Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Youth protesters pan rules for elections

Taipei Times

Young people outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday call for a constitutional amendment to cut the minimum ages for voting and standing for election from 20 and 23 respectively to 18.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

A group of people under the age of 23 yesterday called for an amendment to the Constitution to allow political participation by younger people and panned the electoral system for blocking the economically vulnerable from running for office by requiring a security deposit.

More than a score of young people, with an average age of 19, protested outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday against restrictions that they said discriminate against youth political participation by setting the minimum voting age at 20 and the minimum candidate age at 23.

Activist groups rally behind HK protesters

Taipei Times

Front row left to right, Taiwan Association for China Human Rights chairman Yang Hsien-hung, New School for Democracy chairman Wang Dan, Taiwan Society for Democracy president Ku Chung-hwa, Taiwan Friends of Uighurs chairman Paul Lin and Taiwan Labour Front secretary-general Son Yu-liam hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday calling for genuine universal suffrage in Hong Kong.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

Taiwanese civil rights organizations yesterday rallied behind the people of Hong Kong in their pursuit of universal suffrage in 2017, as China sets limits on the vote for the election of the territory’s leader.

Local groups initiated a signature drive to show their support for pro-democracy activists who on Sunday vowed “an era of civil disobedience” in protest against Beijing’s decision to reject open nominations for candidates in the territory’s first direct leadership election in 2017.

Su Beng’s update of banned book released

Taipei Times

Artist Chen Miao-ting, left, presents Taiwan independence advocate Su Beng with a portrait of himself at an official book signing of Su’s Modern History of Taiwanese in 400 Years in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

Hundreds of people crowded the small auditorium at National Taiwan University’s Alumni Center in Taipei yesterday to celebrate the release of a updated Chinese version of the Taiwan independence advocate Su Beng’s (史明) 1962 book Taiwan’s 400-Year History.

Once banned by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime during the Martial Law era, the book was considered a pioneer attempt to recount the nation’s history since the arrival of first wave of Han Chinese settlers, including a few chapters discussing Aboriginal society prior to Han Chinese settlement.

Ma’s dirty work stains China ties

Paul Lin 林保華

Despite the American Institute in Taiwan’s denials of US involvement in the case involving former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), the nature of the circumstances in which the allegations of leaking confidential information to China have emerged only makes sense if the US had played a crucial role.

Of course, countries involved in espionage do not go around broadcasting their clandestine actions unless they are, for example, trying to secure the release of an agent who has been caught. Given the circumstances, several questions have arisen.

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