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Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Beijing betting on Taliban takeover

Lionel Te-Chen Chiou 丘德真

It seems unbelievable that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is so full of itself that it is attempting to tame the Taliban.

However, it is desperate for two reasons.

First, China must get ready for increasing tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. It is therefore turning to Afghanistan to secure a second focus area for its Belt and Road Initiative.

Second, China urgently needs a plan B for its prolonged, but fruitless bid to annex Taiwan, and is therefore trying to ensure that any future Afghan government is pro-China.

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COVID-19: Group launches ‘I Support Taiwan Vaccine’ campaign

Taipei Times

Former members of the Wild Lily student movement at a news conference in Taipei on Thursday hold placards calling for people to support the development of domestic COVID-19 vaccines.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times

Former members of the Wild Lily student movement on Thursday launched an “I Support Taiwan Vaccine” campaign, urging people to register to receive locally produced COVID-19 vaccines.

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US invites allies to engage with Taiwan

Taipei Times

Ned Price speaks to reporters at the US Department of State in Washington on July 7.
Photo courtesy of the US Department of State’s Asia Pacific Media Hub

Washington supports its European partners and allies as they develop mutually beneficial relations with Taiwan, the US Department of State said on Tuesday, adding that each country should be able to interpret its own “one China” policy.

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Lithuania’s courageous decision

Taipei Times Editorial

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday issued a statement lambasting Lithuania over its decision to allow Taiwan to open a representative office under its own name. The ministry has recalled Chinese Ambassador Shen Zhifei (申知非) and demanded that Diana Mickeviciene, Lithuania’s envoy to China, leave Beijing.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regularly dresses down foreign governments for behavior it regards as inappropriate, but only on very rare occasions does it withdraw ambassadors.

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Page 274 of 1529

Newsflash

The odds of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) being re-elected in 2012 yesterday fell below 50 percent for the first time since May, according to a university prediction market.

Prediction markets are speculative exchanges, with the value of an asset meant to reflect the likelihood of a future event.

On a scale from NT$0 to NT$100, the probability of Ma winning a re-election bid was, according to bidders, NT$48.40, the Center for Prediction Market at National Chengchi University said.

The center has market predictions on topics including politics, the economy, international affairs, sports and entertainment. Members can tender virtual bids on the events, with the bidding price meant to reflect probability.

The re-election market had attracted 860,000 trading entries as of yesterday. It was launched in April.

The center said the figure slipped 2.3 percentage points yesterday from a day earlier, when Ma conceded that his party did not fare as well as hoped in the “three-in-one” elections.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) won 12 of Saturday’s 17 mayor and commissioner elections, but its total percentage of votes fell 2 percentage points from 2005 to 47.88 percent of votes nationwide.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won just four of the races, but received 45.32 percent of the ballots, or a 7.2 percentage-point increase from 2005.

Since the center opened the trading on Ma’s re-election chances on April 11, prices have largely hovered around NT$60, but jumped to NT$70 in mid-June. The figure then fell to NT$51.80 in August after Typhoon Morakot lashed Taiwan, killing hundreds.

After then-premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) resigned in September, the price returned to NT$63.2 and remained at around NT$60 for the following two months, the center said.

Since Ma took over as KMT chairman, the center said the number had steadily declined from NT$58 on Nov. 18 to NT$50.80 on Dec. 5. After Saturday’s elections, the figure fell below NT$50.

The center said the outcome yesterday would likely affect next year’s elections for the five special municipalities, as well as the next presidential election.

It also said the probability of Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) winning re-election was 72 percent, while the chances of Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) winning again were 20 percent.

Source: Taipei Times 2009/12/07