Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Tibetan monk burns himself to death in eastern Tibet

Tendar Tsering

Tsewang Norbu in an undated photo. Protesting Chinese rule in Tibet, Tsewang Norbu burned himself to death on August 15, 2011. (Photo/Free Tibet)

DHARAMSHALA, August, 15: Tsewang Norbu, a 29-year old Tibetan monk from Nyitso monastery in Kham Kardze, eastern Tibet died today after setting himself on fire to protest Chinese rule in Tibet.

At around 12.30 Tibetan local time, Tsewang Norbu started raising slogans at the Chume Bridge in the centre of Tawu, Kardze calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet. Around 10 minutes later, Tsewang Norbu drank petrol, doused himself with petrol and set himself on fire.

Attributing blame for the F-16 fiasco

Taipei Times Editorial

“We are so disappointed in the United States,” a Taiwanese defense official said over the weekend, reacting to confirmation that Taipei would not be sold the F-16C/D aircraft it has been seeking from the US since 2007.

While the sense of disappointment with Washington is perfectly understandable, another actor in the saga deserves equal condemnation, if not more: the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). It was the KMT, enjoying a majority in the legislature during then--president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration, that blocked the budgets that would have allowed Taiwan to continue modernizing its armed forces.

Pakistan let China peruse crashed US ‘stealth’ helicopter

Taipei Times

Pakistan gave China access to the previously unknown US “stealth” helicopter that crashed during the commando raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May despite explicit requests from the CIA not to, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The disclosure, if confirmed, is likely to further shake the US-Pakistan relationship, which has been improving slightly after hitting its lowest point in decades following the killing of bin Laden.

During the raid, one of two modified Blackhawk helicopters, believed to employ unknown stealth capability, malfunctioned and crashed, forcing the commandos to abandon it.

Geography is not fate; Taiwan still has options

Nat Bellocchi 白樂崎

Over the past few months, we have seen several articles by US academics advocating that the US back away from its commitments to Taiwan (Charles Glaser, et al) and others who suggested that the US “rethink” its relations with Taiwan. I have taken strong issue with these suggestions (“Charles Glaser’s fallacious arguments,” March 7, page 8 and “There’s no need for US to ‘rethink’ on Taiwan,” April 14, page 8).

Now comes Bob Sutter, of George Washington University, who argues that Taiwan’s freedom of action is diminishing, as Taiwan has gravitated into China’s orbit because of three sets of factors: one, China’s rise and its ever-growing economic, military and political leverage over Taiwan; two, Taiwan’s relative weakness as a result of its decreasing importance and its internal divisions; and three, eroding US support.

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