Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Kuan owes public an explanation

Huang Tien-lin 黃天麟

National Taiwan University (NTU) president-elect Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) has been dogged by scandals since a committee on Jan. 5 announced his selection. Nearly three months have passed and yet the controversy over his appointment to head the university shows no sign of abating.

Concern over Kuan’s election first surfaced after local media reported that Kuan is an independent director at Taiwan Mobile Co, while company vice chairman Richard Tsai (蔡明興) also sat on the selection committee. Following allegations of a conflict of interest, Kuan was accused of plagiarizing a student’s paper in a conference paper he coauthored.

US Navy vessel carries out freedom of navigation exercise in South China Sea

Taipei Times

A US Navy destroyer yesterday carried out a “freedom of navigation” operation within 12 nautical miles (22.2km) of an artificial island China has built in the South China Sea, US officials said, a move likely to anger Beijing.

Yesterday’s operation was the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters.

China not the only option for Taiwanese

Lau Yi-te 劉一德

In addition to being crowned emperor, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has announced 31 incentives for Taiwanese. Advocates of adventurism and defeatists alike rushed to praise Xi’s move and accuse the Taiwanese government of bringing down Taiwan, as if Taiwanese talent and capital would never return and annexation were just around the corner.

On the other hand, the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network has published its World Happiness Report: Taiwan ranked 26th overall and No. 1 among Asian nations. China ranked 86th.

New US security adviser good for Taiwan: Young

Taipei Times

US President Donald Trump’s appointment of John Bolton as his national security adviser might lead to more visits by high-level US officials to Taiwan, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director Stephen Young said on Saturday.

In an interview with the Central News Agency, Young said the US government would try to have “more frequent visits and higher level visits” following the passage of the Taiwan Travel Act, which encourages Taiwanese and US officials at all levels to visit each other.

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