Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Ma Ying-jeou sets world shoe toss record in Taiwan amidst growing call to resign

Michael Richardson

Ma Ying-jeou, the president of the Republic of China in-exile, has finally taken his place on the stage of world leaders despite Taiwan’s unresolved international status. Out of the murk of strategic ambiguity Ma has emerged as a clear winner in the shoe-toss competition. In less than a year Ma has gone from backstage into the limelight as protestors heave their shoes at Ma whenever opportunity presents.

Ma Ying-jeou’s entry into the exclusive shoe club began last December at International Human Rights Day in Taipei. Human rights activists, angered at Ma over the mistreatment in prison of former ROC President Chen Shui-bian, shouted Ma off the stage at a museum event while one man, Peter Wang, gave both of his shoes and a handbag a toss before he was carried out of the room.

Translation may become tool for China

Taipei Times

The inclusion of the translation industry in the controversial cross-strait service trade agreement could allow China to dominate Taiwan’s linguistic development and pave the way for its cultural assimilation, Taiwan Democracy Watch secretary-general Chen Kuan-yu (陳冠宇) said yesterday.

Chen issued the warning following the conclusion of the Ninth Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum on Oct. 27, during which representatives from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party called for the pact’s speedy passage and implementation.

Civil disobedience in the making

Taipei Times Editorial

Draped on their shoulders were banners with the slogan: “Serving jail terms with pride. No regrets at all,” as labor rights activists Mao Chen-fei (毛振飛) and Lin Tzu-wen (林子文) reported to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week over their lead roles in clashes with police at an egg-hurling protest last year.

Escorted by hundreds of supporters in a parade from the Ketagalan Boulevard to the prosecutors’ office, with fireworks set off for “celebration,” there was no expression of sorrow or regret on the pair’s faces.

Ma is the master of the half-truth

Taipei Times Editorial

Giving himself yet another pat on the shoulder, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) again touted his cross-strait policy in a recent interview with the Washington Post, crediting himself and his administration with ameliorating cross-strait tensions and broadening Taiwan’s international visibility.

“Better cross-strait relations have strengthened, rather than weakened Taiwan’s international standing,” Ma was quoted as saying, as he stressed that it was under his administration that Taiwan won “observer status” at the World Health Assembly (WHA) and was allowed to attend this year’s International Civil Aviation Organization assembly as a “special guest.”

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