Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Anthem ‘national’ in name only

Lee Hsiao-feng 李筱峰

Since President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inaugural address on May 20 last year, the media have focused on whether she sings the national anthem at public occasions. There is probably no other nation in the world where the question of whether the president sings the national anthem is an issue. In normal democracies, the president will of course sing the national anthem, and if they did not, the news media would soon find out why.

Two local banks failed US financial exams, Koo says

Taipei Times

Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington Koo, left, answers questions from lawmakers on the Finance Committee at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: CNA

There is no guarantee that Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) will be able to avoid being fined by US regulators for the failure of its New York branch to comply with US regulations on money laundering, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday.

Democracy, presidents and Taiwan

Jerome Keating

Double Ten National Day has passed and for a second year President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has conducted the National Day ceremonies with the necessary dignity and focus. Meanwhile, the day did not pass without a certain amount of expected commentary and criticism.

Among issues raised by members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) were concerns such as how many times the name “Taiwan” was used in place of the “Republic of China” and how certain pronouncements seemed devoid of what might be considered disputed national symbols.

The US rebalances its relations

Taipei Times

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, saying that the US was seeking stronger economic and military ties with India to balance an increasingly defiant China.

“The United States seeks constructive relations with China, but we will not shrink from China’s challenges to the rules-based order and where China subverts the sovereignty of neighboring countries and disadvantages the US and our friends,” he said.

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