Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Protest law referred to Grand Justices

Taipei Times

In a stunning turn of events in a 23-month-long court battle, a judge has decided to suspend the hearing and ask for a constitutional interpretation on whether illegal restrictions have been placed on the public’s right to assembly and on freedom of speech.

Taipei District Court Judge Chen Ssu-fan (陳思帆), presiding over a case where a university professor was arrested for holding a sit-in without a permit, said on Thursday night that the controversial Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) would be passed on to the Council of Grand Justices to determine the constitutionality of several of its clauses.

Serving the public should come first

Taipei Times Editorial

Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) was about to celebrate one year in office when he received an unwelcome “gift:” CommonWealth magazine’s poll on public satisfaction with the mayors and county commissioners of 25 cities and counties gave the six top spots to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members. Even the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) model leader, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), fell 13 spots to 18th.

Although the survey ranks the political performance of local leaders, national administrative efficiency is the basis for the ranking.

The US-China contest for power

Sushil Seth

The recent China visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is an important development. This is his second recent trip, the first one coming around the time of the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, believed to be Pyongyang’s doing.

During that visit, Kim obviously gave his own version of the incident, apparently absolving his country of any wrongdoing. China maintained neutrality on the issue, counseling both sides to maintain calm, which disappointed South Korea and the US, as they believed, on the basis of an investigation into the issue, that North Korea was responsible.

Hau Lung-bin’s ‘Secret Garden’

Taipei Times Editorial

Engulfed in a string of alleged irregularities over its procurement plans and construction projects, the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo has seemingly become the Taipei City Government’s “Secret Garden,” blooming with dubious buds which have provided daily ammunition for the opposition’s criticism of what it sees as the city government’s incompetence and lack of integrity.

The daily bombardment from Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilors appears all too much for the city government to bear, as is evident by the latest move being considered by the city government: A plan to designate the expo sites as restricted areas.

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