Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Old challenges for new KMT leader

Taipei Times Editorial

Newly elected Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) should try to reconnect the party with Taiwanese society, or the KMT might never leave behind its role as an ineffective opposition.

The party’s chairperson election had been neglected by most Taiwanese until one of the four candidates, Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中), drew unprecedented attention with his vehement rhetoric during a televised debate on Sept. 9, appealing to far-right deep-blue supporters.

Steps to integrate Taiwan aligning

Thomas Shattuck

The proverbial dam appears to be breaking with respect to countries’ view on Taiwan and its security. Throughout this summer, a number of countries and major international groupings have come out in support of “peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

The first major breakthrough occurred in April with a joint statement released by US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. The statement was followed by a similar one by Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The EU and G7 also addressed the issue of Taiwan’s security in statements and communiques.

Xi’s war on culture stirs fears

Taipei Times Editorial

A plethora of seemingly random interventions by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) into China’s private sector has sent Wall Street into a tailspin, leaving many investors, in Taiwan and abroad, questioning whether Beijing is still committed to its post-Cultural Revolution embrace of capitalism and free markets.

The moves have included a crackdown on billionaires and homegrown technology giants, limiting video game time for people younger than 18 to three hours per week, closing private and online education enterprises, purging “morally corrupt” celebrities and the planned censorship of “unhealthy” karaoke songs.

Taiwan applies to Pacific trade deal

Taipei Times

Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua speaks at a news conference in Taipei on Nov. 21 last year.
Photo: CNA

Taiwan has submitted an application to join a Pacific trade deal, just days after China sent its own request to become a member of the agreement that was once pushed by Washington as a way to isolate Beijing and solidify US dominance in the region.

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