Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

A witness to cross-strait abuse

Nathan Novak

I have lived in Kaohsiung for about five years now and I’ve learned many things during my time here. One thing I’ve learned is that being a foreign resident and an observer of cross-strait relations can be both an exhilarating and disillusioning experience. I have the luxury of having a front row seat to history being made, but I am unable to play a more active role because I can’t vote.

Perhaps that’s a good thing. As an observer, one should try to remain as objective as possible. I suppose the Chinese saying that “the observers see the game more clearly than the players” fits my situation quite well.

Idealism shapes US foreign policy, AIT director says

Taipei Times

American Institute in Taiwan Director William Stanton said yesterday US policy toward China was shaped by idealism and that the US will not walk away from Taiwan.

“From a Machiavellian point of view, the easy thing would be to just not sell arms to Taiwan any more, simple, but we go on doing that,” Stanton said at a Taipei Salon lecture hosted by the Lung Yingtai Cultural Foundation.

Taipei Elections, a Matter of Quality

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

The November elections approach and the voters of Taipei have many questions to ask. One important question concerns the quality of Mayor Hau Lung-bin's past leadership. When it comes to quality, whether it is Quality Assurance, Quality Control and/or Quality Management, those familiar with the topic would know the name of Philip Crosby, author of Quality is Free (1979). In that work, Crosby gives his famous maxim, "Do it right the first time." Crosby's maxim is simple and direct, and it explains the title of his book. If a person, a company, a mayor, or the mayor's staff does something right the first time, there will be no need for the cost or re-doing it or the cost for repairs. In other words, quality will be free.

Democracy put on altar for Taiwan-China ECFA

Taiwan News Editorial

The ruling rightist Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) yesterday confirmed its intention to put Taiwan's democracy on the sacrificial altar for the "Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement" with the authoritarian People's Republic of China.

During the raucous initial meeting of a special session of the Legislative Yuan, KMT Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng directly announced the "unanimous" passage of a just - proposed KMT motion to send the ECFA ratification bill to a second reading without taking any heed of shouts of opposition by DPP lawmakers and without a required vote.

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