Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Futility of reform in ‘dinosaur’ judiciary

Chin Heng-wei 金恒煒

Judges are supposed to uphold justice. They should be the last line of defense in the judicial system. It is surprising, then, that Taiwanese judges have come close to the bottom in the recently published Taiwan Social Trust Survey. This unfortunate fact is more than a warning. It is an absolute disgrace.

The fact that the judiciary has arrived at this sorry state of affairs is certainly not without reason. Huang Jui-hua (黃瑞華) recently resigned as president of the Yilan District Court to protest the manner in which court officials and members of the Judicial Yuan tend to close ranks. This is another example of how bad things are. One is forced to conclude that the judiciary is something of a lost cause.

US senators accuse PRC of hampering investigation

Taipei Times

Two US senators on Tuesday accused China of hampering a congressional probe into how counterfeit electronics end up in the US military supply chain by denying entry visas to investigators.

“I can’t say that I’m surprised, but I surely am disappointed and it’s not in their interest,” Democratic Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin told reporters. “I am disappointed that they don’t see that.”

“The United States and China are not destined to be adversaries. We have overlapping interests and this is actually one of them,” said Senator John McCain, the top Republican on Levin’s panel.

EU lawmakers send protest to WHO

Taipei Times

European lawmakers condemned the WHO in a letter of protest that accused the world body of undermining its own credibility when it referred to Taiwan as a province of China.

In a letter delivered to the head of the WHO, British MEP (EU lawmaker) Charles Tannock said he believed the body’s position on Taiwan to be “politically and morally flawed.”

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍), as a Chinese citizen, “risks calling into question [her] own personal impartiality and integrity” by terming Taiwan a part of China, Tannock wrote in a letter also signed by 20 other MEPs.

Anti-nuclear protest demands referendum on plant’s construction

Taipei Times

Upset about a NT$14 billion (US$485.5 million) budget to continue construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), that was passed by the legislature on Monday, anti--nuclear protesters yesterday rallied in front of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei to demand a referendum on the matter.

The rally organizer, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU), said the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant was a patchwork design assembled by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), and could threaten the health of people living in Taiwan.

TEPU attempted to submit a petition to the legislature yesterday, asking for the decision to allow operation of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant to be decided by public referendum, “but they won’t let us inside,” TEPU secretary-general Lee Cho-han (李卓翰) said.

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