有價值的，那就是價值四千萬的勇氣。

FPG can ask other researchers to conduct another research and challenge the existing findings. They can turn it into an academic debate…Nevertheless, FPG prefers lawsuits and a large amount of pecuniary compensation instead of research…This FPG lawsuit shows us that our courage to confront a boorish, low-quality corporation is worth 40 million NT dollars.

Even though the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office pointed out that academic freedom is protected by Taiwan's constitution and decided to drop the charge in June 6, 2012, FPG applied to the High Court for an appeal.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tsuang is still facing the civil charge while the judge asked FPG to prepare more evidence for the next court session on September 20, 2012. To show their support and share information about the court case, Dr. Tsuang's students created a Facebook page [zh]:

老師認真於研究，
總是獨自埋頭苦幹，
努力發揮所長為臺灣環境品質作嚴格把關，
這次無故捲入與台塑訴訟的風波中，
深深為老師抱不平，
系上需要這樣盡心盡力的教授，
而社會也需要這樣不畏懼強權的人來帶領我們，
我們中興環工的學生希望可以集結社會大眾的力量，
一起為莊秉潔老師聲援!

Our teacher is very serious about his research. He works very hard and independently to monitor the quality of Taiwan's environment. We feel that it is totally unjust for him to be prosecuted by FPG without any good reason. Our department needs responsible professors like him and our society needs fearless leaders like him. Students from the Department of Environmental Engineering in National Chun Hsing University will stand by Dr. Ben-Jei Tsuang's side and (work towards) consolidating public support.

Taiwan: Threat of Media Monopoly and Power Abuse

I-fan Lin — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 15:28:34 +0000

On July 25, 2012, Taiwan media regulator the National Communications Commission (NCC) finally approved Want Want China Times’ acquisition of 60% of the country's second largest cable television services – previously owned by China Network Systems (CNS).

The acquisition process had been under review for 18 months as the media organization has been involved in a number of scandals regarding ‘self-censorship’ practices that “erase words that are critical of China“, which became an issue in particular after Tsai Eng-Meng, a Taiwanese businessman who has strong ties with mainland China, purchased China Times in 2008.

Concerns over press freedom

Many media and journalism scholars are worried that Want Want China Times’ extension into the cable business will result in further monopoly of media in Taiwan, and a strong influence of the mainland Chinese government into Taiwanese politics.

As a compromise, the NCC introduced three conditions into the agreement: 1. Want Want China Times has to sell one of their television channels, Chung Tien Television; 2. China Television (CTV) has to turn into a non-news channel; and 3. CTV must establish an independent editorial system.

Taiwan's Apple Daily's headline pointed out that once the acquisition of cable service by Want Want China Times is completed, Taiwan media would be monopolized by one voice. Image from lighten-night.

Disappointed by the NCC's decision, a number of scholars protested outside the NCC office on the day the announcement was made. They believe [zh] that Want Want China Times will bring harm to freedom of press in Taiwan, as well as professional and independent journalism:

令我們無法置信的是，在二十一世紀的台灣社會，只要掌握足夠的資本，就可以恣意地控制新聞資訊的傳播，就可以無情地踐踏長久奮鬥好不容易累積的民主自由。痛苦的是，旺中集團蔡衍明用金錢證明了這一切都是真會發生的悲劇。自2008年年底蔡衍明自中國回台入主中時、中視、中天以來，我們看到的是，同時掌握了金錢與媒體，不但可以影響政治、操縱輿論，更可以玩弄體制、踐踏法律！新聞可以大剌剌地當廣告賣，我國的黨政軍必須退出媒體，但中國的黨政軍透過在台灣的買辦，卻可以在我國置入新聞！媒體不僅可以當成私人復仇的工具，更可以拿來幫反民主、反極權[sic]的政體擦脂抹粉。順我者昌、逆我者亡，儘管行徑張狂，但是只要有頻道，不怕買不到願意表演辯護的名嘴；只要有媒體，政客就紛紛被綁架，噤聲不語。

It is unbelievable that in the 21st century, in Taiwan, if someone has sufficient capital, s/he can control the transmission of news and information without any control and abuse heartlessly the democracy and freedom that take so long to build up. What makes us agonize is that Mr. Tsai Eng-Meng, the head of Want Want China Group, has used his money to prove that this nightmare will come true. After Mr. Tsai came back Taiwan from China and bought China Times, China Television Company, and Chung Tien Television, what we see is a corporation that controls money and media at the same time. This corporation is able to influence politics, manipulate public opinions, play the system, and tread on our laws! Now the news can be sold as advertisement. The political parties in Taiwan, our government, and our military system must step out the media. However, the political party, the government, and the military system in China can buy the embedded news in Taiwan! Their media can be used as a tool for personal revenge. Their media can put [a nice face] on an anti-democracy, dictatorship government. Who listens to them will be prosperous, and who disobeys them will die. Although they are impudent, as long as they have TV channels, there is always someone willing to perform or give comments there. As long as they control the media, the politicians are kidnapped and never dare to say a word.

Dramatic withdrawal

Dramatically, whilst NCC was willing to compromise, Tsai withdrew from the conditional terms and claimed that the Want Want China Times Group will not sell Chung Tien Television to anyone [zh].

In addition, as if to retaliate against one of the scholars, Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) – a research fellow at Academia Sinica who has been a major public opinion leader against the acquisition - various Want Want media outlets, including Chung Tien TV and China Times, accused Huang of paying students to protest outside the NCC on July 25. In addition, they claimed that Huang was planning to flee to the United States.

Huang Kuo-chang clarified in a press conference [zh] that he only organized the scholars to read the statement in front of the NCC and was not aware of the student protest which came after the scholar petition. Whilst Jean Liu, Huang's wife, explained [zh] via Facebook that their trip to the US is funded by the Fulbright Senior Scholar's Program, which was approved in early May 2012.

At the same time, Taiwan's Apple Daily reported that some netizens had identified [zh] the deputy editor of the Times Weekly, one of the Want Want media outlets, amongst the student protesters and speculated that the whole incident was a staged scandal to assassinate Huang's character.

Frustrated by Want Want China Times’ abuse of media power, on July 28 the Association of Taiwan Journalists posted a statement [zh] on their Facebook page:

台灣新聞記者協會對旺中媒體集團違背新聞專業與新聞倫理，以惡質的新聞操作手法抹黑學者，感到痛心。
中時記者將兩場完全沒有交集的抗議活動，連結為同一則新聞報導…其次，該報導操弄「平衡報導」原則，將根本沒有關係的對象，刻意以「查證回應」的方式，將黃國昌老師設定為所謂的「幕後黑手」，此種為達媒體目的，無中生有創造新聞的作法，根本就是媒體專業的淪喪。…該媒體卻在毫無證據下，以新聞報導、特稿質疑方式，將黃國昌老師套上莫須有的角色，記協對於台灣存在這樣的媒體，感到極度的痛心。

The Association of Taiwan Journalists feels distressed by Want Want China Times because their news [outlets] used unethical manipulation to blackmail a scholar and they violated the profession and ethics of journalism. The journalists in China Times made one report by linking two different protest activities that are not related to each other… Second, this report violated the principles of balance reporting. Their journalists addressed someone absent in the scene as a modulator behind the scene before they interviewed that person. This way of making news only for some purpose of a single media corporation is the fall of the profession of journalists… This media group then made news and special coverage to make up a role for J.S.D. Huang Kuo-Chang without evidence. The Association of Taiwan Journalists feels very distressed by the existence of this kind of media in Taiwan.

Renewtwculture [zh] created a news package about the incident and commented:

經過旺旺的示範，我們終於知道如何才可以批鬥、抹黑一個人，運用自己的電視台、新聞台、報紙、雜誌，好像”輿論”就是證據，眾口鑠金，明明沒有任何證據，就可以毫無疑問的批鬥一個人[…]不過這種事情不是眼尖的觀眾恐怕看不出來，這就是媒體巨獸可怕的地方。

With the demonstration of Want Want China Times Group, we finally know how to humiliate and blackmail a person via television channels, newspapers, and magazines. Although they do not have any evidence, they try to make public opinions and pretend that public opinions can be evidence to fool other people and humiliate a person without any doubt… However, if you are not an audience with sharp observations, you would not see this kind of manipulation. This is the terrifying part of a media giant.

East Asia: Flourishing Illegal Trade in ‘Captive Bred’ Exotic Birds

I-fan Lin — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 04:33:29 +0000

Many endangered birds sold as captive bred have actually been caught in the wild and smuggled out of their original habitats under cruel conditions, according to a July 2012 report from the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network (TRAFFIC).

Wild birds traded as captive bred

More than 54,000 birds, mainly parrots and cockatoos, were imported from the Solomon Islands between 2000 and 2010 as ‘captive bred’. These included birds non-native to the Solomon Islands. However, local authorities confirmed to TRAFFIC that the islands have no substantial bird breeding facilities and that registered bird breeders there mainly use their premises as holding sites for illegally caught wild birds bound for export.

Thousands of native Solomon Islands birds were exported as captive bred. Image from TRAFFIC.

The Consumers Association in Penang, Malaysia described how wild birds are caught:

Various methods of capture are used; one is the use of live decoy birds of the target species, which are tied by a foot to a peg in the ground with wing tips hacked off to prevent escape. Another is liming; coating a branch with a sticky substance from fresh fruit and honey. Birds trapped in this manner die a slow death as they hang upside down for hours. More commonly used is the mistnets. These nets spread across the flight paths of birds are often left up for long periods, resulting in slow agonising deaths [..]
Birds are drugged with phenobarbitol or valium, stuffed into short lengths of plastic or wire mesh tubing, then put into suitcases modified to allow air circulation and be carried by hand. They are then taken on normal passenger flights to intermediary places like Singapore or Thailand or to their country of destination.

Trading route of wild birds

YouTube user vladi0361 shared the Environmental Investigation Agency's investigation of the illegal trade of wildly caught parrots in Africa and Southern America [Warning: This video contains cruel content]:

Many birds referred to in the TRAFFIC report are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), which restricts trade in wild caught individuals. However, bird traders have been making use of the loophole of ‘captive-bred’ to get around the international regulations. The TRAFFIC report described the wild bird trading routes:

Over the past decade, Singapore and Malaysia combined have accounted for 93% of all birds imported from the Solomon Islands, with significant numbers being re-exported, especially to Taiwan.

Although the above three countries listed have domestic regulations to stop illegal trade of wild birds, enforcement of the law is not effective. So what has gone wrong in these countries?

Singapore: Stringent laws not stopping wild bird trade

Singapore became a Signatory to CITES in 1986. Under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act, it is an offence to import and export any endangered species without a permit. Any person or company caught violating the law will be prosecuted in Court and subjected to a large fine or even imprisonment.

The Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRE) pointed out that despite these stringent laws, Singapore is still considered a major centre for trade in illegal wildlife:

Prohibited wild animals continue to be advertised for sale as pets in Singapore over the internet, which is also an offence under Singapore law.

Malaysia: Local support needed for the enforcement of CITES

Although the Malaysian government has tried to stop illegal importation of wild birds by requiring traders to declare the origin of all imported birds, the Penang Consumers Association believes governments should take more responsibility for implementation of CITES:

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) lacks teeth to protect species against illegal traders act. It is only a treaty and not a law enforcement body with its signatories expected to implement the treaty’s provisions through domestic legislation and agencies [..] Its challenge is to muster the political support necessary to push wildlife trafficking on national agendas and stir law enforcement officials into effective action. The war against traffickers must be waged at the highest level of government.

The association also urged consumers to take action and stop the trade.

Taiwan: Market flooded with wild bird trade

An article [zh] in a Taiwanese forum for parrot lovers described the illegal trading of these birds:

台灣的販賣野生鸚鵡幾乎已到氾濫的地步，販賣野生鸚鵡的鳥店比比皆是，那些野生鸚鵡通常在走私至出口國時因殘忍的走私運送死傷慘重，到了出口國經過神不知鬼不覺手段依然可以合法的出口，所以這是許多販賣野生鸚鵡的鳥店都經合法進口過程，也有合法文件的原因…對於合法進口的野生鳥經合法程序有合法文件根本無從抓起，販賣走私鸚鵡的暴利是很少鳥店不賺的，因為國外進口的人工繁殖鳥的價錢往往大大地遠高於野生鳥價錢.

Taiwan is flooded with illegal traded wild parrots. The bird stores that sell wild parrots can be found everywhere. The wild parrots are smuggled from other countries to Taiwan in extremely cruel manner, and many do not survive the process. Through secret channels, the traders of wild birds manage to obtain legal documentation and “legally” import them to Taiwan [..] There is no way to crackdown on the illegal traders once they obtain legal documents for their birds. Only a few bird stores give up the opportunity to profit from selling smuggled wild parrots, because the exported captive breeders usually are more expensive than the wildly caught birds.

On the one hand, Taiwan is importing the wild birds, but according to a report from Public Television Service Taiwan [zh], the island is also a parrot export region:

目前的寵物鳥市場，鸚鵡就佔了七成，鸚鵡外銷年產值高達七十億，但是國內市場卻沒有人統計。…究竟台灣有多少繁殖場？有多少販售據點？有多少鸚鵡在市場上流通？沒有人知道。…目前大型繁殖場所產出的鸚鵡，大多銷往韓國、日本、中東、美國以及大陸。

In the present market of pet birds, 70% of the birds are parrots. The annual export value of parrots is about seven thousand million Taiwan Dollars (about 232 million USD). However, there are no statistics about the domestic market [..] How many parrot breeding facilities are in Taiwan? How many stores are selling parrots? How many parrots are in the market? No one knows [..] Most of the parrots from the large breeding facilities are sold to Korea, Middle East, the United States, and Mainland China.

This report also explained that to differentiate between birds bred legally in Taiwan and smuggled birds, from April 2011, the Taiwanese government has assigned individual parrots a distinctive ID.

This post was sub-edited by Jane Ellis.

UK: Taiwan Flag Disappears from London Olympics Street Display

I-fan Lin — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:54:24 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.

On July 24, 2012, just before the Olympic torch was about to relay across London, the national flag of Taiwan was removed from Regent Street in the United Kingdom capital. All other national flags are still hanging to welcome representatives to this summer's Games from across the world.

Many Taiwanese feel disappointed about the sudden disappearance of the flag. Facebook user Yi-hao Liao complained [zh]:

哀… 原本還高興一下下的

Sigh…I was happy for a while.

London prepares to welcome the world for the start of the Olympics.

Reddit user lol_oopsie asked why the national flag was removed:

I'm curious to know whether this is London officials panicking, or whether Chinese authorities warned them to take it down. Either way, I think it deserves some attention. All of the Olympic coverage has totally ignored it.

Another reddit user mintytiny tried to give an answer:

Though didn't offer any explanation, yet according to Regent Street Association, they'll replace it with the Olympic flag used to represent Taiwan.
I have to say, this is really lame and any real explanation will be better.

Another Facebook user, Melissa Alexender, made a photo to protest against the removal of Taiwan's national flag:

Melissa Alexender's protest photo, via Facebook.

Underneath the photo, Melissa urges others to email the Regent Street management team, Anastasia, and ask them to put the Taiwan national flag back up. In response to Melissa's call, Kenneth Wong, wrote to the Regent Street Association and posted the reply below Melissa’s photo:

Dear Kenneth

Thank you for your email.

This matter has been raised and I can confirm that the Chinese Taipei Flag will be going up tomorrow evening.

I can ensure you that all competing nations flags will be displayed.

Kind regards

Lucy Turnbull
Regent Street Association Ltd

Melissa Alexender was disappointed by the reply:

We don't want the Chinese Taipei flag but our national flag! Regent Street is not covered by the Network of London Olympic Route neither part of Olympic Stadium, hence, there is no reason to refuse the placement of Taiwanese national flag!

Meanwhile, designer Tammy Lin wrote a light-hearted post making some creative suggestions to rectify the situation, such as smuggling the Taiwanese flag back onto the street, making the flag into a 3D advert or turning it into a QR code.

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.

Mongolia: Documenting Wild Snow Leopard Cubs

I-fan Lin — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:54:14 +0000

Snow leopards are rare and very elusive. A team of scientists from the Snow Leopard Trust has been conducting a long term study on the big cats and recently followed two female snow leopards, Anu and Lasya, and visited their dens in Mongolia’s South Gobi after they gave birth to their cubs.

Orjan and his colleagues, Sumbee Tomorsukh of Mongolia, Mattia Colombo of Italy, and Dr. Carol Esson of Australia (a licensed veterinarian) report their observations in their blog:

On June 21st, 2012, our field team made a remarkable visit to the den sites of Anu and Lasya. These two females are part of our long-term ecological study and wear GPS tracking collars that help us identify their movements. With this data, we can learn critical information about snow leopard range, habitat and prey needs. This allows us to better understand snow leopards and the threats they face, and make the most of our resources to protect these endangered cats.

In May, Anu and Lasya began to restrict their daily movements to smaller and smaller areas, which the team interpreted as a signal that both were preparing to give birth. Traveling through steep and rocky mountain outcroppings, the team followed VHF signals transmitted by the collars and finally located the dens.

The scientists also uploaded a short video of the two cute cubs to YouTube:

They promise to update their observations and answer any audience questions in the comments section:

Thank you all so much for leaving comments, and asking about the mother's reaction to the smell of humans is very important. After we went to the sites, we have been tracking the mom's locations via GPS and both have returned to their dens and are actively taking care of their cubs, so no worries there. :)

Taiwan: Flying Fish Season on Orchid Island

I-fan Lin — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 05:38:37 +0000

Every spring, when flying fish are carried to Taiwan by the Kuroshio Current, many fishermen are waiting for them. The most famous traditional flying fish festival is on Orchid Island, where the Tao people have lived for generations.

The influence of the flying fish on Tao culture is immense. Tao people call their island the home of the flying fish (‘ali bang bang’ in the Tao language), and even their calendar is closely related to the flying fish season: Spring is ‘rajun' (the flying fish season), summer and autumn is 'teteka’ (when the flying fish season ends), and winter is ‘aminon’ (when there is no flying fish).

The flying fish season on Orchid Island [zh] starts in March. When Cheilopogon unicolor fish (‘sosowon’ in Tao language) arrive, Tao people catch them at night using light to attract the flying fish. Researchers at the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Taiwan described [zh] how only a few other Asian islands share this fishing technique with the Tao people on Orchid Island.

以火把誘引飛魚的捕撈法，除蘭嶼外僅見於菲律賓巴丹諸島及日本；以上島嶼均屬於黑潮海域，因此日本黑潮文化學者國分直一曾提議將這些島嶼列為「火把捕撈飛魚法的文化小國」。

In addition to Orchid Island, catching flying fish by luring them with fire torch is only observed in Batan Island in the Philippines and in Japan. These islands are located along the Kuroshio Current. As a result, the Japanese researcher Kokubu Naoichi, who studies Kuroshio culture, once proposed to group these islands as ‘countries of the catching-flying-fish-by-fire-torch culture.’

Flying fish hung up to dry on Orchid Island. Photo by Grillmagic. CC: BY-NC-SA)

In April and May, the most important flying fish is Cheilopogon spilonotopterus (‘papatawan’ in Tao language). Among all the flying fish swimming to Taiwan, the Tao people consider the Cheilopogon cyanopterus (‘mayaeng’ in Tao language) to be the most respectable because they believe that ‘mayaeng’ is the soul and chief of all flying fish species.

The fishermen preserve the fish by drying them in the sun. Flickr User Grillmagic took some photos of the fish-drying scene on Orchid Island in May 2012.

This year, YouTube user paudull accompanied by several residents of the island recorded the festival on his camera:

Below is a brief description of the video with corresponding time stamps:

1:12 – Throwing out the rope (about 600 meters) for trapping the flying fish (to the net).
1:40 – The fishermen jump into the water.
2:25 – They swim closer to each other to trap the flying fish with the net.
5:11 – Because none of us ate breakfast, someone cut two fish and made sashimi for breakfast.
5:35 – An illustration of the fish-catching strategy.
9:24 – The background music is a little bit boring. Let's listen to a song from Orchid Island (‘A love song of a Tao man’).
12:29 – Wow, do you see that flying fish fly?
15:52 – At last, everyone happily brought some flying fish home.
16:00 – Cleaning and preparing the flying fish that were caught today with family.

As a backpacker to Orchid Island, Chia-Chi Tseng made a short film about the flying fish festival, ‘Libangbang’ (flying fish in Orchid Island), which was entered into the Golden Harvest Awards for films and documentaries. Below is the trailer.

Taiwan: When News is Sold to the Chinese Government

I-fan Lin — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:14:23 +0000

In recent years, more and more Taiwanese media workers have been worried that press freedom has been eroding since the lifting of martial law in 1987. In fact, Taiwan's ranking in Freedom House's Annual Press Freedom Report has been regressing since 2008.

In addition to the “embedded marketing” practice which cloaks advertising as news and makes journalistic articles less reliable, the mainland China government has extended influence on the Taiwan public sphere through news industry acquisitions.

Influence of mainland China

On May 7, 2012, a public hearing was held because the Want Want China Times group plans to acquire the second largest cable television system in Taiwan. Since Taiwanese businessman Tsai Eng-Meng purchased the media group in November 2008, China Times, one of the most influential newspapers in Taiwan, has made a subsequent change in editorial policy [zh] in the direction of softening criticism of the Ma administration, Beijing, or improvements in cross-strait ties.

Image from Reject China Times Facebook Campaign Page

More than 50 social science and journalism professors in Taiwan signed up to the ‘Reject China Times’ campaign [zh] in February 2012, in response to Tsai's interview with the Washington Post, in which he claimed that the June 4 Massacre (Tiananmen Square) did not happen.

The campaign statement pointed out that:

事實上，《中國時報》自蔡先生入主後所展現許多「積極排除不利中國言論」之「自我審查」事例，早已引起知識界的嚴重質疑。蔡先生以其在中國所取得之資本，搖身成為台灣媒體集團大亨後，在華郵所發表之為中國打壓民主、踐踏人權種種極權行徑擦脂抹粉的荒謬言論，更印證了我們對於中國企圖透過直接間接掌控我國媒體，操縱台灣公共輿論與市民認知的憂慮。

In fact, since Mr. Tsai purchased China Times, a large number of “self-censorship” incidents to “erase words that are critical of China” have taken place and the knowledge community has been very critical of such practice. Mr. Tsai obtains his capital from China and has turned into a media tycoon. His interview in the Washington Post which praised the authoritative mainland Chinese government is repressive towards the development of democracy and human rights in China. Such ridiculous comment has also proven our worries that the Chinese government has control over Taiwanese media, our public opinion and our citizens’ rights to truthful reports.

The further expansion of Want Want China Times from printed media to cable television has undoubtedly alerted many Taiwanese. In fact in the recent public hearing, Tsai admitted that he had received money from the mainland Chinese authorities to publish “news” that propagates a positive imagine of mainland China. However, his defence was that “embedded marketing” has been a common practice in Taiwan and there is no reason to stop China Times from doing it.

Journalism Professor Chang Chin-hwa pointed out that such political advertisement is a potential threat to national security (via a report from ‘Reject China Times‘ [zh] campaign website:

張錦華教授亦憂心地提醒，不僅是我國政府在「買新聞」，連「中華人民共和國的政府」也在台灣買新聞，並促使監察委員吳豐山提出調查報告加以指摘，在這個事件中，「中國時報就是主犯」！旺旺中時收了錢以後，它自己賣新聞不算，它竟然去跟其他的報紙「幫中國政府買新聞」！在監察院的糾正報告中，即指出這種行為不僅影響新聞專業，更已提昇至危及「國家安全」的層次。

Professor Chang Chin-hwa is worried and reminds the public that “not only our government is buying news, now the People Republic of China (PRC) is buying news in Taiwan”. She urged the Control Yuan member Frank Wu to start an investigation and condemn such practices, “in this incident, the China Times is the prime suspect. Want Want China Times takes the money, however, it not only sells its own news, but helps other newspapers to sell their news! The Control Yuan has already pointed out [in 2010] that such practice has affected the professionalism in journalism and posed threat to our national security.”

Embedded marketing

For years, the issue of “embedded marketing” has been criticized by many media workers. Back in 2010, an experienced journalist Dennis Huang (黃哲斌), quit his job on the China Times and launched an online protest [zh] against embedded marketing:

從昨天起，我離開了工作十六年又五個月的《中國時報》。我越來越難獨善其身、越來越難假裝沒看到，其他版面被「業配新聞」吞噬侵蝕的肥大事實，新聞變成論字計價的商品，價值低落的芭樂公關稿一篇篇送到編輯桌上，「這是業配，一個字都不能刪」。然後，它們像是外星來的異形，盤據了正常新聞版面，記者努力採訪的稿件被擠壓、被丟棄。記者與主管被賦予業績壓力，不得不厚著面皮向採訪對象討預算、要業配。

Yesterday I left China Times, where I have worked for 16 years and 5 months. It is more and more difficult to focus on my personal interests and pretend not to see the ugly truth that the embedded advertisement (cloaked as news) gradually invades more and more pages in the newspapers. News becomes a kind of good that we can calculate its value by counting the number of words. Trashy news releases are sent to the editors one by one, and the editors are told, ‘this is embedded marketing and we cannot change any word in it.’ Later, they invade the pages for ‘real’ news like aliens, and those articles written by hard-working reporters are shortened or thrown away. Both reporters and their supervisors are given the responsibility for selling news, so they need to ask the interviewees shamelessly for budgets and embedded marketing.

我更相信，「人生總有非賣品」。例如，讀者的信任；例如，專業判斷與良知；例如，自己的人格與報社的信譽；例如，寫或不寫的自由權利。業配新聞破壞了這一切，奪走了這一切，它以每字一、兩百元的代價，將新聞變成廉售的開架商品。

I believe that there is something in your life not for sale. For example, the trust of my readers, professional judgment, my conscience, my integrity, the reputation of a newspaper company, and the freedom to decide whether to write or not. However, the embedded marketing destroys all of them and takes them away. It makes news a piece of cheap merchandise on a shelf.

在各種業配新聞中，公部門以納稅人的辛苦錢收買媒體，最是可議，我常說，「政府左手伸進我們的口袋，拿錢賄賂媒體，然後將右手伸進我們的腦袋」…政府不努力為政策辯護、不努力作民間溝通，現在連文宣廣告都懶得做，直接砸錢買新聞，這是一種最最混蛋加三級的媒體控制。

In various kinds of embedded marketing, the most arguable one is government sponsored news. The government pays the media with taxpayers’ hard earned money. I like to put it like this: ‘the government puts its left hand into our pocket to get the money to bribe the media, and then it can extend its right hand into our brain.’ …[By doing so] the government does not need to defend its policy or communicate with the citizens. Now the government is so lazy that it does not want to write its own propaganda. They just need to buy up the news. This is the most tedious and obscene kind of media control.

Taiwan: Could the Future Be Nuclear-Free?

I-fan Lin — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:26:41 +0000

Since the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in March 2011, 53 out of the 54 nuclear power plants in Japan have been shut down for security checks. On May 5, 2012, the proportion of Japan's energy supplied by nuclear power reached zero for the first time in 42 years, following the shut down of Tomari’s Unit 3 in Hokkaido. Although the Japanese government is currently seeking to restart some nuclear power plants, local representatives still have serious concerns regarding their safety.

In Taiwan, many people have also started talking about the possibility of moving towards a nuclear-free future. The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union [zh] is optimistic about the nuclear-free movement in Japan, as quoted in Coolloud.org:

日本從去年311之後，國內核電廠陸續關閉，至今尚未發生缺電問題，如果可以熬過今年夏天不需核電，日本將真正進入無核國家。

After the earthquake of March 11, 2011, the nuclear power plants in Japan have been shut down one by one. So far they have not had any problems with electricity shortages. If they can survive this summer without nuclear energy, Japan could really become a nuclear-free nation.

Anti-nuclear energy protest in Taipei, March 11, 2012. Photo contributed to this post by James Yang under CC: BY-NC-SA

Su Huan-Chi, a candidate for chairperson with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), also stated [zh] in Plurk, a popular social media website in Taiwan, that:

如果我當黨主席，一定先推動核四北北基宜四縣市地方公投廢核四！

If I were elected as the Party chairperson, I would campaign for a referendum to stop the four nuclear power plants in Taipei city, New Taipei city, Keelung and Yilan.

Nevertheless, not everyone is so optimistic about the nuclear-free development in Japan. bluesystem [zh] is worried how far Japan can go after shutting down all their nuclear power plants:

廢核絕對可以推! 只要不影響經濟下滑. 不過這真的會很拼…

Of course we can campaign for a nuclear-free Taiwan – as long as this move does not make the economy worse. However, this will be difficult.

核能的問題不只是使用其它能源來替代, 而是「能源自主性」的問題. 一旦重要的能源來源被別國控制, 那這個國家等於廢掉一樣! 這問題要怎麼解決? 除非能源自主率能提高吧~…那大家都廢核, 請問天然資源是不是大家一起搶? 假設台灣也搞廢核的話,能源來源方面搶得贏中國跟日本嗎?

The issue at stake regarding the use of nuclear power is not only about finding alternative energy. It is a matter of ‘energy autonomy’. If the major energy source is controlled by other countries, this country is doomed! How can we solve this problem? Only if we can increase our energy supply can we campaign for nuclear-free living. Are we ready to compete for natural energy resources? If Taiwan shuts down all our nuclear power plants, can we outbid China and Japan in the competition of energy resources?

Anti-nuclear energy protest in Taipei, April 30, 2011. Photo contributed to this post by James Yang under CC: BY-NC-SA

Despite the aforementioned worries, thousands of Taiwanese people protested against nuclear power on March 11, 2012, the first anniversary of the earthquake in Japan. Shuchuan, an independent environmental reporter, explained [zh] why she thinks Taiwan can and should give up nuclear energy:

福島核災打破核能安全神話，只要一次災害就足以毀掉所有。…我們還有選擇時，沒有理由不去思考任何不必使用核能發電的可能性。

The Fukushima nuclear power plant accident destroyed the myth of nuclear safety. We see that one accident can destroy all we have…We have no reason not to think about the possibility of giving up nuclear energy when we still have a choice.

以台灣目前核電佔總發電量不到兩成，但備載容量卻超過25%的情況下，廢不廢核並不是「能不能」的問題，而是「決心」。

In Taiwan, the proportion of electricity supplied by nuclear power is less than 20%, but our spare capacity is more than 25%. Under this condition, nuclear-free is not an issue of ‘can or cannot’, it is an issue of determination.

台灣政府還預估未來用電要再成長38%，只要不歸零思考、不檢討自己的浪費行為、不思索更聰明的用電方式，發再多電都不夠用。

The Taiwanese government estimates that we will need 38% more electricity in the future. If we do not go back to to the fundamental problem and review our energy consumption pattern and use electricity in a smarter way, there will never be enough for us even if we manage to generate more.

過去一年台灣政府已有改變，馬總統宣布核一、二、三使用年限到期不再延役，這是一個進展。然而對於核四依然繼續投入經費不願放手，核廢料無能力處理，卻一再強調核安的可以控制。然而，福島核災近在眼前，繼續說「核能安全」也已經沒有意義、且完全沒有說服力，終歸而言，台灣政府對核災還是沒有覺悟。

In the past year, the Taiwanese government has changed. President Ma claimed that our first, second, and third nuclear power plants would not extend their operations after reaching their shelf life. We have made some progress. However, the government is not willing to give up the fourth nuclear power plant and is throwing more money into it. The government does not know how to deal with the nuclear waste, but they keep claiming that they can promise the safety of nuclear power plants. Nevertheless, when we think of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, we can see that this is nonsense and it is not convincing to talk of the ‘safety of nuclear power plants’. In the end, the Taiwanese government does not seem aware of the possibility of nuclear disasters.

而這個歸零思考，理應是站在「廢除核電」的基礎上，重新去思考其他的能源方式，而如果其他的能源暫時無法完全取代，我們應該如何節能，以因應發電不足的情況。也就是說，思考自己的侷限，然後做出改變。

We should support the fundamental standpoint of a ‘nuclear-free Taiwan’ and explore the use of alternative energy. If we do not have enough alternative energy to replace all the nuclear-derived electricity we are using now and in the near future, we need to reduce our usage of electricity to avoid shortages. In other words, we need to think about our limits and make the change.

This post was sub-edited by Jane Ellis.