Journey Back to Seoul

It's all over, and I'm back in Seoul safe and sound.

My journey started with a short hop to Airport Express's Kowloon Station via a special free bus that runs every 12 minutes; as it turned out, it stopped right in front of my hotel. I appreciated riding it; just like all city buses and tourist motor coaches in Hong Kong, it was well-appointed in European style. In addition, all Hong Kong buses have automatic transmissions, eliminating the jerky shifts that categorize Seoul buses, which are all manual. I guess Seoul bus operators demand manuals for their cheaper cost and fuel savings, even though it must be hell to keep shifting through the massive traffic.

My original plan was to take the Tsuen Wan Line to Central, then take a long walk over to the Airport Express station there. It would've cost me $8.50 and forced me to lug my bags through the staircases in morning rush hour. Good thing I didn't.

I am at Kowloon Station, where it's possible to check in for some of the airlines serving Hong Kong, but I skipped that service. This platform sign advises me to board the front cars of the train for the airlines indicated above. The major airlines of Hong Kong are indicated with such signs, but Asiana isn't considered major, and isn't indicated.

I photographed the sign for a look at how airline names are written in Chinese. Very few foreign airlines have their names written phonetically; the vast majority get translated Chinese names. In the above, British Airways is written as "England Airline Company," as the character 英, which is most often used for England, is just as often used for all of the UK; there is no distinction made between the two. QANTAS is written as "Australia Region Airline Company." United is written as "Union Airline Company" though officially, it needs to have 美國 (America) added to the front, so that it would fully read "American Union Airline Company," to comply with Chinese airline naming conventions and to distinguish from a domestic Chinese airline of similar name. Airlines based in Asia have, and use, their official Chinese names.

It didn't take long for the ride back to the airport, where I disembarked at the check-in level. I first returned my Octopus for a $50 refund, then waited for the Asiana counters to open. I noticed that United (which indeed was written as "American Union Airline" on the airport's own signs) shared counters with Korean Air. Yes, my favorite airline and my least favorite airline, who belong to rival airline alliances (and are founding members in each), are right together.

At Hong Kong, departure immigration check happens before security, which is unusual. Once I cleared both, I took some time to walk around. I still had a good amount of Hong Kong currency to burn, so I browsed the duty free shops (to no avail) and the food court (where I ate a bowl of spicy Japanese ramen with Korean kimchi). I still had plenty of Hong Kong Dollars left, so I decided to sell $63 to get 10,000 South Korean won; it was a lousy exchange rate, but at least this almost paid my bus fare at Incheon Airport. The rest of Hong Kong currency - I am keeping them as souvenirs, and as my initial spending money for my next Hong Kong visit, as ATMs love spitting out $500 banknotes which are very unwieldy in their size and value.

Here's an airport scene. Although Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary Dragonair dominate the airport, there is plenty of service from both mainland Chinese and Taiwanese airlines. In this photo, EVA Air of Taiwan's Evergreen Group has brought in two widebodies.

In the distance, I can also see a United 747, in the airline's older color scheme boasting the phrase "Worldwide Service." Sure, it was probably the greatest lie ever painted on an airplane (United has had the most comprehensive international services of any US airline, but it is nowhere near being worldwide), but it nevertheless is a reminder of all the Pacific and Atlantic crossings I've done on United jumbo jets. I flew United exclusively for international itineraries until my current and recent crop of Asiana flights. The United 747 is operating a nonstop to San Francisco, after having come in from Vietnam earlier.

Finally, my Asiana flight is coming in, and it's a 747 as well. It will park next to its rival Korean Air, operating another 747 to Seoul and leaving an hour ahead of my Asiana flight. Korean Air would later also bring in a 737 from Busan.

The Asiana 747 has come in and is being serviced.

It's a Combi 747-400 (registration HL7417), with the rear 1/3 of the plane being used as cargo hold rather than passenger cabin. It's also fairly old, with only projector screens for entertainment; its air show is so old that its fonts are reminiscent of early 1980s Nintendo video games, and its Korean placenames use the older McCune-Reischauer romanization which hasn't been used since 2000. This plane felt outright primitive when compared to all the newer Asiana planes I've flown on lately; it felt similar to the various US domestic United planes I've flown in recent years. The radar dome on the nose is in the newer all-white color, however.

Asiana is currently in the process of converting its aging 747 Combi fleet to permanent freight-only duty, and bringing in the new, nicer 777s as replacements.

My flight operates with a South African Airways codeshare flight number. The South African flight from Johannesburg sits in the back, and coordinates with Asiana for through service between Johannesburg and Seoul. There is no other through service between the two cities. The South African flight will sit here until around midnight, when Asiana's evening flight from Seoul hands passengers over so that they can continue to Johannesburg.

And for that matter, there is also a United codeshare number, even though United has no evening departures out of Seoul that my Asiana flight can connect to.

And yes, Seoul is really written as 首爾 in Chinese now. 漢城 (Hancheng), the old name that the Chinese speakers had continued to use until a few years ago, is now history. However, Cantonese speakers will NOT pronounce this new name as anything remotely resembling Seoul. The problems over the Chinese name of Seoul continue to linger.

Hong Kong was cloudy, so I never got a farewell look at the world-famous harbor; I was lucky to get a glimpse of the highrise apartments of Tsuen Wan. As the plane continued to climb, a series of short subjects played on the projector screens, which included some South Korean current events. I hated seeing images of former President Roh Moo-hyun; it was his ineptitude and polarizing politics, not to mention his frequent gaffes, that had resulted in the current 2MB government, and I will hold him accountable. The South Korean economy is now shrinking, partly due to the global recession.

There was one bright spot however; a lower-level court ruled that the female employees of KTX bullet trains, which Korail had claimed were contract employees supplied from an agency and therefore not entitled to any benefits of their male counterparts, were deemed to be proper Korail employees after all, and entitled to benefits and representation. It was certainly very telling of South Korea's continuing Confucian social values and its status as the only country in the world with both a bullet train line AND such blatant sex discrimination. But change will come, surely if slowly. I don't think even 2MB will derail that.

I subsisted on a music channel consisting of old English-language pop, even though it was not all that old - mostly 1990s adult contemporary, featuring the likes of Celine Dion, Phil Collins, and Faith Hill.

After about an hour, I entered Taiwan. As I flew over the island's rugged mountain range, I was able to see its west side - where most of the population and industries are. Right now, I am looking at the sprawl and the development of Taichung, which, as its name (臺中) suggests, is in the center portion of Taiwan.

Now, I am about to exit Taiwan, at Taipei (臺北), the north end and the capital. Downtown, with its new fabulous skyscrapers, is right below me and can't be seen. But I can see the western outskirts, a mix of urban sprawl and rice paddies. Two airfields are also visible; the farther and larger of the two, with two parallel runways, is Taiyuan Airport, Taiwan's gateway to the world. Until recently, it had been named after Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, whose ironfist rule had tormented Taiwan natives and is now considered as much of a negative as it is a positive.

I'll certainly look forward to visiting Taiwan in the near future. Subway ads in Seoul do entice me to visit Taiwan. The main challenge will be the limited English aptitude of the everyday Taiwanese.

From here on, it's open waters of the East China Sea until I enter South Korea.

That snow-capped peak indicates that I have now re-entered South Korea. It's kind of hazy out there, but I can identify the peak as Mt. Halla, the southernmost and the highest mountain in South Korea (it's two kilometers tall). Halla is an extinct volcano just off the southern coast of Korea, and the island created by its past eruptions is now called Jeju. Even though Jeju is subtropical, the mountain is high and does get snow. Just like Taiwan, Jeju is one place that I must visit in the near future.

Already, I am in the middle of a very long, shallow descent into Seoul, as the sun sets. The rest of my flight route took me over Gwangju and Gunsan, following the west coast of the peninsula. Prevailing winds opposite their normal direction, however, meant that I had to shoot out into the Yellow Sea and approach the airport from the north; again, I got a look at some North Korean hills in the distance - with notable lack of lighting.

Immigration lines were excruciatingly long, due to a crush of passengers, from another Asiana flight from San Francisco, who had arrived a few minutes ahead of me. One of those in line was a loud white American whose support of the neocons was very apparent in his conversations; I almost wanted to welcome him to his puppet colony. I didn't do that, however, as I now think it's better for me to keep a low profile until I return to the US, then plot some moves to ensure future democracy in South Korea and end the Moonie menace. The first thing for me to do upon my return to the US, however, will be to undo the South Korean damage to American society, including California's Prop 8.

I was re-admitted into South Korea with no fuss and with another 90-day authorization, since I have places to stay at and no criminal records, and certainly don't have a track record of "subversive" activities in ways that the government can track. (If I later get an Alien Registration Number, sign up for a Korean Internet portal account, and speak my mind over there, then I'll be in a sh*tload of trouble.) Returning to my apartment from there on was a breeze - though it was almost strange to see traffic running on the right, and certainly very strange to see almost all vehicles on the road being Hyundais, Kias, and other South Korean domestics. A BMW 7-series showed its true colors by illegally driving on the shoulder in a traffic jam, but that's par.

Time to wrap things up, resume my regimen in Seoul for the little time I have left here, and look forward to my next phase of life that awaits me upon my return to the US.

The journey to Hong Kong

I am at my hotel in Hong Kong - a bit behind schedule. I'm very glad to be here. Here's a recap of my journey from Seoul.

As indicated in my last post, I took a deluxe airport bus to Incheon, which took Expressway 1 into Seoul to take advantage of the bus lane, before taking Olympic Expressway and Expressway 130 into the airport. I slept much of the way - and enjoyed the ride.

No problems at Incheon whatsoever. The colonial government relies on massive databases of personal data to police its subjects, and as I am a mere short-term visitor with no South Korean Internet portal accounts, it's much more difficult to police the truth that I send out to the world. Basically, I had obeyed the immigration laws and the terms of my visa without incurring unsettled debts or commiting a crime, so I had no problem clearing immigration.

My flight was on Asiana Airlines, with codeshare United and South African flight numbers. With my new Premier status at United, my boarding pass and luggage tag specifically identified me as a Star Silver customer. It was delayed for connecting passengers from a delayed flight from Los Angeles, then again for a no-show whose checked luggage had to be unloaded. The passengers were overwhelmingly Hong Kongers; very few South Koreans were on board, thanks to the crash of the won. The equipment was an Airbus 330 (HL7740), my first flight on a large Airbus; I liked its ergonomics, though hated its surprisingly low ceiling. It featured video-on-demand, but didn't feature much for the rather short 3 1/2-hour flight, so I did some music mixes again, starting with some Elton John, then proceeded to playing some chess.

Here's my flight projectory. I'm about to start some chess games - and I'm just over halfway from Jeju Island to Taipei. After taking off from Incheon to the north, and getting a brief look at the total darkness of North Korea's Hwanghae Provinces, I hugged the western coastline of South Korea and exited its airspace at Jeju Island. I felt very glad to be flying into East China Sea; from now on, everything was brand-new territory for me, and moreover, the 2MB colonial government no longer had jurisdiction over me.

The rest of the flight took me straight over Taipei, following the northwestern Taiwan coast, before staying a bit of a distance off of the southern Chinese coast all the way to Hong Kong. I was surprised at how bright the lights of Fujian Province were, even from about 80 miles offshore; the coastal Chinese lights stayed respectable all the way to Hong Kong. And as I continued to spend time over the Taiwan Strait, I was reminded of all the progress being made between China and Taiwan. Sure, both sides have very problematic governments that need lots more work, and the very future of Taiwan is still up in the air, but they both know that it's best to work together, set ideological differences aside, and prosper together. And the opposing political factions in Taiwan are fighting over whether it's better to work closely with Beijing, or explore Taiwan's native roots further; both are very noble causes, unlike the outright treason that makes up South Korea's various "New Right" movements.

From now on, to honor the various New Right movements within South Korea, whenever there is a conflict between South Korea and Japan over geography, I will use Japanese conventions. I already use "Sea of Japan," the internationally accepted current name for the sea separating the two countries, even though the Korean convention uses the "East Sea." And Dokdo will now be considered Takeshima, part of Japan's Shimane Prefecture. Since the New Right considers pro-independence movement and nationalism to be on par with vicious terrorism, and considers Japanese rule (and US Republican benevolence today as well) to be extremely beneficial to Korea, South Korea can pretty much forget about East Sea and Dokdo as long as the New Rights call the shots. And seriously, all the pro-Dokdo protests are poorly organized like afterthoughts, and the organizers drive around in Lexuses anyway!

Nevertheless, my bitterness of the past few days melted away upon the sight of the world-famous Hong Kong harbor, as I approached. Both the skyscrapers of Hong Kong Island and the bright lights of Kowloon were absolutely gorgeous. I then shot out west halfway out over the mouth of the Pearl River, getting some glimpses of even the casino lights of Macau, before turning back east to land at the airport, which is not as pretty as Incheon but certainly just as modern and logical. Too bad that I'll never get to experience the thrill of landing at Kai Tak, which closed a decade ago; landing there used to involve a last-minute turn over a residential area. A ride on the super-modern Airport Express train and the somewhat British-feeling MTR subway system brought me to Kowloon, where I am staying. And honestly, any subway system other than Seoul Metro is good enough for me right now.

Loved hearing the various Cantonese conversations - even though they tend to be way too loud sometimes. Also loved hearing announcements in Cantonese, English, and Mandarin on the Airport Express. (Kowloon - 九龍 - is Jiulong in Mandarin!) Also love the fact that the mass transit system runs until after 1AM. And unlike in South Korea, English announcements and signs actually make sense here. I do have to give the Koreans some credit however; Asiana's flight was excellent as usual, with plenty of Christmas carols for boarding and disembarking, and great inflight food. As my plane did its takeoff roll at Incheon, I was also able to spot a United 777 that had just come in from San Francisco - always a welcome reminder of my past travels in other parts of the world.

Hong Kong greeted me warmly. That's something some other cities, namely Amsterdam with its immigrant thugs, will never be able to claim. I look forward to some great days ahead here. Reality does demand that I must return to Seoul and 2MB's treasonous arms after a few days, but after ten more days of that, I will be back in Los Angeles - where I'll look forward to doing some real ass-kicking.

China and Taiwan

My original travel plans out of South Korea called for visiting Taiwan, due to its short distance, but I have since decided to switch over to Hong Kong, as it's not much farther away and language barrier is a non-issue. But I continue to follow Taiwan, just in case.

While Korea is considered to be the only divided nation in the world by most, and it certainly is the only one divided by foreign powers over ideology, there are a few more divided nations in reality. Cyprus, a split Greek-Turkish island in ethnicity where the Turkish north broke away and declared independence (and got Turkey's recognition - but no one else's) is one. And China certainly is another, divided by a Cold War-style ideology struggle, even though the division of China resulted from a civil war. Beijing does require foreign governments to choose between itself and Taipei, never both, for diplomatic recognition; almost all nations choose Beijing due to its much bigger economic clout.

I am actually very happy to see the following report from Taiwan, where a visiting delegation from Beijing agreed to a huge expansion of ties between the two sides.

BBC

Specifically, direct flights between Taiwan and the mainland will increase significantly, and operate daily. Mail service between the two sides will speed up considerably as well.

The Nationalists in Taiwan had, for decades, refused to have anything to do with the Communists, going as far as funding the Unification Church. However, the economic and diplomatic reality, combined with the opening up of mainland China, demand that Taiwan work closely with the mainland. In return, China also gets to take advantage of Taiwan's advanced technologies and ample capital. Taiwan, as the first real democracy of the Chinese-speaking world, also hopes to set an example for China to eventually follow. There are benefits to both sides.

Of course, there is fierce opposition within Taiwan. However, it's the liberal faction of the political spectrum in Taiwan that's opposed; it opposes closer ties to Beijing because Taiwan has its own culture and history, and therefore ought to be independent. It's the formerly anti-Communist conservatives who are eager to work with China today, as they tend to be refugees from the mainland. By contrast, over here in South Korea, it's the liberals who, out of nationalist considerations, call for closer ties to North Korea, while the conservatives bring out their McCarthyist paranoia in opposing them.

China and Taiwan are working together to set an excellent example, one that the governments of both Koreas must heed and follow. China and Taiwan have chosen to put their ideological differences aside in favor of economic co-prosperity. North Korea can surely use South Korean capital and technologies, to its own benefit; only Kim Jong-il's megalomania keeps the North from opening up. And here in the South, 2MB must stop his hardline stance, which benefits absolutely no one (maybe except his buddies in the US Republican Party and the US military-industrial complex). Even if political unification doesn't happen, at least a peace treaty and some co-operation framework between the two Koreas will immensely help out both sides, economically and politically. As it stands, it's impossible for me to mail, email, or phone my Northern relatives, and if I try anyway, I may be labeled as a "Communist sympathizer" by the 2MB government.

The idea of cooperation, as carried by China and Taiwan, will be something that I will carry into my road trip. I will visit an observatory just outside the Diamond Mountains, and that point is the northernmost point in South Korea that I am allowed to drive to - but only after pre-registration and a briefing. The road, part of National Highway 7 and Asian Highway 6, continues north from there, into the Diamond Mountains themselves, but only bus tours are allowed into North Korean territory, and even that is suspended for now due to the rising tensions. When I get to the observatory, I will make a vow - to someday return, continue driving north, and visit my ancestors' hometowns (and continue on Asian Highway 6 into my favorite European cities).

Actually, another bus tour, a 40-mile run from Seoul to Kaesong, still runs, but given that strict pre-registration procedures are in effect, that I am strictly sequestered from Kaesong residents, and that North Korea will censor my camera and delete any "objectionable" photos (and even charge me USD $100 per objectionable photo) before my return south, I doubt my ability to improve prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula, and therefore will not make the trip. If the North wants to make me feel more welcome, however, and relaxes some regulations, then I am going in a heartbeat.

Itinerary Update

While it will be necessary for me to stay put in Seoul for a long while, in order to get real mileage out of my current meditation regimen, it does look like I will need to return to the US briefly before I know it.

While work is functioning fine with only minimal instructions from me by email, it looks like I will be needed in person for about a week or two, for tax paperwork purposes.

When the qi therapy slows down to once a week, I will be able to ask for a break, and fly back to Los Angeles, to take care of this. In addition, if the timing is right, I will get to vote for Obama and against California's teen abortion ban and gay marriage ban after all.

I will also need to go home to swap my wardrobe, so that I will have warm pieces to help me survive the colder winter weather. And I hope that this will include some of my favorite tunic sweaters.

In addition, a change of scenery can never hurt - even if it's between two familiar places that are both suffering from neoliberal economics and McCarthyist politics. By the time I come back to Seoul to resume my regimen, I hope to feel a bit better.

Once I come back to Seoul for the second phase of my meditation, my travel options will also open up a bit more. The current frequency allows me to be away for only two nights at most, but with the reduced frequency, I should be able to take longer trips. This should finally make my road trip to Gyeongju possible, combined with the fact my mother will not be coming back to Seoul this time (to nag me about the lunacy of South Korean driving). Of course, this also means I'm driving alone, and combined with the fact that I will be driving a huge midsize car (size is still everything on South Korean roads) and buying gasoline at $7/gallon, it'll be a budget-killer. But I want to do it anyway. I will try to squeeze this in before the blizzards start coming in.

In addition, I will even consider booking a Taiwan tour, as Taiwan can be visited visa-free, and Taipei is only two hours by air from Seoul. Taiwan is cheaper than Japan, and unlike Japan with its crowding and reactionary nationalism, Taiwan remains a well-kept secret, just like South Korea. This will also give me a chance to look at all the Chinese treasures that I was supposed to see in Beijing six years ago - but couldn't, because the Nationalists took them to Taipei in 1949. A slightly more expensive, farther option that I can also consider is Hong Kong, where language barriers won't be a problem at all.

I'll also be happy to know that all the frequent flier miles I rack up returning to Los Angeles, and coming back to Seoul, will bump me up to elite status at United Airlines; I will become a basic Premier, which is a "Star Silver" level status among Star Alliance airlines. At United, a Premier is eligible to choose a seat in Economy Plus, with extra legroom, for free, as well as checking in two bags for free. Granted, I'll take Asiana back to Los Angeles, and will most likely buy my next ticket on Asiana as well, but any Star Alliance flight is as good as a United flight for elite qualification purposes. If I want to shoot for a million lifetime miles (which qualifies me for lifetime elite status), I must accrue all those million miles on United flights, but I don't think I'll ever get even close to that milestone, so it won't matter. It'll feel good to finally become an elite airline customer, something I've never reached before; it'll also help, as I am about to lose my elite status at Hilton Hotels anytime now.

It's shortly past noon right now. I will try to visit downtown Seoul today - to stroll the grounds of Gyeonghuigung, the only Seoul palace (out of five) that I have never visited, and maybe add the nearby Deoksugung, which I last visited four years ago and which neighbors the City Hall, the UK Embassy, and the US Ambassador's residence. Deoksugung is interesting because it's the only Korean royal palace to feature European buildings and gardens, in conjunction with their traditional counterparts. I have already covered the other three palaces in the past month.

Lots of Moonie information

I just came across a page, maintained by a former Moonie, with lots of links showing the true colors of the Unification Church as an evil cult out to destroy democracy and families (despite its "pro-family" mantras). Its links to the Bush family and American conservatives, to former fascist dictatorships in South Korea and Taiwan, and to Japanese fascists and mafia members, are well documented as well.

Freedom of Mind

Family registers

I previously mentioned that in my upcoming South Korean trip, part of my work will involve digging through family vital records.

I found some relevant Wikipedia articles, which deal with the scope of family registers in both Koreas as well as China and Japan. In fact, Japan's koseki (戶籍) system formed the basis of South Korea's old family register, which was used until this year. The koseki uses the family as the basic unit of record, and is fraught with many privacy issues; in Japan, regulations had to be enacted to safeguard sensitive information, including birthplace, lineage, and transgender status.

China runs the hukou system, which works similarly. Taiwan has a slightly more liberal version of hukou, where address of registration can arbitrarily be changed.

Nevertheless, South Korea's new individual-based registry system is a first in East Asia. It enjoyed the strong support of feminist and liberal groups, and drew condemnation of Confucian conservatives and the Moonies (who even launched a new political party promising to restore the old system). Again, I'll report more on it when I am in Seoul and in possession of my vital records.

There are no equivalent systems in English-speaking nations, which have traditionally been more stringent about collecting and maintaining personal data, though the post-9/11 US police state may be buckling that trend.

Wikipedia
Korean Women's Development Institute

The Moonies are back in power

Taiwan chose to put the Nationalists - a major funding source of the Moonies - back in power, both in presidency and in the legislature, by very large margins.

Now, South Korea has done the same, putting the Grand Nationals - the most important funding source of the Moonies - in the majority, even after its splinter into many rival factions. Of course, a Moonie president had been elected last year.

What's significant in both countries is that the Moonie media machine had smeared the outgoing liberal political parties as inept and incompetent, despite the fact that they had met many of the Moonies' demands, and that it was the Moonies themselves that had caused the ineptitude in the first place (i.e. the Asian financial crisis of 1997). There is no difference from the Republican media attacks on the Democrats, and the Democratic inability to respond.

My support for the next US President will be determined on who will be the most willing to stand up against the Moonie menace, and the interference in American politics by the Nationalists and the Grand Nationals. McCain is beholden to the Moonies, and neither Hillary nor Obama has come out in strong enough terms against them.

Of course, I am no fan of the extremist Christianity that has taken over South Korea, and may be about to take over Taiwan. It's done severe damage to the Asian-American communities, and to the American society at large, as well.

It is a shame that Taiwan has a monopoly on computer motherboards, and South Korea has the lion's share of the semiconductors that go on those motherboards. Going online, and living in the 21st Century, has now been reduced to doing my own part to fund the Moonie death cult. The same with Garmin GPS's (which are all Taiwan-made) and Samsung cell phones. Something must be done soon!

Taiwanese elections

Following the example of South Korea, Taiwan has chosen to turn its politics to the right, both in the parliament and in the presidency, handing both to the Nationalists (KMT) - the presidential vote being today. The margin of victory was 17% for the presidential election.

The main issue was the outgoing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s nationalist streak, trying to carve a more independent path for Taiwan, breaking away from the past, which had been dominated by KMT and its mainland politicians for decades. DPP's pro-native politics struck the wrong nerves with Beijing, negatively affecting the cross-Strait relations and hurting Taiwan's economy, which is increasingly relying on cheap mainland labor. KMT, being more pro-mainland due to its heritage, benefited as a result.

It's ironic though, considering that KMT had driven a hardline anti-communist policy for much of its existence and past rule (to a point of helping fund the Moonies), but is willing to work more with the mainland today. It's also worth remembering that KMT's rule was hardly democratic, with many Taiwan natives suffering at their hands (or at least losing their representation, due to KMT being made up of mainlanders).

DPP was not only pro-natives, but also pro-LGBT (the most LGBT-friendly political party in East Asia, in fact) and supportive of other disadvantaged groups. It's regrettable that its message of inclusion could not stand up to the looming threat of mainland China.

I wonder what the responses are in Chinatowns across the US, but considering that mainland exiles, as opposed to Taiwan natives, make up the bulk of the Taiwan contingent in Chinatown, I expect strong support for the new KMT government. At least I hope they do not become the partisan hacks that the Korean and Vietnamese communities have become. The one thing going for Chinatown: mainland China, despite Communist Party leadership, loves capitalism, and the Taiwan contingent sees mainland China as a strategic partner and money maker, instead of a lethal enemy like Vietnam or North Korea, lessening a need for McCarthyist thinking.

BBC

Offending head honchos of an ethnic community...

can have deadly consequences.

The article below, from San Francisco Chronicle a week ago, states that a reporter for a Vietnamese-language newspaper was killed for being supportive of the Communist government of Vietnam, and that a reporter for a Chinese-language newspaper was killed by the Taiwanese government's hit men for exposing the Nationalists' corruption. These two killings have helped make ethnic journalism one of the most dangerous jobs in the US.

McCarthyism is alive and well in the Vietnamese and Chinese (and Korean too) communities across the US, and being seen as a sympathizer of communism (or left-wing political parties in general, such as Taiwan's pro-LGBT Democratic Progressives and South Korea's New United Democrats) can be deadly.

Perhaps the only silver lining is that for the Chinese-speaking community, rabid hatred of anything resembling communism has *not* translated into blind support of the Republican neoliberal and neoconservative agenda.

SFGate

Around the Taiwan Strait

Two newsworthy items, first from China, then from Taiwan.

2008 will be a very important year for China, as it holds the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. A major concern has been China's human rights record, and many foreign activists have seen the awarding of the Games to China as an opportunity to pressure the Chinese government to improve its human rights record. Unfortunately, it's not happening; domestic activists continue to be arrested for "seditious activities," as detailed in the following BBC report.

BBC

Also worth noting is that China accounts for the majority of the world's capital punishments. The government has been decreasing its number of death sentences, converting from firing squad to lethal injections, and banning the sale of body parts of the executed. But death penalty is still very commonly used, often with quick summary trials.

The Chinese government argues that it is improving human rights, by making its people materially better off. Sorry, but that argument was used by two of your neighbors in the past - South Korea and Taiwan - and in both, the argument was debunked. Only with political reforms did real democracy blossom - and even today, human rights abuses remain, particularly in South Korea.

And speaking of Taiwan's democracy...

Today's Taiwan dates back to 1949, when the Chinese Nationalist government (Republic of China), headed by Chiang Kai-Shek, lost the civil war to Mao Zedong's Communists, and exiled itself to the island. Taiwan's indigenous majority suddenly found itself overshadowed by the mainland refugees, as only the mainlanders could control Taiwan's politics, well into the 1980s, well after Chiang's death.

Things have changed dramatically since then. Today's Taiwan is ruled by a Taiwan native, President Chen Shui-Bian of Democratic Progressive Party, who has been re-examining Chiang's legacy. While Chiang brought about Taiwan's impressive economic growth, his human rights record left a lot to be desired (especially from the natives' standpoint), and Chiang-related landmarks are either being retired or re-themed. Taipei's international airport is no longer named after Chiang, and now the Chiang memorial itself commemorates Chiang's victims as much as Chiang himself.

BBC

I will also note that Chiang was a major supporter of Reverend Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church, therefore making him partly responsible for the reactionary swing of the US politics over the past three decades.

Yellow Peril, revisited

Last December, I found a TruthOut article on the Moonies - if I remember correctly, on a tip from another site. It was such a disgusting reading material that even though I made sure to share it with peace activist Medea Benjamin, I didn't get to read it in depth myself until now. And as I see it, the web of influence goes well beyond Moon.

TruthOut article

It appears that much of the initial influence for Moon was made possible by South Korea's government, specifically the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) led by prominent right-wing politician Kim Jong-pil. Kim, of course, was also the prime minister under president Park Chung-hee, a 18-year fascist dictator widely credited with industrializing the South Korean economy (though on his terms, not on the businesses' or the laborers'). As the US tried to withdraw from the Vietnam quagmire, the South Korean government feared a similar ending for itself in case of another Korean War, so it tried to influence US politics through Moon. Moon was convicted and jailed for tax fraud in the Jimmy Carter era, but under Reagan-Bush, he came back stronger than ever, launching the Washington Times.

South Korea was not alone. Other dealmakers included the government of Republic of China on Taiwan (Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek), which also was fearful of the Communists on mainland China. In addition, Kim Jong-pil was instrumental in getting the Japanese mafia - yakuza - involved. Other players in this setup include various racists and Holocaust deniers (Moon himself is a Holocaust denier, if I remember correctly).

One thing that assured Moon's free pass was his status as the leader of a "religious organization" - enjoying many protections and freedoms under the US Constitution's First Amendment. In addition, Richard Nixon gave Moon freebie permanent residency in the US, allowing him to function much more freely than a visitor could. Moon eventually used his US operations as the base to further expand his influence, interfering in politics of Latin American nations. It is alleged that much of Moon's deep pockets results from the multi-step money laundering done through Latin American drug trade and Japanese yakuza operations.

Moon's deep pockets were instrumental also in ensuring the survival of Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, and in continuing to run the Washington Times, successfully smearing centrist and liberal politicians and even casting doubt on the mental capacity of Al Gore.

One thing that must be noticed: Moon loves America when it is in Republican hands, and loathes it when it is in Democratic hands. During the Clinton era, Moon was sharply critical of American individualism and freedoms. This shows Moon's true colors as a backward Korean patriarch who thrives on conformity and uniformity. He is the true enemy of American ideals.

Sometimes, because of all the sweetheart no-bid contracts, Halliburton seems to be a subsidiary of the government of the United States (or vice versa). But after a close examination of the Unification Church, I have concluded that the US government, Halliburton, the Republican Party, the South Korean government (and the Grand National Party), the Taiwanese government (and the Kuomintang), Japanese yakuza, and Latin American drug lords, all are mere puppets of the Unification Church. They all are the enemies of the people of the nations involved, especially those who are women, LGBT, or love their freedoms.

There is one way to fight back. The Moonie puppet political parties can, and must, be voted out of power, in all these nations. While the US is seeing a failure of neoconservative ideals (so well championed by Moon) and is ripe for a swing back to a Democratic rule, things look much bleaker in South Korea and Taiwan, where between right-wing media and incompetent left-wing politicians, the voters are set to vote the Moonies back into power.

I am also for rescinding the proclamation of January 13th of every year as the "Korean-American Day." Given that the day - the only one of its kind for any ethnic minority in the US - really seems to celebrate the Moonies' influence in US politics, it is unconscionable to keep celebrating it.

The conservatives whine about the Muslims' destruction of European democracies and freedoms. They better look in the mirror for a similar Christian destruction going on in America - thanks to their Moonie buddies.