Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Former president Chen urges DPP to be aggressive

Taipei Times

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been advised by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to reverse a recent slide in public opinion polls by becoming assertive and aggressive, which he said would help the party’s prospects of victory in next year’s presidential election.

“The struggle of DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in recent polls should serve as a warning about her campaign strategy,” Chen, who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year jail sentence for corruption and money laundering, wrote in an article published yesterday.

In opinion polls conducted by the DPP, Tsai’s lead over her main opponent in January’s presidential election, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), slid from 7.5 percent in late April to 0.2 percent last month

More than Staying in the Game: Can Soong Think Beyond Himself?

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

James Soong has not been treated kindly by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). True, he did not completely follow the party's procedures of hierarchy and privilege, but in the year 2000 if they had chosen him to be their presidential candidate, instead of the loser Lien Chan, he could have guaranteed them eight consecutive years of the presidency. Still, the KMT stuck with the loser, and as a result, Soong broke ranks and ran as an independent. Against those odds, he still almost won. That is water under the bridge. But now as the 2012 elections approach and the whispers of "Dump Ma to Save Taiwan" are growing louder even in the pan-blue camp, Soong has a new chance and needs to carefully assess his strategy and goals. Does he want to simply stay in the game? Does he want to be a player? Or does he want to do something good, not for the hollow shell of the Republic of China (ROC), but for Taiwan? The latter is possible, but is Soong up to it?

Tibetan monk burns himself to death in eastern Tibet

Tendar Tsering

Tsewang Norbu in an undated photo. Protesting Chinese rule in Tibet, Tsewang Norbu burned himself to death on August 15, 2011. (Photo/Free Tibet)

DHARAMSHALA, August, 15: Tsewang Norbu, a 29-year old Tibetan monk from Nyitso monastery in Kham Kardze, eastern Tibet died today after setting himself on fire to protest Chinese rule in Tibet.

At around 12.30 Tibetan local time, Tsewang Norbu started raising slogans at the Chume Bridge in the centre of Tawu, Kardze calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet. Around 10 minutes later, Tsewang Norbu drank petrol, doused himself with petrol and set himself on fire.

Attributing blame for the F-16 fiasco

Taipei Times Editorial

“We are so disappointed in the United States,” a Taiwanese defense official said over the weekend, reacting to confirmation that Taipei would not be sold the F-16C/D aircraft it has been seeking from the US since 2007.

While the sense of disappointment with Washington is perfectly understandable, another actor in the saga deserves equal condemnation, if not more: the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). It was the KMT, enjoying a majority in the legislature during then--president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration, that blocked the budgets that would have allowed Taiwan to continue modernizing its armed forces.

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