Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Groups urge safety protection in deals

Taipei Times

Activists chant slogans while holding placards, calling for the rights of Taiwanese businessmen in China not to be ignored, during a demonstration outside a building where Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung briefed reporters on the new round of high-level talks with his Chinese counterpart Chen Yunlin in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Mandy CHENG, AFP

Human rights groups yesterday protested in front of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) headquarters in Taipei, urging officials to include personal safety on the agenda of the next round of talks with China that begin tomorrow and calling for the immediate release of Bruce Chung (鍾鼎邦), a Taiwanese businessman and Falun Gong practitioner who has been detained in China for more than 50 days.

The eighth meeting between the foundation and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits is to be held in Taipei from today until Friday. An investment protection agreement and a customs cooperation agreement are expected to be signed during the meeting.

Breaking: Reports of another self-immolation in Tibet

Phayul.com

DHARAMSHALA, August 6: There are reports of yet another self-immolation protest in Tibet as the fiery wave continues to burn across the Tibetan plateau.

Various sources in exile are confirming today’s self-immolation protest by a Tibetan in the beleaguered Ngaba region of eastern Tibet.

As of now, there are no details available on the identity of the self-immolator.

US should heed Huntman’s advice

Nat Bellocchi 白樂崎

I was struck by the juxtaposition of two articles in the Taipei Times a few days ago explaining the different mindsets of former US officials regarding the relationship with Beijing. In one article, former US ambassador to Beijing Jon Huntsman was quoted as saying that in its dealings with China the US “should be unafraid to articulate our values of liberty, democracy, human rights and a free market,” it will be stronger to do so and regret it when it does not (“US must rely on its values to face China: Huntsman,” July 19, page 3). Huntsman, who has lived in Taiwan, stated that Taiwan’s strengths are its people, its free society and its commitments to values.

Time to end these futile charades

Jerome Keating

There are charades and then there are charades. So too there are pretentions and then there are pretentions.

While political, economic and even social necessities often dictate that nations and their people are periodically involved in some form of political charade and pretention, there also comes a time when those nations say: “Enough is enough; this is becoming ridiculous.”

That is what recently happened at the Olympics in London in what could be called the Regent Street Affair.

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