Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Twenty-three years ago, naval conscript Huang Kuo-chang (黃國章) died under dubious circumstances. Now, a film director with a heart of gold has sold his ancestral home to raise money to produce a human rights film together with Huang’s mother, Chen Pi-e (陳碧娥), and they even got the commander of the Republic of China Navy, Admiral Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光), to issue a public apology to her.

The apology came too late, and was passive, but it might have brought some solace to Chen.

Kinmen County began importing water from China’s Fujian Province on Sunday in a bid to stabilize the islands’ fragile water supply. The controversial project represents a microcosm of Beijing’s wider “united front” strategy. Kinmen’s deal with Fujian Water Supply Co is at best unwise and at worst exceedingly reckless.

Under the agreement, inked on July 20, 2015, during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) second term, the county is to import an average of 34,000 tonnes of water a day through a 16.7km undersea pipe, which could increase to 55,000 tonnes per day during the dry season.