Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

US needs to speak up on Taiwan

Alexander Young

It is commendable that US President Barack Obama pressed Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on human rights during Hu’s recent visit to the US, compelling him to state China’s commitment to human rights even as the two countries have different national circumstances.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the new chairwoman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, is to be praised for personally pressing Hu to improve “China’s deplorable human rights situation.”

Dangerous diplomatic precedent set

Taipei Times Editorial

The Philippine government’s decision last week to abide by a request from Beijing and extradite 14 Taiwanese to China — despite a request by Taipei not to do so — is a situation that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration will have to handle with care.

The precedent set by Manila is a clear example of the difficult environment Taiwan continues to navigate despite improving relations across the Taiwan Strait. It highlights yet again the willingness of regional states beholden to Chinese money to toe the line on Beijing’s “one China” policy.

WikiLeaks cable from London talks about Taiwan and New Zealand

Michael Richardson

A new WikiLeaks release of diplomatic cables includes one from the United States Embassy in London to the State Department in Washington, D.C. The November 13, 2008 transmittal was marked CONFIDENTIAL by Acting Political Counselor Jim Donegon.

The confidential cable summarized an informal meeting of Africa Watchers, a group consisting of diplomatic staff from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. The occasion was an embassy-hosted seminar on China-Africa relations.

Taiwan to review ties with the Philippines

Taipei Times

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would “seriously review the current exchanges and ties between Taiwan and the Philippines” after Manila deported 14 Taiwanese to China instead of to Taiwan.

Lawmakers are demanding that the nation’s representative to Manila be recalled to express Taiwan’s dissatisfaction with the Philippines’ handling of the deportation issue, but Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) said only that “all possible options are under consideration,” the Central News Agency said.

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