Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

HK, Tibet have lessons for Taiwan

Taipei Times Editorial

The recent repression by Beijing of Hong Kongers’ campaign for authentic democracy is in stark contrast to the seemingly friendly and tolerant attitude that it shows toward Taiwan, and what is happening in Hong Kong may be a lesson for Taiwanese.

Last week, amid mounting calls for direct democratic elections for the special administrative region’s chief executive, cyberattacks from China — allegedly mobilized by the government — paralyzed the Web site of the Hong Kong-based Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper, as well as an online voting post set up by pro-democracy activists.

Reliance on China makes Taiwan vulnerable: Clinton

Taipei Times

Former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton said the government’s push for closer cross-strait ties could lead to Taiwan losing its economic and political independence and becoming vulnerable to over-reliance on China, according to an interview in the next edition of the Chinese-language magazine Business Weekly.

Widely expected to make a run in the 2016 US presidential election, Clinton made her position on the Taiwan-China relationship clear in the interview, which was conducted in Los Angeles on Thursday last week.

Hong Kongers defy Beijing, cast votes in ‘illegal’ referendum

Taipei Times

Hong Kongers cast ballots in an unofficial referendum on democratic reform yesterday, as booths opened across the territory in a poll that has enraged Beijing and drawn nearly 650,000 votes since it opened online.

Tensions are growing in the former British colony over the future of its electoral system, with residents making increasingly vocal calls to be able to choose who can run for the post of chief executive.

Students to mark pact’s anniversary

Taipei Times

Leaders of student groups and other activists hold a press conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday to announce plans for an event outside the legislature compound tomorrow evening to mark the one-year anniversary of the signing of the cross-strait service trade agreement.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

Several student groups are planning to mark the one-year anniversary of the signing of the cross-strait service trade agreement with an event aimed at warning the government against another attempt to push through controversial bills during the Legislative Yuan’s current extra session.

The service trade agreement was signed in Shanghai on June 21 last year.

The deal had sparked strong objections even before the pact was signed and eventually led to a three-week occupation of the legislature’s main chamber earlier this year after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) tried to rush the pact through the review process.

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