Will Taiwan's traffic get you before the pollution does?

Despite Taiwan government advertising where statistics are bent to show the deaths per thousand on certain roadways (only) have been reduced there are startling statistics out there showing over 50% of accidental deaths occur on roadways in Taiwan and a disproportionately high amount of Taiwanese die in traffic fatalities.

I think I once worked it out to an hourly rate where a Taiwanese is killed every 1-2 hours in a traffic fatality. Anyhow, the statistic was high enough that recently the American Trade Office (AIT) Director was able to rationalize hawking BSE-threatened beef by comparing it to the possibility of dying in a traffic accident. Can't beat them odds.

Then there is the recent article from the China Post stating that Taiwan's traffic fatalities are the highest in the world. Now most of us know that the reporting in the China Post is so skewed that they will even claim that the color of the sun is really white because that's the color of it on the Taiwanese (KMT) flag. But even the China Post makes it obvious that the government does not consider scooters to be vehicles, and therefore the amazingly high death rate of 17.5 deaths per 10,000 people is made to sound like 10% of its real total, 1.75; i.e. manipulating it from TWICE China's death rate to around that of the death rate in the United States.

See? There's nothing wrong here people! Scooters aren't vehicles, so there is no one is dying! Traffic is fine. Crisis averted. You can all go home now, but if you don't mind, I think I'll take the MRT.

China Post Again

Another excellent piece by Michael Cole on the skewed viewpoint of The China Post. The views are so obvious--and skewed--one could dedicate all his time blogging about little else. I wonder what English population their agenda is aimed at? Since most foreign English speakers are required to have an education and probably possess basic media savvy, it hardly seems worth it.

This time we see Chen Shui Bian being touted as the 'most corrupt' in the 'Asian world'. After a couple of weak straw-man inclusions of President Ma, we make the conclusion that Chen was both incompetent and corrupt.

It's really quite insulting to all those other despots. Either we are trying to smear someone here, or they are so culturally isolated they forgot about their neighbors across the strait and/or half of South East Asia. Whatever the case, that's not what the rest of the world thinks as depicted in the recent sensationalism about Taiwan in the US.

I should also point out that terms like "Western liberal democracy" are very recognizable phrases. When I worked with the Central Party School in the PRC, I heard very similar arguments like "western-style democracy is not right for the Chinese people"--very similar to the jumbled statements made by Jackie Chan earlier this year. (Interestingly, Jackie has been busy working with Jet Li on his CCP-sponsored movie on the Communist Revolution). Anyhow, whether you like the statements or not, it is interesting to see the rhetoric, like that of the protests over the Dalai Lama's recent visit, is lining up very closely.

Anyhow, Mr. Cole dissects this much better than I ever could, so I direct you to his article.