Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Human rights must be considered

Lin Feng-jeng 林峰正

It has been 21 years since the Tiananmen Square Massacre. As everyone in Taiwan reflects on the pros and cons of establishing closer trade relations with China and trying to reach some kind of consensus on what Taiwan can expect from an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), perhaps a quick review of the state of human rights in China will help us focus on the type of relationship we want.

Media reports show there were four separate incidents of mentally ill people stabbing children and teachers to death in kindergartens and elementary schools in Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shaanxi provinces between March 28 and May 12. One of the attackers committed suicide, while two were sentenced to death and executed.

TSU threatens lawsuit over rejection

Taipei Times

Three days after a review committee rejected its proposal to hold a referendum on the government’s proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, an increasingly angry Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday issued a statement asking members of the committee to apologize and revisit their decision.

“The Referendum Review Committee must publicly apologize within three days and reopen their deliberations or the TSU will be suing [committee members that voted against the proposal] for misconduct and exceeding their authority,” the statement quoted TSU Chairperson Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) as saying.

Wealthy being extorted in China

Paul Lin 林保華

The truth behind the recent spate of suicides at Foxconn plants in China remains unclear because Beijing has worked hard to distract attention from the issue. However, the effects of the suicides cannot be underestimated, as they may yet give impetus to the moribund Chinese labor movement.

As a result, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Propaganda Department has ordered local media outlets to refrain from reporting on the issue without prior permission. This is a missed opportunity.

Taiwan arms no reason to harm US-China ties: Gates

Taipei Times

US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates yesterday chided China for suspending military ties over US arms sales to Taiwan, saying Beijing’s stance “makes little sense.”

Renewing his call for stronger relations between the Chinese and US militaries, Gates said such a dialogue should not be “held hostage” over the weapons sales.

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