Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan Voters Prove They are not Sheep

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

On Saturday, September 26, Taiwan voters made a statement; it was simple, but it was direct and to the point. They said, we are not sheep; don't expect us to follow all the old patterns; don't think you can always buy our votes; don't think big advertising campaigns will always sway us. Taiwan voters once again proved that Taiwan is a democracy and people can vote their minds' unlike that other country that lies somewhere to the west of Taiwan where their paternalistic and patronizing government tells them what is best for them. What country is that; well let's forget about their name, what was the vote on in Taiwan.

It’s scaring the neighbors

Taipei Times

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) celebrations of its 60th anniversary on Thursday will very much be a military affair. In fact, Beijing has been boasting that the nation’s newest nuclear missiles will be part of an arsenal of new weapons — 90 percent of which have never been paraded before.

Fifty-two types of weapons — all developed and made in China — will be on display during the parade, General Gao Jianguo (高建國), executive deputy director of the office of the National Day Military Parade Joint Command, has said.

Rejecting Kadeer — and credibility

Taipei Times

The government’s undertaking to block World Uyghur Congress president Rebiya Kadeer from entering the country — if, as promised, she applies for a visa — should hardly come as a surprise. What is notable about Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah’s (江宜樺) declaration in the legislature yesterday is the speed with which the government has drawn its line in the sand: It will not be portrayed as provoking Beijing, and certainly not a week out from China’s National Day.

Taiwan and the United Nations Not even asking

The Economist

At the United Nations a pragmatic Taiwan changes tack

ONE of the annual rituals performed at the United Nations General Assembly in New York is off the programme this year. For the first time since 1993, Taiwan is not to ask its little band of 23 diplomatic partners to propose it for UN membership. This is not because Taiwan has suddenly given up: it has always known membership was out of the question, since China refuses to recognise its statehood. Rather, Taiwan’s new approach typifies the effort that has marked the 16-month tenure of President Ma Ying-jeou: to ease tensions with China without dashing all hopes for greater international recognition.

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