Warren Christopher said to have pissed himself with fright in Taiwan

[Omniloquacious]

According to a headline story in today’s local “news”, a long-serving employee of the Grand Hotel has said that Warren Christopher pissed in his pants (挫尿 in Taiwanese) when confronted by an angry, egg-throwing crowd at the hotel in December 1978 after the US announced its decision to switch diplomatic recognition from the ROC to the PRC.

The report describes how Christopher was sent by Carter to negotiate terms of the switch with CKS and was supposed to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the negotiations, but was blocked by large crowds of protesters. His car got pelted by the protesters, and his eyebrow was cut by broken glass. He sought sanctuary in the US Taiwan Military Defense Command headquarters (where the Taipei Fine Arts Museum now stands), and wanted to abort the negotiations and leave Taiwan. But he was ordered by Washington to stay and negotiate, with the negotiating venue switched to the Grand Hotel. The hotel employee reported that his suit trousers were wet at the crotch when he gave them to hotel staff to be cleaned before his meeting with CKS.

I’ve read various reports about the hostility faced by Americans (or Westerners assumed to be Americans) in Taiwan at that time, who got cursed, spat at and worse if they dared venture outside their homes. It must have been quite scary.

[Nuit]

Having also once pissed myself with fright (well, a small squirt before I regained bladder control), I fully empathise with Mr Christopher. They must have been interesting times. You can imagine him pleading on the phone to be flown home.

[austin]

If you are interested in this subject, you might enjoy a visit to the original American Embassy in Taipei. Now it is a coffee shop. The walls have pictures of Eisenhower who met CKS there in about 1955 to affirm that even though China was bombarding Taiwan's islands nearest China, US would protect Taiwan from China. When I asked the staff about the building, none of them seemed understand a) they would speak Japanese except for US's help, b) China would have eaten them for lunch in 1955 except for the Americans. They were surprised to know the building had this history. When I pointed to the pictures on the walls, they said they'd never noticed them. They just knew it was some old building that used to be something other than a coffee shop. It's interesting that there seems to be know photo of Eisenhower smiling with CKS who is constantly putting on a huge smile in every photo opp. Picture is worth a 1000 words. Jimmy Ord and General Stillwell had told Ike what kind of person CKS was

[urodacus]

A buffoon?

Hey, BTW, where is that coffee shop located?

[finley]

When I pointed to the pictures on the walls, they said they'd never noticed them.

So much for the superior performance of the Taiwanese education system. Although I suppose if you're working in a coffee shop, it's because you didn't go to a degree mill and settle into a nice blue cubicle.

It's interesting that there seems to be know photo of Eisenhower smiling with CKS who is constantly putting on a huge smile in every photo opp.

He was probably thinking of the contents of his Swiss bank account.

[zender]

They have a lot of interesting photos in that retreat/hall in the sulfur pools up on Yangming Shan . . . Pics of Ike and CKS rolling through the streets of Taipei to cheering crowds . . . Most are backlit opaque pictures. It's a nice place if you like kitsch and awful color schemes. I've done the tour twice.
-----------------
CKS died
in seventy five
-----------------
Columbus sailed the ocean blue
in fourteen hundred ninety two

[Super Hans]

The old US embassy is an interesting building. I haven't been since it was converted into a coffee shop. I'm not surprised that the employees don't know the history of the building and it's significance regarding the post-war history of Taiwan. It is a real shame.

[FurTrader]

I just want to respond with this:

de mortuis nil nisi bonum

(there is a similar saying in Chinese, but I can't remember how to say it at the moment )

enough said

[Mr He]

The hotel employee reported that his suit trousers were wet at the crotch when he gave them to hotel staff to be cleaned before his meeting with CKS.

This can't have happened. Peanut died in 1975.

[Feiren]

Yes, it was Chiang Ching-kuo. Getting his goons to stir up 'spontaneous' riots against Americans was one of his favorite tricks. He did the same thing back in 1957.



While the story about Christopher could be true, it could also be very well one of those urban legends that were a feature of the authoritarian days. The Americans are so scared of our righteous fury because they know they are wrong etc.