Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

China’s docks can aid invasion: report

Taipei Times

The Chinese navy has commissioned three new amphibious transport docks over the past few years that could improve Beijing’s ability to seize and hold Taiwan’s outlying islands.

According to a report to be unveiled by the US House Armed Services Committee yesterday, each of the docks can carry a mix of air-cushion landing craft, amphibious armored vehicles, helicopters and marines.

Nevertheless, the report says that “at this time” China does not appear to be pursuing the amphibious capabilities necessary to conduct a large-scale invasion of Taiwan.

MOEA’s ‘trade ploy’ criticized

Taipei Times

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has opened a “back door” for Chinese investment to be exempt from restrictions in the planned free economic pilot zones (FEPZs) before the zones are established and the cross-strait service trade agreement clears the legislature, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday.

“It is illegal. It is like a false start in the 100 meter dash,” DPP Legislator Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) told a press conference.

DPP US representative pleas for independence

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) made an impassioned plea for Taiwan independence at a Thanksgiving banquet in the US on Saturday.

Echoing the words of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, he said that he had “a dream” that Taiwan would be regarded as an equal by the international community.

Wu said that even though Taiwan is a democracy it still suffers from segregation and international discrimination and has not been able to join international organizations such as the UN.

KMT charter now anti-democratic

Frank Hsieh 謝長廷

Of the many resolutions passed at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) 19th National Congress, none drew more attention than an amendment to the party’s charter that links the KMT chairmanship to the office of the nation’s president so that any KMT head of state will automatically double as chairman.

The consensus among the public is that this amendment was tailor-made by the KMT Central Standing Committee for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, since it ensures that he no longer needs to be concerned about being ousted as party leader if the KMT suffers significant losses during the mayoral and county commissioner elections at the end of next year.

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