Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Three days after a review committee rejected its proposal to hold a referendum on the government’s proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, an increasingly angry Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday issued a statement asking members of the committee to apologize and revisit their decision.

“The Referendum Review Committee must publicly apologize within three days and reopen their deliberations or the TSU will be suing [committee members that voted against the proposal] for ­misconduct and exceeding their authority,” the statement quoted TSU Chairperson Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) as saying.

The truth behind the recent spate of suicides at Foxconn plants in China remains unclear because Beijing has worked hard to distract attention from the issue. However, the effects of the suicides cannot be underestimated, as they may yet give impetus to the moribund Chinese labor movement.

As a result, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Propaganda Department has ordered local media outlets to refrain from reporting on the issue without prior permission. This is a missed opportunity.