Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

WikiLeaks cables from AIT show good relationship with Chen Shui-bian on policy

Michael Richardson

A pair of “Confidential” diplomatic cables from the American Institute in Taiwan dated August 23-24, 2006, reveal a close relationship between the United States and the administration of Chen Shui-bian, former President of the Republic of China in-exile.

Chen is now serving a lengthy prison sentence on corruption charges following a controversial trial marred by a mocking skit performed by court personnel. Last year Chen told EXAMINER during an interview at his jail that he was innocent of the charges and had done nothing either his successor or predecessor had done with campaign funds and expense accounts.

Making sense of the 228 Incident

Chen Yi-shen 陳儀深

During his speech to commemorate the 228 Incident, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) compared it to the “Jasmine Revolutions” now underway in North Africa and the Middle East, saying that both events were about the fight for democracy and freedom. He also said that Ong Thiam-teng , who at the time was president of the Taipei Tea Merchants’ Association and a member of the Provincial Council and was killed in the wake of the incident, was an idealistic intellectual. In short, Ma said that the 228 Incident was not a conflict between ethnic groups and that it had nothing to do with the subsequent Taiwanese independence movement. Rather, he described it as an inevitable movement of popular resistance against injustice.

DPP wins two legislative by-elections

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidates for legislative by-elections in Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung both defeated their Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) counterparts yesterday, increasing the party’s number of seats in the Legislative Yuan to 33, compared to the KMT’s 73 seats.

According to a statement from the Kaohsiung City Election Commission, vote counting for the legislative by-election was completed at 5:25pm, with a voter turnout of 33.97 percent.”

Respected Taiwanese elder urges clean break with Republic of China in-exile

Michael Richardson

Yang Liu Hsiu-hwa, the widow of Taiwanese Independence advocate C.C. Yang, has stepped into the public arena at age 90 years-old to speak for Taiwan.

Mrs. Yang was moved to action by a recent article in the Liberty Times where it was pointed out that Taiwan’s incomplete construction of a sovereign independent state was because of the presence of another government’s system, the Republic of China.

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