Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan does need new constitution

Taipei Times Editorial

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) caused a stir the other day by saying something that to many people is blindingly obvious — Taiwan needs a new constitution.

What was of particular note about this news was not that Lee called for the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution to be scrapped, but that so few other politicians or former national leaders voiced support for his proposal.

Not even former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was able to successfully challenge the vaunted piece of fantasy that is the ROC Constitution.

Tsai takes on nuclear plant in policy initiative

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential contender Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) released her first major policy initiative yesterday, saying she intended to phase out operations of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.

Tsai’s policy would reverse the government’s long-term plan of relying more on nuclear energy to meet its target reductions in greenhouse emissions. It reflects heightened concerns about the industry among DPP politicians amid the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan.

What Arrogant Darkness Still Remains in the Hearts of Many KMT?

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

Who has not wondered at the twisted minds of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)? How they could easily inflict 2/28, the White Terror and Martial Law on Taiwanese simply because they wanted to maintain their one-party state? Who has not wondered at what arrogant darkness filled certain KMT hearts that they could order and sanction the high profile murders in the 1980s, Chen Wen-cheng, Henry Liu and especially the Lin family children? Who has not hoped that after Taiwan won its democracy, the KMT might finally have changed? Unfortunately arrogance dies hard, and even though the KMT can no longer openly insist on its sense of entitlement and privilege, the arrogance remains. It cannot remain hidden.

Alive and well? Look again

Jerome Keating

Dennis Hickey’s piece indicates that he may need to leave Missouri and get a little updating on what has been happening in Taiwan and Asia in the past decades (“ROC is alive and well in Taiwan,” March 21, page 8).

It is questionable that the world will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the revolution that “overthrew the Qing Dynasty and led to the establishment of the Republic of China [ROC].”

Certainly, the 1.3 billion people in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will celebrate on Oct. 1 — the anniversary of the PRC’s establishment — rather than the ROC’s Double Ten National Day on Oct. 10.

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