Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Farmers poor in Ma’s fruit kingdom

Taipei Times Editorial

Amid the ongoing wrangle between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) over the price of persimmons and other fruits, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Tuesday visited a traditional market in Greater Taichung to demonstrate his concern about the issue.

At the market, Ma bought about 5,000kg of persimmons as a gesture of support for the farmers, as well as to counter the DPP’s claim that fruit prices have plummeted.

A new Cold War looms in East Asia

Taipei Times Editorial

Australian Minister for Defence Stephen Smith last week announced that Canberra would “seriously” consider the possibility of holding trilateral military exercises with China and the US; a move that, in a perfect world, would probably make sense.

However, the world is far from perfect, and Smith’s idea, which Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono purportedly raised with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the ASEAN summit in Bali the week before, fails to take current realities into account.

2012 ELECTIONS: Group calls on lawmakers to change Referendum Act

Taipei Times

Members of People Masters walk past the entrance to Liberty Square in Taipei yesterday at the launch of a campaign urging legislative candidates to push for revisions to the Referendum Act if elected.

Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

People Masters, a civic group advocating amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), yesterday launched a campaign urging legislative candidates to promise to push for revisions to the law if elected.

Wearing traditional hats made of bamboo leaves and T-shirts with the words “People are Masters,” about 100 volunteers from the organization gathered at Liberty Square in Taipei to go through a brief training session before departing for a march around the city to hand out fliers.

Avoid the China trap, recognize Taiwan

Russell Hsiao

The chorus of opinion leaders and pundits in the US calling for Washington’s “abandonment” of Taiwan is getting louder, a symptom of a growing, but false, perception in the US that China holds the key to all of Washington’s problems. This is not only a dangerous misreading of Beijing’s intentions, but also reflects a lack of public understanding about Taiwan’s sovereign status.

Unification — by force if necessary — with Taiwan is a top priority for Beijing.

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