Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Religious groups stunt growth of democracy

Andrew Cheng 鄭泰安

From the very outset, the upper echelons of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation’s management should have clearly defined its core mission: Does it exist to carry out charitable work or to promote religion? If the reason for raising funds from the public is for charitable work, then these donations should not be diverted for the promotion of religion, or used to construct “meditation halls” in every corner of Taiwan.

National free speech holiday proposed

Taipei Times

Free speech campaigner Deng Nan-jung is pictured in a screenshot taken yesterday of an image posted on Facebook to commemorate the 26th anniversary of his death.
Photo: Facebook screen grab

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pasuya Yao (姚文智) yesterday called on the government to establish April 7 as a national holiday to celebrate freedom of speech and commemorate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), who self-immolated 26 years ago to protest against the then-authoritarian Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime.

Deng’s freedom remains under attack

Taipei Times Editorial

Amid commemorations of democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), who self-immolated 26 years ago today in defense of the free expression of a desire for Taiwanese independence, it is important to reflect upon how free speech has been preserved in Taiwan since democratization.

The general perception remains strong that Taiwan protects the freedom of expression, but attention must be paid to disturbing developments that might translate into significant restrictions of the freedom.

Taiwan’s bottom line in Strait talks

Michael Hsiao 蕭新煌

On March 17, The Economist published an article entitled “China’s bottom line” that examined three high-ranking Chinese officials’ viewpoints on Taiwan as expressed in talks they gave at the annual session of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) early in March. The three are Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) and top political adviser and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee member Yu Zhengsheng (俞正聲).

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