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Two news stories today, both about handouts. The first concerns Chinese billionaire Chen Guangbiao (陳光標). He wants to hand out cash in person in red envelopes to Taiwan's poorest on a 'gratitude tour' in response to the NT$2 billion given by Taiwanese following the Sichuan earthquake.
The second concerns President Ma's intention to hand out special coins in red envelopes during the new year - kids won't be able to eat them because they will not be made of chocolate but, more excitingly, be real and will commemorate the centennial of the ROC.
What's the difference? Chen's envelopes (and the money inside) are the message:
Chen has prepared about 50,000 red envelopes embossed with the inscription “The day is cold, the ground freezing but the peoples’ hearts are warm. The Chinese race is one family and a fire in the winter,” (中華民族一家親,冬天裡的一把火)Touching sentiment, and a nice bit of blatantly racist annexationist rhetoric. Mike Fagan has the critique. By comparison Ma's ROC 100th Anniversary coins are a much cruder, and cheaper, tool.
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Here then are two handouts that might symbolise the modus operandi of PRC Chinese and ROC Chinese. The former spending large to build trust and win hearts whilst the latter tries to wrap itself in a cloak of constitutionality and white-washed history to mask the nudity of its intent for unification.
... and how about this from New Taipei City Mayor:
“We don’t want to see [the recipients] rounded up and have the [donations] take place in a high-profile manner,” New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said. “We still need to have some respect for the people that need our help.”Translation: Low-profile, high impact good. High-profile bad. Oops, did i say 'rounded up'? I meant 'corralled'. We have so little respect left for the people that need our help that this hand out activity might just make us lose it all.
In other news:
- Greenpeace hits trawler they suspect of illegal fishing. Captain denies the allegations. One arrested.
- Taking hot showers with no ventilation bad for your health - steamed chlorinated water is not good for you apparently. Keep a fan or window / door open and don't go over 10-15 mins.
