2008 - 4th Quarter
The KMT's ex-legislator Diane Lee: the Smell of Rotten Fish Becomes Stronger in Taiwan
There is indeed something rotten in both Denmark and in Taiwan as the Diane Lee case drags on. Lee has now resigned from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) but she still remains locked in denial. Who wouldn't if you had committed a criminal act and owed over US $3 million dollars to the people of Taiwan? There is a simple ...
The KMT's Diane Lee, the Ways of the Weasel Part II
Fabrication, fabrication, who will do the fabrication? The case of Diane Lee becomes more complex and more devious. Below follows some expert advice from someone well versed in the ins and outs of the US consular service. There is a formal process that is gone through and with such a process, the magical way that Diane Lee claims her US ...
The KMT's Diane Lee, Legislative Abuse, and the Ways of the Weasel
For those that watch the scandals and rumor-mongering of Taiwan, Diane Lee's name is an all too familiar by-word. One of her more famous past escapades and abuses of her legislative position was in 2002 when she wrongfully accused DPP supporter and head of the Department of Health, Twu Shiing-jer. Lee charged that Twu kissed another man in a KTV ...
David Wu, Taiwanese American US Congressman Criticizes Ma Government
David Wu is the only Taiwanese American serving in the US Congress; and he was recently re-elected to his sixth term representing the 1st District of Oregon. Wu knows the difference between true freedom and democracy, and so he also wrote to US President Bush to express his deep concern over the clampdown of human rights and civil liberties in ...
US Congress Expresses Concern over Abuses Under Ma Ying-jeou
It is not only numerous International Human Rights Organizations, media watchdogs and other guardians of human rights and civil liberties that are shocked at the violations that have already taken place in Taiwan during the first seven months of the rule of President Ma Ying-jeou. Fourteen members of the US Congress took pains to write US President Bush advising him ...
Taiwan's Chen Shui-bian, Guilty or Not-Guilty?
Anyone reading about Taiwan news would know that former president Chen Shui-bian has been accused of just about stealing everything from the Presidential Office kitchen sink to the treasures in the National Palace Museum. Some may wonder where I stand on this. My response is simple; if Chen is guilty of money laundering etc., then I say "hang him high." ...
The List of Protests Against Ma Just Grows and Grows; Is There Anyone That Has Not Spoken Up
The list of complaints against Ma Ying-jeou has become so numerous that one hesitates to add another. For those who know Ma, it is reality finally surfacing. Ma never had an image of Mr. Clean; those on the inside have always seen through that from Ma's days as a student spy. Now, Reporters Without Borders (RWP) has spoken out on ...
Taiwan's Ma Ying-jeou, the Cracks Have Become Fissures, Part I
Ma Ying-jeou has been president of Taiwan for some seven months and already the cracks in his counterfeit fač“·de are becoming fissures. As one elected with a popular majority, his image, so carefully crafted in the past, has not stood up to the test of the reality and responsibility required by the role of President. Even rascals and under-achievers have ...
And Still Another Two Human Rights Organizations Join the Protest Against Ma Ying-jeou's Rule
Read through the past ten posts where international organization after international organization speaks out on the erosion of justice and the violation of human rights in Taiwan. Earlier this week, the police forcefully removed the students in silent protest at Liberty Square in Taipei. With clubs and shields the Taipei police moved in on the sleeping students at 4 am ...
Amnesty International Adds its Voice to Protests Against the Erosion of Justice under Ma Ying-jeou's KMT Government
On December 7th, the Wild Strawberries will have a march to continue their protest against the harsh Parade and Assembly Laws that Taiwan has and which are a carry-over from the Martial Law days. The march will be peaceful; it will also be carried out without a permit required by the law. It constitutes a peaceful act of civil disobedience ...
The Taiwan Bar Associations and Judicial Reform Foundation Weigh in on the Abuses of the Ministry of Justice
The evidence mounts and it seems like it will never end. On Nov. 21, in a Joint Statement, the Taiwan Bar Association, the Taipei Bar Association and the Judicial Reform Foundation expressed their dissatisfaction on the abuses demonstrated by Taiwan's Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The MOJ appears to be selectively carrying out its vendetta against Taiwan's former president and members ...
Scholars Find Taiwan's Minster of Justice's Response Inadequate
The previous posting of Taiwan's Minister of Justice's response to the JOINT STATEMENT of the scholars and writers (posted November 15) did not address the real issues of the erosion of justice in Taiwan. Ignoring numerous other protests also listed below, the Minister's response appears to hide behind the technicalities of the Constitution. Taiwan's current Constitution has many inadequacies; among ...
Taiwan's Minister of Justice Responds to the Scholars' Joint Statement
On November 6th some twenty US, Canadian, European, and Australian scholars wrote a Joint Statement to Taiwan's Ministry of Justice and other government agencies expressing deep concern over the recent series of detentions in Taiwan (that statement can be seen below on November 15). The statement was also published in the "Taipei Times" on November 6. The Honorable Wang Ching-feng, ...
And Yet Another World Agency Protests Abuses of Rights under Ma Ying-jeou
The recently quoted Chinese proverb, "The Horse does not know how long his face is," appropriately fits Taiwan's situation under Ma Ying-jeou. There Ma's Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government and KMT dominated judiciary proceed blithely on claiming to be working for peace with the totalitarian regime in China while ignoring the abuses of power within their own ranks and inflicted ...
Freedom House Adds Yet Another Voice Against the Abuses of Ma Ying-jeou's KMT Government
While Ma Ying-jeou remains the one-trick pony whose only hope seems to be in running to China for solutions to boost his sagging approval rating of 23 per cent; his permitted or possibly directed abuse of his own people and the sovereignty of their nation continues. Another voice that has spoken out in this regard is Freedom House which also ...
Annette Lu, Taiwan's Former Vice President Adds Her Voice to Protests Against the KMT Dominated Judiciary
Former Vice President Annette Lu is no stranger to persecution and bad-mouthing from both the People's Republic of China (PRC) as well as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Until now after leaving office, she has been relatively silent on the recent abuses of the KMT dominated judiciary system under Ma Ying-jeou. In the following statement however, she does not hold ...
The USA Heritage Foundation Further Lays Bare the KMT's Current Abuse of Justice
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) controlled judiciary in Taiwan continues to abuse its powers. At present it conducts both a witch hunt and fishing expedition in its attempt to squelch its opposition party the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Former President Chen Shui-bian has been arrested and led away in handcuffs but to date no formal charges have been leveled against ...
Scholars Around the Globe Criticize Abuses Under Ma Ying-jeou and the KMT
This JOINT STATEMENT of US, Canadian, European and Australian scholars/writers started the ball rolling. It highlighted numerous abuses of civil rights and liberties already clearly evident in the first five months that Ma Ying-jeou had been in office. This statement came out on November 4th, 2008, even before Chen Yunlin had completed his visit and further police brutality and violation ...
The Prebyterian Church of Taiwan Adds its Voice to Questioning the Government of Ma ying-jeou
The Presbyterian Church of Taiwan, a long-time and a staunch supporter of human rights and democracy in Taiwan has added its voice to the growing criticism and disillusionment with the government of Ma Ying-jeou and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). The following letter explains. ...
Canadian Human Rights Association Puts Ma Ying-jeou's Government on Watch List
Statement by Taiwanese Human Rights Association of Canada, November 13, 2008 ...
Taiwan's Wild Strawberry Student Protest Challenges the Inequities of the Nation's Laws
As long as Taiwan has Wild Strawberries, the country will maintain its democracy. Just as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in its will to maintain a one-party state miscalculated the will of the people and the strength of their determination in the Kaohsiung Incident on Human Rights Day (December 1979), so too, a generation later, the KMT is attempting to ...
Taiwan's President, The Little Man that is There!
After a stormy five day sojourn in the country of Taiwan, Chen Yunlin is on his way back to China. Now that he is gone, it is time for Taiwanese to see their primping president for the little man that he really is. What should have been a routine visit by a low level person from China to ink prearranged ...
The KMT's and Ma's Surreal Dream of Yesteryear
Like an opium reverie of bygone years, a strange surrealistic cloud is descending on Taiwan. Members of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and their sometime leader Ma Ying-jeou are nostalgically striving to recreate the celebratory one-party state days of their colonial yesteryear rule as they wine and dine a civil servant of China, Chen Yunlin. Chen is head of China"s Association ...
Special News from Taiwan Sovereignty Watch
Coordinator: Taiwan Sovereignty Watch/ ...
The US Elections, Is McCain the Republican Throwaway Candidate?
The US elections are drawing to a close and with all the rhetoric that has been flying most are probably glad that it will soon be over with. I was glad to see that at the American Legion dinner (I believe) last week, both candidates were able to laugh and joke in each others presence, despite the somewhat rabid behavior ...
1895, A New Film Coming out on Taiwan's Early Republic
A new film, "1895", will be coming out within a month and it will be screened in many theatres in Taiwan. Its title and subject is 1895 - the year that the Republic of Taiwan was established. If you remember, the Manchu Qing Dynasty lost a war with Japan over who would control Korea during that year. In the subsequent ...
Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand: Part II, the Manila to Acapulco Trade Route
Part I of this series can be found on Oct. 17. Now while Taiwan is often the center my writings, as far as Spain was concerned in the 16th and 17th centuries, Taiwan was only one part of the larger picture of its trade, empire and expansion. An oft-forgotten part of that picture is the long standing Manila-Acapulco Trade Route, ...
What Does Ma Ying-jeou Mean That There Will Be No War?
Taiwan did not respond in a filial manner to Zhang Mingqing's patronizing paternalism last week and so he went home to China teary-eyed, nevertheless he did go away with our quote of the week. Ma Ying-jeou however gave him a close race in that arena and came in second with his own brilliant statement. Ma boldly declared in the same ...
China's Zhang Mingqing Lectures Taiwan on Human Rights
Zhang Mingqing, the Vice Chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, gets the award for the quote of the week. After he was jostled and booed by Taiwanese citizens, he decided it was time to lecture them in true authoritarian, patriarchal style. He said, "Such violent behavior not only infringes on human rights but also runs against ...
Ma Ying-jeou and the Peter Principle
What is it a sign of when posing for pictures and uttering platitudes are not enough, when your approval ratings have plunged from 70 to under 25 and when half of the people who voted for you already regret their choice in your first 100 days? What is it a sign of? It's a sign that Taiwan has once again ...
Penghu, Casinos and the Future of Taiwan?
Penghu has always had a unique role in Taiwan's history. The Dutch fought the Ming to a standoff there, and as a result the Ming gave the Dutch Taiwan as a place from which to operate. When the Qing wanted to drive Zheng Zhi-long's Ming loyalists out of Taiwan, they first captured Penghu. When the Japanese wanted to fully take ...
Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand: Part I, Taiiwan
Taiwan has always had trade with the islands around it and with the Asian continent. However, it was when the "invisible hand" that Adam Smith speaks of in "The Wealth of Nations" took hold of many Europeans that it would drive them to enter Asian waters in search of many things including spices known for their taste, medicinal value and ...
Pandas in the Mist: Naming and More Problems for Taiwan?
While Taiwan's economy continues to slump, Mr. Ma, our regional administrator has been working (about the only area he seems to be actually doing some work in) and preparing behind the scenes to accept two pandas from China. These pandas are perhaps the sole vestige or legacy of Taiwan's well-known political loser Lien Chan to the country. ...
Niagara Falls, Still Spectacular and Well Worth the Visit
Despite the seductive performance of Marilyn Monroe in the film noir "Niagara" (1953), the days of Niagara Falls as the favorite honeymoon destination in the USA are long past, but by no means, does that mean the falls are not well worth the visit. The first time I had seen them was with two of my brothers, way back in ...
Taiwan History Book Reaches its 4th Edition
The 4th edition of "Island in the Stream, a Quick Case Study of Taiwan's Complex History" is fresh off the presses and available at bookstores in Taiwan for the modest price of NT$200 (US$ 6.50). We are proud of this book since not many history books reach their fourth edition and certainly few if any other histories of Taiwan reach ...
Away from the Hustle and Busltle of Life is the Joy of Grandchildren
One of the privileges, joys, and pleasures of life as you get older is to unashamedly brag about your grandkids and I am no exception. Kahlil Gibran states, "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might ...