Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Mother’s Day appeal to Ma Ying-jeou from Chen Shui-bian’s 85 year old mother

Michael Richardson

Chen Shui-bian's 85 year-old mother calls for his release from prison
Jay Tu

A Mother’s Day dinner in Taiwan renewed an appeal to Ma Ying-jeou by Chen Lee-shen, the 85 year-old mother of imprisoned Chen Shui-bian, for the release of Ma’s predecessor at the presidential palace. In April, the elderly mother of Chen Shui-bian made a public appeal to Ma for Chen’s release.

Ma could finally be lost for words

Jerome Keating

The political approach of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has traditionally been one of style over substance. Nonetheless, when Ma prepared to give his first inaugural speech in 2008, he could not have asked for a better setting for change. He had won with a handsome 58.45 percent of the vote and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) controlled approximately 75 percent of the 113-seat Legislative Yuan. If he had a desire for substance, change and direction, it was a time to show it. He could be bold in his vision, plans and statements, for he had, in the minds of most, a clear mandate.

Tsai accuses President Ma of heavy-handed rule

Taipei Times

In an open letter published yesterday, former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) questioned President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) ability to lead the country.

Tsai said she had three questions for Ma on cross-strait relations: “Is Taiwan a nation? Are Taiwan and China the same nation? And is ‘one country, two areas’ (一國二區) a core principle for future cross-strait policy?”

Tsai says she may be an ‘option’ for 2016

Taipei Times

Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) revealed her interest in running for the presidency again in 2016 for the first time since losing in January’s presidential election, saying in a television interview aired last night that she would make herself an “option.”

“As a politician, I will continue to make myself an option,” Tsai said in response to a question on whether she plans to run again in four years in an interview with Sanlih television, the first she has given since the election.

Eviction of sit-in ends violently

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Tung Chung-yen, center in white T-shirt, shouts as police forcefully evict him and fellow sit-in protesters from Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei shortly after midnight yesterday.
Photo: CNA

Taipei City’s Department of Police yesterday forcefully evicted a small group of sit-in protesters from Ketagalan Boulevard. The protesters later accused the police of abusing their authority, after violent altercations ensued when protesters attempted to re-occupy the sit-in site.

The sit-in, organized by several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors late last month, was protesting against President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policy on US beef imports and increases in fuel and electricity prices.

A crisis for everyone but Ma

Taipei Times Editorial

“When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ [危機] is composed of two characters — one represents danger and the other represents opportunity,” former US president John F. Kennedy once said.

After a series of recent government policy announcements that have prompted many to worry about the nation’s future and wonder where President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is leading Taiwanese, concerned citizens might look to the quote and think optimistically that all is not as hopeless as it seems.

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