What? The Guy Smelled ARATS!

Here's a refreshing article from this morning's Taipei Times. Zhang Mingqing, the vice-chairman for Beijing's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) was giving a speech in Tainan yesterday when the stage was rushed and an ABC (CORRECTION: ABT--not Chinese, Taiwanese--oops) held up a sign that said “Taiwan is independent [sic], not a part of China,” [sic?--oic, he misspelled independent on the sign in the picture HA silly protestor]

The protester, a Mr Chang, formerly of the US of A is in Taiwan learning Taiwanese and doing a bit of graduate work down there in Tainan.

The ARATS guy's appearances have all been canceled as the protesters have all promised to follow him wherever he went and do guerilla street theater about poison milk, or carry huge puppets of Jackie Chan and Yao Ming or whatever it is that protesters do at protests.

The quote missing from the article is when Zhang said to the young man with the sign "Aren't you lucky to be in a country where you have the freedom to state your opinion in public without the fear of being stuffed into a canvas bag and taken to one of our reducation camps?" And then the whole crowd started chanting "USA! USA! USA!" Funny place, Taiwan.

**ESCALATION**--Ummm.....ok, protesting against the ARATS guy who personally put PCP or Communist Cocaine in the babies' powdered milk is one thing. Holding up signs in front of him on stage to show your displeasure...sure, why not? Getting your Pro-Independence POV on the TV is AOK. But, DUDE! Knocking the old man down at the Confucious Temple in Tainan? That's about as honorable as a legislative session in Taipei.

We @ B@Taiwan do not endorse knocking down old men from the Mainland or the Heartland. C'mon, he's not Reginald Denny, for Chrissakes!