Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan Political Prisoner Report, January 14, 2013. Chen Tan-sun, also known as Mark Chen, agreed to talk about Chen Shui-bian’s case. We met in the cafeteria of the legislative office building where Mark Chen’s office is located.

Mark Chen was blunt about what has happened and who is responsible: “China is the major factor behind what Ma is doing. Ma obviously listens to China and so China, under Hu Jintao, was putting the line, even directions, to Ma Ying-jeou. Because, if you study the Chinese history, the so-called Kuomintang, which is Ma Ying-jeou’s party, and the Communist Party, they were brothers way back in China.”

DHARAMSHALA, January 15: In new military directives issued by the Chinese government for the year 2013, the largest army in the world has been told to prepare for war and bolster its ability to win a battle based on rigorous training on an actual combat basis.

The directive was made public in a military newspaper, People's Liberation Army Daily, which referred to a training blueprint issued by the PLA's Department of the General Staff for the entire force. The directive comes amid heightened tensions between China and Japan over territorial disputes in the East China Sea.