Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The recent China visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is an important development. This is his second recent trip, the first one coming around the time of the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, believed to be Pyongyang’s doing.

During that visit, Kim obviously gave his own version of the incident, apparently absolving his country of any wrongdoing. China maintained neutrality on the issue, counseling both sides to maintain calm, which disappointed South Korea and the US, as they believed, on the basis of an investigation into the issue, that North Korea was responsible.

Engulfed in a string of alleged irregularities over its procurement plans and construction projects, the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo has seemingly become the Taipei City Government’s “Secret Garden,” blooming with dubious buds which have provided daily ammunition for the opposition’s criticism of what it sees as the city government’s incompetence and lack of integrity.

The daily bombardment from Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilors appears all too much for the city government to bear, as is evident by the latest move being considered by the city government: A plan to designate the expo sites as restricted areas.