Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

As the World Turns: Taiwan Politics and China

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

Ma Ying-jeou and his election campaign team are trying to lesson the DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen about what is the proper way to advertise oneself to the electorate. Tsai had declared that she was Taiwanese indicating that she would definitely be for Taiwan if elected and having to negotiate with China on numerous matters. Ma's team objected and cried that Tsai was being devisive by saying that she was Taiwanese when running for President of Taiwan. Say what? Should we go through that once again?

Ma's team instructed the proper way was to follow him. First Ma said he was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor in blood--that is a big claim; I have seen long geneologies but this one would have to go way past 2000 years.

Too little done for victims of White Terror: activists

Taipei Times

The government has done too little for victims of the White Terror era and Taiwanese tend to forget about what their forebears had to sacrifice for democracy, academics and former political prisoners said yesterday.

The government should establish a task force to explore, collect and manage information on all political cases during the White Terror era, the group said at a press conference announcing the launch of an online database of political prisoners and victims from 1945 to 1987.

The White Terror era began after the 228 Incident, when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government launched a brutal military crackdown against people protesting the administration of then-executive administrator Chen Yi (陳儀). During the White Terror era, the KMT government killed tens of thousands of suspected dissidents, many intellectuals and members of the social elite.

Ma nervous about being Taiwanese

Taipei Times Editorial

Can people from Taiwan call themselves Taiwanese? The answer appears to be no, judging by the flood of criticism leveled by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election campaign and pan-blue groups at Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) after she recently unveiled the televised campaign slogan: “I am Taiwanese.”

In an immediate response to Tsai’s slogan, Ma campaign office spokesman Yin Wei (殷偉) accused Tsai of resorting to “Taiwanese rhetoric,” an electioneering tactic he said was no different from tactics used by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Afterward, pro-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) media published a slew of articles accusing Tsai’s campaign of “giving people the creeps” and “appealing to people’s shallow sentiments, while depriving them of reason and thought.”

Doubts raised over Biden-China report

Taipei Times

Doubts were being cast on reports this week that US Vice President Joe Biden would assure Beijing during his visit next month that the US would not sell F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan.

While refusing to comment directly on the reports, a source close to US President Barack Obama’s administration said that just a few days ago the US Department of State had confirmed that “no decision” had been made on whether to sell the aircraft to Taiwan.

“That has not changed,” the source said.

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