Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The biggest losers of the presidential campaign

James Wang 王景弘

Voters still haven’t gone to the ballot box, but the four great losers of the Jan. 14 elections are already appearing.

The biggest loser is Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如). Holding a doctorate from the University of Chicago, she has always succeeded in everything she does. With such a good background, one wonders why she had to get involved in crooked, underhanded political attacks by attempting to frame opponents using forged documents. It is all too clear that she has ulterior motives and in an instant, she has destroyed the good reputation and goodwill she has spent a lifetime building.

The United States Once Again Meddles in Taiwan's Democratic Elections

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

It is a shame that despite protestations of neutrality, someone or someones in the United States executive office once again are trying to meddle in the presidential elections of Taiwan. Since Taiwan is a democracy, this makes such meddling all the more shameful.

Accountability key to democracy

Hsia Hsiao-chuan 夏曉鵑

For the past two years, protests against land expropriation have occurred across Taiwan. The wave of discontent and questions has taken aim at what is seen as the inferiority and unsuitability of the Land Expropriation Act (土地徵收條例), which led to a recent amendment by the legislature. However, the amended law will not put an end to the controversy, it will add to it.

The public have long made forceful demands for the protection of designated agricultural zones, but because of major infrastructure projects approved by the Cabinet, among other reasons, these areas can still be developed at will.

Taiwanese democracy, Stalin-style

Joseph Wu 吳釗燮

Since ITS first democratic presidential election in 1996, Taiwan has been praised by the international community as a “beacon of democracy to be emulated by other Asian countries.”

Those were the words used by the White House in March 2008 to congratulate the Taiwanese people for having another open, fair and free presidential election. As Taiwan’s representative in Washington, I was very proud to hear those words, even though I sadly had to leave that government position because my party had lost the election.

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