Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Retired senior military officers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait are pressuring President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to allow greater cooperation with China, telling a forum earlier this week that the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) controversy provides the perfect context in which to do so.

The comments, which called for the creation of a cross-strait military cooperation mechanism, were made on the sidelines of a workshop organized by the Chinese Century Communicating Association (中華世紀交流協會) in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Jennifer Cheng, a supporter of imprisoned former President Chen Shui-bian, attended every session of Chen’s 2009 trial. The trial was restricted to a limited attendance of twenty members of the public per day. Many sought admission but only a few got in the courtroom making Cheng’s attendance record remarkable.

Jennifer Cheng is an unabashed supporter of Chen Shui-bian and repeatedly referred to Chen by his nickname, Abian, during an interview in the coffee shop of a downtown Taipei hotel to discuss Chen’s trial.