Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

ECFA overlooks human rights: watchdog group

Taipei Times

A watchdog organization yesterday accused the government of overlooking human rights and environmental issues while developing closer economic ties with China.

“At the very beginning of a trade agreement signed between the EU and South Korea, it was mentioned that the environment and human rights should be fully respected in trade relations,” Tseng Chao-ming (曾昭明), a member of Cross-Strait Agreement Watch and secretary-general of Corporate Social Responsibility Taiwan, told the forum. “Unfortunately, such issues are not mentioned at all in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) the government signed with China in June.”

TSU vows to go on after poll is rejected

Taipei Times

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday vowed to continue to push for a referendum on the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) after the Referendum Review Committee — for the second time — killed its proposal to let the public have a say on the recently signed cross-strait pact.

The committee yesterday rejected the TSU’s proposal in a 10 to two vote, saying the party failed to present a convincing argument.

KMT 'reconstruction' is ruining Taiwan's land

Taiwan News Editorial

On the eve of the first anniversary of the "August Eight Flood Disaster" triggered by Typhoon Morakot, over a thousand indigenous people from disaster areas in southern Taiwan held a dramatic "sleep-in" protest on Taipei's Ketagalan Boulevard to protest the drive of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) government to force them to leave their home villages and divide their communities.

After massive floods and landslides swept away over 700 lives, a public outcry over the manifest failure of the KMT government in carrying out the essential tasks of disaster rescue and relief with speed and effectiveness led to the resignation of ex-premier Liu Chao-hsuan and a precipitous plunge in the satisfaction ratings of Ma's approval ratings from which the president has yet to recover.

Taiwan’s key role in the South China Sea

Nat Bellocchi 白樂崎

During the past few weeks, China has significantly increased tension in East Asia by claiming “indisputable sovereignty” over the South China Sea. While claims and counterclaims by China and other nations in the region — in particular Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan — have existed for several decades, China’s recent aggressiveness and belligerence have put other countries on edge.

The most significant pushback came during the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting in Hanoi from July 22 to July 24, when 11 Asian nations plus the US expressed concern about China’s moves. In her statement, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called freedom of navigation on the sea a US “national interest,” and urged “a collaborative diplomatic process” by all claimants to resolve “the various territorial disputes without coercion.”

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