Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Briberies disguised as donations

Huang Di-ying 黃帝穎

In a recent development of the Core Pacific City case, former Dingyue Development Corp (鼎越開發) president Chu Yea-hu (朱亞虎) was found guilty of bribery.

The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) accepted political donations of NT$300,000 (US$9,328), the statutory maximum campaign contribution, from each of seven employees of Dingyue’s parent company Core Pacific Group (威京集團), for a total of NT$2.1 million.

The payments were made during the few days between the luncheon hosted by Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) and the issue of an official document by the Taipei Department of Urban Development under former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) administration.

China has ’no right to represent Taiwan,’ Lai says

Taipei Times

President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest.

“The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.”

“The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of the Republic of China, adding that his “mission” as president was to “ensure that our nation endures and progresses” and “resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty.”

Influencers help China’s propaganda

Chang Yi-ying 張怡穎

Lately, China has been inviting Taiwanese influencers to travel to China’s Xinjiang region to make films, weaving a “beautiful Xinjiang” narrative as an antidote to the international community’s criticisms by creating a Potemkin village where nothing is awry. Such manipulations appear harmless — even compelling enough for people to go there — but peeling back the shiny veneer reveals something more insidious, something that is hard to ignore.

These films are not only meant to promote tourism, but also harbor a deeper level of political intentions. Xinjiang — a region of China continuously listed in global human rights reports — has long been notorious and rebuked internationally for the revelation of China’s policies of forced labor camps and suppression of minorities.

Manila condemns PRC attack on Vietnamese fishers

Taipei Times

The Philippines yesterday denounced China’s alleged assault of Vietnamese fishers in the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing are also locked in violent confrontations that have led to fears of armed conflict.

Vietnam has accused “Chinese law enforcement forces” of beating the 10 fishers with iron bars and robbing them of thousands of dollars’ of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島).

A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson acknowledged an incident took place there, but disputed the Vietnamese version of the events.

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