Buying property in an Earthquake zone: Why I never invested in Taiwan Real Estate

By Stephen A. Nelson

In light of the recent earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, I am re-presenting something I wrote in Forumosa about the wisdom of  buying a house or apartment in Taiwan - apart from the legal barriers and technical difficulties.  At the time, people disagreed with me and provided all the formulaic reasons for buying - "pride of ownership" et cetera. But I think this still stands - unlike the apartments in central Taiwan's earthquake zone.

1. First rule of investment:

If it appreciates, buy it. If it depreciates, lease it.

2. First rule of building houses:
"No man builds a house unless he first counts the cost."

As some have noted, When you buy a house/apartment, there are costs besides the mortgage, including, but not limited to: taxes, maintenance fees, legal fees, and (esp. if you plan to rent it out) agent's fees.

Oh, and insurance, which brings us to the next item...

3. Ancient wisdom about building in a flood zone. 
The wise man built his house upon the rock.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 

The foolish man built his house upon the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." 

4. Did you feel that?
Earthquakes happen every day in Taiwan. 
The last "big one", September 21, 1999, was a magnitude 7.3.

The strongest aftershock, three days later, was 6.8. That's like calling Nagasaki an aftershock of Hiroshima
And you know what? Seismologist say that the 921 Earthquake WASN'T "the big one."

Oh, and most of the buildings that were destroyed were new buildings.

5. Rule of thumb for would-be home owners
Never buy a house/apartment in an earthquake zone. 

6. Ancient wisdom from 60s British television
"Anything can happen in the next half-hour!" 

The Last word in edgewise
If you want an investment, buy mutual funds, RSPs or life insurance.
If you want a place to live, rent a house or apartment.

Formosa Displayed: The Magnificent Monuments of 'Chinese Taipei'

By Stephen A Nelson

The Brandon Sun

May 1, 2010

There is a new movie playing in Canada that's been drawing unexpectedly large audiences. There are no flying dragons or warring gods; but there is a story about Paradise Lost and the battle between good and evil.

The film is Formosa Betrayed, a story about Taiwan's dark days of martial law under the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) of the late Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his successor, Chiang Ching-kuo.

Visit Taiwan today and you can’t help asking questions that are at the heart of Formosa Betrayed.

The Devil's Own Instrument? The BBC in Taiwan

 Once upon a time in Taipei, BBC presenter Nik Gowing was speaking at a luncheon to promote the launch of the BBC World TV channel in Taiwan.

I was covering the event for Radio Taiwan International, as well as for the British Chamber of Commerce which was sponsoring the event.

Peering down from his pulpit, the media maharishi preached the virtues of "citizen journalism" and venerated the BBC's role as gatekeepers of the news and guardians of the truth.

After he fielded several softball questions from fawning fans (mostly homesick British ex-pats who hated CNN), I decided to throw this heavy hitter a curve ball.

I quoted Malcolm Muggeridge (a real journalist), who also often appeared on the BBC:

• Television is the devil's own instrument
• By its very nature, television distorts and deflects
• Not only CAN the camera lie, it always lies   

So, I asked Nik, what did he have to say about how television distorts the truth, especially how it distorts the truth about Taiwan?

For example, television almost always: 

• refers to Taiwan as "the island" instead of "the country"
• calls the governors of Formosa merely "Taiwan authorities" instead of "Taiwan's government"  
• calls the democratically elected head of state "Taiwan's leader" instead of "Taiwan's president"

I thought I'd get an intelligent and thoughtful answer from the media maestro who covered the death of Princess Diana in Paris and the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

Instead, I got a politician's answer from a man who'd interviewed too many politicians.

Gowing mumbled and fumbled, as if searching for notes that weren't there.

"I don't know," he sputtered, still fidgeting with his papers.  "You're asking me about television... and I work for the BBC. Um, yes... next question."

The Tao of Taiwanese Sculpture 2: Zen and the Art of Juming

If there is one thing I learned in Taiwan, it’s this: 

language is an art, art is culture, and culture is politics. And in Taiwan, the best art — like the best politics — is rooted and grounded in tradition and history, but not bound by them.

By Stephen A. Nelson
The Brandon Sun
November 21, 2009

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou weathers typhoon fallout

By Stephen A. Nelson
Asia Times Online

TAIPEI - In what looked like a game of political lifeboat, Taiwan's premier Liu Chao-shiuan resigned late last week - after the government was heavily criticized for what media reports called a "slow, incompetent and uncaring response" to last month's Typhoon Morakot.

And in this game of lifeboat, there are those who say Liu jumped - and those who say he was pushed.

"Of course President Ma Ying-jeou wanted him to quit," said Li Wai, a television producer who supported Ma in the last election but who now has her doubts about the man many people have labelled "the Teflon president".

"Ma will not tell you what he wants - still he will expect you to do it," said Li.

Such criticisms are becoming more common in Taiwan, even in pro-Kuomintang (KMT) - the island's ruling party - media, in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot.

Typhoons are a regular occurrence in Taiwan. And each year the country gets hit by several such tropical storms. People are usually prepared for the worst. But in the wake of last month's Typhoon Morakot, parts of southern Taiwan received more than three meters of rain - three times the average annual rainfall - in just three days. This was in areas of Taiwan already made landslide-prone by earthquakes, harmful irrigation practices and devastation of natural forests cut down to make way for cash crops such as betel nut trees.

The number of dead and missing is now put at more than 700, after landslides buried villages, destroyed bridges and wiped out roads - mainly in southern Taiwan, and largely in aboriginal communities.

When Liu announced his resignation on September 7, he told reporters that someone had to take political responsibility for the death and destruction. As the country's top administrator, he said, that someone had to be him.

Less than an hour after Liu's announcement of resignation, Ma announced he would be replaced with Wu Den-yih - secretary general of Kuomintang. Another KMT stalwart, Eric Chu, was named as the new vice premier.

When Liu resigned, he was expected to take his entire 42-member cabinet with him. And indeed, the cabinet did resign en masse. But by the time the new premier Wu Den-yih named his new cabinet on September 10, only a handful of ministers had been tossed out of the lifeboat. Most of the ministers who had resigned with Liu were back in the cabinet with Wu. Critical changes include:

Shi Yen-shiang, chairman of China Petroleum Corp, Taiwan's biggest oil company, was named the new economics minister. Tsai Hsung-hsiung, a minister without portfolio, took over from Chen Tain-jy as head of Taiwan's economic-planning council. Former Veteran's Affairs Commission director Kao Hua-chu, an experienced and highly regarded military leader, was named the new minister of national defense. Taiwan's representative to Indonesia and a former de facto ambassador to Australia, Timothy Yang, is the new foreign minister. Former minister of the interior, Liao Liou-yi, is the new secretary general of the Presidential Office. Former chairman of the Research, Development and valuation Commission, Jiang Yi-huah, is the new interior minister. Critical areas where there is no change included Finance Minister Lee Sush-der and Mainland Affairs Council chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan - both of whom were reappointed to their posts. In responding to the cabinet shuffle, most international media reports focused on what effect the moves would have on Taiwan's relations with China, rather than what difference they would make to the people in Taiwan and how they would affect them. Ma's game of lifeboat was seen as "a move that is unlikely to alter the administration's pro-China policy". And it was reported that "most analysts see no significant changes in President Ma Ying-jeou's foreign, economic or China policies emerging from the new cabinet". Western media reports noted, "Taiwan's leaders typically replace top officials in response to criticism of the government." They said that Ma's predecessor, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader Chen Shui-bian, "changed premiers six times in eight years, seldom causing alarm". Western media reports noted the reasons for the moves as Ma exercising damage control after what was seen as "his inability to take responsibility for a poor response to the emergency". Over the past few weeks, there has been considerable, pointed criticism in the press, especially over the typhoon's unusually high casualty rate. The critics argued that: The government had failed to order evacuations before the storm hit. People were not given enough warning to get out of the way of the mudslides. The government was not prepared, even though typhoons and mudslides are a regular occurrence in Taiwan. The government refused offers of aid from foreign countries because it didn't want to look like it was acting like a real country that was separate from China. When the aid did come, it was too little and too late - especially when compared to how quickly and easily Ma's government got aid to their "Chinese brothers" after the earthquakes in Sichuan province last year. Responding with "shock and awe" tactics, the KMT's solution has been to set up a commission - composed of central government officials and representatives of powerful corporations, without a single aboriginal member - to oversee the move of aboriginals off their ancestral lands and "voluntarily relocate" them to other, safer locations that are less prone to landslides. Most of all, Ma and the KMT have been unfeeling, uncaring and petulant toward southern Taiwan and the people - mostly ethnic Taiwanese and aboriginals - who lived there. Jerome Keating, author of Taiwan, the Struggles of a Democracy, said this came as no surprise from a president whom Keating claims had constantly passed the buck. "A week after the destruction of the typhoon with the yet to be realized response of Ma's government, Ma had resorted to the blame game. First it was the Central Weather Bureau's fault for not giving a strong enough warning to prepare for the typhoon. Then it was the local magistrate's fault for not solving the problem, despite the fact that they had had no budget from the central government. Then it was the people's fault for not getting out of the way of the floods," Keating said. "The people - in Ma's words - were not as 'fully prepared' as they should have been. In the end, it was just about everyone's fault except Ma's. After all, he is only the president," Keating said. Ma did visit the affected areas - although only after a delay; he did publicly apologize, and he has ordered a public investigation into what went wrong in preparing for the typhoon and in dealing with the disaster. Still, foreign media reports have certainly pointed out that in the cabinet reshuffle - and in letting Liu take the fall - there is both damage control and buck-passing. And while the cabinet change was expected, indeed demanded - does it really address the criticisms directed at the government - especially those directed at Ma? The consensus in the media and with political analysts seems to be "no" - and that it was never really meant to. It's really meant as medicine to ease upset Taiwanese stomachs and make them feel better, so that the government can get on with business. "Reshuffling won't deal with the problem," said Keating. "Wu is a good old boy, more of the same." Liu Bih-rong, a professor of political science at Soochow University, seemed to agree: "The people had a lot of pent-up anger over the response [to the typhoon]," he said. "Ma panicked and for a while he lost direction as he tried to do damage control. Now with the reshuffle and as people have calmed down, he can put it behind him and refocus on China and economic issues." Indeed, media reports noted "the change from Liu to Wu is unlikely to cause many major waves, as power in this country largely rests with the president rather than the premier". What the reshuffle will do, analysts said, is consolidate power with Ma. Wu and Chu are ranking KMT members, while Ma is ready to reclaim his crown as chairman of the KMT. The Taiwan News, for example, noted that both Wu and Chu "will surely be more decisive in crisis management or disaster response than their technocratic predecessors". But, the paper added, Wu and Chu are "also deeply linked with local KMT and financial factions". So while Ma is not all alone in the lifeboat, he is definitely more in command. But will the reshuffle help the KMT in local elections later this year? Maybe. Certainly the disastrous response to the typhoon seriously damaged the reputation of the good ship KMT, so throwing unpopular members overboard and taking on some new crew members can't hurt. Keating is among those who thinks that much will depend on the ability of the opposition DPP to exploit this weak link in the KMT's chain. But, observers note, elections in Taiwan tend to be won in two places: in the media and on the ground with local community organizations. And, the KMT has many friends in the media. Also, in many cities and towns, the KMT has more ground troops and is better organized than the DPP. Even where it does not have more local troops (in southern Taiwan, for example) the KMT - as one of the richest political parties in the world - has a much bigger war chest. But will the reshuffle, as some experts have already suggested, help Ma in his bid for re-election in 2012? Maybe not. As noted earlier, even some KMT-owned media have been openly critical of Ma. And foreign media seem far less enchanted with someone they practically fawned over just 18 months ago. In an article on the East Asia Forum web site, J Bruce Jacobs, director of the Taiwan Research Unit at Monash University in Melbourne, summed up the reaction this way, "In many ways, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the presidency of George W Bush. Quite possibly, Typhoon Morakot will destroy the presidency of Ma Ying-jeou." Li Wai put it another way, "Before he became president, we expected - we hoped - that Ma Ying-jeou would be a good president," she said. "Now we know he is not." Li Fong-yi, a Taipei office worker who voted for Ma last time, was less gracious: "Actually, we knew Ma Ying-jeou would not be a good president, but we had no choice," she said. "Frank Hsieh [Ma Ying-jeou's DPP opponent] came with too much baggage from the DPP." Stephen A Nelson is a Canadian freelance journalist now based in Toronto but with one foot still in Taiwan. For eight years he worked as a journalist in Taiwan, including at the Taipei Times newspaper and at Radio Taiwan International, where he produced Strait Talk - a weekly program about Taiwan and its place in the world.

Studio Classroom, June 2000: Headline News and The World Around Us

News gathered, compiled, edited and rewritten
For Studio Classroom
By Stephen A. Nelson

The Undiscovered Country: Taiwan (Script from my first radio program on Radio Taiwan International)

When I first thought about coming to Taiwan, I didn’t really know what to expect. Like many people, I came here with the idea of teaching English, making some money and – if I had time – travelling.

What little I knew about Taiwan I gleaned from an outdated version of the Lonely Planet’s guide to Taiwan.

Of course, that was before most people had the Internet. But even with the help of Netscape Navigator, I doubt I could have found out much about travelling in Taiwan.

The truth is, not many people outside of Asia think of Taiwan as a travel destination.

Millions of North Americans and Europeans visit Asia each year. They love to go to Japan and China to visit the cultural and historical places they’ve heard so much about and seen on TV.

They flock to the beaches of Malaysia and Thailand and Bali.

But travelling, exploring and discovering in Taiwan are not really high on their list of things to do.

For most of the world, then, Taiwan remains The Undiscovered Country.

And that is a great pity, because there is a great deal to discover.

Sounds of the City

The image most people have of Taiwan is one of a bustling, modern urban society of 23 million people who have turned this once rustic and agricultural society into a largely developed nation and an economic powerhouse: one of the “Four small tigers” of Asia’s economy.

This is definitely true. But at the same time, Taiwan is a “living museum” of history and culture – a place where traditional Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka and Aboriginal lifestyles are not merely preserved but thrive.

Outside the cities, Taiwan’s urban jungle gives way to tropical forests that are teeming with exotic wildlife.

In short, Taiwan is a traditional Chinese watercolour painted on a tropical canvas with a digital printer.

NITTY GRITTY
OK, so that’s the big picture. But what people want to know is the nitty gritty.

I had been here less than a week when friends and family started asking the difficult questions:

Where is Taiwan?

If you’re looking for Taiwan on a map, it’s easy enough to find.

Find Japan and then trace your finger along the chain of islands that hug the coast of China.

When you come to the island that looks kind of like a tobacco leaf, stop. That’s Taiwan: The one the European explorers called Ilha Formosa – “the Beautiful Island.”

Taiwan’s main island lies about 160 kilometres off the south-eastern coast of China. It is separated from the mainland by the Taiwan Strait. Sitting on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, it is about 394 kilometres long and about 144 kilometres across at its widest point. Americans always say it's about the size of Maryland and Delaware combined. Europeans say it's about the size of The Netherlands. I always say that Taiwan and its islands are roughly the same size as Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

That's because the country of Taiwan also includes several offshore islands. These include the Penghu Islands – in the middle of the Taiwan Strait — and the islands of Kinmen and Matsu that are so close to China you can almost spit and hit the mainland.

Like Taiwan proper, these islands still known to many in the West by the names given to them by the Portuguese explorers 400 years ago: The Penghu islands, for example are also known as the Pescadores. Kinmen is also known as Quemoy.

What’s the weather like?

In a word… hot. Hot and humid. Well, for most of the time anyway. And a lot depends on where you are.

You see, Taiwan straddles the Tropic of Cancer, and that automatically makes for two climate zones: Tropical in the south. Sub-tropical in the north.

So while there are four seasons, they are perhaps not quiet as distinct as the ones in more Northern climes. Summers will be longer and hotter. Winters will be shorter and not as cold.

The things you need to know is that Taiwan is affected by the monsoon winds. That means May and June bring heavy rains. And late fall tends to be a warm, dry season — making it a great time to visit.

Of course, we also get the occasional typhoons in summer and fall. To the traveller, these are generally welcomed as blessings in disguise because they do clear the air and cool things down quite a bit.

What is it like?

Taiwan proper – like many of the surrounding islands – lies on the western edge of the Pacific “rim of fire.” That means that it was forged by volcanoes and earthquakes. All this prehistoric activity has created majestic mountain peaks, rolling hills, sweeping plains and dramatic coastlines. This sceptred isle also features placid lakes and gorgeous gorges.

On the East Coast, the jet-black cliffs seem to spring straight from the sea. Further inland, the Central Mountain Range features some of the highest mountains in this part of Asia. Among these is Jade Mountain (or Yushan).

At over 3,000 metres, this is a climb for only the most adventurous. The less adventurous Nature Lovers can try to Alishan (or Ali Mountain). There you take a ride on the historic Alpine railway that is unique in this part of the world.

These mountains are covered with forests, making them a virtual Noah’s Ark of wildlife.

Here there are birds and beasts of every kind – about 18,400 known species in all – with more than 20 percent of them considered rare or endangered.

For a more relaxed holiday, you can also soak up the sun in beautiful Kenting; take a romantic journey to placid Sun Moon Lake or visit the offshore islands of Kinmen and Penghu.

What about the culture?

Taiwan is truly the Beautiful Island. But Taiwan has more than offer than just natural beauty. There is also the beauty of more than 10,000 years of culture.

Of course, the Aboriginals were the first people here and their tribal cultures, languages, arts and religious practices can still be witnessed today in the villages around Taiwan.

But through the centuries, Chinese culture has taken root in Taiwan and the country has been developed with a Chinese sensitivity toward culture and art.

You can see this in the ornate temples and religious ceremonies of the Buddhists, Taoists and Confucians. These include not only the famed Longshan Temple and Confucian temples in Taipei, but in the thousands of temples and shrines found in every corner of every town in these islands. Some of the oldest "Chinese" temples in the world are in Taiwan.

You can also see the “Chinese characteristics” in the Taiwanese love of arts such as calligraphy, ceramics and paintings. When the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang or KMT) fled to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese civil war, they brought with them the crème de la crème of China’s treasures. That’s why today, the National Palace Museum in Taipei houses what many experts consider to be the finest collection of Chinese art in the world!

Taiwan is also one of the best places in the world to see and learn about the Chinese “performance arts”. In fact, if you want to learn about Chinese dance and Beijing opera (or is that Peking Opera?) – forget about Beijing: Taipei is the place to be.

So, are the people in Taiwan, like, Chinese?

The simple answer is yes – and no. Well, maybe. But not really.

Chinese people — including today’s Taiwanese and Hakka people — have been settling in Taiwan for hundreds of years, especially since the 1600s.

But Taiwan’s rich and colourful history dates back much further — 10,000 years in fact — to the early Aborigines who are believed to have come from nearby Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as from other islands in this part of the Pacific.
The descendants of these tribes remain in Taiwan today. In fact, some of the 12 tribes representing almost half a million people still practice and preserve the traditions of their ancestors.

With its natural resources and strategic location, Taiwan has also been a natural stop for colonizers, both Western and Oriental. Beginning in the 15th century, both Holland and Spain fought over control of the island. And for 50 years — from 1895 to the end of World War II — Japan occupied Taiwan and claimed it as its own.

These colonizers are gone now, but their legacy can be felt even today.

Each of these groups has contributed to the today’s Taiwan. Here, the different elements of religion, architecture, language, living habits and food have been pieced together in an exciting and vibrant mosaic.

What’s the food like?

Perhaps the best example of this cultural mixing and matching is food. Only in Taiwan can you find in one place all the different styles of cuisines from the diverse parts of the China.
Here you will find the famous Cantonese and Sichuan cooking styles, the renowned Beijing and Shanghai cuisines and the lesser-known but equally good Zhejiang, Hunan and Yunnan styles.
Of course, wherever you go, you can also enjoy traditional Taiwanese cuisine, as well as the local delicacies of each area.

And while the Japanese colonial rulers may have left, the Taiwanese fondness for Japanese food has not. Almost anywhere you go in Taiwan, you’re sure to find a restaurant that serves your favourite Japanese cuisine.

And if you’re longing for something a little more familiar, the major cities also have some of the best Italian and Indian restaurants in this part of the world!

Welcome to Taiwan

In Taiwan then, the blending of Aboriginal, Hakka, Taiwanese and Chinese cultures has produced a rich and colourful tapestry that many visitors have come to enjoy.

Come and see for yourself why those early explorers called this place the Ilha Formosa — “Beautiful Island.”

Lessons from 228: Taiwanese want to be protected - but from whom?

 The "228 Incident" is Taiwan's own Tiananmen Square and was the beginning of the Rape of Taiwan.
 Still, there are those who say, "Taiwanese don't want democracy. They want to be protected -- to be rich and to be protected."
But the question is "Protected from whom?"