Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Biden visit gives Ma a double slap in the face

James Wang 王景弘

For the most part, fans of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) continue to blindly admire him no matter what happens. They only stop short of shouting “long live our heroic leader,” as people did in the bad old days of dictatorship. Ma says that Taiwan’s relations with the US are better than ever, that relations across the Taiwan Strait are more harmonious than ever, and that “the other side of the Strait” (read: China) has shown Taiwan lots of “goodwill.” He tells us that all is well and his faithful followers believe every word of it.

It is ironic that US Vice President Joe Biden has chosen today as his date of arrival in Beijing for his current visit to China. The timing is like a double slap in the face for Ma — one slap from Washington and another from Beijing.

Former president Chen urges DPP to be aggressive

Taipei Times

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been advised by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to reverse a recent slide in public opinion polls by becoming assertive and aggressive, which he said would help the party’s prospects of victory in next year’s presidential election.

“The struggle of DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in recent polls should serve as a warning about her campaign strategy,” Chen, who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year jail sentence for corruption and money laundering, wrote in an article published yesterday.

In opinion polls conducted by the DPP, Tsai’s lead over her main opponent in January’s presidential election, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), slid from 7.5 percent in late April to 0.2 percent last month

More than Staying in the Game: Can Soong Think Beyond Himself?

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

James Soong has not been treated kindly by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). True, he did not completely follow the party's procedures of hierarchy and privilege, but in the year 2000 if they had chosen him to be their presidential candidate, instead of the loser Lien Chan, he could have guaranteed them eight consecutive years of the presidency. Still, the KMT stuck with the loser, and as a result, Soong broke ranks and ran as an independent. Against those odds, he still almost won. That is water under the bridge. But now as the 2012 elections approach and the whispers of "Dump Ma to Save Taiwan" are growing louder even in the pan-blue camp, Soong has a new chance and needs to carefully assess his strategy and goals. Does he want to simply stay in the game? Does he want to be a player? Or does he want to do something good, not for the hollow shell of the Republic of China (ROC), but for Taiwan? The latter is possible, but is Soong up to it?

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.

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