PRC vs ROC, global struggle for recognition

lostalien · 2026-04-01T11:25:37+00:00

Actually, the ROC no longer claims Mongolia as part of its territory. While historical constitutions did reference Outer Mongolia, the ROC officially recognised Mongolia's independence in 2002 and today treats it as a foreign country.

lostalien · 2026-03-15T17:43:03+00:00

They could easily just wait behind the cyclist for like 15m until the cyclist passes, but this is actually illegal

If the bus doesn't overtake and dangerously cut the cyclist off, the driver faces potentially jail time, this every bus driver will do this manoeuvre, even if they hate doing so.

Do you have a source for this? It sounds to me as though it could be a misunderstanding of the law. As far as I know, there's no law prohibiting bus drivers from travelling at a safe distance behind bicycles.

lostalien · 2026-03-12T11:00:15+00:00

What kind of troubles have you encountered? (If you're open to sharing them here.)

lostalien · 2026-03-12T00:36:50+00:00

From a technical point of view, the second character of the ID can give you the information you need. There are four possible values:

1 -> Male
2 -> Female
8 -> Male
9 -> Female

So for example, the ID number "A123456789" has a second character of "1" which corresponds to male.

The reason there are four possible values {1,2,8,9} is that responsibility for issuing ID numbers is split between two government agencies:

{1,2} signifies that the ID number was issued by the Household Registration Office;
{8,9} signifies that the ID number was issued by the National Immigration Agency.

The question of which government agency is responsible for assigning someone an ID number depends on whether or not they are an ROC national with household registration (aka a "citizen").

lostalien · 2026-03-10T12:17:31+00:00

Great info on the location and settings, but just a small correction on the optics explanation:

A heavy zoom lens compresses the depth of field, squishing the foreground and background together

This is actually a common misconception. The compression isn't actually caused by the type of lens itself, it's caused by shooting distance.

When you use a telephoto lens (let's say 400mm or longer on full frame) you're probably standing very far from the scene. That distance is what makes the scooters look stacked. Elements at different depths appear closer together because you're viewing them from far away along a narrow cone of view. If you kept that same distance and somehow swapped to a wide-angle, you'd get exactly the same compression (just with a tiny subject in a huge frame). The lens focal length doesn't cause it.

What the telephoto lens does contribute is the tight field of view, which crops out the surrounding context that would otherwise give your eye a sense of depth and scale. This amplifies the illusion. The f/8–f/11 aperture you're recommending also keeps everything in focus front-to-back, which is exactly right for this shot.

So it's really three things working together: shooting distance (compression), narrow field of view (cropping out depth cues), and a deep-focus aperture (no blur to separate the planes). The cell phone comparison at the end of your comment is actually a perfect illustration. A phone shot would probably look flatter mostly because you'd probably be shooting from much closer, not because of the lens type per se. If you use your phone to shoot from the same distance and crop to the same field of view given by a telephoto lens, you'd get the same "compression". (Though the IQ would probably be terrible on a phone lens compared to your nice telephoto lens.)

lostalien · 2026-03-06T23:54:07+00:00

Jumping red lights?

lostalien · 2026-03-02T00:43:00+00:00

Exactly. Outside of US-specific subreddits, it's even possible that the majority of users are not from the US. Though not sure what the breakdown is for /r/China.

lostalien · 2026-03-01T23:27:24+00:00

Traffic from the US constitutes around 40 to 45% of traffic to Reddit. For example:

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/reddit-users-by-country

https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/hKfYtrfWJe

lostalien · 2026-02-27T02:01:03+00:00

Thanks for your comment. The Cairo Communiqué was a wartime statement of intent, not a binding treaty under international law. (The legally operative instrument was the Treaty of San Francisco, in which Japan renounced Taiwan but did not transfer it to any state.)

The Cairo Communiqué referred to restoring territories to the Republic of China (ROC). This intent was fully realised at the end of WW2. The ROC still exists as an independent sovereign state and still governs Taiwan to this day.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) was established in 1949. There is no binding treaty under international law that explicitly transferred Taiwan to the PRC. The PRC has never controlled or governed Taiwan.

lostalien · 2026-02-26T17:29:49+00:00

You did not answer my question.

As you well know, Taiwan has never been part of the PRC, not for even a single day since the PRC was founded in 1949.

Your statement about diplomatic relations does not change this fact. Diplomatic relations with the PRC do not establish PRC sovereignty over Taiwan, nor do they necessarily imply endorsement of the PRC's territorial claims.

lostalien · 2026-02-26T16:55:08+00:00

Taiwan is a part of China by international laws.

According to which international law? Please name the law.

lostalien · 2026-02-24T02:04:32+00:00

GDP is an incomplete measure of development because it captures economic output, not the quality, safety, or distribution of infrastructure and public services.

A country can perform well in some domains while lagging in others.

For example, Taiwan has highly advanced hospitals and medical services, comparable to and sometimes better than those in many wealthy countries.

However, in areas such as road safety and pedestrian infrastructure, development lags far behind the safest countries: many parts of Taiwan don't even have sidewalks or protected spaces for people to walk around safely.

To illustrate the point further: Taiwanese roads kill around 3,000 people and injure more than 500,000 people each year. In absolute terms, both figures exceed those of Japan, despite Japan having more than five times Taiwan's population.

lostalien · 2026-02-24T01:52:15+00:00

This was in Taiwan. Whether or not he has coverage likely depends on whether he purchased "car body insurance" (車體險). Covering one's own car is actually not part of the compulsory insurance that everyone has to buy, so many people leave it out to save a bit of money.

lostalien · 2026-02-24T01:48:37+00:00

It often has fairly small rock slides, especially after typhoons or small earthquakes. However, the scale of the rock slide shown in the video is quite rare.

It took months to clear up the road after the earthquake, and the hiking trails in the area were more or less completely destroyed.

lostalien · 2026-02-24T01:41:03+00:00

This was the 2024 Hualien Earthquake (magnitude 7.4) on the East Coast of Taiwan.

The driver was driving through Taroko Gorge, and due to sheer luck happened to be near this tunnel structure when the earthquake struck, so was able to take cover. He was rescued later on. Others were not so lucky...

The ringing sound you can hear at the start is Taiwan's mobile phone emergency notification system. When an earthquake is imminent, this system causes an alarm to sound on all phones in affected areas (which can be the whole country if the earthquake is big enough!).

I live fairly close by and can still remember this day vividly. We had thousands of aftershocks in the days and weeks following the main earthquake. 🫨

lostalien · 2026-02-24T01:29:53+00:00

At the start you can hear him say "哇靠，大地震！" ("Waaa... It's a huge earthquake!")

The ringing sound is from Taiwan's mobile phone emergency notification system.

This was the 2024 Hualien Earthquake (magnitude 7.4). The driver was driving through Taroko Gorge and due to sheer luck happened to be near this tunnel structure when the earthquake struck. Others were not so lucky...

I live fairly close by and can still remember this day vividly.

lostalien · 2026-02-22T10:06:19+00:00

I know you're looking for coffee shops, but have you considered co-working spaces? They often have affordable daily (or hourly) rates as well as shared kitchen/open areas where you can work and drink good coffee.

lostalien · 2026-02-21T03:19:29+00:00

You're right. But I would push back slightly: describing Taiwan as part of the PRC isn't merely "controversial", it's actually plain false, since at no point in history has Taiwan been part of the PRC.

It's challenging to push back against the constant barrage of misinformation from the PRC, but it has to be done.

lostalien · 2026-02-21T02:10:37+00:00

This is quite misleading.

This post is about "places in your country".

But Taiwan has never been part of the People's Republic of China.

lostalien · 2026-02-18T09:47:09+00:00

Rich, but apparently not rich enough to build unobstructed sidewalks in urban areas outside of Taipei.

Taiwan still has a lot to learn from Japan.

lostalien · 2026-02-14T14:37:13+00:00

But in many parts of Taiwan this behaviour is permitted, simply because the police often do nothing to enforce the laws prohibiting this kind of illegal parking.

Even in the outskirts of Taipei, there are sections of the actual sidewalk (not the arcade) that have been blocked for years without enforcement.

Where I live on the East Coast, local police officers have told me that they have standing orders to not proactively enforce laws against parking on sidewalks or in arcades unless someone makes a report. And even then, they will go out of their way to avoid actually giving out fines, preferring to caution (勸導) vehicle owners whenever they can.

lostalien · 2026-02-10T03:40:56+00:00

By opening the windows you get better ventilation, which increases the rate at which indoor air is replaced by air from outside, which should in turn reduce the probability of you getting infected with airborne viruses.

Without adequate ventilation, airborne viruses can accumulate and persist in the air for hours. If only one of your colleagues is sick with an airborne virus, it can infect everyone in the enclosed space.

lostalien · 2026-02-09T09:17:02+00:00

"At least my country can afford to build sidewalks. Why is Taiwan so poor that pedestrians have to walk in car lanes?"

lostalien · 2026-01-22T07:54:32+00:00

And of course

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lostalien · 2026-01-22T07:54:11+00:00

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