I woke up this morning in Taipei. It was evening in New
York, and apparently he who will not be named had spent the day doing things I
disapproved of in Ukraine and Gaza, erasing the T from the LGBTQ designation for
the Stonewall Memorial in NYC (predictably leading to protests there), and mandating
plastic rather than paper straws. To cap it all, he said he was planning to
visit China for talks. Tariffs maybe? Hoo boy. Sister said he is completely
crazy, so we agreed to call him Fengzi, or lunatic.
She has no fears
that the Chinese will invade Taiwan. “If they want it, they will take it in
five days,” she says. She doesn’t believe they will harm anyone. “I am Chinese!”
she says.
What about surveillance?
Closed circuit TV following you everywhere? Replacing the government, making
Taiwan subject to repressive internet control? Jailing people with independent views?
Look what happened in Hong Kong.
“I have a friend
in Hong Kong,” she says. “She says nothing has changed. I’m not interested in
politics.”
“Well,” I said, “I
hope the mainland doesn’t take over because if it does, I won’t be able to come
here again. I am not welcome in China.”
“I know,” she
said. “You must be on the blacklist.”
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