Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Most works on Taiwan try to fit the many aspects of its diverse past under one roof, too often ending up belittling one, championing another and cheating a third in that effort. Even if they claim or pledge neutrality and a pervasive ambition to cover all, to a close reader their rhetoric eventually betrays them. This tetralogy presents four crucial perspectives needed in approaching and understanding Taiwan; it may raise more questions than it answers but in its effort, it points directly to areas that cannot be ignored. It comes not only from reading and research but from having lived for over two decades in Taiwan and simply yet constantly and critically watching and integrating how too often actions and results speak louder than words. This includes a look at those who hold wealth, position and power in Taiwan, how they got it, and why the playing field of Taiwan's democracy is still not level.

After it was revealed that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) had praised the Taipei City Government for hosing down a park in Wanhua District (萬華) to drive our homeless people — not quite the Christmas spirit — her comments and the issue of homeless people has set off intense public debate. While many have said that spraying the park with water on a cold winter evening displays a cruel lack of humanity, Ying does not, in fact, lack compassion — she has long worked for the welfare of prison inmates and is a board member of an animal protection association.