Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Proof of government corruption

Chin Heng-wei 金恆煒

Is President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government corrupt? To answer this question, one need not resort to opinion polls, since there are academics in Taiwan conducting specialized research into this question. Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) teaches a political economy course at National Taiwan University (NTU), and the study of corruption is one of the specializations offered. To gauge corruption levels, Chen takes daily media reports of corruption cases and uses various methods to come up with empirical results. Any one who wants to know whether the Ma administration is corrupt can always ask Chen.

Soldier’s death is a wake-up call

Taipei Times Editorial

As if the Ministry of National Defense did not already have enough on its plate as it makes the fitful transition to an all-volunteer military system, the death of a 23-year-old soldier under mysterious circumstances on July 4 risks making the task of attracting recruits all the more onerous.

Army Corporal Hung Chung-chiu’s (洪仲丘) death in Taoyuan, from what the public is told was heat stroke, is a stark reminder of the risks that come with a job in the armed forces, as well as of the culture of violence that exists in military establishments the world over.

Ma wants Chinese colonialism

Liberty Times Editorial

Elementary-school students in Hong Kong recently received a student handbook about the territory’s Basic Law from school authorities. Yet in many places, the handbook is unrelated to the law. Instead it contains a wealth of patriotic material, including directing students to work for unification with Taiwan, claiming that it “is part of our sacred territory.”

Parents and Internet users have been fiercely critical of the Hong Kong government for, as they see it, using the Basic Law as a brainwashing tool. Some have even responded by calling Taiwan an independent country and not part of Chinese territory.

Integrity ought not be invoked in vain

Taipei Times Editorial

If President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) motto of “integrity is my life” — which he has publicly repeated numerous times — were to be taken literally, he would currently be on life support.

This year’s Global Corruption Barometer report, conducted by Transparency International, dealt a debilitating blow to Ma and his administration, with 35 percent of Taiwanese respondents reported as paying a bribe to the judiciary in the past 12 months.

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