The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) communications workshop has been off to a good beginning. Yesterday, we set the tone with a closer look at Web 2.0 applications and their possible uses in political communications in the region. While some participants had heard of some of these tools before, others were rather overwhelmed by the exercise. As a moderator, I decided to adjourn earlier than planned to give the highly motivated blogging novices from eleven Asian nations time for relaxation and private networking.

This morning, we listened to presentations from our Burmese friends (I call them freedom fighters because they are fighting a totalitarian regime) and from the delegate from Pakistan. Following a discussion on the strategic ramifications of blogging, we’re now in to the hands-on training with Guru Abe Olandres using wordpress.com.

This gives me some time to sit back and relax. I don’t have to do a lot of reporting about this activity because an active group of workshop bloggers has started posting on the CALDCloggers site set up a year ago in Kuala Lumpur.

Politically, this is an interesting time for Taiwan, a vibrant East Asian democracy. During my years in the region, I have been here a dozen times for sure. It is very different this time, it seems. “We are in a state of political turbulence,” said a senior official of the governing Democratic Progressive Party. The popularity ratings of President Chen Shui-bian are in the basement, we are told. Chen’s foes are preparing for a massive demonstration in the heart of Taipei starting this Saturday. We’ll still be in town. It will be a chance for us to witness popular protest in action - a legitimate expression of dissent in a democratic society.

Technorati Tags: Taiwan, blogging, DPP, democracy