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6/27 (Tue.) Taiwan’s Shrinking Int. Space; Same-Sex Marriage

發表於 : 週二 6月 20, 2017 2:55 pm
Dan
Hosted by Dan

Session I:

Panama’s unexpected move to abruptly cut ties with Taiwan June 13 is only the latest brick in the wall of Taiwan’s growing international isolation, as China continues to put the squeeze on Taiwan’s international space. Let’s talk about the causes and possible responses to this problem.

1. Do you think President Tsai Ing-wen and the Taiwanese government should:

-- Continue on its present course?
-- Agree to accept the “1992 Consensus” but continue to strongly assert Taiwan’s sovereignty?
-- Accept the “1992 Consensus” and also agree to future talks about eventual unification with China?
-- Take a more aggressive approach to protecting Taiwan’s sovereignty and also take steps toward official independence?

2. Whom do you blame most for Taiwan’s growing international isolation?:

-- China, for throwing its weight around with international organizations and Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to try to keep Taiwan down.
-- The KMT, for failing declare independence for Taiwan when China was too weak to resist and, in recent years, taking pro-unification positions.
-- The DPP, for failing to accept the 1992 Consensus and making other provocative moves that alienate China.
-- The USA, for appeasing China and not strongly fighting for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations and events.

3. What effect is China’s attempts to restrict Taiwan’s international space having on the willingness of Taiwanese to accept closer integration with China?

-- No effect.
-- It’s further destroying trust among most Taiwanese toward China.
-- It makes more Taiwanese believe that it’s futile to resist China’s efforts to establish closer ties and that eventual unification is inevitable.

4. Should Taiwan try to keep the 20 diplomatic allies it has left from defecting to China?

-- Yes, they give the ROC much needed legitimacy on the international scene.
-- Yes, but checkbook diplomacy is expensive, and Taiwan shouldn’t try to outspend China in sending financial aid to its remaining allies.
-- No, all of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies are small and most have corrupt governments whose leaders pocket much of the aid Taiwan sends. And these governments offer little of value to Taiwan in return.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/05/1 ... isolation/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/worl ... .html?_r=0
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pa ... 3664deb57c
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/a ... 2003672772
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editori ... 03670031/1


Session II:

Last month, the Council of Grand Justices ruled that Taiwan’s marital laws violate the constitutional rights of same-sex couples who want to marry. Lawmakers have two years to adopt new legislation guaranteeing these rights. This is expected to make Taiwan the first Asian country in the world to permit gays and lesbians to marry. Let’s talk about your thoughts.

1. Do you agree there should be a law permitting same-sex couples to marry in Taiwan?:

-- Yes, same-sex couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples to marry and start a family.
-- Yes, but there should be a separate law governing same-sex marriage because of different requirements for gay and lesbian couples as compared with heterosexual couples.
-- No, but same same-sex couples should be able to enter into civil unions.
-- No, gay and lesbian couples should not be allowed to marry in Taiwan because it would erode or even destroy the institution of marriage.

2. Do you believe that the Legislative Yuan should adopt a separate law governing same-sex marriage? What are the arguments for and against this?

3. Why do you think most Asian societies are behind other regions in supporting same-sex marriage, and why is Taiwan more progressive in this regard?

4. Do you believe that gays and lesbians are born with their sexual orientation or choose it later in life?


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... x-marriage
https://www.glaad.org/reference/offensive
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theologyin ... -is-a-sin/
http://www.economist.com/news/asia/2172 ... heres-next

********************************************************************************************************************************************
Agenda:
6:45 ~ 7:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
7:00 ~ 7:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
7:10 ~ 7:55pm Discussion Session (45 mins)
7:55 ~ 8:10pm Summarization (15 mins)
8:10 ~ 8:20pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
8:20 ~ 9:05pm Discussion Session (45 mins)
9:05 ~ 9:20pm Summarization (15 mins)
9:20 ~ 9:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements ********************************************************************************************************************************************
聚會日期:列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間:當天請準時於 6:45 pm 到達 ~ 約 9:30 pm 左右結束
星期二聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站:板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法:出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後,沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘,到了濟南路口,左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
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注意事項:
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2. 與會者請先閱讀過文章,並仔細想過所有的問題,謝謝合作!

給新朋友的話:
1. 請事先準備 2~3 分鐘的英語自我介紹;會議結束前可能會請你發表 1~2 分鐘的感想。
2. 請事先閱讀文章以及主持人所提的討論問題,並事先寫下自己所欲發表意見的英文。
3. 全程以英語進行,參加者應具備中等英語會話能力,對任一討論問題,能夠以 5 到 10 句英文表達個人見解。
4. 在正式加入之前,可以先來觀摩三次,觀摩者亦須參與討論。
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Re: 6/27 (Tue.) Taiwan’s Shrinking Int. Space; Same-Sex Marr

發表於 : 週二 6月 20, 2017 9:56 pm
Rock
Our American friend is kindly hosting another exciting meeting for us. Be sure to join it so you can share your ideas and learn more things.

Re: 6/27 (Tue.) Taiwan’s Shrinking Int. Space; Same-Sex Marr

發表於 : 週二 6月 20, 2017 10:22 pm
Rock
I like this question the best:

3. Why do you think most Asian societies are behind other regions in supporting same-sex marriage, and why is Taiwan more progressive in this regard?

Yeah, why? :lol:

-- Because they are losers and we are superior to them-- congratulations to Taiwan!
-- Because we want to be different from China?
-- Maybe we are just bored, having no better things to do?
-- Uh..., our President?

Hey, don't hit me. I'm being protected by the First Amendment. What? It's not of our constitution? :shock:

Re: 6/27 (Tue.) Taiwan’s Shrinking Int. Space; Same-Sex Marr

發表於 : 週三 6月 21, 2017 10:48 pm
Rock
Maybe we should be more participated in politics, no matter we like it or not?

圖檔

Re: 6/27 (Tue.) Taiwan’s Shrinking Int. Space; Same-Sex Marr

發表於 : 週一 6月 26, 2017 11:12 pm
Luis Ko
good topic! i really enjoy this kind of controversial issues haa~ of course i do have something to say, but still, it depends on if i can concrete my ideas in English. if not, guess being an audience will also have some fun haa~ hope i can make it lo~ :mrgreen:

by the way, what Plato said is just half true. some politicians are good. i'm no better. and it's said "you can't change the tide if the moon won't cooperate". by that i mean even sometimes we participate in, we might not be able to change it. we will still end up being governed by our inferiors if we are not lucky enough, and of course we are not most of the time.. :lol:

Re: 6/27 (Tue.) Taiwan’s Shrinking Int. Space; Same-Sex Marr

發表於 : 週二 6月 27, 2017 3:17 pm
Dan
Good points, Rock and Luis.
In fact, I just wrote to someone about tonight's discussion. This person doesn't like politics and doesn't vote. I said: "Remember, there are many people in the USA who hate Donald Trump but who say they don't like politics, and so they couldn't be bothered to vote last November. Now we are stuck with Trump. Like it or not, in democracies, politics is the way we choose our leaders and decide policies that affect millions of people. :)
Btw, Luis, your English is good, so please join the discussion.

Re: 6/27 (Tue.) Taiwan’s Shrinking Int. Space; Same-Sex Marr

發表於 : 週三 6月 28, 2017 8:15 am
Rock
It turned out that Yoyo people are totally qualified to talk about politics, and we love it. We even had foreigner friends from Dan's meetup group. The attendee list: Dan (host), David (meetup), Angela (meetup), Rock, Steve, Light, Wen-han, Luis, Way, Ryan, Alex, Carmen, Anne, Ken, Shirley, Yvonne, Julian.

Many many thanks to Dan for hosting this political discussion. Looking forward to another one.