Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Is Ma the Incompetent Becoming Ma the Fawning Dog?

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

6-3-3, how those numbers must haunt the mind of Ma the Incompetent. Or let us rephrase, how they would haunt the mind of Ma the Incompetent if he were a person who felt responsible for the truth, accuracy and sincerity of what he says. Unfortunately, there are many in Taiwan who don't have that opinion of Ma. Even the foreign media is starting to catch on to the two-faced façade that he and his PR team have built in the past decade. But that is not the point here; it seems that a new name for Ma is developing among the Taiwanese people, Ma the Fawning Dog.

Punishing the ‘bad’ Taiwanese

Taipei Times

The National Immigration Agency (NIA) and the Tourism Bureau announced on the weekend that 9,500 employees of the Beijing-based Pro-Health Company and their family members would come to Taiwan on a sightseeing tour late this month, adding that the south would not be part of the itinerary.

This time, the claim that visits by or documentaries about individuals (such as Uighur rights activist Rebiya Kadeer) who are loathed by Beijing was behind the decision to spurn the south cannot be sustained, even if no reason has been given for the decision.

Ma’s wavering stance on defense

Liu Shih-chung 劉世忠

US President Barack Obama has broken with a tradition of almost 20 years by overturning a decision by national security officials to let the US president “meet by chance” with the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, who is currently visiting Washington. There are reasons for this decision, which may affect US-Taiwan relations.

In late July, the Obama administration met leaders from Beijing at the first ever US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington, where a preliminary consensus was reached on issues such as the global financial crisis, climate change, North Korea and anti-terrorism.

Caution on battling speculation

Taipei Times

Most monetary policymakers view a sudden resurgence in capital inflow with a wary eye amid concerns that speculative funds may have found their way into the system, leading to currency instability and asset price bubbles. In Taiwan, a press statement released by the central bank on Thursday, citing excerpts on capital controls and financial stability, suggests that the bank now considers foreign speculative funds its No. 1 target.

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