Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

DHARAMSHALA, October 25: The Chinese Authorities are offering monetary reward for Tibetans who are willing to provide information on possible self-immolation.

According to US based Radio Free Asia, “Notices, dated October 21 and written in Tibetan and Chinese, have been posted in the Kanlho (in Chinese, Gannan) prefecture of China’s northwestern Gansu province,asking residents to assist police in preventing the self-immolations.”

Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) recently spoke on the Diaoyutais dispute and also gave up her NT$270,000 year-end bonus in the wake of the controversy over year-end bonuses for retired government employees. Lu’s actions won praise for setting an example for civil-service retirees, and her assertions and knowledge regarding the disputed islands were clear and admirable. However, it could be her efforts on an anti-nuclear referendum in New Taipei City (新北市) that go down in history as her most important legacy.

The New Taipei City Council’s passage of the Act Governing New Taipei Referendums (新北市公民投票自治條例) on June 25, the first referendum law at the local level in Taiwan, made it possible for residents to have a say on local matters via referendums.