Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

 
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Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Too little done for victims of White Terror: activists

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.

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Ma nervous about being Taiwanese

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.”

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Doubts raised over Biden-China report

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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The limits of exclusion

Election fever is slowly descending upon Taiwan, promising excitement as contrasts and divisions become more salient between and within parties. The birth of a new political party over the weekend, whose main objective is the creation of a new country, will add to that febrility.

Although the arrival of a new party is a welcome development in a pluralistic democracy like Taiwan, it is important that we closely scrutinize its ideology to ensure that it does not deviate too much from the ideals that buttress our society.

Announcing its formation on Sunday, the Taiwanese National Party (TNP) left no doubt that its raison d’etre centered on a hardened nationalistic stance vis-a-vis China. Given Beijing’s unyielding claims to Taiwan, added to fears that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration is being too “soft” on China, it is not surprising that, with elections looming, we would see the emergence of more hard-line rhetoric.

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Newsflash

Charred body of Dhondup

DHARAMSHALA, October 22: In less than 48 hours of the self immolation of Lhamo Kyab on Saturday in Sangchu county, another Tibetan man from the same county has set himself on fire earlier today in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet.

Sonam, a monk of Drepung Monastery in South India, said Dhondup, 61, of Hor Khagya (spelled as pronounced) set himself ablaze at 9:47 am (local time) on the main road near Labrang Monastery in Sangchu County, Eastern Tibet. He became the oldest Tibetan from Tibet to end his life due to self-immolation.