Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Wu Poh-hsiung: Tears, Just Desserts, Or the Simple Inevitable Slap in the Face?

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

One can almost feel sorry for Wu Poh-hsiung as he steps down or is pushed off the stage as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman by Ma Ying-jeou. I say almost, but that is as far as it goes. Wu is one of those strange Hakka who have a rightful place to be masters in their own land of Taiwan, but have given it up to be a second class citizen in the KMT. Why? It seems that such would rather settle for the guaranteed crumbs and secure lower status provided by the KMT than enter the competitive world of finding principles on which they can build their lives and living those principles.

Ma no fan of democracy

Michael Scanlon

In his June 4 op-ed piece, “Bullets over Beijing,” in the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof recounts how 20 years earlier he stood at the northwest corner of Tiananmen Square and watched as Chinese troops opened fire and slaughtered hundreds of unarmed students.

President or puppet

George Yeh

How do you tell the difference between a president of a young democracy enacting progressive change and a political puppet of the powers that be? To answer this question, look no further than Taiwan’s “President” Ma Ying-jeou as he stops over in Seattle on his way home from a visit to Central America.

Taiwan, Asia's Supposed Voldemort, That-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

Shades of Harry Potter, but the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) continues to place Taiwanese in the Chamber of Secrets. Secrets? Yes and we are talking about more than just Ma Ying-jeou's refusal to provide any transparency on ECFA, the mythical savior to salvage his failed economic policies. As he gives the farm away, Ma wants Taiwanese to blindly trust his last ditch speculation. No the greater secrets we are talking about are the way KMT leaders enter into discourse with China. Whenever the subject of the nation state of Taiwan comes up, it is treated like the Voldemort of Asia, "That-Which-Must-Not-Be Named."

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