Cairo Communique, Potsdam Communique, San Francisco Treaty and Taipei Treaty

Self-determination to determine Taiwan's future is the right of 23 million Taiwanese; this right does not need other 'legal argument' to justify her legitimacy of self-determination. Nevertheless, an understanding of some relevant historical documents during and after the war is helpful in case that 'pro-unification' folks try to misinterpreted the document to legitimatize their claim of Chinese annexation of Taiwan.

The 'pro-unification' folks like to mention the Cairo Press Communique (開羅宣言) published on November 27, 1943 which stated 'returning Taiwan to Republic of China' . Later, the Allies published another press on July 26, 1945, called the Potsdam Communique 「波茨坦宣言」, stating that the essential points of the Cairo Press Communique must be carried through. A month later, Japan surrendered to the Allies saying that Japan accepted Potsdam Communique.

'Pro-unification' folks usually use both the Cairo Press Communique and the Potsdam Communique to legitimize Chinese claim on Taiwan. However, both Communiques are presses only, not legal treaties; they do not have binding power on the nations affected in the Communique.

The real treaty that affects Taiwan's fate is the San Francisco treaty signed on September 8, 1951 which stated that Japan to give up the sovereignty of Taiwan. The article did not mention which country should inherit Taiwan from Japan. San Francisco Treaty went to effect on April 28, 1952.

The Republic of China, however, enacted a separate Treaty of Taipei with Japan on April 28,1952 just hours before the Treaty of San Francisco went into effect, which acknowledged the terms of the San Francisco Treaty but added that all residents of Taiwan were nationals of the Republic of China. Treaty of Taipei went to effect on August 5, 1952 almost 3 months after the San Francisco Treaty went to effect.

Here is the point. Since both the Republic of China and Japan recognized the term of the San Fracisco Treaty, Japan no longer owned Taiwan when signing the treaty with ROC. If Japan did not owned Taiwan to begin with, how can she have the right to transfer the sovereignty of Taiwan? The legality of the Taipei Treaty to claim ROC sovereignty over Taiwan is invalid.

Overall, Taiwan's future must be determined by the 23 million of Taiwanese.

San Francisco Treaty in 1951 Declares that Future of Taiwan Is Determined by 23 Million Taiwanese

As Ma and his KMT party are blatantly accelerating the pace of their so-called "re-unification with China" agenda, it is essential to remind Taiwanese that their right of self-determination is guaranteed by the San Francisco treaty signed by 49 nations on September 8, 1951.

Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945. Yet, the peace treaty with the Allies and other colonized nations such as Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, etc was not signed until 1951. The most emphasized spirit in signing this peace treaty was that not only Japan has to give up the colonized lands before and during the war but all the Allies such as USA, England, Netherlands, and France have to give up Philippine, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam etc. This is the spirit of the United Nation which declares that only the residents of the colonized land can determine the future of the lands.

Neither People's Republic of China (PRC) nor Republic of China (ROC) was invited in the meeting of signing the San Francisco treaty. ROC has retreated to Taiwan, the former colony of Japan. PRC has started the Korean War and was named the aggressor of the time. Since self-determination is the spirit of the United Nation, no one wanted to see Taiwan becoming a colony again by another nation such as PRC.

The San Francisco Treaty said clearly that Japan to give up the sovereignty of Taiwan but did not say who would be the successor of the new colonizing nation. It says clearly that the future of Taiwan should be determined by the 23 million Taiwanese. Such spirit of self-determination is shared by people of other nations such as Philippine, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

A Joke: "It is too bad; such a pretty woman is a mute."

I heard this joke a few month ago from our church choir director, Ms. Chang. She told me a story when she was in the seminary school studying music.

One day, after a long-day of music class, she was hungry but dead-tired. She drove a car to a night market. She ordered the food, asked for the food price and paid the bill from an eatery shop, all in sign language.

Responding to Ms. Chang's sign language, the attendant of the eatery served the food, telling Ms. Chang the cost of the food and accepting the bill, also all in sign language.

After the meal, Ms. Chang went to the car, saying to herself.

"It is shameful. Such a pretty girl (the attendant) is a mute."

As soon as Ms. Chang was about to drive away, she heard a voice from the attendant.

"Wow, can a mute be allowed to drive a car ?"

A Joke, "Sometimes" or "Three Units Will Cost..."

This joke requires triple translations; first from Taiwanese spoken phrase to Taiwanese written phrase; second, from Taiwanese written phrase to Mandarin spoken phrase ; third, twist two characters such that these two characters have the same sounds but different meaning . The results are the original meaning has a completely different meaning from the final one.

Here we go. Taiwanese spoke phrase "San-Pu-Go-Shi" literally means "not 3 times nor 5 times". Its derived meaning is "sometimes". The written phrase is 三不五時. The first and the third characters, 三 and 五, meaning 3 and 5. The second character, 不, means 'no'. Put these first three characters together, they mean neither 3 nor 5. The last character, 時, means 'times'. The results, "San-Pu-Go-Shi" or 三不五時 means "not 3 times nor 5 times"., or 'sometimes.'

"San-Pu-Go-Shi"三不五時 when read with Mandarin pronunciation, they read as "San-Pu-Wu-Shu" .This joke requires twists on the second character and the third character with the same Mandarin pronunciations but different meanings. First, the character, Pu or 不, is changed to 部 which is also pronounced as 'Pu' but means 'units'. Second, the character, Shi or 時, is changed to 十 which is pronounced as Shu, which means 10. The result is "San-Pu-Wu-Shu", or 三部五十, or it says that "It costs $50 for 3 units. " Note, the character 五 (five) is read as "go" in Taiwanese, but is read as 'wu' in Mandarin.

How do we tell this joke ? You can tell this joke in the form of a riddle. Here is an example:

" If one bicycle costs $100, how much would it cost for 3 units?"

If someone answers "$300", you then say "got you. It costs "50", because it is "San-Pu-Wu-Shu", or 三部五十.

I learned this joke from one of the organizers of NCHU Organic Farm Field Trip on 5/24.

A Joke, How Expensive is The Tea?

May 28 is a holiday in Taiwan. (It is a May Dragon Boat Festival). I went to NCHU Experimental Forset with three other NCHU faculty families. I took a ride with Professor and Mrs. Dai. During the trip, Mrs. Dai told a very funny story which I capture here.

But, wait. Before you get this joke, you need to appreciate some Mandarin language. The following phrases " Chung-Shu-Ti-Kau_Su-Ni" can be spoken with two different Mandarin phrases with very different meaning. One is 誠実地告訴你 which means "Let me tell you honestly..." The other is 乘十地告訴你 which means "Let me tell you that if the orininal number is multiplied by 10 then,....

One day, Prof. and Mrs. Dai were in a friend's house. The host treated them with a very fine tea.

"This tea must be very expensive. May I ask how much it is?" asked, Mr. Dai.

"Chung-Shu-Ti-Kau-Su-Ni, it is NT$20000 per Taiwanese Jin (600gm)." the host replied.

" Oh, that is really expensive; probably the most expensive one I have ever seen in Taiwan. NT $20000 per Taiwanese Jin." said Mr. Dai.

" No. Listen carefully. Chung-Shu-Ti-Kau-Su-Ni, it is NT$20000 per Taiwanese Jing ". the host repeated.

" Oh, I got it. After multiplying 10, it is NT $20000 per Taiwanese Jing. So, the real price is only NT $2000 per Taiwanese Jing. Ha! That is a good joke." said Mr. Dai.

Photo shows Prof. and Mrs. Dai.

Blanching (殺菁) and Nitrogen Blanket Treatment are Essential for Tea's Nutrition Contents

This is a continuing story on the 5/24 Ming-Jeng 名間 trip and I am trying to do my best to capture what have learned from tea farmers' presentation. The following notes concerns about the effects of tea processing on the nutrition value of a red tea.

Nutrition values of tea originate from its catechin and theanine. Catechins are types of antioxidant. Green tea has substantially higher catechin contents than the red tea or black tea because green tea has lower level of fermentation (oxidation). Catechin contents in the red tea are controlled by a process called blanching (殺菁). This process involves heating the tea leaves either by frying or by steaming. The heating process can effectively kill the enzyme to stop subsequent fermentation.

Theanine is an amino acid (Its structure is shown on top) that is known to reduce mental stress. A Japanese tea technician, Mr. Yokogoshi, accidentally discovered in 1998 that theanine could be abundantly produced when tea leaves was nitrogen-blanketed overnight.

Photo on the left shows the equipment for nitrogen blanket in the organic tea farm at Ming-Jeng 名間.

The tea products produced at Ming-Jeng went through both the blanching (殺菁) and the nitrogen-blanketed technique. They are high-quality red tea.

Stories of Orient-Beauty-Tea 東方美人茶 Have at Least Three Versions

Among all the Taiwanese green tea products, the Orient Beauty Tea 東方美人茶 is probably the most expensive one. While an expensive Alisan's High Mountain Tea 阿里山高山茶 is sold at a price of approximately NT $2000 per Taiwanese Jin (台斤; 1 Taiwanese Jin 台斤 = 600 grams), it is common to sell Orient Beauty Tea 東方美人茶 at a price of NT $3000-4000 per Taiwanese Jin (per 600 grams). Yet, Orient Beauty Tea 東方美人茶 has the highest degree of fermentation (or oxidation) which implies it has the lowest antioxidant level. The published record from Taiwan Tea Development-and-Improvement Experimental Farm ( 台灣茶葉改良場) is 60% for the extent of fermentation of the Orient Beauty Tea 東方美人茶; however the fermentation extent in the Hsing-Ju and Miao-Li areas (新竹苗栗地區) can reach a level as high as 75%-85%. One special characteristic of the Orient Beauty Tea is that it is free from the pesticides. During the growth period, it is essential for the tea plant to be symbiotic (共生) with an insect called Jacobiasca formosana (小綠葉蟬) and no insect can grow if the pesticide are present. Another characteristic of the Orient Beauty Tea is that because of its high degree of oxidation or fermentation, it is very smooth and does not have bitter note in the taste. It is for this reason that becomes a favor tea for the Europeans and the tea can be sold at a good price.

Sometimes, the Orient Beauty Tea is also called the 'Greatly Exaggerated Tea' (膨風茶). During the May 24 Tea presentation, the speaker asked the audience about the stories behind the names of this special kind of tea. There were two versions from the audience, and one final one from the speaker. Overall, there are three versions.

Version 1, from Edwin Chan. Edwin is from Pei-Pu 北埔 Village of Hsing-Ju, the place which produces the Orient Beauty Tea. This is his story version.

The story happened during the Japanese occupation time. One day, the emperor-appointed governor of Taiwan went back to Japan to see the emperor. Because the governor was in a hurry, he hastily took some tea products from the Pei-Pu 北埔 village and presented to the emperor, saying this is the best tea in Taiwan and the tea is called the Orient Beauty. Because the governor had presented his story in a greatly exaggerated way, this tea is later called the 'Greatly Exaggerated Tea 膨風茶).

Version 2, from Ms. Wang of the audience. This is her story.

One day, an English merchant bought the tea from the tea market at Pei-Pu 北埔 Village of Hsing-Ju. The tea was then presented to the Queen of England. The Queen loved it and name the tea the Orient Beauty Tea 東方美人茶.

Version 3, from the presenter. He added the following story to the Version 2 story.

A Pei-Pu 北埔 tea farmer had noticed that a special kind of insect was growing on the tea leaves. The farmer harvested the tea anyway because it would be wasteful to throw the tea away. However, because the farmer thought this tea had less quality, he was less diligent in working on the routines of processing the tea. When it was finished, surprisingly, the tea had a special flavor. The farmer eventually brought the tea to the market. An English merchant came to the market and tasted the tea. He liked it and bought the tea with 10 times more of the regular tea price. The farmer ran back hoping not to be 'caught' by the English merchant to ask the money back. When he told the story on how he sold the tea to the Englishman, the neighbor said that the tea is a 'Greatly Exaggerated Tea 膨風茶.