Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Secret meetings and their dangers

Liberty Times Editorial

A delegation led by Chinese Vice Minister of Public Security Chen Zhimin (陳智敏) visited Taiwan between Sept. 13 and Sept. 18. The delegates met officials from Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior, Coast Guard Administration and the executive and judicial branches. They also visited local police units in Taoyuan and Nantou counties, among others. Chen’s official title made the political significance of the visit all too clear. The trip was first reported by a Chinese state media outlet, the China News Service, on Sept. 27. The government has remained silent on details of the schedule, what was discussed at the meetings, and whether any agreements were reached, excluding even legislators.

Taiwanese pride suffers under Ma: poll

Taipei Times

A majority of Taiwanese said they did not feel more proud to be a citizen of the Republic of China (ROC) after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008, a poll released by the Taiwan Thinktank ahead of Double Ten National Day showed yesterday.

The poll showed that 65 percent of respondents said they had not felt their sense of pride as an ROC citizen grow after Ma assumed office, while 31.3 percent said they had.

PRC official targeted Tibetans: reports

Taipei Times

Chinese Vice Minister of Public Security Chen Zhimin (陳智敏), who led a delegation on a secret visit to Taiwan in the middle of last month for meetings with officials from various security-related agencies, was in Kathmandu weeks before, where he sought to strengthen Sino--Nepalese cooperation against Tibetan activists, reports showed.

During a visit on July 26, Chen, who headed a delegation of 11 officials, announced new financial assistance to Nepalese security agencies to better monitor and prevent Tibetan refugees from engaging in “anti-China activities” on its soil, Nepalese media reported.

Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize

Taipei Times

Imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), a key participant in the “Charter 08” initiative, was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize yesterday for using non--violent means to demand fundamental human rights in his homeland, igniting a furious response from China, which accused the Norwegian Nobel Committee of violating its own principles by honoring “a criminal.”

Chinese state media immediately blacked out the news and Chinese government censors blocked Nobel Prize reports from Web sites. China declared the decision would harm its relations with Norway, while the Nordic country responded that was a petty thing for a world power to do.

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