An iron vote is a Taiwanese political term for a voter that can be reliabily counted on to vote for one party or another. These usually include strong supporters of Taiwan independence or Chinese reunification.
The Kuomintang was severely hurt in 2000 by the loss of iron votes.
... (soft palate[?]) (k, kh, g, gh, n as in ing)
Palatal (hard palate[?]) (c, ch, j, jh, ~n)
Retroflex[?] (roughly the place of articulation of English alveolars ...