Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Former president reunited with family for final time

Taipei Times

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) met members of his family for what could be the last time yesterday, gathering in a small room at his detention center to emotionally bid farewell.

Former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), who like her husband was sentenced to at least 11 years in prison, and their son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), arrived at the Taipei Detention Center in Tucheng (土城) in the morning in an SUV driven by some of the former president’s supporters.

Exploring All of One's Roots: Taiwan and its Lapita Heritage

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

Taiwanese will often wonder how and why after nearly a half a century of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) indoctrination and brainwashing, they still think differently, act differently and even have different sets of values than the post World War II carpetbaggers that fled to Taiwan from China (1945 to 1949). They may further wonder why they find their thinking is even more than miles apart from that of a different brainwashed set, the sheep on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. Those sheep are no closer to a democracy than they were 100 years ago when Sun Yat-sen proposed a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Why is this so? Why did democracy take root in Taiwan and not China? Surprisingly, the answer can be found in Taiwan’s history and one word, Lapita.

For better relations, China has to alter approach: Tsai

Taipei Times

Attempts by Beijing to improve cross-strait relations would have to include a fundamental change in how China deals with issues concerning Taiwan, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday in response to the latest remarks by the Chinese leadership.

During a closed-door meeting on Saturday with Taiwan’s APEC envoy, former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should communicate and negotiate on issues pertaining to Taiwan’s participation in international organizations.

Taiwan’s finances are in a dreamland

Chang Ruay-shiung 張瑞雄

Recently, the media has been preoccupied by news about the Taipei International Flora Exposition, the special municipality elections and the results of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) various trials. Not too many people have been paying attention to major international events, especially the recent strikes and reform to the pensions system in France.

Under the previous French law, the retirement age was 60 and anyone who made social security payments for 40-and-a-half years could claim full pension benefits from the age of 65. However, an aging population has meant that pension and healthcare costs have increased steadily. Combined with the falling number of taxpayers — a result of falling birth rates — this made reform of the pensions system very urgent.

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