Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan status kept in the news by Florida Republican and Taiwanese Marxist

Michael Richardson

An unlikely duo is keeping Taiwan’s unresolved international status before the American public. One member of the duo of is the Chair of the U.S, House of Representative’s powerful Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, while the other is 92 year-old Taiwanese independence advocate, Su Beng, an avowed Marxist.

Representative Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, has scheduled Congressional hearings on “Why Taiwan matters“ for August 2nd to explore the Obama administration policy toward Taiwan, the second in a series of hearings by her committee Scheduled witnesses are Kurt Campbell from the State Department and Michael Schiffer with the Defense Department who are expected to explain the president’s views on Taiwan.

Beware of the Chinese flu

Taipei Times Editorial

The lone figure of exiled Chinese author Ma Jian (馬建) being denied entry into his homeland last week should be enough to remind candidates in January’s presidential election of the need to approach China with the utmost caution.

The London-based Ma, whose application to enter China via Hong Kong on July 23 was turned down without explanation from Chinese officials, had previously returned home on several occasions since leaving in 1986. That he would be denied entry at a time when China is, by most accounts, seemingly in the ascendant, is a testimony to the uncertainty that haunts the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) amid domestic turbulence and an upcoming leadership transition.

Popular resentment forces China appointed Panchen to cancel visit

Phayul Stringer

Widespread resentment from local Tibetans resulted in the cancellation of a long-planned trip by Gyaltsen (Ch. Gyaincain) Norbu, the China appointed 11th Panchen Lama to the Amdo region of Tibet this month, reports confirm.

Threats of pay-cuts and extermination from jobs failed to deter local Tibetan officials from complying with Chinese government decree to prepare a grand welcome for the 21-year old Gyaltsen Norbu.

“Fake” Panchen, a term popularly used to describe the boy handpicked by the Chinese government was scheduled to visit the Labrang monastery in Sangchu county amidst tight security. Over a thousand Chinese police and security forces, including plainclothes police, were reportedly stationed around the monastery as preparatory measures.

Ma must face historical KMT burden

Taipei Times Editorial

The latest data published by the Ministry of the Interior on political party assets showed the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) made NT$3.5 billion (US$121.5 million) last year, with stock dividends accounting for almost NT$2.9 billion, making up more than four-fifths of the party’s total earnings.

The ministry’s data showed that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) promises to clean up the KMT and its assets have been nothing but a lie.

Getting rid of stolen party assets was a major goal for Ma when he first took over as KMT chairman in 2005; he pledged to dispose of all contentious assets, cease operating for-profit corporations and make the party “asset-free” by 2008.

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