Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Checkbook diplomacy is a dead end

Taipei Times Editorial

After Panama last year, China has poached another of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, with the Dominican Republic on Monday announcing it was severing ties with Taipei and switching recognition to Beijing.

The question now is: How is purchasing diplomatic recognition in a losing battle of “checkbook diplomacy” with China congruent with the government’s goal to project Taiwan on the world stage as a mature and responsible democracy and a trusted international partner?

NTU committee’s failures exposed

Taipei Times Editorial

The furor over National Taiwan University’s (NTU) presidential appointment has continued, despite the Ministry of Education’s decision on Saturday to reject the election committee’s selection of Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔).

In its explanation, the ministry stressed that higher standards are needed, given that a university president is the navigator of a school’s direction, not to mention that NTU leads the nation’s institutions of higher education.

No meddling in autonomy: Wu

Taipei Times

Minister of Education Wu Maw-kuen speaks to reporters in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: CNA

The Ministry of Education has not undermined university autonomy and Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) is not qualified to be National Taiwan University (NTU) president, because he has breached academic principles of integrity, Minister of Education Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆) said yesterday.

Taiwan is needed for world health

Mike Kuo 郭正光

An outbreak of measles in Japan has resulted in more than 3,500 people in the southern Taiwanese harbor of Kaohsiung being quarantined. They are being monitored by Taiwan’s health authorities. Two dozen people have been confirmed to have the highly contagious disease. Measles causes a high fever and rash and can be fatal to infants.

Also, in February last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed Taiwan’s first human fatality from the H7N9 avian flu virus. Earlier, a poultry farm and a turkey farm in southern Taiwan tested positive for a highly pathogenic avian flu virus.

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