Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Ma waging war on media, pundit says

Taipei Times

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has led Taiwan back to an era of “Soft White Terror” by bringing the media in Taiwan to its knees, political pundit Nan Fang Shuo (南方朔) said yesterday, adding: “I am a victim.”

Nan Fang Shuo told the Taipei Times by telephone yesterday that the Chinese-language China Times has lied about why it declined to run his column on Sept. 17 when the newspaper explained to Hong Kong’s Ming Pao over its rejection of the article.

From Confucius to "Animal Farm," the Hong Kong and Taiwan Experience

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

For many in Asia, the year 1997 was a memorable year--one that seems like it was only yesterday. It was the year when the United Kingdom (UK) "returned" Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It was a festive time and many went to Hong Kong just to say they were present at the handover event. To add to the festivity, the rulers of the PRC, a government, which did not exist when the UK and the Manchu Qing made their original agreement, promised the people of Hong Kong that in twenty years time they would have universal suffrage. All was well and good. However, now as the year 2017 draws nigh, not only have the festivities died down but they have been replaced by doubt, discontent and protests.In the aftermath, the looming falsity of that PRC promise has taken on far greater proportions and a showdown is building. It is a showdown, which regardless of the outcome, is full of implications not only for the people of Hong Kong but also for all people in the region including Taiwan.

Media and Ma get interviews wrong

Liberty Times Editorial

In countries with a presidential system, it is common for the president to appear on television to deliver speeches and explain policies. The ways in which these appearances are conducted differ according to the needs of the time.

Sometimes, these are one-way exchanges of information in which the president gives a single speech that is broadcast on the various TV stations.

Sometimes, the president will be interviewed, responding to misunderstandings and doubts the public may have by answering questions. This is when it is key for the media to show professionalism. For viewers of these TV appearances, media professionalism is as important as the president’s sincereity in his answers.

Trade pact a ‘Trojan horse’: Taiwan Society

Taipei Times

The Taiwan Society holds a press conference in Taipei yesterday to launch a book about the cross-strait service trade agreement.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times

The cross-strait service trade agreement is part of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “triangle policy” toward eventual unification with China and should not have been signed, a pro-independence advocacy group said yesterday.

“We believe that the agreement, along with the ‘one China’ principle, and a meeting between Ma and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), form a triangle policy of Ma’s goal of eventual unification,” former presidential advisor Huang Tien-ling (黃天麟) wrote in a booklet published by the Taiwan Society.

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