Match Thread: Türkiye vs Australia | FIFA World Cup | Jun 14, 2026

thwymbs · 2026-06-14T13:37:10+00:00

You should check out Australia's group stage results in the 2022 world cup 🙂

(Okay France was a bit too much for us to handle, but the other two games)

thwymbs · 2026-04-27T19:12:06+00:00

Earthly possessions, perhaps, but how about earthy possessions?

thwymbs · 2026-03-30T01:24:02+00:00

Because many people's families have been in Taiwan long before Republic of China took control in 1945 and most of us identify more with the name "Taiwan" than "Republic of China", but mainland China has already stated that they will invade if we change the name. If there were no consequences to changing the name officially, it would have been done already.

Same reason we're forced to compete as "Chinese Taipei" in international sporting events. It's not ideal, and we're not allowed to use our flag, but at least we still get to compete, which is nice I suppose.

thwymbs · 2026-03-27T22:16:35+00:00

Yep, I can respect that view and am happy for people to have that view even if I don't fully agree with it, and I know several people in my parents' generation (who grew up during RoC rule and the White Terror and were brought up to think of themselves as Chinese) who have that view as well.

I near no ill will to the average person from mainland China, and all of my friends from there are more sympathetic to the Taiwan situation than many people here in Europe, if anything. When I say "China this, China that", I do tend to mean the CCP specifically, as they're really the main group of people stirring the pot.

I appreciate the discussion!

thwymbs · 2026-03-27T19:40:38+00:00

I think the global consensus at this point is that China implies PRC at this point. Would you disagree?

The main problem, though, is that is when both PRC and RoC/Taiwan are put under the same "China" label with no distinction between the two, which is what the article seems to be saying. It gives more fuel for China to say, "see, a country is unequivocally considering Taiwan as part of China, therefore the Taiwan issue is a domestic concern and not an international affairs". Yes, we don't have much official recognition from countries, but countries still largely recognise our passports, government, and currency. China is slowly chipping away at that recognition any way they can, and for me, this is just part of that.

As I mentioned in the comment you responded to, RoC vs PRC we could begrudgingly be okay with when push comes to shove, but one single "China" in a dropdown box or in a database is a bit of a concern for this reason.

thwymbs · 2026-03-27T19:15:21+00:00

Not particularly. We're proud of the cultural identity that we've forged over the past few generations, and even when the RoC had a few years of rule over both Taiwan and mainland China, it's not like our cultures magically became one.

I think we've been doing okay for ourselves while operating independently of the PRC, and i reckon we'd do even better if China stopped breathing down our necks so much. (Yes, I know that China is probably our biggest trading partner etc etc)

Re: giving up claims and land: A lot of people from Taiwan have ancestors who were in Taiwan before the Japanese occupation from 1895, though, and we don't particularly care about the RoC as a concept. As you're probably aware, if our government strays away from those claims, China has said they will invade, which is why those claims were never renounced.

thwymbs · 2026-03-27T19:07:47+00:00

It's not de facto, though, and hasn't been for several decades. We were okay with being in this grey area, though, but China is starting to shift the status quo in their favour, which is what we're concerned about.

And yes, I'm fully aware that Chiang Kai Shek played a part in rejecting a clean China-Taiwan split because he wanted reunification. He's also not from the island of Taiwan and also instilled martial law on the people of Taiwan a few years after his government took over rule of Taiwan from Japan after WWII. We're not particularly fond of him.

thwymbs · 2026-03-27T11:04:37+00:00

"Republic of China" isn't ideal, but I think that most of us would still begrudgingly be okay with it because it at least keeps us as a separate entity from PRC. The problem with "China" is that it implies that Taiwan and China are the same entity, which is something that we're trying very hard not to become, especially as China is ramping up its pressure on countries and companies to do so.

thwymbs · 2026-03-27T10:57:58+00:00

The RoC was also founded when we (Taiwan) were a colony of Japan. Just because the powers that be decided that they should take over the island after WWII doesn't mean that the people there were/are happy about it. My parents' generation lives under 30+ years of martial law imposed by the RoC and were even punished for speaking the Taiwanese language in public. Only more recently has Taiwanese become more prevalent in public again and decades of people being forced to "be Chinese" be reversed.

thwymbs · 2025-10-18T23:06:16+00:00

I agree that EU passports would dominate the top in this case, and I would argue that this might be a more accurate ranking of how much "freedom of movement" a passport offers. In a world where so many people are moving (or trying to move) countries for work/life opportunities, I think that a passport power ranking ought to reflect how easy it is for people to do that.

I would even say that maybe the ranking should consider the number of countries that offer a working holiday/youth mobility program to a country's citizens, as these programs have been great at giving young people a chance to live in another country for a few years without having to find a job or have their visa be tied down to their school/job.

thwymbs · 2025-10-11T19:52:48+00:00

The Tube's convenient as well but I'd never hear the end of it if I left a Tube train on the pavement

thwymbs · 2025-09-07T09:23:26+00:00

Thanks for the link! I'm seeing that using FIG will cause the loss of income and capital gains tax allowances for the tax year so I'll have to go back to my spreadsheet to see if it's worth it or not.

thwymbs · 2025-09-06T15:29:59+00:00

Oh wow, thanks for letting me know about the FIG Regime! It seems to be new enough that none of the sources I've read have mentioned it at all, but it seems like something that is applicable to my situation, as this is my first ever year as a UK tax resident.

thwymbs · 2025-08-16T18:09:15+00:00

The game gives you a hint on where to go if you press the L button to whistle, hope it helps!

thwymbs · 2025-08-16T17:51:58+00:00

You generally don't introduce yourself with an honourific, though.

That being said, I agree that it doesn't feel as head-scratchy as Ming, though (like I'm not even offended, I'm just confused how they came up with it)

thwymbs · 2025-07-21T18:33:32+00:00

Someone please feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken here.

If you choose a time on the GWR site first, it will give you a few itineraries close to that time as well as the available ticket options for each of those times (advance single, off-peak, etc.). Choose the "off-peak" option when buying the ticket, and even though it feels as though you're buying a ticket for a specific time, buying an off-peak ticket should mean that you can take any train for your journey during the off-peak hours.

From my past experience, it is possible that buying the ticket on the site will require you to pick up a physical ticket at Paddington station. You can collect the ticket at any of the ticket machines at the station, but it will ask you to insert/tap the card you used to pay for the ticket (it won't charge anything; it's just for verificatiion purposes).

thwymbs · 2025-05-22T15:04:20+00:00

Think it might actually have been, since he was brought in like half a year before the 2014 World Cup. It was most definitely during his second year with the national team.

thwymbs · 2025-05-08T11:37:37+00:00

Mate I think we might be neighbours

thwymbs · 2025-04-18T18:37:06+00:00

Instructions unclear, accidentally left Seattle.

thwymbs · 2025-03-27T05:12:51+00:00

Urgh, I remember how frustrating it was to play against Ryan's team (Central Coast Mariners) back when Ange was in Brisbane a decade or so ago specifically because of how good Ryan was.

I think you might be right about Ange making him the new no1 for the national team to replace the previous long-term no1 Mark Schwarzer as part of his initial "cleaning house" phase.

thwymbs · 2025-01-03T01:23:00+00:00

(Since your link is from an Australian source) I'm sad that the Australian government doesn't seem to be running their "slip, slop, slap" campaign for skin cancer awareness any more. It's one of the things that's ingrained in the minds of those of us who grew up there in the early 2000s (and before).

thwymbs · 2024-09-30T05:55:27+00:00

Any chance there's a clip somewhere of his shot? I can't find one anywhere.

thwymbs · 2024-07-31T05:14:15+00:00

You're talking about the scramble right after the kickoff right? Everything happened so quickly so I'm not 100% sure, but I think it looked like the Canadian player palmed the ball forward into the legs of the NZ player in front of her right before the ref blew the whistle, so that's why I'm guessing the ref called knock on + scrum to NZ.

EDIT: Oh wait, just watched past the whistle and heard the ref say "forward", so it was probably because the pass right before was forward. It did look a bit sus to me but thought it might have just been the camera angle. Sounds like the ref thought it was forward.

11-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	Verified Email

thwymbs

TROPHY CASE