Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

2010 ELECTIONS: DPP worried over Chen Chih-chung

Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday said they feared a call by pro-localization groups for voters to support former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) son in the Greater Kaohsiung City councilor election tomorrow could affect the party’s performance.

Calling on voters to act “wisely,” DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said the groups’ support for Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), the former president’s son, could hurt the party in the elections.

Is Taiwan following Ireland into disaster?

Huang Tien-lin 黃天麟

In recent days the Irish government has been facing a financial crisis, and has had to look to the EU for aid. The European Central Bank and the IMF are reportedly preparing to make available a sum of 85 billion euros (US$113 billion).

Ireland was once held up by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as an exemplar of economic development. In early 2006, the pro-China press in Taiwan, the mouthpiece of the KMT, touted the success of Ireland, asking why Taiwan couldn’t achieve success in the same way. It was a weapon with which to attack the cross-strait policy of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), in power at the time. Then-Taipei mayor and current President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) made a study trip to Ireland and, on his return, declared the Irish Experience a model for economic development.

Put your money where your mouth is

Taipei Times Editorial

After coming under fire for not standing up for Taiwanese taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) in the immediate aftermath of her controversial disqualification from the Asian Games last week, the government finally caught on two days later, holding a press conference on Friday pledging to seek justice for Yang.

However, despite the action undertaken by members of the public who, on their own initiative, gave Yang a hero’s welcome upon her arrival in Taipei on Monday, the government has done little to show that it is determined to follow through on its vow to defend Yang’s name and dignity.

Nobel prize strikes at the heart of tyranny

Chin Heng-wei 金恆煒

Although this year’s Nobel Peace Prize was given to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), who was thrown behind bars by the Chinese authorities and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), I really think the award was not aimed at rewarding Liu so much as it was aimed against Hu and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP.)

Have you ever heard of Carl von Ossietzky? Who was he? He was also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and he had something else in common with Liu. He was a prisoner of war and was locked up by Adolf Hitler. He was a reporter and his ideas opposing German military expansion angered the Nazis, in a way very similar to how Liu’s Charter 08 struck at the heart of tyrannical rule in China.

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