The move follows US approval of $300m in military aid for the self-ruled island, which holds elections in a week.#Economy #Military #Politics #Weapons #AsiaPacific #China #Taiwan #UnitedStates #US&Canada
China sanctions five US arms manufacturers over Taiwan weapons sales
Haha, that's an interesting move! The PRC is usually blocking Taiwan's access to international organisations, but to block Taiwan, the PRC needs to be a member first and exert their influence. The International Criminal Court is not a place they want to join (just like the US), so Taiwan can both join and in case of an aggression sue the PRC...
#Taiwan
Useless signs for 200
The useless sign I'm talking about is the red one in the background. It says that this area is for loading/unloading only. So if you park there illegally, you will be fined. So far, so good. There are two parking spots. The SUV in the back occupies the regular one, the SUV in front stands on a handicapped spot. The Tesla in the middle stands in-between both spots.
You could of course say that the driver of the SUV in front may very well be handicapped and a few people I know may actually agree with you. However, that is on our campus, right next to the building where I am teaching most of the time and a while ago I found that this car belongs to a dear colleague. And I can assure you, she does not have any physical disability.
A few times I've also seen the Tesla standing on the handicapped spot, but I don't think that person qualifies either, not with a model 3. But it's great to see so many role models showing our students how to behave in society...
#Taiwan #carculture #cars
Temples help politicians meet local voters, but there are concerns some may be too close to Beijing.#Features #Elections #Politics #AsiaPacific #China #Taiwan
Why temples are a top campaign stop in Taiwan’s election
Poll outcome will help set the tone for Washington-Beijing relations amid slight easing of tensions.#Elections #Politics #AsiaPacific #China #Taiwan #UnitedStates #US&Canada
US watching Taiwan elections closely as China reiterates claim to island
Self-ruled Taiwan, which is claimed by Beijing, will go to the polls latest this month to choose a new president.#Elections #Politics #AsiaPacific #China #Taiwan
Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen says island’s future must be decided by its people
Chinese President Xi Jinping has delivered his New Year's address to the nation, saying his country will be reunified with Taiwan. Beijing considers the self...#AlJazeera #AlJazeeraEnglish #Asianews #Chinalatestnews #China-Taiwantensions #Chinesearmy #Taiwan #Taiwanfuture #TaiwanpresidentvisitstheUS #Taiwan-USties #Xijinping #alJazeera #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralive #aljazeeravideo #aljazeeraEnglish #aljazeeralatest #aljazeeralive #aljazeeralivenews #chinamilitarydrills #chinamilitaryescalation #territorialdisputesinthesouthchinasea #xijinpingnewyearmessage
China’s Xi Jinping warns Taiwan in New Year message
Taiwan's presidential and parliamentary polls on January 13 are expected to shape the island's relations with Beijing.#Elections #Military #AsiaPacific #China #Taiwan
China accuses Taiwan of ‘hyping up’ military threat ahead of elections
Taiwan’s Dharma takes the raw energy of the genre that emerged in the US in the mid-80s on a new, more blissful turn.#Features #ArtsandCulture #Music #Religion #AsiaPacific #Taiwan
When death metal becomes one of 84,000 ways to practise Buddhism
The city of #Tainan was celebrating #Christmas on Saturday and someone invited me to have a look. First of all, they had a relatively long (four intersections?) Christmas market, occupying a split road..
Of course there were food stalls and I made the mistake to buy takoyaki here. They were not really through and although I had selected wasabi, I didn't really notice any. It did look good though.
At one point, Santa, his clones and his friends arrived on heavy bikes. Unfortunately it was already a little bit dark and I my hands were not fully free, so of the few photos I took of that caravan, this is the one least shaken. (OIS, where were you?)
And then hell froze over and it snowed in Tainan.
Almost got you there, didn't I? For a short time I too thought that someone had actually installed two small snow cannons, but this was just foam. Nevertheless, children just loved it.
Location change, but this being Taiwan, there can't possibly be an event without something to eat. In the centre you may be able to spot two sections of bamboo. Inside is sticky rice and I just love that. Of course I got one.
The main attraction there was (after the children's event on a close-by stage had ended) an open air concert. And it was an open open air concert, meaning that the city of Tainan had arranged and paid everything and everyone could just come and go as they pleased, no ticket required.
Among the artists performing there was a Dutch person named "Martin". Is there any Netherlander who may know him?
Listening to so much music that I don't like very much makes hungry, so let's go for a stroll through the culinary support section.
OK, this wasn't limited to eating (and drinking), there were also people selling toys, usually with many LEDs and mostly made out of plastic, plastic, plastic. Yes, sadly.
Duck rolls are not bad, but I was not very hungry then. To be honest, I wasn't hungry at all, but with all those delicacies...
Living near a fishing harbour I am pretty immune to these, because we have plenty of them, but these were so nicely arranged, I had to take a photo.
And finally there were steamed yeast buns, but not the regular kind. I wish I was half as good as that, my attempts at this were rather clumsy.
After that I had to get back to Kaohsiung, so the photos end here.
#Taiwan #myphoto
Ah well: A bus I took on Saturday was much better decorated than our department.
#Taiwan #Christmas #myphoto
Increased activity along Taiwan Strait comes ahead of January 13 polls.#Elections #Military #AsiaPacific #China #Taiwan
Taiwan spots Chinese warships, aircraft near island ahead of elections
#taiwan
From a real patriot of the US
00:02 The US is desperately trying to provoke conflict with China over Taiwan.
02:22 US using Japan, Philippines, and South Korea as human shields to provoke conflict with China
07:06 US interference in Taiwanese elections
09:29 US violates international law by interacting with Taiwan as a separate country.
14:29 US influence over Taiwan's media and education
16:55 Democracy and self-determination in Taiwan may be influenced by manipulation and lack of genuine informed decision-making.
20:57 US aims to make the price high for China to reclaim Taiwan
23:01 US debt reaching unsustainable levels and losing global currency relevance
27:21 US needs to find a constructive role among nations
Wie heißt es so schön: Auf vielfachen Wunsch einer einzelnen Person... 😎 @Aga was curious what I was buying on our night market, so I disguised myself as a tourist and took photos today. I only photographed some of the food stalls. At many other places the food wasn't that clearly visible. I also skipped double or triple appearances and completely ignored all the other stalls selling clothing, phone cases, cosmetics etc. Anyway, here we go. (Sorry, photo-heavy...)
Let us start with Oden, which came from Japan. Taiwan was occupied by Japan between 1895 and 1945 and that left an imprint on the island, not just culinary. It has gotten cold recently, so I may get some in winter, but not today.
Outside of winter I am not a big fan of hotpot. But when it is really cold, even I may order one. I would however go for a "small hotpot". Here you can choose one based on beef, pork, lamb, seafood...
Something sweet for a change: sweet potato balls. They are fried, so I haven't eaten them for quite some time, as I try to avoid deep-fried food.
We move into Cantonese cuisine with Shaomai. Buy ten, get one free, for 150NT$ (or 15 for one), about USD5. I never ate anything at that stall, but might one day.
This is the stall @aga@diasp.org asked for, fried mushrooms. Yes, I know, I just said I try to avoid... As I said, I try to avoid deep-fried food, I didn't say how successful I was with that. (I am, usually. I had way more deep-fried food in the past.) You can pick just one kind of mushroom or get a mix, which is what I usually do - but not today...
Of course you can find fruits in different states (fresh, dried,...) on a night market. It is usually prepared into bite-sized formats, so that you can eat them right away.
🎵"Chestnuts roasted on an open fire..."🎵
Fish balls. You may notice that the water in the right bowl is red, do I really need to warn you? You can choose from either bowl or mixed, plus an additional condiment like pepper, seaweed, lemon-pepper-salt, curry, wasabi or "hot powder".
Crêpe, Taiwan style. You can select different flavours, the ingredients get added and then the crêpe will be rolled into a cone. I think I never ate those, I'm simply not interested.
Shrimps, anyone?
We are back to Japanese cuisine, sushi. One USD is about 31NT$ now I think, so you can get one for half a buck or a little more.
Not only chestnuts get roasted, here is a BBQ stall. There are several kinds of meat on offer, but also plant-based items.
Stinky tofu. Sorry, no actual photo of that tofu, just the stall. I'm not a fan of it anymore, but mostly because it was quite spicy a number of years ago but is rather boring now. There are other forms of tofu that are way more interesting.
Corn, steamed...
...or roasted.
Yes, there are bakers. But I only buy something there around 02/30. Sorry, but I really have no interest in most of their offers, I rather bake myself. An egg tart once in a while, that's about it.
Strawberry baskets forever...🎵
This is where I bought dinner today. The smaller dumplings are also available cooked (though not usually on night markets), the longer "guotie" are always fried, or rather a combination of cooked and fried, as both water and oil are added to the pan in which they are fried.
Feeling hungry now?
I had a Christmas tea time today with the students I'm supposed to be tutoring. (That's just theory, practice is a whole different thing.) It was scaled down from my usual Christmas lunch, so there were only gingerbread, roasted almonds, Stollen, chocolate and (not in the photo) hot vanilla pudding.
One big advantage over previous years: Way less dishes to wash afterwards...
#Taiwan #baking #myphoto
When people talk about the PRC and tensions and possible war, #Taiwan is usually mentioned as the likely target. There are however other places that may be further up on the list of PRC priorities. The place very likely at the top of that list is the "Second Thomas Shoal". You may have heard of "trouble" a Philippine resupply mission had with PRC boats harassing them. That just escalated significantly. Since many news reports don't mention where all this takes place, here is a map:
The #Philippines do not have a very impressive navy, they are not geared toward occupation or invasion. That means they are not a significant match for the boats and ships of the PRC. Enter allies, stage left:
China Slams US Ally for Multiple Intrusions Into Declared Chinese Waters
The "declared Chinese waters" are within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines, btw. The Second Thomas Shoal is for example 198km from the Philippines coast. The distance to the PRC coast is about 1000km. The EEZ extends 200 miles from a country's coast.
So the US offered support for the resupply missions, since PH boats had to fight not only PRC coast guard equipped with water cannons, but also the so-called "militia": officially fishing boats, usually with steel hull and remarkably organized. You won't find a second "fishing fleet" anywhere on the planet being that well organized. Anyway, the US offered support, but the PRC was not deterred.
Despite all the harassment, this time the supply mission was successful. However, the PRC had to make a show of force.
Chinese ships swarmed into Second Thomas Shoal after Sunday's resupply confrontation
But, of course, it was other countries who "escalated" by not allowing the Philippines to be bullied.
China condemns Canada’s support for Philippines over South China Sea incidents
And the topping on the cake is to blame the Philippines for any incidents (like the PRC ramming a PH boat):
China blames Philippines for incidents in South China Sea
IMHO this could very quickly escalate even further and the reason may be the location of the Second Thomas Shoal. It is pretty much the southernmost point the PRC is claiming and should they succeed in occupying that place, then all the others between there and the PRC should fall much more easily. Thomas and Scarborough may be very important key locations for both the PRC and basically all other countries on the other side. Expect more news from there...
#Climat #Techno-sciences #Taiwan #LaRoya...
vendredi 15 mars 2024 à 20h30
Cinéma Le Paris, 19 avenue du Géneral de Gaulle
Projection + Débat : Utopie
Vendredi 15 mars 20h30 au 19 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 46200 Souillac
Projection du #documentaire "Le Manifeste de l'Arcouest" réalisé par Jean-Marie Boulet et Philippe Worms
Suivi d'un débat en présence de ce dernier - organisé par l'association Attac et le cinéma Le Paris
Des chercheurs se réunissent en Bretagne pour réfléchir à leur action face aux techno-sciences incontrôlées et au réchauffement climatique.
Plus d'info et de #films : Source : https://lot.site.attac.org/
