Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

China rolls out sticks and carrots

Paul Lin 林保華

China wants to absorb Taiwan. That’s its policy, which it calls “complete reunification” (完全統一). The policy will change as circumstances change. The basic strategy is a two-pronged approach of military force and the so-called “united front strategy,” a classic carrot-and-stick policy that is manifested in a variety of ways. Intimidation by violence is relatively simple, but Beijing can be more creative with the carrots.

China shows signs of neo-fascism

J. Michael Cole 寇謐將

With its strong emphasis on technology, the military, strong single-party leadership and a collective national identity that refuses to recognize pluralism, China is displaying increasing — and worrying — symptoms of fascism. From the military parade surrounding the 60th anniversary of the birth of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on Oct. 1 to forced relocation and assimilation programs targeting ethnic minority groups such as the Uighurs, China is in many ways reminding us of the fascist states that reared their ugly heads in the first half of the previous century.

Wang resigns over death penalty row

Taipei Times

In a surprise development, Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) tendered her resignation last night, after initially saying she would not step down over the row about enforcing the death penalty.

Wang offered her resignation verbally to Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) around 10pm , Executive Yuan Spokesman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said, and Wu approved it after reporting the matter to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

Yaung's failure is no 'shock' for Taiwan

Taiwan News Editorial

The sudden resignation of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang due to backtracking in President Ma Ying-jeou's right-wing Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) on national health insurance system reform exposes to public view the inability of the KMT government to display leadership and responsibility in the resolution of Taiwan's urgent problems.

After the inept and callous response by the Ma government to the massive floods in southern Taiwan triggered by Typhoon Morakot in the "August 8th flood disaster," Ma incessantly reiterated that "the peole's pains are my own pains" and in mid-September replaced the technocratic premier Liu Chao-hsuan with then KMT secretary-general Wu Den-yih, who vowed to implement a policy of "ordinary people's economics."

Taiwan leaders blind to PRC pact politics

Taiwan News Editorial

Premier Wu Den-yih of the rightist Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) administration cast doubt on his qualifications to govern Taiwan last week when he publically acknowledged his blindness to blindness on the political risks of a proposed "cross-strait economic cooperation agreement" with the authoritarian People's Republic of China.

Wu, who was appointed last September by President and KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou, promised to resign during questioning in the Legislative Yuan March 4 if the term "unification" appeared in the proposed agreement, which Ma wants signed by mid-year.

Chiang says ECFA signing likely by June

Taipei Times

Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) yesterday said that Taipei and Beijing were likely to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) in June.

As Taipei hopes to ink the proposed pact by the first half of the year, June would be a good time to do so if the SEF and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), could wrap up negotiations next month or by May, Chiang said on the sidelines of an event marking the SEF’s 19th anniversary.

Is HK democracy to be feared?

Taipei Times Editorial

In January, five opposition legislators representing the five major electoral districts in Hong Kong resigned, triggering special elections scheduled for May 16. Frustrated by the lack of democratic development and interference from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Hong Kong’s political affairs, the opposition parties are hoping to turn the special by-election into a de facto referendum on democratic reform.

Beijing condemned the resignations, describing the planned referendum as a challenge to its authority. Most of the parties with ties to the CCP — such as the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, the Liberal Party and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions — have let it be known they will boycott the elections.

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