Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

China's Export of Censorship

Christopher Walker and Sarah Cook

The Chinese government’s effort to prevent dissident authors from taking part in the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair, an international showcase for freedom of expression, has offered Germany a close-up view of China’s intolerance of dissent.

Little to show for a lot of hype

Taipei Times

Despite President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) campaign promises and the policies of his administration, which envision a big cake for everyone to share, the reality is very different. The government’s move to allow Chinese investment in Taiwan is a case in point. In the three months since deregulation, Taiwan has attracted just NT$189 million (US$5.87 million) in Chinese investment.

Classical Chinese proposal is a bad idea

Taipei Times

Minister of Education Wu Ching-chi (吳清基) has proposed changing the maximum proportion of classical Chinese in high school Chinese textbooks from 45 percent to 65 percent. The change will apply from the next academic year. The classical Chinese that Chinese intellectuals Hu Shih (胡適) and Chen Duxiu (陳獨秀) fought against 90 years ago is making a comeback in our high school curriculums.

The appeal system for detention is not fair

Wu Ching-chin 吳景欽

The Supreme Court sent the Taiwan High Court’s judgment to extend former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) detention back to the High Court last week, saying its reasons were inadequate. But the collegiate panel handling the case at the High Court decided to extend Chen’s detention anyway, citing almost exactly the same reasons.

This has again highlighted the nation’s problematic custody system. Can the same collegiate panel be expected to overrule a decision it has made previously? Can the High Court simply ignore the concerns cited by the Supreme Court?

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