Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Chen not seeking amnesty

Taipei Times

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday said he welcomed the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government to rule him out of any commutation it might grant next year to mark the Republic of China’s (ROC) 100th anniversary, his son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) said.

The former president began serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence at Taipei Prison on Dec. 2 after being convicted of accepting bribes in connection with a land deal and a personnel appointment.

Japanese support helping US defend Taiwan: survey

Taipei Times

Nearly 60 percent of Japanese agreed with the idea of their country offering logistical support to the US if the US had to assist Taiwan militarily in a showdown with China, according to the results of a Japanese poll released yesterday.

In the survey conducted by the Japanese Asahi Shimbun daily on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, 57 percent of the 3,000 respondents said Japan’s self-defense forces should provide transportation and other logistical support to the US military if war were to break out in the Taiwan Strait.

Only 30 percent of respondents opposed the idea.

Taiwan as the World Turns, Ma Ying-jeou Shuns Responsibility to Nation

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

It was another strange week in Taiwan. Chen Yunlin, the "Class C" (some even call him a Class Q) politician from China was here and the Ma government's growing desperation to have something to show after two and a half years was evident. Ma's people continued to fawn over Chen like he was a head of state. For Chen, coming to Taiwan has certainly saved Chen's lackluster career; the man who looks like an old greased-up Brill Creme ad was all smiles in appreciation.

Beautiful or not, lies are still far from truth

James Wang 王景弘

Perhaps it is because President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) team of officials tell too many lies that former Academia Historica president Lin Man-houng (林滿紅) felt it necessary to explain, during a question-and-answer session at the legislature, the difference between lies that are beautiful and ones that are not. She evidently thought this would help her keep her job. In the end, her own lies caught up with her when it was proven that she had signed an official document about an issue that she originally said she knew nothing about. Once she was found out, she had little choice but to step down.

Being able to tell “beautiful” lies and making oaths in a “high-class” manner are key to the Ma administration’s rule. Of course, the most skilled in the art of telling beautiful lies is none other than Ma himself.

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