Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Swiss Foreign Ministry “very worried” over situation in Tibet

Phayul.com

Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay with Swiss Member of Parliament and vice president of the Swiss Parliamentary Tibet group, Maya Graf in Zurich on November 21, 2011.

DHARAMSHALA, November 22: Senior government officials in Switzerland, including the Swiss Foreign Ministry have expressed concerns over the “desperate situation” inside Tibet following the spate of self-immolations by Tibetans in Tibet as well as in India and Nepal.

According to the official website of the Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration, the Swiss Foreign Ministry in a statement issued late Monday evening said that the self-immolations in Tibet and the desperation of the Tibetan people were “very worrying”.

Fear descends upon the elections

Taipei Times Editorial

Although it is too early to tell whether a telephone threat to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) presidential campaign office yesterday was the real deal, there are already indications that fear and intimidation could become an important ingredient in the January presidential election.

An unidentified man, who called twice, allegedly threatened to set Tsai’s office in Banciao (板橋), New Taipei City (新北市), ablaze. Tsai’s staff, who immediately called police, said it was the first time the office had received threatening calls.

Living in a world divided in half

Chang Kuo-tsai 張國財

Taiwan has a surface area of 36,000km2, on which 23 million people live. Difficult, perhaps, to imagine then that this modestly sized country incorporates two very different worlds. One is a world of leisure and enjoyment, the other a world of poverty and want.

Living in the first, one can enjoy a huge fireworks display to mark the centenary of the Republic of China (ROC) not so long after wandering around the Taipei International Flora Expo, and then from the fireworks display to the Dreamers (夢想家) extravaganza, and the inspirational, visual feast that was. And the cost? No need to worry about that. The NT$13.6 billion (US$449.67 million) spent on the expo, the NT$100 million up in smoke in one 20-minute fireworks show, the NT$215 million spent on four hours’ worth of performances spread over two nights for Dreamers, all came out of the public’s pocket. It was courtesy of the taxpayer. Were private individuals even asked to cough up?

Selling out Taiwan not an option for the US

Nat Bellocchi 白樂崎

Relations between Taiwan and the US are an important issue and are given serious thought by many in the US, in Taiwan and elsewhere. Most of these emphasize the shared values between the two countries, Taiwan’s ascendance to democracy or the country’s strategic value in the western Pacific.

We have also seen some irresponsible ideas floated, such as those by George Washington University professor Charles Glaser, who thinks that by reducing the US’ commitment to Taiwan, it could get China to be cooperative in other areas, such as Iran or North Korea. I have maintained that these arguments are short-sighted and uninformed.

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