#taiwan

adolar@pod.dapor.net

A river runs typhoon ran through it

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Yeah! We got (according to our news) the first typhoon in four years coming to Taiwan. It did however not quite come to us but passed south of us.
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But we can't complain about the amount of rain we got, especially on the day after. That was dearly needed.
#Taiwan #climatechange

faab64@diasp.org

Reuters: Exclusive: New #Taiwan #weapons package to be announced soon - US officials

— "he àUnitedStates is expected to announce as early as Friday that it will provide Taiwan with #military assistance worth more than $300 million, two U.S. officials told #Reuters, a move likely to anger #China.

Congress authorized up to $1 billion worth of Presidential #Drawdown Authority weapons aid for Taiwan in the 2023 budget.

One official, speaking on the condition anonymity, said the package is expected to be worth around $330 million.

The White House declined to comment.
The formal announcement is not expected to include a list of weapon systems being provided"
#Biden #RoadToWar #Politics
Link
https://archive.is/BoM5d

adolar@pod.dapor.net

PRC intensifies harassment of Taiwan

A single #Russian plane flying along another state's border would very likely make more headlines than all these PRC planes and warships. I did for example not notice any mention in German media...

According to figures from Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, 38 PLA aircraft were detected around the island in the 24 hours ending at 6 a.m. local time on Wednesday, 33 in the same period Thursday and 30 during the same period Friday.

That's 73 aircraft in 72 hours.

The PLA aircraft detected this week included fighter jets, H-6 bombers, anti-submarine warning aircraft and reconnaissance drones, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.

There are two main reasons for those activities:

“Constant use creates a maintenance headache that reduces readiness until (spare) parts are delivered and installed,” he said. “Also, air frames and hulls require inspection and refurbishment as certain age and stress times are reached.”

He also says surges in PLA activity are aimed at wearing down the mental ability of Taiwan’s people to resist a potential takeover by Beijing.

“Beijing hopes Taipei will just accept unification as inevitable and allow Chinese forces in without resistance. They are trying to diminish if not destroy the #Taiwan population’s will to resist,” he said.

At least so far that does however not work. People in Taiwan are living their lives and giving the PRC the middle finger. There is however a third possibility for the PRC provocations:

But even if that tactic does not work, the continued presence of large numbers of PLA warplanes and ships around Taiwan can lull the island’s defenders – both the Taiwanese military and any potential external reinforcements – into complacency, he said.

And of course, according to the CCP, the "real provocation" comes from elsewhere:

A US Navy P-8A reconnaissance jet transited the strait on Thursday, according to a statement from the US 7th Fleet in Japan... On its English-language website, the PLA accused the US military of hyping the situation, and a spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command said PLA troops tracked and monitored the US plane.

adolar@pod.dapor.net

This semester I organized a kind of treasure hunt for students of the English, Japanese and German department. Students were shown an A4 poster with a riddle on it, coming from an area where one of the three languages was spoken. The riddle should yield a number, which would then tell students where to find the next riddle.
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There is also a letter on top, which should result in a certain term, if students observed the correct order. (ROT13 encoded to prevent guessing) This was the first time I did this and only four groups participated. I had allowed them to go alone or in groups of up to eight. The winning group (three students) needed 40 minutes (They had to go back and forth between five floors.) The rest was a little bit exhausted after 1.5 hours..

The riddle is not very large on this photo, but can you guess the correct number?
#Taiwan #education

adolar@pod.dapor.net

A while ago I was substituting for someone at another university. They have a very nice campus there that is very quiet mainly because...you don't see anyone! Seriously the campus was totally deserted and most people I did spot looked more like nearby people taking a stroll or jogging. But they did have a nice sculpture.
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#art #Taiwan #myphoto

berternste2@diasp.nl

‘Erken het héle koloniale verleden’

NRC

Excuses slavernij - Ghana, Guyana, Myanmar, Madagaskar: de lijst van gebieden die Nederland ooit koloniseerde is lang. Dus waarom kregen alleen Suriname en de Cariben excuses? (...)

(Tekst loopt door onder de foto.)

Foto van herdenking
Herdenking van het koloniale verleden van Nederland op de Dam in Amsterdam op 3 mei. Foto Paco Núñez.

Nederland was gedurende zijn koloniale geschiedenis in zo’n dertig landen aanwezig, in zo’n twintig daarvan ook vond slavenhandel plaats, blijkt uit onderzoek van Atlas of Mutual Heritage, opgezet door onder meer het Nationaal Archief. Het exacte aantal gebieden hangt af van de manier van tellen: niet alle gekoloniseerde gebieden vallen nog onder hetzelfde land.

In Azië was Nederland buiten Indonesië onder meer aanwezig in Taiwan, Myanmar en Sri Lanka. De schattingen van de omvang van de Nederlandse slavenhandel rond de Indische Oceaan tussen de zeventiende en de negentiende eeuw lopen uiteen tussen de 660.000 en 1.000.000 mensen, aldus historicus Markus Vink. Ter vergelijking: in de trans-Atlantische slavenhandel gaat dat om zo’n 600.000 slaafgemaakten, volgens de database van SlaveVoyages.

Op het Afrikaanse continent koloniseerde Nederland langere of kortere tijd (delen van) Ghana, Angola, Mozambique en Madagaskar. In Zuid-Afrika was het lang aanwezig: van 1652 tot de komst van de Britten rond 1800. (...)

In de Amerika’s had Nederland een actieve rol in de slavenhandel in New York, de Guyana’s en Brazilië. (...)

Het oudste en langste koloniale bewind van Nederland was in het huidige Indonesië. In de zeventiende eeuw brachten kolonisten delen van het land onder één regering, uiteindelijk onder de naam Nederlands-Indië. De VOC verscheepte, verhandelde en dwong naar schatting tussen de 600.000 en meer dan een miljoen slaafgemaakten om te werken. In 1945 begon een bloedige onafhankelijkheidsoorlog, waarin het Nederlandse leger extreem geweld gebruikte voordat het land in 1949 onafhankelijk werd. (...)

Ver voordat de Britten er arriveerden, was de toenmalige Goudkust (een deel van het huidige Ghana) een kolonie van Nederland, tussen 1612 en 1872. De West-Indische Compagnie (WIC) bouwde daar een groot aantal forten, die werden gebruikt om slaafgemaakten uit het binnenland gevangen te houden totdat ze werden verscheept naar de Amerika’s en Caribische eilanden. Het slavenfort Elmina in de huidige stad Cape Coast was een van de belangrijkste centra van de slavenhandel van de WIC. (...)

Veel Molukkers vochten tijdens de Nederlandse koloniale overheersing in Indonesië in het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indische Leger (KNIL), ook tijdens de Indonesische onafhankelijkheidsoorlog eind jaren veertig. (...)

Na de onafhankelijkheid van Indonesië werd het KNIL opgeheven en werden 12.500 Molukse militairen met hun gezinnen verscheept naar Nederland. Zij wilden zich eigenlijk aansluiten bij de Republiek der Zuid-Molukken, maar Nederland verbood dat. Veel militairen dachen dat zij tijdelijk naar Nederland moesten. Bij aankomst werden ze ontslagen en verspreid over Nederland. De meesten keerden nooit meer terug naar hun thuisland. (...)

Hele artikel

> Meer koloniale geschiedenis

Tags: #nederlands #nederland #slavernij #slavernijverleden #slavenhandel #kolonie #kolonialisme #koloniale_geschiedenis #suriname #nederlandse_antillen #indie #nederlands_indie #indonesie #kaapkolonie #zuid-afrika #nieuw-amsterdam #guyana #myanmar #taiwan #sri_lanka #madagaskar #tobago #brazilie #angola #mozambique #ghana

adolar@pod.dapor.net

I didn't take this photo to show the scenery, the cultural environment or technical achievements.
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I merely made a quick shot to get the #election ad at the back of the bus.
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This is a #KMT member (the guys with lots of blood on their hands, who came to #Taiwan 1945-1949, until now never called themselves Taiwanese and would like to sell Taiwan to the CCP, their once arch enemy) using what appears to be the one and only slogan (after getting tired of emphasizing that they would not allow beef imports from the US) the KMT is using for the upcoming elections. I couldn't believe it when I first saw/heard that slogan, I still can't believe it now.

"Time to switch". That's their slogan. Apparently the public only benefits (I think they never use the word "democracy".) when it's the KMT's turn to rule now, which is the sole reason why you should give them your vote. I hope they get what they deserve.

On a completely different side note, if you wonder what the two empty plate holders at the back of the bus are for: At least the one on the right should hold the driver's name. Yes, if a driver behaves improperly, you can complain to the road administration and directly tell them who drove that bus.
#politics

deutschewelle@squeet.me

Chinesischer Flugzeugträger durchfährt Taiwan-Straße | DW | 27.05.2023

Es ist eine weitere Demonstration der militärischen Macht: Der chinesische Flugzeugträger "Shandong" passiert die Meerenge bei der selbstverwalteten Insel Taiwan. Das kommt selten vor.

Es ist eine weitere Demonstration der militärischen Macht: Der chinesische Flugzeugträger "Shandong" passiert die Meerenge vor der selbst verwalteten Insel Taiwan. Das kommt selten vor.#China #Taiwan #Flugzeugträger #Shandong #Militär #USA
Chinesischer Flugzeugträger durchfährt Taiwan-Straße | DW | 27.05.2023