Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The fight for reform and progress is never over

Lee Min-yung 李敏勇

In the middle of last month, former Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in the “Jasmine Revolution.” This was followed by anti--government demonstrations in Egypt, with protesters demanding the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Yemen was next. It seems that the fire of political reform has been lit and is sweeping across the Islamic world from North Africa to the southern Arabian Peninsula.

People in these post--colonial states have had enough. Their anger has boiled over and they have taken to the streets demanding political reform and a change in their government. The anger that had previously been directed at the colonial powers is now being aimed at their own authoritarian rulers.

Taiwan promises to fight name change in medical group

Taipei Times

Taiwan vowed yesterday to take whatever action necessary to defend its official title in an Asian medical student group.

Lin Wen-tong (林文通), director of the Ministry of Education’s Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations, said that Taiwan would not oppose the Asian Medical Students Association (AMSA) accepting China as a member, but said that a proposal by Beijing to change Taiwan’s title from “AMSA-Taiwan” to “AMSA-Taiwan, China” was totally unacceptable.

US needs to speak up on Taiwan

Alexander Young

It is commendable that US President Barack Obama pressed Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on human rights during Hu’s recent visit to the US, compelling him to state China’s commitment to human rights even as the two countries have different national circumstances.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the new chairwoman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, is to be praised for personally pressing Hu to improve “China’s deplorable human rights situation.”

Dangerous diplomatic precedent set

Taipei Times Editorial

The Philippine government’s decision last week to abide by a request from Beijing and extradite 14 Taiwanese to China — despite a request by Taipei not to do so — is a situation that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration will have to handle with care.

The precedent set by Manila is a clear example of the difficult environment Taiwan continues to navigate despite improving relations across the Taiwan Strait. It highlights yet again the willingness of regional states beholden to Chinese money to toe the line on Beijing’s “one China” policy.

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