嚴正警告馬英九！poverty in Taiwan

Taipei Times - archives: "The number of low-income households nationwide hit a record high in the third quarter, with the individual members of such households accounting for 1.08 percent of the total population, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said yesterday.

A ministry survey found the number of low-income households in the third quarter stood at 102,759, compared with 90,525 in the same period last year and almost double the number 10 years ago when there were only 58,310."

isolate Taiwan

Taipei Times - archives: "US President Barack Obama’s first visit to China caused a dispute between Taiwan’s ruling and opposition parties over whether it resulted in an upgrade or a downgrade of US-Taiwan relations.

In my opinion, the structure, wording and spirit of the US-China joint statement issued by Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) imply the removal of certain aspects previously accentuated in the US “one China” policy. My reasons are as follows:"

news-in-motion

Taipei Times - archives: "aipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said the government would continue monitoring the Apple Daily newspaper’s online service News-in-Motion after the paper’s management promised to introduce a ratings system for the controversial animated news feature."

扁家弊案／扁：8年任內 和陳鎮慧沒接觸 | 政治 | 國內要聞 | 聯合新聞網

扁家弊案／扁：8年任內 和陳鎮慧沒接觸 | 政治 | 國內要聞 | 聯合新聞網: "陳水扁表示，他開庭前細讀馬英九特別費案的卷證資料，台北市長很忙不知道特別費怎麼使用，他當總統比當台北市長還要忙，更不會知道國務機要費怎麼使用。"

liar educational ministry

Taipei Times - archives: "Liu’s remarks came in the wake of a report by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that quoted a recipient nicknamed Hsiao Mei (小美) as being told by Taiwan’s representative office in Britain that she would not receive the money until January because the ministry had failed to request enough money for the scholarship fund."

liar ma

Taipei Times - archives: "Voters’ confidence in Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) surpassed that of her Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) counterpart, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), for the first time since the two took charge of their respective parties, a poll released yesterday by the Chinese-language Global Views magazine (遠見) showed.

Public trust in the DPP also surged to a new three-year high, the survey showed.

The poll, conducted by the Global Views Survey Research Center, put Tsai’s trust index at 46.2 on a scale of 0 to 100, up 0.1 points from last month, while Ma’s dropped 2.6 points from last month to 43.9 this month."

US beef

Taipei Times - archives: "Wu dismissed remarks made by American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt when he met with Legislative Speaker Wang Jyn-ping (王金平) on Monday that the controversy surrounding Taiwan’s relaxation of US beef imports was a “phony issue,” saying it was a “real issue of concern to the public.”"

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This man -ma

Taipei Times - archives: "This turn of events also tells us many things about the UN, which recognizes Beijing’s ratification of similar covenants despite its continued infractions against its own people, but denies a country of 23 million the right to add its own voice to those ideals. It shows us that the UN under Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lacks the imagination to reward Taiwan’s “pragmatism.” Ultimately, what this tells us is that no matter what Taiwan does — forge ahead as it did under Chen, or maintain a low profile under Ma — Beijing will use its influence in the world body to deny Taiwanese any semblance of international space."

This man -ma

Taipei Times - archives: "As Taiwan enters the countdown to local government elections on Dec. 5, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has launched a series of TV commercials, but its chairman, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), is conspicuous by his absence. The KMT said this was a deliberate decision to keep the focus on local issues. But Ma has said that any candidate who needs his support can count on his help. This contradiction reveals the KMT’s ambivalence toward Ma’s role in the year-end polls.

These elections are not crucial for the balance of power. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) may at best take control of one or two more cities or counties. But even one more could boost the DPP’s morale and help it make a comeback in 2012."

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A country -Taiwan

Taipei Times - archives: "The latest move was the visit to Taiwan of Zheng Bijian (鄭必堅), a key adviser to China’s top leaders, who is also the former vice principal of the Central Party School in Beijing and author of China’s “peaceful rise” doctrine.

Zheng led a group of heads of Taiwan-related research departments from Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen, as well as retired military officers and diplomats, to Taiwan for an academic seminar on the theme of 60 years of cross-strait relations."

evil like this tree killer

Taipei Times - archives: "The protesters said that more than 100 of the 384 trees moved in the early phases of construction had died and accused the Taipei City government along with construction contractors of negligence.

Production at the tobacco factory, which occupies about 18 hectares in Xinyi District (信義), stopped in 1998 and parts of the site have since been designated a historical site by the municipal government."

control everything

Taipei Times - archives: "As Taiwan moves toward finalizing an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China, a US Congressional commission reports a “disturbing trend” by Beijing away from the development of a free market system and toward greater government control of the economy.

“Contrary to its claim of being a market-oriented economy, Beijing continues to comprehensively plan, direct, support and control its economy,” said Carolyn Bartholomew, chairman of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Releasing the commission’s seventh annual report on ­Thursday, she said: “Many of China’s economic reforms over the past 30 years are, in reality, a government-directed industrial policy that seeks to promote ­export-led growth."

no respect Taiwan

Taipei Times - archives: "The latest example came on Friday last week when Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Sean Chen (陳冲) told legislators that he would not sign the cross-strait financial memorandum of understanding (MOU) if China failed to respect Taiwan’s request that his full official title appear on the document. He added that he would rather not sign at all if doing so would put “national sovereignty on the line.”

Yet, just three days later, Chen went ahead and signed despite the absence of his title — the MOU reduced to a deal between two financial regulators rather than two governments."

Human rights and Obama

Taipei Times - archives: "We will continue to act in the spirit of equality, mutual respect, and ... non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, and engage in dialogue and exchanges on such issues as human rights and religion in order to enhance understanding, reduce differences and broaden common ground,” Hu said."

chinese mrage

Taipei Times - archives: "For the Taiwanese independence movement, this is a good thing, and more CCP officials should be allowed to speak in Taiwan. If they’re willing to crucify themselves in public by putting their intolerance and ignorance on display, then so be it. More Taiwanese will realize that Ma’s sweet talk about peace and warmer ties is nothing more than wishful thinking. This will make it increasingly difficult for the Ma administration to ignore the opposition — both political and, increasingly, in the business sector — as it forges ahead with less-than-transparent negotiations with Beijing, because an increasing number of Taiwanese will see that Chinese goodwill is a mirage, a facade that its emissaries cannot be bothered to keep up on Taiwanese shores."

Let Taiwan as a poor country

Taipei Times - archives: "“Design and fabrication of 12-inch wafers and plates are the powerhouses behind Taiwan’s economy — the annual profits of the entire integrated chip [IC] industry in the country is about NT$1.2 trillion [US$37 billion], and wafer and faceplate production alone accounts for one-third of it,” former minister of economic affairs Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) told the conference. “Once such powerhouses are gone, what do we have to fill such a big hole?”"

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KMT's businerss

Taipei Times - archives: "A retired People’s Liberation Army (PLA) general said in Taipei yesterday that it was “meaningless” to ask China to remove the missiles it aims at Taiwan because they are mobile and that it would be more “useful” for Taiwan to recognize “one China” than for Taiwan to keep a big army.

Former PLA general Li Jijun (李際均), now the honorary chairman of the China Research Society of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, made the remarks during a cross-strait forum held to mark 60 years of cross-strait relations after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops lost the Chinese civil war and withdrew to Taiwan in 1949."

Red hypocrisy

Taipei Times - archives: "A US professor is urging US President Barack Obama to make a deal with Beijing over the sale of advanced F-16 fighter planes to Taiwan.

“The warplanes should be used as bargaining chips,” said Missouri State University political science professor Dennis Hickey in an article published this week in the Los Angeles Times.

The article appeared on the eve of Obama’s departure on a four-nation tour of Asia, beginning yesterday, that will include two days in China and incorporate direct talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) that are certain to touch on US arms sales to Taiwan."

all want let Bian down

Taipei Times - archives: "Prosecutors in charge of probing former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) alleged money laundering activities said yesterday they did not have enough evidence to prove that funds that flowed into a Palauan bank account were connected to the former president.

On Monday, Palauan President Johnson Toribiong was reported to have said in a TV interview in Palau that in 2005, an unidentified wire of US$41 million was routed through Palau’s Pacific Savings Bank to the US and other countries. The bank later collapsed and Palauan authorities are investigating the matter, he said."

We agree that idea

Taipei Times - archives: "A new US study on Taiwan’s economy cautions that gains from current trade and investment talks with China may be limited and that Taipei needs to concentrate on internal economic restructuring and the cultivation “of new and dynamic foreign relationships beyond the straits.”

Written by Derek Scissors, a research fellow in Asia Economic Policy at the Heritage Foundation, the study says Taiwan should reform corporate taxation and the “sheltered” domestic service sector."

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power on your hand

KMT's culture gan

Taipei Times - archives: "Last week, Lee alleged that Wu, Chiang Chin-liang (江欽良) — a convicted felon on parole — and Nantou County Commissioner Lee Chao-ching (李朝卿) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) traveled together to Bali, Indonesia, last December to settle distribution of profits from the local gravel trade and select a new Nantou County Council speaker and vice speaker."

ganster is KMT's tool

Taipei Times - archives: "Last week, Lee alleged that Wu, Chiang Chin-liang (江欽良) — a convicted felon on parole — and Nantou County Commissioner Lee Chao-ching (李朝卿) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) traveled together to Bali, Indonesia, last December to settle distribution of profits from the local gravel trade and select a new Nantou County Council speaker and vice speaker.

Rebutting Lee Wen-chung’s allegation, Wu told a press conference last Friday that the DPP candidate should prove his allegations or issue a public apology, giving Lee Wen-chung a three-day deadline ending on Monday. Because Lee Wen-chung still had not apologized, Wu’s lawyer filed the lawsuit yesterday."

political persecution

Taipei Times - archives: "Former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) office yesterday issued a statement denying allegations that Chen had taken advantage of his overseas trips to transport cash abroad.

The statement came in response to a story published by the Chinese-language China Times yesterday that quoted Palauan President Johnson Toribiong as saying that an unidentified wire of NT$1.4 billion (US$40 million) was routed through Palau’s Pacific Savings Bank in 2005 to the US and other countries."

don't touch riot

Taipei Times - archives: "The staffer said the SEEC wanted Hu’s editorial team “to focus more on finance and the economy, and leave politics more on the side. That is not what [Hu] wants.”

Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, agreed that Caijing’s reporting on the violence in Xinjiang was a turning point.

“One of the red lines that Caijing crossed was coverage of the Xinjiang riots — they had reporters sent back,” Bequelin said.
This story has been viewed 245 times."

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beef

Taipei Times - archives: "“We urge everybody — regardless of your political stance — to join us on Saturday in a demonstration to demand that the Legislative Yuan pass amendments to ban ground beef, bone-in beef and beef organs from countries where mad cow disease has been found,” Su told a news conference at the legislature. “We also call on the government to listen to what the public wants and renegotiate with the US on the beef agreement.”"

Human rights

Taipei Times - archives: "Monks prepare to welcome Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, unseen, shortly before his visit to the Tawang Monastery in Tawang city, Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India, yesterday. The Dalai Lama is on a five-day visit to Tawang, which is on the border between India and China.
PHOTO: EPA
The Dalai Lama brushed off Chinese protests and traveled yesterday to a remote Himalayan town near the Tibetan border to lead five days of prayers and teaching sessions for Buddhist pilgrims.

Thousands of poor villagers braved freezing temperatures and icy winds for a rare chance to glimpse the Tibetan spiritual leader."

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no guilty in jail and KMT illigal asset

Taipei Times - archives: "hen Yun-nan confirmed on Wednesday that the SIP had frozen the bank accounts, stock holdings and real estate holdings of several members of the former president’s family.

The prosecutors said the assets needed to be frozen to ensure illegal profits would be returned to the treasury in the event the former president and other defendants were found guilty by the Taiwan High Court."

父遭江欽良殺害 女現身控訴

自由電子報 - 父遭江欽良殺害 女現身控訴: "張靜芳強調，她不認識李文忠，是自發性前來，事前與李競選總部聯繫將現身說法，不怕黑道勢力的威脅，加害人聲稱假釋出獄後已改頭換面重新生活，但他們全家卻還活在受害者愁雲慘霧之中，情何以堪，若江真的改過向善，希望他好好做人，不要再製造社會不安。至於江欽良說過往江湖恩怨，他已經付出代價，張靜芳則淡淡地表示，公道在人心，但最沒資格說這句話的就是江欽良。"

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豬染新流感 豬農多留「疫」

自由電子報 - 豬染新流感 豬農多留「疫」: "農業處指出，目前國際間已傳出新型流感人傳豬病例的國家共有9國，我國與他國病例相似，豬隻症狀溫和並自行恢復健康，在國外發生人傳豬病例時，家畜疾病防治所已通知養豬場加強防治及監控，避免病毒在豬體內重組變異。"

the masters of the people

Taipei Times - archives: "The Cabinet’s Referendum Review Committee has turned down a referendum proposal relating to the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) that the government wants to sign with China, citing various preposterous reasons.

It is truly shameful of the government to claim that Taiwan serves as a democratic model for the rest of Asia when Taiwanese cannot express an opinion on major policies involving national development.

Rights must be protected, and so must democracy. From tomorrow, let us show our support for the campaign entitled “The people are the masters of the country” (人民作主) initiated by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin Yi-hsiung (林義雄). Let the people of Taiwan determine its destiny."

as king of ma

Taipei Times - archives: "Most people’s impression of the KMT is that it is an authoritarian party whose members allow their opinions to be molded by their leader and dare not express other opinions, but this has not always been the case. In the 1920s, KMT founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), finding himself in a weak position, wanted to build ties with the Soviet Union.

Senior members of the KMT were outspoken in their criticism, warning earnestly that this policy was not in the best interests of the party or the nation. They spoke out even at the risk of annoying Sun."

The animal Protection law is gone?

Taipei Times - archives: "Animal rights activists accused government authorities yesterday of allowing widespread animal abuse to occur when strays are rounded up.

The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST) said that despite the passage of the Animal Protection Law (動物保護法) more than a decade ago, officials are turning a blind eye to cases of stray dogs and cats being denied water, food and proper care.

Nearly 900,000 stray animals have been picked up by local authorities over the past 10 years, EAST said. In the last year alone, 133,000 animals were collected and of this total 96,400 were put to death."

death penalty

Taipei Times - archives: "If China hopes to quell unrest in Xinjiang by kidnapping, jailing or even executing scores of Uighurs, the results will fall short. Decades of oppression — economic, cultural, religious and linguistic — have at times welled into protests or riots in China’s biggest territory, as seen again this summer. Clamping down further on the region, history tells us, is more likely to fuel unrest than squash it.

Yet this is Beijing’s strategy. China seems determined to rule by fear in Xinjiang. Indeed, at this point it seems unlikely that China would be able to win over hearts and minds there even if it tried.

China’s latest warning to anyone chafing at its grip was a court ruling upholding nine death sentences handed down to alleged participants in this summer’s violence in Urumqi. That was followed by news that Chinese authorities in Xinjiang had launched another “Strike Hard” campaign to clamp down on the region between now and the end of the year."

ma evil man

Taipei Times - archives: "Additionally, some members are only interested in using their position to do business with China, while others use it to launch attacks in the media. CSC meetings appear boisterous and they certainly must give Ma a headache. He may be emulating Chen in wanting to use the committee to control legislators, but the results will be very different.

KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) is another challenge for Ma. If he restrains her, Ma will be accused of suppressing dissent and breaking his promises that the party will not direct the government and to reform the KMT. If, however, he lets Lo off the hook, he won’t be able to bring other legislators into line, forfeiting the reason for doubling as party chairman in the first place.

Ma’s promise during his first term as KMT chairman in 2005 to rid the party of its ill-gotten assets — selling assets with the left hand, while directing the money into the Central Investment Holding Co (CIC, 中央投資公司) Co with the right hand — was a ruse that damaged his reputation. The solution he has proposed this time is not any better. Although CIC will be sold, Ma said the proceeds from the sale will be used to pay for pensions, party operational costs, party think tanks and scholarships. The remainder will be donated to charity and future election campaign funds will mainly come from public donations."

window dressing

Taipei Times - archives: "The four agreements signed by Taipei and Beijing last November were nothing but “window dressing,” experts attending a cross-strait forum said yesterday, urging the government to pressure Beijing to quit blocking other countries from signing free-trade agreements (FTA) with Taiwan as both sides mull an economic pact.

Wednesday will mark the agreements’ first anniversary after they were signed on Nov. 4 last year by Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart, Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait. The agreements addressed direct sea links, daily charter flights, direct postal services and food safety.

National Taiwan University economics professor Kenneth Lin (林向愷) told the forum that the government led by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) advertised only the benefits signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), without explaining its negative impacts"