Taipei Times - archives

Taipei Times - archives
Other “early warning” signs are China’s response to the crises in Tibet and East Turkestan (Xinjiang) over the past years: Harsh repression is the only answer Beijing knows how to use in response to the widespread discontent with Chinese rule, while heavy-handedness is also the only way it deals with its own dissidents, such as Falun Gong and underground churches.

Taipei Times - archives

Taipei Times - archives
Would an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) violate the principles of the WTO? Would its arbitration follow the judicial remedies of the WTO framework? These questions are crucial when monitoring the government’s plan to sign an ECFA and in trying to avoid a major disaster for the country.

Taipei Times - archives

Taipei Times - archives
If we take a closer look, however, we see that democracy cannot be simplistically described as just voting. The teacher who arranged the election did not explain the game’s rules. As a result, the students thought being class leader meant being a ruler who can order classmates about according to their own wishes. More importantly, when the candidates stirred up the crowd to make trouble or clearly practiced vote buying, the teacher simply sat back and didn’t interfere

Taipei Times - archives

Taipei Times - archives
In the build-up to the anniversary, the media has been awash with surveys and polls rating almost everything, from Taiwan’s current economic situation and support for a planned economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, to Ma’s popularity and even his chances of re-election against prospective opposition presidential candidates in 2012.

Taipei Times - archives

Taipei Times - archives
Hundreds of protesters wearing green shirts gathered in Taipei yesterday to begin a three-day sit-in calling for a referendum on the government's proposal to sign a trade agreement with China.

Taipei Times - archives

Taipei Times - archives
Regrettably, China maintains that Taiwan belongs to it and constantly threatens the nation. Since coming into power, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has echoed Beijing’s “one China” principle and made every effort to push free and democratic Taiwan toward authoritarian China. If Taiwan one day loses its sovereignty, freedom and democracy, all Taiwanese, regardless of ethnicity or political stripe, will be helpless.

Taipei Times - archives

Taipei Times - archives

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It would be tempting to blow the matter out of proportion, or to turn what remains an isolated incident into signs of a conspiracy. However, this does not mean that we should look the other way in cases like that of Ni Zichuan (倪子川), a Chinese official at the Fengze District office in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, who was caught stealing skincare products in Hsinchu on Friday.

Taipei Times - archives

Taipei Times - archives

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However, if China really were to attack Taiwan, the US is unlikely to make a unilateral decision to get involved unless Taiwan were to request that it do so. When Ma said that Taiwan would not ask the US to fight for it, he was also hinting to the outside world that Taiwan had no intention of seeking US help even if a war were to break out in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan-US military cooperation is based on defense against a Chinese military invasion, so his assertions have repercussions that go to the very core of this alliance.

Taipei Times - archives

Taipei Times - archives

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On Wednesday, China once again put conditions on the government of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). This time it was Wang Yi (王毅), director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, who set the conditions by saying that, as long as the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can work together to oppose Taiwanese independence and uphold the “1992 consensus,” that will be the political guarantee for cross-strait cooperation.

Taipei Times - archives

Taipei Times - archives
More than 10,000 workers from across the country marched on the streets of Taipei to voice their anger at the increasing trend of temporary hiring and the exclusion of labor issues in talks for an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) the government plans to sign with China.