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Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Ma Ying-jeou's Cabinet Reshuffle: Ah-Q's Last Stand?

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou has barely begun his second term as president; yet already he seems to be circling the wagons in a hopeful last-ditch defensive effort to fulfill a final fantasy. It is true that there have been warning signs and indications that popular confidence in him achieving anything was on the wane. His re-election figures certainly told part of the story. In 2008, his margin of victory was by 2, 213, 485 votes; in 2012 after four years of lackluster performance his 2 million plus victory margin votes had dropped to 797,561 votes (327, 973 if one would add James Soong's votes to the opposition). Following that his post election approval ratings have continued to sink down to the embarrassing range of 15 per cent and lower. All these should be signs that he needs to switch gears and work together with the opposition and not isolate himself. Instead he has chosen the opposite path and resorted to new, desperate and unusual measures in his cabinet reshuffle.

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Emperor fiddling as Taiwan burns

“Incompetent” and “arrogant” have often been used by critics to describe President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in light of his poor governance. However, in view of his administration’s recent personnel reshuffle, it seems “selfish” could also be added to the list of adjectives, given that Ma appears more interested in “leaving a legacy” than in tackling the nation’s economic woes.

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Chen Shui-bian has slight fever, son says


Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Tain-tsair, second left, cheers supporters of former president Chen Shui-bian as they deliver a petition for medical parole to the Ministry of Justice in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: CNA

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had a slight fever which could be related to an infection, his son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), said yesterday.

Chen Chih-chung broke the news in a Facebook post, saying the cause behind his father’s illness has yet to be determined, but it could be related to a urinary tract infection.

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Choice of diplomatic rookies all due to King

When President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) appointed the 43-year-old Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) to head the Mainland Affairs Council, there wasan uproar. It was not a matter of his age, but of his experience, or lack thereof. Wang is a rookie, with no experience in foreign relations and no experience in dealing with China. One could even make the case that he lacks any practical political experience whatsoever. And yet now he has been propelled, in a single bound, into a key position in China relations. It’s difficult to know where to start in describing such a decision.

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Newsflash


Office of Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence Deputy Chief Yang Ching gives a briefing at the Ministry of National Defense in Taipei last night.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

The Ministry of National Defense yesterday criticized the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for holding a joint naval-air exercise 90 nautical miles (166km) off the coast of Taiwan, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the global community to squarely face up to the threat posed by China.