Actually TVBS is wrong. This is the 3rd visit of Yao Ming to Taiwan. His first visit was in 1997; his second visit was in 1998. WOW !!! That stuff toy teddy bear costs TWD 180,000 i.e. > US$ 5,000 !!!
Let me explain why Taiwanese government imposes these restrictions on Yao's visit. First of all, Yao is the "ambassador" of Beijing Olympics in 2008. Recently, the negotiation about the route of torch passing between China and Taiwan has stuck in the middle because Chinese government tries to degrade Taiwan's sovereignty status via arranging Taipei (Taiwan's capital) as an "internal stop" of the passing route; however, Taiwanese government rejects the above arrangement and insists that if Taipei must become one stop of the passing route, it should only be considered the city "outside" of China. What chinese government wants to play is a kind of political tricks--which mix up politics and sports by manipulating ambiguous language. Therefore, Taiwanese government decides not to let Yao promote Beijing Olympics during his visit-- China is so big, ambitious and trying to avail every opportunity to take advantage of Taiwan; in the context above, Yao or Chinese pandas are only puppies in the hands of Chinese Communist Party. Second, many Chinese immigrants, legal or not, are eager to get a job in Taiwan for better salary. In order to manage them (or control them) and protect Taiwan's labors, Taiwanese government has implemented the policy which requests every Chinese labor to get a working license before going to work. Since Yao has not got his license yet, of course we cannot allow him to engage in anything commercial. Third, since the possibility for Yao to be used as the puppy of Chinese government is quite high, we cannot allow him to play the role as the visagiste of China and the salesman fo Beijing Olympics. At last, I hope that every Rockets fan can understand: to most of the countries in the world, China is not a big threat; but to we Taiwanese, China is the relentless, lethal enemy which should be also paid attention to. Yao is a good person and a successful soprts star, but one facet of him is the model and puppy of Chinese government. Taiwan, as a free democracy like the US, will always welcome a good person and a star, but will definitely be cautious to the potential enemy. It is sad to say so, but under this circumstance, Yao is very possible to become the accomplice (whether intentional or not) who may hurt the sovereignty and national interests of my country. Therefore, as a Taiwanese, I endorse the policy of my government. We DO compromise.
Taiwan's sovereignty status ? I think that is why you have this nick....Naiveking.....King of Naiveness !! All Yao Ming asked for previously was to do a charity fund-raising luncheon in Hsinchu to raise money for the intellectually deficient/inadequate. It is not supposed to be of commercial purpose not to mention it was about politics at all. It is just some humanitarian and charity activity on Big Yao'spart. So can you tell us WHY Kobe Bryant also did not get a work permit, but he is also allowed to promote his Nike brand of shoes in Taiwan just 1 day before Yao Ming arrives?
Talking about blowing things out of proportion. Naiveking, I also think you're a little too paranoid.
What a relief! We were so worried that Yao might become another illegal Chinese labor in Taiwan for a better salary and wouldn't play for the Rockets next season.
More photos of Yao Ming upon arrival..... And the fans were crazy seeing him, yelling Yao Ming !! Yao Ming !! We love you !!
Hah? Yao is going to move to Taiwan and get better salary there? We sittin' in here, Yao is supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talkin' about immigrantion. I mean listen, we talkin bout immigrantion. Not a game, not a game, not a game. We talkin bout immigrantion. Not a game, not a, not a, not the game that I go out there and die for, and play every game like its my last. Not the game. We talkin' bout immigrantion, man. I mean how silly is that?
do NOT start a political debate here. if you want, go to other forum. there are plenty of us here will give you more than you can take.
I just wanna say to naiveking,please open your eyes. No country admit Taiwan is a country except a littile of small Africa country. There are no Chinese like to work in Taiwan, but I know that a lot of taiwanese like to work in China,including a lot of artist and business man. Don't talk about politics any more.We are all Chinese, don't hurt each other any more.
This place is to talk about sports, okay? Donot make it go too far away from what it is supposed to be. To be honest, you are paranoia!
yuantian is totally right for you noobies, political discussions go in the Debate and Discussion forum there is already a nice long thread about Tiawan and Yao http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=133848 go to it, leave it out of this forum
I carefully read each response of Chinese fan here... Their reactions do not surprise me at all. First of all, I would like to say: I respect your opinions, and please, Chinese people, once in a while learn how to respect different opinions. Why I start this debate? Because I once again saw some Chinese fans blame everything on my country--taiwan--in this thread. Pryuen kept wondering "why Taiwan government put all the restrictions on Yao's visit"...and then some Chinese fans criticized my government and people for Yao's case. However, these Chinese fans and the Rockets fans from other countries may not know the background of the story. The fact is that Chinese government tried to degrade Taiwan's sovereignty status by manipulating the torch route issue, and Yao may become its tool. Taiwan is a small country which has been bullied by regional powers for hundreds of years. We really cherish the de facto independence, wealth and freedom that we won since late 1980s. That's why Taiwan's government imposed some restrictions on his visit. But eventually Yao was permitted to visit my country. On the contrary, until now Chinese government still implements a series of harsh investigation policies toward Western movies, arts and ideologies. So which country is more civilized and opener? I know this debate will only make me become the target of some Chinese fans in this forum, and definitely will make me unpopular. But as a Taiwan citizen and a professional diplomat, I will never ignore the intentional distortion from the other side of Taiwan Strait. If all Taiwanese remain silence when some Chinese fans pass incorrect rumors (such as Taiwan has been a part of China since the ancient time, Taiwan government is totally unreasonable while dealing with Yao's case..etc), gradaully other peoples in the world will believe them. So, Rockets fans in the U.S., please at least try to understand my motive. We Taiwanese fight just like your ancestors--we both love freedom and want to live on our own, but not let the fate of our people to be decided by tyrants, Fascists or Communists. I love Yao...he is my favorite basketball player. However, when today I went to Taipei airport to pick up a special guest of my country, I know Yao was in the terminal next to mine...I could see him in 5 minutes....But I chose not to do so but focus on my work. Because I know my job represents the honor and dignity of my nation....if Yao had spoken anything hurt the national interest and dignity of Taiwan in the airport, I would have stopped supporting him without any hesitation. At last, I would like to say: Olympics are for all human being, and should not be used as political weapons. Following the similar logic, Taiwanese welcome Yao's visit, but we do need to put some restrictions to protect our national interests.
First, when Taiwan Basketball Association invited Yao to Taiwan, it said "Yao's visit is for basketball exchanges, not commercial, not political, and have nothing to do with Olympics and the torch." But according to the attached program, Yao will do many activities (including charity ones) which have nothing to do with basketball. Then my government asked Taiwan Basektball Association to reapply, but this association changed the itinerary again and again. My government just asked this association and Yao "to focus on their original goal--basketball". Second, while dealing with Chinese affairs, Taiwan has different law system. Pretty much like how the US dealt with the USSR during th Cold War era. So Chinese immigrants cannot get Taiwan's ID as quickly as ordinary foreigners; when they want to work in Taiwan and promote their works, they have to apply for the working licenses very early. Besides, Nike's Taiwan branch offered a much complete and well-organized proposal to my government, and it made things very clear in the beginning-- Kobe comes to Taiwan for promotion, period. Yao's case is a different story. Last but not least, Taiwan is definitely a sovereign state, period.
please realize this is a bball board for sports fans, not for professional diplomats. if you do have anything to say about houston rockets, please leave ....
If your government is so much so a "sovereign state" that afraid a popular basketball player from the mainland will do some serious damage to its political image, you should "definitely" reconsider the "definitely a sovereign state" statement. Stop being so naive. Plus, stop generating more arguments on an all-known sensitive issue.
I respect your postion on this. But Yao's coming to do some charity work, why are you so afraid of that? US politicians always they really cant tell the difference between Tawain officials and China's officials, because the way of their thinking is exactly same. And please leave democracy out of it. It has nothing to do with Yao's visit. Democracy is something to have, not to be talked about. If Taiwan wants to proper it needs to egage with mainland to work out a solution. I just feel the election thing has got in the way of too many things.
