Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Reform not for use as smokescreen

Huang Kuo-chang 黃國昌

New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) — the sole candidate for chairperson of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — has championed constitutional reform since he made the announcement that he would run for the position.

His sudden outspoken inclination toward a parliamentary system is noteworthy. However, perhaps because he sensed the public’s strong aversion to giving up the right to directly elect the president, he has now changed his tune and is saying that the Constitution should be amended to allow the legislature to regain its right to approve the appointment of the premier and that the president’s authority should be restricted to matters of national defense, diplomacy and cross-strait relations.

Real threat of avian flu spreading to humans

Wong Ruey-hong 翁瑞宏

Avian influenza continues to spread. Following an outbreak of the H5N2 strain in Pingtung County, a new strain of H5N2 and an H5N8 strain that had never before been seen domestically have been found in central and southern Taiwan.

The Council of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said that the H5N2 subtype cannot be spread from animals to humans and that the virus does not have any negative effects on the human body.

Bold action on air routes urged

Taipei Times

SOURCE: CAA

Legislators across party lines yesterday said new flight routes announced by China are testing the nation’s bottom line and that peace across the Taiwan Strait will be difficult to keep if the government does not confront Beijing head on over the matter.

Time running out for Ma spin team

Jerome Keating

The flap over the Republic of China (ROC) flag-raising ceremony at the Twin Oaks Estate in Washington on Jan. 1 should have played out like Much Ado About Nothing. It should have been quickly handled and written off as a simple misunderstanding, a mere glitch in the ongoing relationship between Taiwan and the US.

That it took legs and escalated far beyond its merit into a week full of news replete with “he said, they said” accusations, denials and the inevitable posturing required by all sides, including China, indicates that it was symptomatic of the far deeper problems now facing President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.

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