Taiwan's Presidential Election

choi

(1) Philip Wen, Big Business Tries to Sway Increasingly Tense Taiwan Election. Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 6, 2012 (available now).
http://www.smh.com.au/world/big- ... 20120105-1pmvp.html

Note: Skin in the game. Investopedia, undated.
http://www.investopedia.com/term ... e.asp#axzz1icR11n5n
("A term coined by renowned investor Warren Buffett referring to a situation in which high-ranking insiders use their own money to buy stock in the company they are running.")

(2) Andrew Jacobs, Ties to China Linger as Issue As Taiwanese Prepare to Vote; Growing tourism and other contact have set off old sensitivities. New York Times, Jan 5, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/0 ... q=taiwan&st=cse

Note:
(a) The report quotes a Taipei 101 spokesman as saying, "We’d like this vibe to continue."

(i) vibe (n; First Known Use 1967): "VIBRATION4"
(ii) vibration (n):
"4a : a characteristic emanation, aura, or spirit that infuses or vitalizes someone or something and that can be instinctively sensed or experienced —often used in plural
b : a distinctive usually emotional atmosphere capable of being sensed —usually used in plural"
www.m-w.com
(b) The "princely" in "princely sums" is an adjective that means:
"befitting a prince : NOBLE, MAGNIFICENT <princely manners> <a princely sum>"
(C) Talking about presidential candidates of KMT and DPP, the report says, "On paper and in person, the two bear striking similarities."

bear (n): "a surly, uncouth, burly, or shambling person <a tall, friendly bear of a man>"

I do not know the size of either candidate, but I do not think Pres Ma is big--though he is tall.


(3) Jonathan Standing, Taiwan's Tsai Puts Pragmatism Over Populism. Reuters, Jan 5, 2012
http://uk.reuters.com/article/20 ... UKTRE8040DL20120105
("Tsai's background reflects the ethnic mix common to many Taiwanese, and has become an asset she has been able to use to build support among different interest groups. She was born in a coastal village in rural southern Taiwan to a Hakka father and a Taiwanese mother, and has a grandmother who is Paiwan, one of Taiwan's non-Chinese indigenous peoples")

(4) Taiwan's Jailed Ex-Leader to Make Pre-Vote Appearance. AFP, Jan 5, 2012.
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/wor ... re-vote-appearance/

(5) Neal Donnelly and Fulton Armstrong, Taiwan Elections: US Must Show Respect for Self-Determination: As Taiwan presidential elections approach Jan. 14, the US has shown a preference for incumbent Ma Ying-jeou – who says he can work with China. The US should set aside wishful thinking about unification and respect the right of Taiwanese to decide their own future. Christian Science Monitor, Jan 5, 2012 (opinion).
http://www.csmonitor.com/Comment ... -self-determination

paragraphs 1, 2 and 4:

"The Taiwan question is an issue that almost everyone – except the 23 million people in Taiwan – wishes would go away.

"US officials generally hope that natural economic forces will pull Taiwan and China inextricably together, and that the current government in Taipei will engineer a deal with China that finally answers the question of two countries, or one unified China.

"As Taiwan prepares for presidential elections Jan. 14, the Obama administration, like its predecessors, has shown preference for the candidate of the  Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) – incumbent Ma Ying-jeou – who has cast himself as the man who can work best with China.

My comment:
(a) The authors uses Chinese (and/or mainlanders) to describes those who came to Taiwan around 1949. As in two sentences of web page 2:

"Their [Taiwanese] history is different from that of the 'mainlander' Chinese who moved to Taiwan after World War II

"they [Taiwanese] have worked hard to coexist with the Chinese among them and across the Taiwan Strait
(b) The opinion is authors'. I personally think US is neutral (despite an Associated Press report days ago, repeating suspicions). Even if it is not, it is inconsequential--because outsiders hold little sway in any local events.