Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

KMT slams Tsai campaign slogan

Taipei Times

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) campaign office yesterday crossed swords with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential nominee Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) over the latter’s latest campaign slogan: “I am a Taiwanese (我是台灣人),” which follows two earlier slogans — “Taiwan NEXT” and “Taiwan, what do you want?”

Tsai said in a speech in Nantou County yesterday that if elected, she will “ensure people feel proud about being Taiwanese.”

Tsai said that the willingness to identify oneself as Taiwanese in public, with pride, is a symbol of Taiwan’s democratic values and social progress.

Pro-independence supporters announce establishment of new political party

Taipei Times

A group of pro-Taiwan independence supporters yesterday announced the formation of a new political party, the Taiwanese National Party (TNP, 台灣民族黨).

The party, to be officially established tomorrow, will seek independence for Taiwan through a national referendum.

A group of TNP members made the announcement on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei with the Presidential Office in the background, chanting the slogans “Long live the Taiwanese nation” and “Liberate the Taiwanese nation.”

“We are determined to resort to every possible method to achieve the eventual goal of independence for Taiwan,” said the unofficial leader of the party, Huang Hua (黃華), who used to be an adviser to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Neglect is hurting military morale

J. Michael Cole 寇謐將

In his Art of War (孫子兵法) military treatise, ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu (孫子) makes a convincing case for the need to ensure good morale in the ranks while undermining that of one’s opponent, adding that this will be a determining factor in a military’s will to fight.

If Sun were alive today and asked to assess the balance of morale in the Taiwan Strait, he would quickly conclude that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is faring much better than the Taiwanese military. A handful of factors in recent years have contributed to this state of affairs, including the inability of Taiwan to keep up with the PLA in terms of modernization of its military, defeatism in the public sphere and lack of a clear mandate from the executive branch.

US lawmakers welcome Dalai Lama at Capitol

Taipei Times

US lawmakers hailed the Dalai Lama as a global inspiration as they welcomed him on Thursday at the Capitol, urging US President Barack Obama to defy China and also meet the exiled Tibetan leader.

Members of the US House of Representatives briefly put aside a rancorous debate on taming the US debt to receive the Dalai Lama, a rare figure embraced by both sides of the US political spectrum.

US House Speaker John Boehner, the third highest-ranking US official under the Constitution, said lawmakers spoke to the Dalai Lama about “our shared values not just in Tibet and China, but in the Middle East as well.”

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