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Dec 5, 2008

Chinese BBS watch

In China, the term BBS is often used interchangeably with message board, and I try to keep my eye on some of the most popular sites:

http://bbs.sina.com.cn/
http://bbs.qq.com/
http://bbs.ifeng.com/

When there are popular articles of interest that relate to Taiwan, I will post about them here.

And this week there's really been only one in that category, over at QQ. Here's a rough translation:

Deciphered: Why does Lee Teng-hui want to help Japan claim the Diaoyutai (Senkaku Islands)?

Latest news from QQ: On his visit to Okinawa on the 24th, Lee Teng-hui had the nerve to publically claim "the Diaoyu Islands were Japan's," causing Taiwan's representative in Japan to suffer significant embarassment. In addition, Lee Teng-hui also claimed "China's oil and gas field development in the East China Sea is taking place in Japanese waters."

Lee Tenghui noted that after WWII Taiwan was no longer Japanese territory, but that Taiwanese fishermen still hope to continue to fish at the Diaoyutai. It was this problem that had caused the dispute over fishing rights. Further, Lee Teng-hui also claimed "China's oil and gas field development in the East China Sea is taking place in Japanese waters."

Lee's words upset [former VP] Annette Lu , who used a dinner with journalists to criticise Lee: "I believe that once he arrives in Japan, he becomes Japanese. He rarely says much for Taiwan when he is in Japan. He always speaks in Japanese. He shouldn't speak of domestic matters when he is in a foreign country."

...[Background on Lee's Japanese education and former Communist Party membership, followed by attacks on his behavior and character]

You can imagine what the comments are like. Calling him a traitor, suggesting terrible punishments, expressing disbelief he's not dead yet, etc etc.

2 comments:

Tommy said...

I usually forgive Lee his love for Japan. In terms of defenseurs of Taiwan, he is one of the most dependable. The unspoken truth is that Taiwan has enough problems defending its heartland. A president with more foresight would say: We don't care about the Diaoyus, we don't care about a few rocks off the coast of Vietnam, the border stops at the Taiwan Strait. Don't push us there. I bet he would get respect worldwide. Of course, that president does not exist.

Tommy said...

Although, to be fair, he could have done a lot more for Hsieh during the campaign. That was not one of Lee's finer hours.