Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Activists urge Clinton to be ‘neutral’

Taipei Times

Sixteen Taiwanese-American organizations urged former US president Bill Clinton in a letter to be “scrupulously neutral” politically when he visits Taipei this weekend.

The signatories fear that Clinton, who will be in Taiwan making a paid speech on Sunday, could be misrepresented as endorsing the policies of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.

Democracy, free speech under siege in Taiwan

Taipei Times Editorial

Aristotle stated in Politics, “the basis for a democratic state is liberty.” Liberty is one of the most important attributes of a consolidated democracy, because the more opportunities citizens have to express, associate, discuss and represent a variety of political ideologies, the easier it is for the state to ascertain public preferences and correctly represent them in its policies. If the leadership of a government attempts to limit such freedom, that offers a chilling indication as to the government’s unwillingness to determine and adhere to the will of the people. The consequences of such an approach can be disastrous for the vitality of any democracy.

Public outrage ensued after a notice from the Ministry of Education surfaced requesting that National Taiwan University “reflect and improve the content of its PTT Gossip board.”

The justice system and politics in Taiwan

Gerrit van der Wees

As one of the co-signers of several letters by a group of about 30 international academics and writers to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) about the erosion of justice in Taiwan since he took office in May 2008, I was pleased to hear about the Taipei District Court’s verdict on Friday acquitting former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his wife of money-laundering charges. Finally, I thought, Taiwan’s judicial system is moving in the direction of fairness and impartiality.

However, we were in for a rude awakening when over the weekend the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — from Ma on down — displayed partisanship at its worst when party members lambasted the court’s ruling and urged voters to “vent their displeasure” at the upcoming elections for five special municipalities on Nov. 27.

Total distraction, irresponsibility

Taipei Times Editorial

“Total governance, total responsibility (完全執政, 完全負責)” were the words pledged by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his administration when it assumed power in 2008. Gathering from the pattern the Presidential Office follows in dealing with news events, it appears, however, the ultimate position it holds is this: While the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is the governing party, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is the one who should shoulder all blame when the government’s policy runs into a roadblock or something goes awry.

As a first case in point, prior to the Ma-Tsai debate in April on the then-proposed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) posted questions for Tsai and demanded that she be responsible for suggesting items for inclusion on the cross-strait trade pact’s “early harvest” list.

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