Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Power, succession and the people

Jerome Keating

For any nation in today’s world, two issues are salient: “Who rules the nation and so controls the national power, and how is that power successively transferred?”

In simple terms, this is asking which form of government is in the best interest of the people and the nation. That is, should that nation be either a one-party state or a democracy? After that, once the power base has been established, how then is it transferred?

Time for a Taiwan-US free-trade deal

Taipei Times Editorial

An unofficial delegation of retired US officials — former US senator Chris Dodd, and former US deputy secretaries of state James Steinberg and Richard Armitage — arrived on Wednesday for talks with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and senior Taiwanese officials. The visit came after China on Monday dispatched a record 25 military airplanes into Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone, in a significant upping of the ante.

Officials from Washington and Taipei clearly went to a lot of trouble to ensure that the delegation’s three-day visit was conducted in as low key a manner as possible. It was kept secret until just a few hours before the delegation, traveling in a small unmarked private jet, touched down at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on Wednesday afternoon.

Commission to propose legislation to deal with White Terror perpetrators

Taipei Times

Transitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui, right, and Deputy Chairwoman Yeh Hung-ling hold a news conference yesterday in Taipei.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times

Transitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠) yesterday vowed that the commission would propose legislation to deal with investigations into the perpetrators of White Terror atrocities and other human rights abuses of the past.

Questions remain over US ties

Taipei Times Editorial

Taiwan-US relations are said to be entering a new stage after Washington on Friday released new diplomatic guidelines, but some sensitive issues still require delicate negotiations.

In its announcement, the US Department of State said the new guidelines “liberalize guidance on contacts with Taiwan” and show that the nation is a vibrant democracy, and important security and economic partner. However, the department also reiterated the US’ “one China” policy and used the word “unofficial” twice to describe the relations.

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