Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Su Jia-chyuan tapped as Tsai’s VP mate

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) ended months-long speculation yesterday, announcing DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) as her running mate for next year’s presidential election.

Su said he is ready to tackle the challenge with his political experience and the “excellent chemistry” he has with Tsai, as the pair had led the DPP’s recovery from a landslide loss in the 2008 presidential election.

The Tsai-Su ticket will challenge President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is running for re-election, in what public opinion polls show could be a neck-and-neck race. Ma of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) announced on June 19 that he would pair up with Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) for the January poll.

WIKILEAKS: China using ECFA to push unification

Taipei Times

Following repeated pledges by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) that there would be no political ramifications to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China, US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show that Beijing intends to use deepening economic relations with Taiwan as a means to start political negotiations.

In a cable dated Jan. 6 last year from the US embassy in Beijing, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Vice Secretary-General Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光), who had just concluded the fourth round of ECFA talks with the Straits Exchange Foundation in Taichung, said during a meeting with the US acting deputy chief of mission, Robert Goldberg, on Dec. 29, 2009, that deepening economic relations would “inevitably lead to more complicated political issues.”

Leaked cables cast doubt on president’s WHA claims

Taipei Times

Leaked US cables cast doubt on statements made by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration that Taiwan’s presence at the World Health Assembly (WHA) was a result of direct communication with the WHO and that Taiwan’s designation as “Chinese Taipei” was acceptable and did not infringe on Taiwanese sovereignty.

Instead, the cables released by WikiLeaks suggest Beijing’s heavy involvement in the matter, with its insistence that Taiwan’s international participation be based on the “one China” principle.

For three consecutive years since 2009, Taiwan has taken part in the annual WHA meeting as an observer under the name “Chinese Taipei.” While Ma’s government has hailed the participation in the WHA as a major diplomatic achievement, it has been clouded by accusations that it has eroded Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Taiwan’s bizarre politics get weirder

Lu Shih-hsiang 盧世祥

The debate over the so-called “1992 consensus” is becoming increasingly bizarre, giving us a picture of the perpetual oddity we call Taiwanese politics, which always gets a tad more odd during elections.

Since a controversy has arisen about the validity of the so-called “1992 consensus,” you would expect those saying that it is indeed valid to provide some sort of evidence to back up their claims. All they have to do is show us a document or some sort of proof that verifies the existence of such a consensus. However, in a completely preposterous way, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his followers trumpet on with the utmost certainty about its validity, yet fail to provide any concrete evidence whatsoever.

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