Protection of rights

[skylee]

I was very surprised to see this ad at a cinema in Taipei tonight ->

Not sure what to think. I think I didn't expect this from the current government.

[chrix]

I was very surprised to see this ad at a cinema in Taipei tonight ->

Not sure what to think. I think I didn't expect this from the current government.

Why? This is exactly what you would expect from the current government (they do want to get re-elected after all), and what you wouldn't from the previous administration....

The previous administration would have pushed 台灣 instead of 中華民國. Though Ma did slip one time, introducing himself to Hillary Clinton as "the President of Taiwan"...

[Daan]

This is the first time I've seen any ads like this. If this is a government campaign, they might do well to extend it to other public places if they want it to reach the entire population.

[chrix]

I don't know about then medium, but it's quite similar to the message Ma was trying to get across when he was first running...

Of course some of the ad seems also aimed at alleviating fears regarding the MOU, so that undertone might be a bit surprising, but here again the government is walking a fine line: "more cooperation with China" = "profit for Taiwan" / or "job losses for Taiwan".

EDIT: here's a 90 second "full version":

(My Taiwanese friends just found it laughable: "nobody will buy this" ...)

EDIT 2: there's a spoof of this:

Edited February 14, 2010 at 02:56 PM by chrix

[Lu]

Why? This is exactly what you would expect from the current government (they do want to get re-elected after all), and what you wouldn't from the previous administration....

The previous administration would have pushed 台灣 instead of 中華民國.

With the exception of the use of 中華民國, I'd say this is exactly the kind of ad the previous administration would have liked, what with sovereignty, the 23 million people of Taiwan deciding the fate of the country, independence, resistance, whatnot. I'm also surprised to see this coming from the current government.

It is also a more pro-independence stance than I heard Ma advocate when he was running for president, so that makes it more surprising. Makes me think of how Ma did his best to speak some Taiwanese during his campaign, because he realized that Taiwan had Taiwaneseified to a point that to be a serious candidate, he had to show how Taiwanese he was. This seems similar.

[gato]

The song is a take-off on the Strip Song by Alex To (杜德伟).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSLaaYuO5nc&feature=related

杜德伟 脫掉

[Daan]

(My Taiwanese friends just found it laughable: "nobody will buy this" ...)

That's because it is ridiculous...reminds me of the Dutch minister Piet Hein Donner

.

[chrix]

Well, the issue was whether people will actually believe the Ma government's pledge to safeguard national sovereignty, not the video per se.

[Daan]

I honestly haven't heard a lot of positive comments about his administration in the past few months. Most people seem to be in two minds about the ECFA that he's trying to negotiate. However, I don't think it's because they don't want to improve ties with the mainland. Everyone I've discussed this with recognises they shouldn't miss out on the Chinese market. Perhaps this is because they think Ma's settling for less than they feel Taiwan deserves.

[chrix]

Yes, I agree that this seems to be the major issue here. But it does look to me that most of the support for closer ties to China are due to economic reasons, and that's what Ma was campaigning (and got elected) on. Now depending on how the negotiations are going on with the EFCA/MOU, the pendulum of public sentiment could be swinging towards the other direction, hence the publicity onslaught...

[skylee]

The long version is so much better than the 30-second version I saw at the cinema. The most impressive line I could remember of the short version was "不開放就是不開放". It was shocking.

But the long version tells people that Taiwan people need not be afraid and the government has been very thoughtful and is doing only what is good to protect their rights. The explanations make the ad much more balanced.

The short version - "中華民國是個主權獨立的國家，台灣的命運2300萬人來決定。800多項大陸農產品，還有大陸勞工，不開放就是不開放，嚴格把關攏為了守護台灣。悲情脫掉、自信得到，對抗脫掉、協商得到，導彈要脫掉、互信才得到，中華民國主權更加屹立不搖。"

The long version - "悲情脫掉、自信得到，對抗脫掉、協商得到，導彈要脫掉、互信才得到，以台灣為主對人民有利最有力道。 沒有自信的人難免把事想得很糟，擔心被賣掉、吃掉，什麼都成了煩惱，中華民國主權屹立不搖，其實dont worry，因為把關的人都有考慮到。 馬總統說、800多項大陸農產品就是不開放，還有大陸勞工就是不開放，陸客來台帶錢潮，三通把拔回家了，既推動又把關，全世界都看到。中華民國是個主權獨立的國家，台灣的命運2300萬人來決定。開大門走大路，大家攏有好頭路，和全世界做生意，台灣出頭天。悲情脫掉、自信得到，對抗脫掉、協商得到，導彈要脫掉、互信才得到，中華民國主權更加屹立不搖。"

[chrix]

Yes, if people actually believed such ads, that is... I think whether people believe the Ma government or not will much more depend on the actual details of the ECFA, if it ever should be finalised.

The Chinese government might have put the ECFA on the back burner after the announcement of the arms sales, so let's see...