Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Ma hails ‘Taiwan Province’-Texas ties

Taipei Times

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) referred to Taiwan as a “province” yesterday while describing the sister-state relationship between Taiwan and Texas, rekindling the controversial issue of his perception of Taiwan’s status.

Ma told Texas Governor Rick Perry during a meeting at the Presidential Office that the country’s relationship with Texas was a close one.

PRC aims to cut off U.S. arms to Taiwan

Taiwan News Editorial

Former American Institute in Taiwan chairman Richard Bush pointed to the essential dilemma in cross-strait relations last week when he questioned why Beijing is still deploying missiles to threaten Taiwan despite the "reconciliation" policy of President Ma Ying-jeou and his Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) government.

Unfortunately, Bush, now director for East Asian policy studies at the Brookings Institution, failed to note that it is precisely the capitulationist nature of the KMT's "reconciliation" with the Chinese Communist Party that has placed Taiwan in an increasingly unfavorable position in dealings with the PRC. The KMT has been conducting negotiations with its former bitter rival since KMT honorary chairman Lien Chan embarked on a kowtowing visit to CCP General Secretary and PRC State Chairman Hu Jintao in Beijing in April 2005 and Ma has made the "reconciliation" and an unilateral "diplomatic truce" official policy since taking office in May 2008.

High Court extends former president’s period of custody

Taipei Times

The Taiwan High Court yesterday extended former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) detention by two months on the grounds that he may flee the country if released.

The ruling dashed his family’s hopes that Chen, whose current detention order expires on Wednesday, would be released following their request to Swiss banking authorities that money be sent to a bank account designated by the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. Taiwan High Court judge Teng Chen-chiu (鄧振球) has previously said the move could enhance the chances of the former president being released.

Workers in China will stand up for their rights

James Wang 王景弘

When people talk about “bearing a cross,” they usually mean being oppressed, going to jail and suffering physical torment, so it’s surprising to hear a Taiwanese tycoon who lives in luxury and flies in a private plane saying he is “bearing a cross” because some employees at his factories in China have killed themselves. Even if he is as upset as he claims, the phrase is poorly chosen. If those workers could enjoy even 1 percent of the tycoon’s daily comforts, they probably wouldn’t want to jump off roofs.

Living in luxury and bearing crosses — this strange combination highlights how businesses investing in China are entangled in a heartless and contradictory world. On the one hand, these employers provide impoverished Chinese with employment opportunities, while on the other they rely on the Chinese government’s repressive policies to help them exploit the workers and amass great wealth for themselves.

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