Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Beautiful or not, lies are still far from truth

James Wang 王景弘

Perhaps it is because President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) team of officials tell too many lies that former Academia Historica president Lin Man-houng (林滿紅) felt it necessary to explain, during a question-and-answer session at the legislature, the difference between lies that are beautiful and ones that are not. She evidently thought this would help her keep her job. In the end, her own lies caught up with her when it was proven that she had signed an official document about an issue that she originally said she knew nothing about. Once she was found out, she had little choice but to step down.

Being able to tell “beautiful” lies and making oaths in a “high-class” manner are key to the Ma administration’s rule. Of course, the most skilled in the art of telling beautiful lies is none other than Ma himself.

Judge files appeal, alleges persecution

Taipei Times

Shilin District Court Chief Judge Hung Ying-hua (洪英花) yesterday filed an appeal with the Control Yuan, accusing Judicial Yuan President Rai Hau-min (賴浩敏) and Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Lin Ching-fang (林錦芳) of political persecution.

Hung filed the charges after she was deemed unfit to be a chief judge by an anonymous vote conducted by the Judicial Yuan’s review committee in June. The Judicial Yuan is scheduled to convene a meeting on Monday to decide whether Hung should be removed from her post.

Security overkill robs envoy, public

Taipei Times Editorial

To say the government went overboard in the scale of police presence to protect Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) would be an understatement. Even President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) doesn’t enjoy such overkill.

Chen was escorted out of the airport straight from the apron, with checkpoints and police squads deployed along the motorcade route leading to Taipei’s Grand Hotel. On a trip to the National Palace Museum, his motorcade included five police cars, three police vans and six luxury sedans, with walls of police officers deployed inside and outside of the museum. Museum Director Chou Kung-hsin (周功鑫) arranged a special tour for Chen and his wife, with exhibition areas cleared of other visitors.

Hong Kong support for Taiwan’s UN bid increases: poll

Taipei Times

More Hong Kong residents have become supportive of Taiwan’s efforts to rejoin the UN and fewer are now identifying as Chinese since Beijing authorities blocked imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) from accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, a new poll found.

A Hong Kong University poll conducted earlier this month found that 42 percent of the territory’s residents backed Taiwan’s bid to become a UN member, a 5 percent increase from similar polls in September.

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