Lin Chia-lung argues for Taiwan to become a normal country that the "country's official name must be changed, a new constitution must be written, transitional justice must be taken care of and Taiwan-centered consciousness must be established." Lin is arguing for Taiwanese nationalism. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) seems to be heavily for a rewriting of the Taiwanese constitution but I cannot find any details of what that 'rewriting' would entail. (more)
In a letter to the Taipei Times Lee Yen-mou argues that it is silly to hold a vote on whether the Republic of China [ROC] should be named Taiwan at the United Nations as the constitution calls the country ROC - not Taiwan. Instead, Yen-mou, argues for the constitution to be changed to call the country Taiwan, in order to give the name consistency and legitimacy. (more)
Looks like Taiwanese President, Chen Shui-bian, said that Taiwan's constitution should
be modified to make Taiwan a 'normal' and 'complete' nation
. China will not like that.
(more)
It occurred to me that a grand contribution to
NaCFCWriMo
would be a democratic Chinese constitution. Alas, no sooner did it occur to me than I realised what an overwhelmingly difficult task it would be. 1.3 billion people, 23 provinces (more or less), 5 autonomous regions, 57 years of communist rule, regional GDP per capita that ranges from Portugal to Kyrgystan, environmental and demographic problems, a colelction of scary border and sovereignty disputes, and the world's oldest continuous bureaucratic tradition. The only way to govern such a massive and diverse polity is surely with a very light central hand and a lot of regional leeway; but to offer such leeway is to risk the less eager provinces, such as Tibet, declaring independence, a result which would enrage the nationalist majority.
(more)
It was no great surprise to us when the young student we were talking with began describing China as a large chicken. Frankly our Mandarin skills were such that progressing the conversation to this point had seemed a linguistic triumph. The true meaning had presumably been lost somewhere in a tangle of tones and unlearnt vocab. (more)
