Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Aborigines protest ROC repression

Taipei Times

While the government was staging a series of events to celebrate the Republic of China’s (ROC) centennial, dozens of Aborigines staged a demonstration in front of the Presidential Office early yesterday morning in which they accused the ROC government of repression and exploitation of the nation’s Aborigines.

Early in the morning yesterday, dozens of Aborigines — mostly Atayals from New Taipei City (新北市), Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan Counties as well as from Greater Taichung — gathered at Liberty Square in Taipei not long after a New Year’s flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Office ended and the crowd was walking away from Ketagalan Boulevard.

Ma is confused about Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen says

Taiwan Tati Cultural & Educational Foundation

In a New Year’s Day statement issued yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said she found it incomprehensible that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) seems confused as to the definition of the country he governs.

Saying that the land and people are the roots of a country, Tsai said that while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) prostrates itself before “power and rulers” and believes that “no Republic of China (ROC) means no Taiwan,” the DPP has faith in “this land and its people” and is of the opinion that “there would be no ROC if there were no Taiwan.”

Who will stay behind as Taiwan’s people flee?

Lee Min-yung 李敏勇

An 83-year-old Mainlander who could no longer stand to see his 79-year-old wife suffer from Parkinson’s disease is suspected of drugging her with sleeping pills and then hitting her on the head with a screwdriver and a hammer before finally calling the police after she died.

I am not sure how the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which runs Taiwan as a one-party state and is about to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China (ROC), feels about this. This government and those who fled to Taiwan together with former dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) ran it as a dictatorship during the Martial Law era through its privileged party, government and military officials. Those with power remain in Taiwan, while their family members emigrated to the US or other developed, democratic nations.

Propaganda or self-promotion?

Taipei Times Editorial

The government is making rampant use of embedded marketing, which includes advertorials, to promote the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). This is the main reason that veteran China Times reporter Huang Je-bing (黃哲斌) resigned in protest on Dec. 12, comparing the practice with propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party. Seasoned journalists and professors of communications have come out in droves against the practice, with more than 100 signing a petition calling on the government to stop the practice.

Some may ask what all the hubbub is about. Don’t all governments seek to promote themselves? That’s just a feature of party politics, right?

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