By Trista di Genova, EXPAT CHAT, The China Post 11/02/08

American from Everett, Washington who’s been in Taiwan 3 years (name, occupation withheld)

“I voted for Obama because I’ve always been a Democrat and am very tired of the Republican policy. I’ve been traveling the world for 20 years and I understand many countries don’t like America now. When Clinton was president, everybody loved our country; now everybody hates it. America needs a change and Obama is the clear choice for change.”

Neldon Sawatsky is from Vancouver and has been in Taiwan 9 months.

“I hope Obama wins. I care more about the American elections than the Canadian elections. Why? It seems like in Canada the policies we vote on are minor — tax cuts, a little more or less funding for the military, homeless, health care. But the U.S. elections impact the world. I’m especially worried about American foreign policy, and this might be extreme, but I consider America to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Not because of the people; people love the American people, but because of its policy of pre-emption. The recent attack on Syria worries me, where a policy against sovereign territory was changed on a pretext; when oil becomes a national security issue and target. What if Canada became a target? It’s a long shot, but what if? I like America, and want it to be the superpower and policeman of the world even; it’s the best choice we have. But if it keeps screwing around, people will lose faith, it’ll be like China. And its current attitude toward Iran worries me. Obama says he wants to talk and likes diplomacy, and given the constant fear of terrorism in the U.S., I think it was courageous to say that. The way he would take care of national security is smarter than Bush and what McCain plans to do. “

The views of my American friends here seem to be one-sided. Most of them are pro-Obama, except one hard-core Republican from Minnesota.

“I teach Taiwanese business executives and did a class on the U.S. elections. They all seem to be pretty much in favor of Obama, but for very obscure reasons. They just knew they liked the black man more than the white man. I’m not kidding! I did a survey in class, and not one of them could name a difference in policy between the two candidates. Don’t know how that reflects!”

Hank Don is Taiwanese-American, and an English teacher from Fremont, California.

“Well, I hope Obama wins because I like Democratic policies. Before, I thought McCain was okay, until he selected Palin as his VP, and I think if something should happen to him, Palin doesn’t have the experience to lead. McCain — I think he served his country, and that’s definitely one of his good points. He was tortured 5 years and never gave up. But Biden is very experienced and whatever Obama lacks Biden can make up for it. The opposite is true for the Republican party. I didn’t vote in Taiwan; I can’t vote in Taiwan even though my parents are Taiwanese, so I don’t follow politics here as it doesn’t concern me. But I’ve been following the U.S. elections closely, I saw all the debates and everything. “

Robert Pauls is a graduate student in East Asian Politics from Bochum, Germany, and is an intern with RTI (Radio Taiwan International).

“More people are tending to take a greater interest in this election and the two earlier ones, in the USA as well as in Europe — in America, I think because after 8 years of Bush’s presidency there seems to be quite a high degree of political polarization. In Europe, more people are following the elections because they want to see Bush go, leave office quickly, and because people seem to have the impression that Obama will be the new Kennedy to Europe. Many people imagine American policy will be a lot more friendly and cooperative, to Europe and elsewhere. Many Germans are fond of Clinton and his policies, and seem to have the impression that Obama will return to those policies. On the other hand, Obama’s show — his presentation of himself and his campaign — seem to appeal for some reason. Polls taken recently in Europe show 80-90 percent are in Obama’s favor.
Bush will be gone no matter who wins, but people have the impression that McCain will continue the policies of the previous administration.
As for U.S.-Taiwan relations, McCain seems to have policies that are more clearly in favor of Taiwan, while Obama has been skating around the issue. They’d both continue the “One China” policy, certainly, but overall I get the impression the U.S. hasn’t had a well-formulated and clearly laid out Taiwan policy for some time now. Both parties would seem to encourage the Ma administration, which is seeking closer ties with the Mainland. My guess is the status quo will continue, and the U.S. will strongly oppose any future move of the Taiwan government to pursue independence.
I wouldn’t be too worried about the U.S. I’m worried more about the financial crisis, and what China and Russia will do. With the U.S. at least we know what weíre dealing with — where the state does the bidding of capital; whereas in China and Russia it’s the other way around. That’s worrisome.”

Denis Chauvin is an English teacher from Ottawa.

“I think everyone should be able to vote in the American elections. And the primary reason I’d vote for Obama is because I’d want my American friends not to be embarrassed about where they’re from anymore. And my black Canadian friends that I grew up with will no longer be able to say, ‘Yeah, right, when are we ever gonna see a ‘nigga’ in the White House?” It’s the American dream — anyone can be in the White House. And Obama actually inspires me. He’s smart, he’s a good speaker. I usually am intuitive about these things and can smell bull**** a block away, and I hope he’s a JFK.
I can joke about it; that’s a positive thing. It’s only the ones who can’t who are the problem in North America. Cheers to the positive movement!”

Interviews, photos by Trista di Genova, The China Post

From left; Robin Winkler, an environmental lawyer for Wild at Heart, Ahwei Chyou a fourth-generation farmer and Pierre Loisel, a Canadian philanthropist who teaches anyone who’s interested about how to run their own eco-friendly, organic farm.

By Trista di Genova
The China Post

A few minutes from the Tucheng MRT station in Taipei County, there’s a magical place. At a site that used to be an ammunition depot five years ago, 15 farming families have turned 80 hectares into a rare, beautiful urban landscape — an organic farming community.

“The Taipei County Government and military had plans to move the Tucheng jail here, and developers want to build, but there’s enough housing and prisoners in Taiwan. And this is a special place,” said Robin Winkler, a prominent U.S. environmental lawyer with Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association, who invited The China Post to take a tour recently. “The wetlands here and animals are something which we don’t find anywhere else close to Taipei.” But the county’s application was rejected by the EPA, based on a faulty environmental assessment.
“That buys us time,” said Winkler.

Pierre Loisel, a Quebequois who’s been in Taiwan 45 years, once successfully convinced the Taiwan government to start an islandwide program recycling table scraps into feed and fertilizer. Now, he’s turning farm waste into gold. Visitors come from around Taiwan to learn how to run their own organic farm. They make a half-day presentation about every step in the process of organic, sustainable farming, from 10-3 p.m. for NT$500 (lunch included; to register, call (02) 2636-5700). Then, there is live-in farming instruction in BaiShaWan. Pierre dreams of a school to teach 100 people at a time, “for a greater impact.”

“We will start our school on organic farming in March, and will require students to live at the farm for a minimum of three months, six days a week,” he says. “They work from morning till evening, picking up table scraps, composting, packing, the whole cycle. If you have a farm, that’s what you pay in labor — 8 hours a day like all other farmers.”

Many are agricultural students, in the military or in their 50s and want to start a second career. The program is self-sufficient. People come from far and wide and are willing to spend 3 or 4 times as much for the 15 or so types of “Superveggies” grown there. Already monthly income at the farm tops a healthy NT$150,000. Pierre calls it “a beginning, that by next year will double.”

“What we’re trying to do is present a new kind of agriculture. If you’re going to oppose development, you have to propose another type of development,” Pierre remarks. “Actually it’s old farming wisdom with some modern techniques; and it’s not certified organic.”

Taiwan has a special cultural and historic advantage, of being primarily farmers who are close to the land, “still very close to an agricultural society.”

Ahwei Chyou is one of the farmers there, a fourth-generation farmer. Instead of using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, they use nitrogen-based liquid fertilizer — and let the lizards, snakes, birds and frogs do the rest.

In the 1980s, when farmers started using chemical fertilizer, the fireflies disappeared, he says. But when they changed to organic farming, the fireflies came back. And most farmers know thatís an indicator of a clean, non-toxic environment.