• [020] Day Four Of The "Sexy Photo Gate" (01/31/2008)  This story is still holding the front pages of the major Chinese-language newspapers in Hong Kong.
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  The story today has shifted its emphasis to law enforcement.
   
  (SCMP; no link)

• [013]  Government Website Sells Date Rape Drug (01/27/2008)  (IT.com.cn)  On the afternoon of January 25, a netizen made the claim that the Wanning city (Hainan province) government website was carrying an advertisement for date rape drug.  Indeed, in the section on product supply information, there was an item titled: "Knockout drug 13082**905 (supplied)."  (Note: the ** has been added by the website).  The item itself provided detailed descriptions of the Hong Kong GHB powder, knockout drugs delivered by cigarettes or spray devices together with compositions, prices, methods of applications and possible adverse effects.  "Honest trading, real merchandise, solid prices, refund if ineffective!!!  Our company values out reputation and we guarantee our product.  If you really want these products, then stay away from the cheaters who sell fake merchandise to those who urgently need these products.  Please do not lose out because you want to save a few yuan.  If their products are so good then why are they willing to sell them for only 300 or 400 yuan?  You know that even though our merchandise is slightly more expensive, but the effectiveness of our products is guaranteed by our company name ... If you are interested in also selling these products and have no access, you can contact us.  The price is negotiable if your order is big.  Please call."  The telephone number 13082**905 is not working at this time.
  
   
  
   
  (Southern Metropolis Daily)  A couple days ago, a netizen exposed the fact that someone was selling knockout drugs at the Wanning city government website.  While such advertisements appear all over the place, it is rare to see one showing up at a government website.  No wonder the Chinese netizens are sneering at the government for this slip.  Recently, the Ministry of Science and Technology website became suddenly popular because a bunch of netizens posed frivolous questions which were addressed seriously.  That website ended up deleting all those questions.
   
  These two somewhat funny incidents brought out a unified theme when considered together -- the issue of how the government and the citizens connect with each other.  It is said that billions of yuan are spent in each year on government websites but nobody has actually evaluated the communication effectiveness.
   
  When the website administrators fall asleep on the watch and let advertisements for illegal products (such as date rate drugs) slip through, people think this is funny.  When the website workers get too serious and formal, people think this is funny too.  So who can a government website provide "what the people want to see" and "avoid showing poor taste" at the same time?  Well, they are going to have to take a few steps forward and set up some very smart and meticulous standards; they are going to have to use their authoritativeness to increase information content which meets the needs of the public.  For example, they can keep a formal pose but they also have to show some sense of humor; more importantly, they must not storm into a rage and start deleting comments and banning  netizens.  More generally speaking, they must follow the logic of existence on the Internet.

• [012]  Jimmy Lai's House Got Fire-bombed (01/27/2008)  (Apple Daily, Ming Pao)  Jimmy Lai is the chairman of the Next Media Group, which includes Apple Daily and Next Magazine among its media properties.  Jimmy Lai lives at 81 Kadoorie Avenue.  Last night at 10:30pm, the security guard at St. George's Court next door spotted a fire by the side entrance to Jimmy Lai's house and immediately called the police.  Jimmy Lai's maids came out and used the car-washing hose to put out the fire.  There were no serious damage or injury, as only part of a tree was singed.  At the scene, the firemen found a nylon bag with several plastic bottles containing combustible fluid inside.
   
  Now I happen to live on Kadoorie Avenue, and I did not notice this incident last night (there were no sirens, flashing lights, or anything).  This is not an easy locale to toss a fire-bomb since Jimmy Lai's house is at the end of a cul de sac with no passer-by traffic).  The area also has its own private team of Nepalese security patrol.  It is highly likely that someone on the street has security cameras installed and will therefore capture the very few people who went up the street at around that time of night.
   
  Ming Pao also attached a map of the location of Jimmy Lai's house.  The labelling of the green area as Mongkok Stadium is wrong, as that is the Diocesan Boys School.
   
  

• [011]  The Ministry of Science and Technology Website (01/25/2008)  (Southern Metropolis Daily)

At many Chinese government department websites, there is a "public question/answer" section, and the Ministry of Science and Technology is no exception.  In fact, the MOST website has become tremendously popular on account of these Q&A's.  Here is a sample:

Question: My little doggie has fallen ill and not eaten for several days.  Can the uncles/aunties at the Ministry of Science and Technology tell me how I can make my little dog better?

Answer:  We recommend that you take your little doggie to the veterinary hospital for treatment.

The key feature here is that most of the recent questions have been deliberately frivolous, and the answers were delivered in deadpan earnestness that conveys a cool humor.  Other examples are about how to apply for rights to a perpetual motion machine and the future of the Chinese soccer.  When asked about what to do about a "very yellow and very violent" pop-up web page, the answer was to install anti-virus software on the computer.

These Q&A's have delighted netizens on account of the fact that a central government department website is apparently willing to answer every and any frivolous question.  For them, the spirit of MOST is something that all other government departments should emulate.

But there are unexpected consequences.  The appreciate netizens began to cross-post these Q&A's elsewhere, and this drew more visitors to the MOST website to post more frivolous questions.  As a result, the staff has been overloaded with questions.  The proliferation of frivolous questions has actually made it very difficult for the MOST staff to identify and reply to the serious questions that pertain to the mission of the website.

So MOST has taken the drastic action of purging all those spoof questions (and their answers) from the website.  So isn't this strange?  When netizens come to the MOST website to express their appreciation of the spirit and energy of the staff to deal with the most frivolous questions, those questions and their answers have been completely purged.

• [010]  Taiwan By The Numbers (01/24/2008)  (TVBS) (1,017 persons age 20 or over interviewed on January 14-15, 2008.  The numbers were randomly selected from the telephone directory and then the last four digits were randomized.)

Q1.  On March 22, the presidential election will be held with the candidates being Ma-Siew (KMT) and Hsieh-Su (DPP).  If the voting was to take place tomorrow, which team would you vote for?
26%: Hsieh-Su
56%: Ma-Siew
18%: Undecided
 
By political party identification:
Hsieh-Su
85%: DPP
  1%: KMT
  8%: PFP
34%: TSU
16%: Independent
Ma-Siew
11%: DPP
96%: KMT
92%: PFP
51%: TSU
51%: Independent
(Note: The major shift is this -- in September 2007, the TSU went 79% for Hsieh-Su and 8% for Ma-Siew.  After the Legislative Yuan elections, the TSU is now 34% for Hsieh-Su and 51% for Ma-Siew.)
 
Q2. On March 22 when the presidential election will be held, there will also be the referenda to join the United Nations?  Will you be picking up those ballots?  If so, are you picking up the DPP ballot to join the UN or the KMT ballot to re-enter the UN?
25%: the DPP ballot only
  9%: the KMT ballot only
  8%: both ballots
43%: neither
16%: Don't know
(Note: So 25%+8%=33% will pick up the DPP UN for Taiwan ballot, while 9%+8%=17% will pick up the KMT version.  If the voter turnout is 80%, then 33%x80% = 27% of all registered voters will pick up the DPP UN for Taiwan ballot, which is a lot less than the 50% threshold needed to pass.  The KMT version is in even worse shape at 17%x80%=14%.  If these referenda do not get passed, it means that ... the Taiwan people are not interested in entering/re-joining the United Nations!  Yet poll after poll have consistently shown that the percentage is 80% or higher.  The problem here is that the people resent the fact that this issue has been hijacked as a campaign tool for political parties, and the debacle must be laid firmly at the feet of the two political parties.  How to reverse the situation?  The presidential candidates cannot be seen to push these two referenda because the people clearly treat these as cynical manipulations and the candidates.)

• [009]  Frank Hsieh Gets More Endorsement (01/24/2008)  (Taipei Times)

The first major blow of his political career came in 1996, when he ran as Peng Ming-min'srunning mate under the DPP banner for the nation's first presidential election.  At that time, Hsieh was alleged to have taken inappropriate political donations from sect leader Sung Chi-li (宋七力) who claimed he had supernatural powers.  Hsieh suffered fierce criticism from the public then because he and his wife were followers of Sung.  Sung was charged with fraud in 1997 due to supernatural powers claims and for encouraging his followers to donate money to him.  Hsieh temporarily disappeared from the political scene following the scandal.

(Apple Daily)

Yesterday, the Taiwan High Court held the re-trial of Sung Chi-li.  The 1997 trial for fraud had seventeen defendants including Yu Fang-chih, the wife of DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh, who was charged for helping Sung publish the book <Universal Light Body> to attract followers.  Yu and others were found not guilty, but Sung and his assistant Cheng Chen-tung were found guilty and given seven years sentences.  The second trial and the re-trial ended up with acquittals. 

At issue in the court trials was that the believers believed in Sung and the non-believers did not believe in him.  This was a matter of personal faith and the law cannot decide on who is right or wrong.  Objectively, the court could not compel Sung Chi-li to demonstrate that his spirit could leave his body and move around as he claims.  It was true that Sung had his photographer use computer enhancement to produce photographs of himself with a ring of light around his head.  But the believers testify that they gave Sung their money out of joy and gratitude and not solely on the basis of those doctored photographs.

The court proceedings yesterday were about a re-trial after the Supreme Court returned the last two acquittal findings for a re-trial.  In the 2002 court trial, Frank Hsieh's wife Yu Fang-chih testified: "Both my husband and I still believe in Sung's divine powers to this day.  I witnessed his divinity with my own eyes."  That was why the press mobbed Sung Chi-li when he showed up with an entourage of followers yesterday.  Ordinarily, people cannot get near him because of that entourage.  But yesterday, Sung stopped to speak to the media.

Q: Do you support Frank Hsieh?
A: I am glad to see him succeed.  I obviously support him.  I wish him success.

Q: You once said that Frank Hsieh has the look of a president?  Do you still think so?
A: I think that he's got it.

Q: Will you get on stage to campaign for Frank Hsieh?
A: (bitter smile)  How can I get on stage with him!  If I get on stage with him, I will be cursed to death!

• [008]  Frank Hsieh's Endorsement (01/24/2008)  (William Fang in China Post)

Lee Yuan-tseh, Nobel laureate and former president of the Academia Sinica, spoke on Taiwan politics again in an interview with Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun on Jan. 22.   Lee expressed support for Frank Hsieh, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ... 

During the interview, when recalling his pivotal support for helping the DPP gain power, Lee criticized President Chen, saying "he has shortcomings, he is not an ideal president." He further commented on the course pursued by the president by pointing out that many corruption scandals committed by his aides have discredited his administration. Therefore, he added, Hsieh must part company with him and walk a different road.

(Zaobao)

People have their own definitions and standards for intellectuals, but there seems to be some common characteristics.  ... Some people think that true intellectuals ought to have 5 qualities:

1. Intellectuals are mental laborers
2. Intellectuals are experts in cultural matters
3. Intellectuals do not constitute an independent social stratum
4. Intellectuals are detached from politics
5. Intellectuals are the conscience of society

I call those who satisfy 1 through 5 reflective intellectuals.  I call those who satisfy only 1 through 3 but not 4 nor 5 cynical intellectual thugs.

When Taiwan became democraticized, there emerged an intellectual thug -- Lee Yuan-tseh.  A reflective intellectual needs to have a sense of social responsibility even if he is detached from politics.  This sense of social responsibility does not imply that he has to jump into the political maelstrom.  It is about making observations from the outside and then offering social insights and critical comments.  Samuel P. Huntington pointed out that intellectuals are detached from politics -- they are natural oppositionists because they are never part of the existing order.  When they appear on the social stage, they will play the role of revolutionaries.  This means that the intellectuals will always reflect on society.  Only by being detached from the political maelstrom can the intellectual observe society objectively.

In the 2000 presidential election, Lee Yuan-tseh supported the Democratic Progressive Party.  We give Lee the benefit of doubt that he did so in order to achieve the transfer of power between political parties.  In the 2004 presidential election, we give Lee the benefit of doubt again that he wanted to give the Democratic Progressive Party another chance to gain more experience and correct their mistakes.  But here we are in 2008 and we see no plausible reason why Lee Yuan-tseh continues to support the DPP.

I have thought about this for a long time.  The only explanation is this: Lee Yuan-tseh's conscience has been eaten by a dog.  His actions showed that he never cared about transfer of power and he was not bothered by the economic incompetence of the DPP or the disappointment of the people of Taiwan.  He had willingly become a running dog intellectual for the DPP.

It is one thing for Lee Yuan-tseh to become a running dog intellectual for the DPP.  This is his personal decision and outsiders cannot be picky.  But when someone with the aura of "Nobel prize" hanging over this head keeps misleading people, there are bad effects.  In so doing, Lee Yuan-tseh has not shown even a minimal sense of social responsibility.  It is therefore appropriate that we label him an cynical intellectual thug.

(TVBS)

But did Lee Yuan-tseh really endorse Frank Hsieh as president?  On January 18, Lee was interviewed by TVBS and asked directly, "Who do you choose?"  Lee Yuan-tseh declined to provide an answer.  He said: "That is because I have still not heard about the political views of the two candidates.  I will have to look at them in detail."  More generally, he said: "I have not said at this time which political party I am supporting.  The KMT party has a super majority in the Legislative Yuan.  Some people think that checks and balances are important in a democratic society, and therefore they say that it would be better to have a DPP president.  This is what many people are thinking."

Regardless, the problem with Lee Yuan-tseh is as follows.  In 2000, he said that Chen Shui-bian would make a good president and that endorsement might have tipped the election in Chen's favor.  In 2008, Lee may yet come out to say directly that Frank Hsieh would make a good president.  But given the track record, is this going to be a helpful endorsement for Frank Hsieh?  Whatever else, it has not been helpful to the reputation of Lee Yuan-tseh.

• [007]  Estimating The Number of Chinese Internet Users (01/23/2008)  (CNNIC)  The 21st CNNIC report issued in January 2008 says that there are 210 million Internet users in China.  A Chinese Internet user is defined as a person six years or older who has used the Internet within the past six months.
   
  The population of all persons six years or older is divided into the following strata:
  Sub-population A: People with residential telephones
  Sub-population B: Students living in dormitories of the tertiary educational institutions
  Sub-population C: People without residential telephones, who are sub-divided as follows:
      Sub-population C1: People who own Personal Handy-phone Systems (Xiaolingtong or "Little Smart")
      Sub-population C2: People who own mobile telephone systems
      Sub-population C3: People who have neither Personal Handy-phone Systems nor mobile telephones
   
  The CNNIC survey was directed conducts solely within the A, B, C1 and C2 sub-populations.  Sub-population C3 was ignored on the grounds that Internet usage among them would be relatively small.
   
  Sub-populations A and C1 are sampled together, because they are basically indistinguishable.  The sample was drawn as a multi-stage stratified sample based upon the estimated number of residential telephones in various cities within various provinces.  The residential telephone banks in the selected locations were listed and randomly sampled.  The response rate was 36.5%.  The resident picking up the telephone becomes the interviewee.  The resulting sample is then weighted by age, gender and education.
   
  The sub-population B sample design was also a multi-stage stratified sample of students within dormitories within tertiary educational institutions.  200 institutions were selected.  The fixed line telephone banks at the institution are listed and then numbers are randomly dialed.  If the number belongs to a dormitory room, then the student who picked up the telephone becomes the interviewee.  Thus, there was no random selection of respondents within a dormitory.  This was done as a matter of convenience and the rationale is that the students in the same dormitory tend to be similar.  The total sample was 4,000, with 20 interviews per institution.
   
  The sub-population C2 was allocated at first in proportion to the number of mobile telephone numbers within the province.  Any province allocated fewer than 150 cases has its quota raised to 150 cases.  The total sample size was 10,498.  Random mobile telephone numbers were generated and called until the C2 quota is reached for each province.  When a call is connected, the respondent is checked for sub-population C2 status (actually, what happens if the person also has a residential telephone at home?).  There is no description as to what happens if there is no answer (did they call back multiple times? or did they just move ahead to a new number?).
   
  This above section of the study pertains to the estimation of the number of Chinese Internet users and their characteristics.  Other parts of the survey use website intercept surveys, website spider-crawlers and domain registration information.
   
  Technically speaking, the study contains flaws that do not meet the highest professional standards (e.g. no respondent selection within household or dormitory).  This was forced as a matter of convenience as this is already a very costly project and it would cost a lot more to do it right.

• [006]  Chen Shui-bian's Toilet Bowl (01/23/2008)  (Apple Daily)  On November 14, 2007, Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian visited a temple in Tainan city.  For the security and convenience of the president, the temple administrators constructed a simple toilet bowl within the temple for a cost of around NT$20,000.  Chen was the only person who used the toilet bowl, which was un-installed immediately afterwards.  The temple administrators then came up with the idea that they could sell this presidential toilet bowl to raise money.  So they named it the 龍液貯 (the storage device for the dragon's fluid).  They were about to set up an Internet auction when a DPP supporter heard about it and paid NT$100,000 for it.  The temple administrators are delighted with this outcome.  "The temple god is must be working his miracle!"
  

• [005]  Ma Ying-jeou's Revenge (01/22/2008)  (Apple Daily)  On day three of the Ken Yu parking incident, his father Yu Tien has suddenly reversed course.  Previously, he had asserted that his son was beaten up because of KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's inflammatory about taking 'revenge.'  Yesterday Yu Tien said: "Upon further thought, Ma Ying-jeou's revenge talk is not likely to be directed against me.  Sometimes Mr. Ma talks hastily.  I can understand that."  Yu Tien said that "this is a minor matter" that the police is still investigating, and he hopes that it will blow over soon.  He said that his son had not been seriously injured and will not be filing charges against the other party.
   
  Yu Tien commented that a political figure is different from an entertainment worker, "because I am now in a situation in which I cannot say things carelessly.  My son has improved a lot, because he knows that he should not create trouble given the circumstances of his father.  He is considerate on my behalf.  The media should not have blown this up!"  Yu Tien complained that the media reporting was unfair and unbalanced because all the eyewitnesses that were interviewed were the relatives of the other party.  "The media did not understand the situation and they were just speculating."
   
  Why did Yu Tien make this sudden reversal?  The public opinion over the past two days had been almost universally negative against Yu Tien and Ken Yu.  It is well-known that Yu Tien and his wife doted on their only son Ken Yu.  "Every time that the son gets into trouble, they always blame someone else!"  This time, the public reacted negatively.  The saying was that this caused DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh 100,000 votes in southern Taiwan.

• [004]  Ken Yu Shed Tears  (01/22/2008)  (Apple Daily; TVBS)  Yesterday, Ken Yu, his professional model girlfriend Penny and his mother held a press conference.  Ken Yu said: "When I get bullied, I can do nothing else other than touch my nose and say that it does not matter.  So I have been beaten up.  Could it that even if I get beaten to death that it would still be my fault?"  Concerning the allegation that Ken Yu was the first to hit someone during the dispute over car parking, he said: "How can they lie like that?  If I really had a fight with him or if I had hit him, then where do my injuries come from?  I did not even make any move.  I did not even fight back."  He said: "I was about to get out of the car when he reversed his car suddenly and almost hit me.  That was all there is.  I never identified myself or who my father is.  I did not say anything.  But after the many people finished beating me and my face was covered with blood, he was the one who said: 'Do not think that you are big deal just because your father is a legislator!'"  As Ken Yu spoke, he got emotionally distressed and started crying.  His mother held him in her arms and wiped away his tears with tissue paper.  Meanwhile the girlfriend was also crying as she explained that there were seven people in the other party and three of them were attacking Ken Yu.  Then the three of them embraced each other and cried loudly.  Elsewhere, his father Yu Tien who is a newly elected DPP Legislator continues to insist that this was a beating incited by KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's revenge talk.
  
   
  When apprised of this press conference, the Tsai family was outraged.  Tsai's wife said that her husband was smaller in stature and much older than Ken Yu.  "He beats my husband up, he refuses to apologize and now he wants to sue us.  What kind of world are we living in?"
   
  (Apple Daily)  In the evening of January 21, 2008, Apple Daily polled 582 persons.  The survey question was: "Ken Yu said as he cried that he did not hit anyone.  Do you believe him?"
  66.2%: No, he must be the person who did the hitting
   9.5%: Yes, he really did not hit anyone
  24.4%: Don't know/no opinion
   
  Why does the public lack sympathy for Ken Yu?  That is because he has a bad history, including a marijuana case in Canada; a mental breakdown (manic/depression) when he was harshly made fun of by the "poisoness tongues" (i.e. the panel of judges) on an entertainment show; an ex-girlfriend who charged that he beat her violently on a regular basis, including whipping her with a leather belt; etc.  Therefore, the public may be tired of this farce.  They are also wondering if this is about politics or his entertainment career.

• [003]  Ma Ying-jeou Takes Revenge  (01/21/2008)

(Taipei Times)

Well-known former entertainer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator-elect Yu Tien said yesterday that a man had attacked his son for political reasons.  Yu Tien's son, Ken Yu , 24, told police he was in Wufenpu, Taipei, with his girlfriend on Saturday night when he got into an argument with a driver surnamed Tsai who had almost hit his girlfriend with his car in a parking lot.  Ken Yu said he asked Tsai to apologize, but the man became angry and attacked him. Ken Yu said two of Tsai's friends joined in the assault.  Ken Yu told police the trio had said: "So this is the son of a legislator?"  Police said Ken Yu visited a hospital for treatment after the incident. Afterwards, accompanied by his father, he went to a police station to file charges against his alleged attackers.

Yu Tien said he suspected his narrow defeat of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opponent Chu Chun-hsiao in the Jan. 12 legislative elections might have prompted the attack on his son.  Tsai, 60, told police yesterday that Ken Yu had struck him and his car before he retaliated.  Tsai, who showed his injuries to police, filed charges against Ken Yu.  Noting that KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou had said earlier last week that he would avenge Chu, Yu Tien said "the revenge has now taken place."

(Apple Daily)  According to Ken Yu, the other party said: "So you are the son of Yu Tien?  What is so big deal about having a Legislator as your father?"  He said that there seven people on the other side, and three of them pushed him onto the ground and beat him with their hands and elbows.  According to Tsai, Ken Yu kicked his car and then hit him first.  He also said: "I had no idea that he is the son of Yu Tien."   The police heard both sides of the story and decided that it was a dispute over a parking space.

When Yu Tien stepped out of the police station, he told the press that he believes this has to do with Ma Ying-jeou's talk about revenge on behalf of Chu Chun-hsiao.  "I believe that Ma's words were provocative."  The provocation deepened ethnic hatred, and thus caused his son to be beaten.

(Apple Daily)  According to neighbors, the scene of the incident is right in front of a convenience store owned by a son of Tsai.  According to relatives, "Ken Yu is built like a bull and he has the nerve to complain after beating up an old man!"  As for Yu Tien's charge that this was a pan-blue revenge tactic, the relatives sneered: "Tsai has no political affiliation.  His brother-in-law is deep green!"  This source said that the brother-in-law knows Yu Tien and made telephone calls on behalf of Yu Tien during the Legislative Yuan election.

(Apple Daily)  Frank Hsieh: 國民黨搞仇恨，把民主競爭當成民主戰爭，未來就不只是誰的兒子被打而已，社會無法和解共生，台灣人民將被迫回到街頭抗爭。(The KMT stirs up hatred.  They treat democratic competition as democratic warfare.  In the future, it is not just about whose son gets beats up.  Society will not be able to resolve peacefully and co-exist.  The people of Taiwan will be forced to fight back in the streets.).

(Apple Daily)  580 persons interviewed on January 20, 2008.

Question:  Yu Tien's son claims to have been assaulted and Frank Hsieh says that it is due to the hatred that Ma Ying-jeou caused.  Do you agree?

74.7%: Disagree -- this has nothing to do with Ma Ying-jeou
14.0%: Agree -- Ma Ying-jeou should be held responsible for this incident
11.4%: Don't know/no opinion

• [002]  The Virtual Stock Market In Taiwan (01/21/2008)  (UDN)  It is two months before the presidential election.  A gambling syndicate has appeared in Tainan county, with the initial betting odds of Ma Ying-jeou to win by 500,000 votes over Frank Hsieh with 1:1 payout.  Already, a group of pan-green supporters have already raised NT$2 million on Ma will have at most 500,000 votes than Hsieh.
   
  According to the DPP person named Tsai who raised the the NT$2 million from twenty people, a head-on election will not be won or lost by huge margins.  Although the DPP lost in the Legislative Yuan elections, the voter turnout was only 58% compared to the 80% plus in the last two presidential elections.  Thus, the independent voters will be crucial and he thinks that the idea that the KMT must not allowed to dominate is brewing among the minds of the people.
   
  The gambling syndicate head named Chen said that no pan-blue supporters have placed bets in Tainan as yet.  Based upon previous experience, the two sides will place about the same amount of money.  It is also noted that the gambling odds may shift over time.  In 2004, the initial odds were Lian-Soong over Chen-Lu by 800,000 votes.  After the <228 holding hands to defend Taiwan> rally, the odds were changed to 300,000.  After the March 19 shooting incident, the odds were changed to even.
   
  Relevant Link:  Virtual Stock Markets in Taiwan  March 3, 2004.

• [001]  The Case of Cai Lujun  (01/21/2008)
   
  (Taipei Times)  Ilan prosecutors handling case of Chinese dissident.  August 12, 2007.

The Ilan Prosecutors' Office is dealing with a case involving the illegal entry of a Chinese dissident, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Vice Chairman Tung Chen-yuan said on Friday.  Tung was referring to Cai Lujun (蔡陸軍), who entered the country last Sunday using his younger brother's name and disguised as a fisherman.

After arriving in a Chinese fishery workers' reception center in Nanfangao in Ilan County, Cai told a local human-rights association that he wanted to seek political asylum, Tung said.  The Fisheries Administration and the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) have handled the case in accordance with regulations, Tung said. 

As Tsai violated the National Security Law and Criminal Code by committing forgery, the CGA transferred the case to the Ilan Prosecutors' Office for investigation, Tung said.  He added that government agencies were checking Cai's background, adding that if his identity and testimony check out, he would not be indicted.

After the conclusion of the judicial process, the MAC would call an interagency meeting, including officials from the Ministry of the Interior, to review the case, ascertain Cai's true aspirations and assist in arranging for him to travel to a third country and help with his application for international refugee status with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Tung said.  He added that the government will see to Cai's care during his stay in Taiwan.

What was the "care" that Cai Lujun would receive?  See Apple Daily:

Last  month, Cai Lujun was released and he received a temporary residence card from the Mainland Affairs Council.  He said that he was sent to the Ilan Number One Detention Center.  At the time, administrator Lin Qingbao (badge number 5199) brought him to the cell, where he was promptly assaulted by seven to eight other inmates.  When he called to Lin for help, he was told: "You need to obey the order of the cell leader." Cai Lujun found out that the "cell leader" was a "veteran" inmate who led a group of other mainland Chinese inmates.  During the 136 days of detention, Cai Lujun witnesses twenty to thirty beatings ordered by the cell leader, administered by other inmates and allowed by the administrators (who are either guards or military draftees).  He said that some inmates were physically tortured (see illustrations):

When Cai Lujun was released, he wrote a letter of complaint to the Director of the Immigration Department and was told that: "We will investigate."  The Detention Center director came to see him and said: "We will improve" and then asked him not to have any contacts with the media.  Cai Lujun said: "This is even worse than a Communist jail."