The Useless Tree

Politics

  • Why the KMT Won Big

          Many good points came up this morning at the meeting hosted here in Taibei by the Institute of National Policy Research and LSE.  I will not attempt a full review of the various interpretations of the election results… Continue reading

  • Taiwan Election Results

         A surprisingly large victory for the KMT tonight.  The bottom line:        KMT     81 seats       DPP     27 seats      other     5 seats      This exceeds the pre-poll forecasts, the highest… Continue reading

  • Campaigning in Taibei

       I have not forgotten about ancient Chinese thought in modern American life, but my distration with Taiwan politics continues for now (though I have some thoughts on how a Confucian might understand the re-design of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial… Continue reading

  • Commemoration Taiwan Style

         Not too much to report today on the election front.  My delegation met with various American and Taiwanese officials and the expectation of a KMT victory was confirmed by everyone we spoke with.  All that seems to be… Continue reading

  • Testing in Taiwan

       Just a quick post to make sure there are no bugs in the connection from my Taibei hotel room.  As I exepcted, all seems fine.  After a long, long journey we arrived only an hour late, but my bag… Continue reading

  • Off to Taiwan and Hong Kong

         Tomorrow morning early (4:15!) I will get in a car that takes me to the airport from which I will fly to the "beautiful island" (Formosa), aka Taiwan.  I have been invited to join a delegation of American… Continue reading

  • Lee Myung-bak as a reminder that Korea is not as Confucian as some would want us to think.

         Lee Myung-bak, the candidate of the conservative Grand National Party, won a significant electoral victory in South Korea’s presidential poll yesterday.  The elections were free and fair, though turnout was relatively low (about 63%), and Lee captured about… Continue reading

  • CIA Lying – What Would Sun Tzu Do?

        Rather unsurprisingly, it has now been revealed that the CIA lied and broke the law (by disobeying  a court order to produce "documentary evidence") to cover up its use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (read: torture).  So, now we… Continue reading

  • The South Korean Flag

         Last week The Western Confucian posted a picture of the South Korean flag.  He linked to an article he wrote which explicated the Taoist implications of that flag, and which called upon Koreans to "turn back to Tao." … Continue reading

  • A China Guy Goes To India (2): Caste and Democracy

    (Cross posted on China Digital Times) Before I jump into today’s topic – caste and democracy – let me just note two newspaper stories that speak to my last China/India comparison. They both deal with the changing role of women… Continue reading