The story is all too familiar: The wife of a high-ranking politician with a taste for expensive jewelry compromises the reputation and position of her powerful husband through her brazen shopping exploits.
But this particular tale is not news of first lady Wu Shu-jen (
No, the spouse I am referring to lives across the water and is none other than Chinese No. 2 Wen Jiabao's (
Seems leaders in Taiwan and China have more in common than they thought.
An article posted on the Los Angeles Times Web site on Dec. 26 entitled "In Beijing, some bling is unwelcome" told how last month TVBS ran a brief story on how Zhang bought a number of jade artifacts, including a pair of earrings worth US$250,000 from Taiwanese jeweler Yu Chong-da (
Another jeweler familiar with the predilections of the premierlissimo's wife, Chiou Wei-jung (邱惟鍾), told how Mrs Wen also has a taste for emeralds and Taiwanese coral.
Now, I know that those Chinese have a reputation for eating anything, but chowing down on a coral ciabatta is pushing it just a little (and anyway, isn't coral protected? Maybe the National Police Agency should issue a warrant).
But getting back on track.
Zhang obviously developed a liking for pretty rocks during her formative years digging around in the deserts of western China. According to Communist Party legend, the couple met as they worked in remote Gansu Province as part of a geological team during the Cultural Revolution. Zhang apparently won a three-horse race for studmuffin Wen's affections because of her willingness to visit his dorm and wash his smalls.
Zhang, a career geologist and former vice director of China's national gemstone testing center, is obviously now looking for payback and eager to increase her personal collection of green stuff in return for 15 years of washing the brown stuff out of Wen's Y-fronts (I'm talking about Gobi Desert dust, for those of you with your minds in the gutter).
At least now we know why Wen -- famed for his modest lifestyle and "man of the people" image -- often ends up stuck down a mine (brave man) on New Year's Eve eating dumplings with miners: He has to save money to pay for his wife's bling addiction.
Look at pictures of Zhang on the Internet and you can see why she likes to hang pretty trinkets from every convenient orifice. All those years spent under the harsh desert sun have given her face -- how can I put it politely -- a slightly weathered look. In fact she makes Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) honorary lifetime loser Lien Chan's (連戰) very own weather-beaten wife Lien Fang Yu (連方瑀) look like Jolin Tsai (蔡依林).
May I suggest a full-face jade mask be top of the list for Zhang's next shopping excursion?
But here's where the similarities between the two ladies and their stories end because, as we all know, Wu ended up being savaged to the verge of death by the pro-unification press pack, quickly characterized as a money-crazed, world domination-obsessed female version of wheelchair-bound James Bond baddie Ernst Blofeld.
By contrast, news of Zhang's super shopping spree disappeared from the radar as quickly as it had come into range thanks to some pressure in the right places from the long arm of commie central.
According to the Los Angeles Times report, Yu and Chiou quickly published retractions in the Chinese-language press both here and in Hong Kong. However, they insisted that the apologies had nothing to do with "political pressure."
And check this. The report then tells the bizarre tale of how the Taiwanese jewelry association asked TVBS to issue a retraction. Everyone's favorite news-creating station then ran a follow-up report including a "clarification" from the two jewelers in question.
Yes, after you've picked yourself up off the floor, you did hear correctly. TVBS ran a "clarification" on a "factually untrue" broadcast. Let's hope they don't make a habit of it, as there aren't enough hours in the day.
I've been around a long time, but I never realized the Taiwan jewelry association was such an influential organization. Anyone that can force TVBS to admit to telling untruths must have gonads bigger than Taipei's small giant egg (
Meanwhile, back in bandit country, the "Great Firewall of China" sprang into action, with all searches for "Wen's wife" and "jewelry" on China's Yahoo and Google directing Chinese netizens to hastily photoshopped pictures of Zhang donating said earrings to a poor Tibetan market stallholder in the name of ethnic harmony (actually, I made this bit up but it can't be too far from the truth).
But the biggest mystery in all of this is where our pals in the pro-unification print media were on this story. One would have thought they'd have been all over this like a rash. After all, it was the perfect chance to extol the glory of the "motherland" and its economic development and show that the wives of top-ranking communist officials are doing more than the Taiwanese government to help our economy.
It could also have given Prez A-bian (陳水扁) and Prem Wen some common ground on which to kick-start cross-strait negotiations.
Big Red may have been successful in cowing the likes of TVBS and other self-serving organizations, forcing them to renege on their principles in their pursuit of wealth (the growing list includes the US, Russia, France, the UK, every other member of the UN bar our "impoverished" allies, the WHO and the International Organization for Animal Health to name just a few) -- but not I. Not Johnny Neihu.
I will shout it from the rooftops of Neihu Towers until I'm blue in the face (or until an undercover Chinese sniper gets me), because I have no business interests behind the Bamboo Curtain to compromise.
You see, for reasons I can't explain, my fan base in China doesn't seem to be expanding all that fast.
Heard or read something particularly objectionable about Taiwan? Johnny wants to know: dearjohnny@taipeitimes.com is the place to reach me, with "Dear Johnny" in the subject line.
To The Honorable Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜): We would like to extend our sincerest regards to you for representing Taiwan at the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on Monday. The Taiwanese-American community was delighted to see that Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan speaker not only received an invitation to attend the event, but successfully made the trip to the US. We sincerely hope that you took this rare opportunity to share Taiwan’s achievements in freedom, democracy and economic development with delegations from other countries. In recent years, Taiwan’s economic growth and world-leading technology industry have been a source of pride for Taiwanese-Americans.
Next week, the nation is to celebrate the Lunar New Year break. Unfortunately, cold winds are a-blowing, literally and figuratively. The Central Weather Administration has warned of an approaching cold air mass, while obstinate winds of chaos eddy around the Legislative Yuan. English theologian Thomas Fuller optimistically pointed out in 1650 that “it’s always darkest before the dawn.” We could paraphrase by saying the coldest days are just before the renewed hope of spring. However, one must temper any optimism about the damage being done in the legislature by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), under
To our readers: Due to the Lunar New Year holiday, from Sunday, Jan. 26, through Sunday, Feb. 2, the Taipei Times will have a reduced format without our regular editorials and opinion pieces. From Tuesday to Saturday the paper will not be delivered to subscribers, but will be available for purchase at convenience stores. Subscribers will receive the editions they missed once normal distribution resumes on Sunday, Feb. 2. The paper returns to its usual format on Monday, Feb. 3, when our regular editorials and opinion pieces will also be resumed.
Young Taiwanese are consuming an increasing amount of Chinese content on TikTok, causing them to have more favorable views of China, a Financial Times report cited Taiwanese social scientists and politicians as saying. Taiwanese are being exposed to disinformation of a political nature from China, even when using TikTok to view entertainment-related content, the article published on Friday last week said. Fewer young people identify as “Taiwanese” (as opposed to “Chinese”) compared with past years, it wrote, citing the results of a survey last year by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation. Nevertheless, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would be hard-pressed
RSS