Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Ma Ying-jeou's Leadership by Platitudes, Confucius and the MOE

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

Jason Hu's lax leadership may finally be catching up with him in Taichung but in another side of the nation state of Taiwan we see the repercussions of Ma Ying-jeou's leadership by platitudes. Faced with problems of widespread bullying, drug use and gang problems in the nation's high schools, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has come up with a suspect placebo cure, have the students read Confucius.

Yes, you heard that correctly, the MOE is cuing off of Mr. Ma. When faced with a problem, don't analyze it and get your hands dirty in working out a gritty solution, instead solve it by uttering a platitude.

Abandoning Taiwan defies reason

Chihmei Lin Chen 林智美

While it is obvious that an arms race between superpowers should not be encouraged, it is paradoxical for Charles Glaser to suggest in his recent article in Foreign Affairs that China’s rise would not force the US and China into conflict, and the only “challenge for the United States will come in making adjustments to its policies in situations in which less-than-vital interests [such as Taiwan] might cause problems.”

It is also short-sighted for Glaser to conclude that if the US makes “uncomfortable concessions” and considers backing away from its commitment to Taiwan, it would not ultimately affect the US’ alliance with Japan and South Korea and the stability of Northeast Asia.

Getting Real About Taiwan

James Holmes & Toshi Yoshihara

Bartering Taiwan for better ties with China is a mistake. Ambitious powers see such concessions as an appetizer, not dessert.

Writing off Taiwan for the sake of Sino-American amity probably qualifies as optimism of a kind—unless you have the misfortune to actually live on the island. Writing in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, George Washington University Prof. Charles Glaser maintains that to date, ‘the China debate among international relations theorists has pitted optimistic liberals against pessimistic realists.’ The former, he says, believe today’s liberal international order can accommodate China’s rise, building on economic interdependence. The latter point to China’s mounting economic and military strength, prophesying that power will impel Beijing ‘to pursue its interests more assertively, which will in turn lead the United States and other countries to balance against it.’

Tar and feathers on Ma for killings

Taipei Times Editorial

For an administration that has bought into the concept of “soft power,” President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) Cabinet shot itself in the foot on Friday by executing five death-row inmates, bringing the number of state executions in the past year to nine.

The government defended its action by repeating its claim that while it hopes to eventually abolish the death penalty, public sentiment favors retaining it. In other words, the administration is not guilty. Its hands were tied and, champion of democracy that it is, it had no choice but to listen to the public, even if it meant joining the ranks of the few “rogue” states that continue to defy the global trend toward abolition of capital punishment.

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