Ma sets up agriculture task force

SUPPORTED：The COA minister said the sector has not been overlooked and that the ministry’s budget this year was proportionally higher than South Korea’s

By Chris Wang and Vincent Y. Chao  /  Staff Reporters
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 - Page 3

Following two days of protests on agricultural issues, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday pledged to set up a task force to resolve problems in the sector, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) criticized the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) record on the matter when it was in office.

Speaking in Changhua County, Ma said that within a week he would establish a task force and put forward solutions on the controversial Land Expropriation Act (土地徵收條例) and the distribution of water resources, two key issues raised by thousands of farmers, academics and farmers’ rights activists on Ketagalan Boulevard over the weekend.

In a hastily called press conference yesterday morning, officials denied the government was neglecting the agricultural sector, a claim made by the DPP, which sided with the protesters and used the opportunity to criticize the government’s agricultural policy.

Despite its limited contribution to the economy — less than 2 percent of GDP — the government has not overlooked the agricultural sector, Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) said, adding that the ministry’s budget this year accounted for more than 6 percent of the national budget, higher than the 3 percent to 5 percent seen in Japan and South Korea.

The government has set up a goal of increasing Taiwan’s level of food self-sufficiency from 32 percent to 40 percent, he said.

As for water, only 1.6 percent of water for agricultural uses has been transferred to industrial sectors or for commercial use, Chen said, adding that this is only done in winter when the agricultural demand for water is lower, Chen said.

Ma, who is seeking re-election in January, has made efforts to help farmers by exploring exports to China and increasing the government’s purchase of farm produce, campaign spokeswoman Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) said.

“If [DPP Chairperson and presidential candidate] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) opposes agricultural exports to China, she may as well make that one of the platforms of her presidential campaign,” Lee said.

Lee said there were 14 cases of supply greatly exceeding demand for agricultural produce during the DPP administration from 2000 until 2008 and at least two cases during Tsai’s tenure as vice premier from 2006 to 2007.

“Those problems were not solved at the time,” she said.

The KMT’s offensive came in the wake of meetings by Tsai with residents in three southern municipalities, during which she focused on increasing subsidies, sustainable development and a law to better protect farmers’ rights.

Capitalizing on the sit-in over the weekend, as well as recent complaints against the Ma administration by fruit farmers concerned about low prices for produce, Tsai pledged to overturn existing farming polices to make the industry more viable and sustainable.

“We need a more responsible president,” Tsai told farmers in Tainan’s Liuying District (柳營). “One that understands the needs of agricultural workers and who will stand on the same side as the people.”

Donning a straw hat and carrying a bushel of rice, Tsai said: “After all, the government’s role should be to truly take care of farmers, not just make remarks to the press,” in response to Ma’s recent comments promising to prioritize the industry.

The controversy, sparked after banana farmers in Pingtung County complained to the president about record-low fruit prices on July 9, could end up proving to be a boost to the DPP’s election chances.

The government has pledged to stabilize fruit prices, with Ma ordering the Council of Agriculture to propose an overall solution regarding water distribution, slumping produce prices and concerns about the expropriation of farmland that led to Saturday’s sit-in.

Tsai said a future DPP -administration would conduct a thorough review of public resource distribution in a manner that would help stabilize rural development and seek to make agriculture and value-added goods a new focus of the country’s economy.

“The DPP will change the old and dated idea of using agriculture to develop the industrial sector and raise the role farming plays in the national economy,” Tsai said, adding that she would support the proposed basic agricultural law bill, which aims to revitalize the sector.

DPP to take legal measures against TPPN allegations

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will take a series of legal measures against false and vicious allegations concerning DPP Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Tsai’s campaign spokesman Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said yesterday.

Taiwan People Power News (TPPN, 台灣公論報) on Monday questioned Tsai’s relationship with an aide in a story titled “Unveiling the secret of Tsai Ing-wen’s sexual orientation.”

TPPN was founded in 1947 as an anti-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) newspaper and was re-launched in 2006 by its current publisher Wu Hsiao-tien (巫曉天), who is married to Hou Hui-hsien (侯惠仙), a member of the KMT Central Committee.

In addition, TPPN president and chief editorial writer Wang Tu-hsueh (王篤學), is the younger brother of Taiwanese entrepreneur Wang You-theng (王又曾), a former member of the KMT Central Standing Committee who fled to the US after being charged with money-laundering.

The publication’s political position has been clear since its relaunch with its staunch criticism of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the DPP, Hsu said.

While any presidential candidate should be thoroughly examined, the media is advised to focus on public issues, she said.

Meanwhile, DPP legislator-at-large candidate Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) yesterday filed a lawsuit against DPP member Tsai You-chuan (蔡有全), reporter Wu Tsu-chia (吳子嘉), political commentator Liu Yi-hung (劉益宏) and political talk show host Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) on charges of defamation.

In a story written by Wu Tsu-chia and published on the Internet, Tsai accused Wu Ping-jui of having extramarital relationships and the story was mentioned by Liu and Chang on a talk show.

“If anyone has evidence to prove [the allegation] is true, I will commit seppuku to kill myself,” Wu Ping-jui said.

DPP slams Ma, Wu over botched exam procedures

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) should be held accountable for Taipei City’s failure to resolve controversies surrounding the tri-city high-school entrance exams, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.

The exams, which are used in Taipei, New Taipei City (新北市) and Keelung, were held in May and last week as part of the three cities’ single-textbook policy. They sparked a furor after students complained about the application process because of “ambiguous admissions thresholds.”

The admission process created difficulties for students and parents.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) on Tuesday opened up more than 2,200 vacancies for new admissions, but refused to terminate the controversial exams, a 2007 brainchild of Hau and Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基), then-head of Taipei City’s Department of Education, to take the place of the nationwide examinations and the multiple-textbook policy of the then-DPP central government.

“Hau and Wu [Ching-ji] were spoiled by President Ma and Premier Wu and refused to stop the mistake. We think that Ma and Wu should also be responsible for the controversy,” said Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青), spokesperson of DPP Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), adding that Tsai also called for Hau to immediately terminate the failed examinations.

Meanwhile, in related news, Tsai, in her remarks on the 12-year compulsory education system published on Tuesday, said the educational system should be “exam-free” to reduce stress for students.

Hsu said the DPP is scheduled to release its 10-year party platform, which contains a detailed policy on education, before the party national congress on Aug. 28.

A series of white papers on various issues — among them education, the environment, energy and cross-strait relations — is also scheduled to be published in September, she added.

If the DPP wins January’s presidential election, Hsu said, it is confident that it will be able to move forward the implementation of the 12-year compulsory education system, which was planned for 2014.

Too little done for victims of White Terror: activists

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

The government has done too little for victims of the White Terror era and Taiwanese tend to forget about what their forebears had to sacrifice for democracy, academics and former political prisoners said yesterday.

The government should establish a task force to explore, collect and manage information on all political cases during the White Terror era, the group said at a press conference announcing the launch of an online database of political prisoners and victims from 1945 to 1987.

The White Terror era began after the 228 Incident, when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government launched a brutal military crackdown against people protesting the administration of then-executive administrator Chen Yi (陳儀). During the White Terror era, the KMT government killed tens of thousands of suspected dissidents, many intellectuals and members of the social elite.

Chang Mao-hsiung (張茂雄), 72, a former political prisoner, said that as of now, efforts by the government to explore and document details of that tragic period have been lacking.

Chang, who spent five years behind bars as a prisoner of conscience, has devoted 15 years of his life to building up a database of political cases during the White Terror era. So far, he has catalogued 12,541 persons and 3,250 cases, but these only represent a small portion and more effort is needed before the public can gain more insight into a tragic chapter of the nation’s past, he said.

Wang Hsiao-po (王曉波), a professor at National Taiwan University, who hosted the press conference, said Chang’s database and the false impression that it was Mainlanders who oppressed Taiwanese showed how little is understood about the White Terror era.

Mainlanders, 15 percent of Taiwan’s population, accounted for 41 percent of all political cases in the White Terror period, Wang said.

“That tells you Mainlanders were the victims as well,” said Wang, a pro-unification advocate. “In fact, everyone in Taiwan was a victim during those days.”

There would be no reconciliation if the truth is not revealed, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said.

“Taiwan has been a divided country in terms of national identity and emotion, because everyone looks at the past through their own eyes, as we don’t know much of the truth about the past,” she said.

Citing the example of South Africa, which established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the end of apartheid, Wu Nai-teh (吳乃德), a researcher at Academia Sinica, said he “often wondered why a rich and mature society such as Taiwan does not care about such values” because many poorer and less-developed countries had set up similar institutions to deal with issues from the past.

A large number of White Terror era files are kept in the National Archive, Wu said, but accessibility has been highly limited, showing that the government is still worried about making the files public.

Former DPP chairperson Shih Ming-teh (施明德), also a former political prisoner, said that if there was no evidence being documented, the government would be able to make up stories about the past and distort history.

“We can’t let that happen again,” he said.

DPP finalizes list of nominees for at-large positions

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday finalized its 34-member legislators-at-large list for the legislative elections in January, filling the No. 3 spot after the original nominee withdrew.

The DPP reaffirmed that the list would remain unchanged, as it hoped to put an end the criticisms that have surrounded the nominations.

The party nominated Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻), a lawyer of Hakka descent and an advocate for women’s rights, to fill the spot vacated by Cheng Su-hua (鄭素華), who withdrew her nomination because of criticism related to her previous violation of an election law.

“The meeting reaffirmed that this will be the final version of the list and it will remain unchanged,” DPP spokesperson Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said after the DPP Central Executive Committee meeting, adding that all party members and supporters were encouraged to “look forward from now on — with exactly six months left before the Jan. 14 elections.”

The last thing the DPP and its supporters want to see are the presidential and legislative elections lost because of “internal division and a lack of solidarity,” Cheng said.

Since the list was released on June 29, some academics, supporters and DPP members have criticized the nominations, saying that they failed to appropriately represent the disadvantaged, underprivileged classes and academia. The nominations also caused party infighting because several senior politicians and representatives of nongovernmental organizations were omitted.

To minimize any damage the internal strife might have caused, the DPP also announced that it had launched two investigations.

The party’s Arbitration Committee will reviews a case brought up by DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男), who has accused party caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) of misconduct and asked him to withdraw from the legislators-at-large race, DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said.

Su added he would also convene a three-member special panel to investigate on allegation made by Tsai You-chuan (蔡有全), who has accused a number of unnamed legislator-at-large nominees based in New Taipei City (新北市) of having extramarital relationships.

Hung Chih-kun (洪智坤), a member of the DPP Central Executive Committee, who publicly voiced his displeasure over the nomination list, appeared to have toned down his words after the meeting, telling the media that he had volunteered to run for the party in one of the nine districts deemed “difficult.”

“If I were not able to represent the DPP as a legislator-at-large, I would rather throw myself into the election,” Hung said without specifying for which constituency he plans to contest.

A total of 73 single-member constituencies will be up for grabs on Jan. 14.

Meanwhile, the DPP announced that it nominated singer-turned-politician Yang Lieh (楊烈) to run in Taipei City’s first electoral district. Yang, once a popular singer, will run against the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) for the Beitou (北投)-Tianmu (天母) legislative seat.

The DPP said its national party congress, which will serve as a rally for the presidential ticket is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 28.

Panel derides lagging judicial reforms

‘LAUGHABLE’:One panelist said that while the public could ‘counter’ the executive and legislative branches with elections, the public has no recourse with the judiciary
By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

Transitional justice and civil participation have been lacking from the reform process of the judicial system, which has refused to adapt during the nation’s democratization process in the past two decades, panelists said at a forum in Taipei yesterday.

Taiwan’s judicial reform has a long way to go, academics, lawyers and representatives from judicial watchdogs observed as they reviewed judicial reform in a forum organized by the Taiwan Brain Trust (TBT) think tank.

“The decay of Taiwan’s judicial system has reached the critical point where citizens can no longer tolerate it as you could see from the ‘White Rose’ movement calling for judicial reform last year,” TBT research fellow Lin Iong-sheng (林雍昇) said, adding that the current system was “laughable.”

Having long been criticized for its lack of transparency, integrity, efficiency and fairness, the judicial system has turned a blind eye to the dramatic changes which the other arms of government — the executive and legislative branches — had experienced since the nation’s democratization began in 1987 after the lifting of the 38-year-old martial law, Lin said.

While citizens are able to “counter” the executive and legislative branches with elections, they cannot do anything about the judiciary, he said, adding that any judicial reform would not be a “real” one without citizen participation.

“We asked for judiciary independence and ended up with judiciary authoritarianism,” Lin said. “If self-examination and self-discipline are out of the question [for the judiciary system], heteronomy will certainly be introduced.”

The issue of transitional justice has been overlooked in past reform attempts, said Charles Lo (羅承宗), assistant professor of financial and economic law at Chungyu Institute of Technology. Citing Germany where two-thirds of the 1,500 East German judges were stripped of their duties following Germany’s reunification for committing judicial human rights violations, Lo said there were never such approaches carried out in Taiwan.

“Political oppression disguised as judicial practices will always be there if transitional justice is not served,” Lo said.

In Taiwan, people’s distrust of the judicial system is the fundamental problem, while the lack of education of laws in the school system is another, said attorney Wellington Koo (顧立雄), a panelist at the forum.

The reform in 1999 focused on judicial independence to make sure political and outside interference would be kept at a minimum, Ku said.

However, he said, “judicial accountability” is what the White Rose movement has asked for.

That means people with power should be held accountable at all times and that promotions, evaluations and impeachment of the judiciary should be carried out by independent institutions, rather than judges themselves, Koo said.

DPP’s Tsai offering better anti-poverty policy: group

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) fared better than her campaign rival, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in a report card on their anti-poverty policies, a civic group said yesterday.

The evaluation by the Anti-Poverty Association (APA) gave Tsai four A’s and two B’s, while Ma, who is seeking re-election in the January presidential election, obtained two B’s and four C’s.

“It’s only natural for an opposition party to fare better in such examinations because it is the ruling party that has to carry out what it promised,” said Chien Hsi-chieh , director of the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan, which is a member of the APA.

The APA, an alliance of several civic grops, met Tsai and Ma on June 28 and July 1 respectively to inquire about their policies on poverty issues, including student assistance programs, part-time jobs, debt clearance, care for the working poor and the homeless, as well as social housing.

Both campaigns submitted their written response within a week, Chien said.

Tsai, who listed wealth redistribution as one of her core policies, expressed her support for almost every category advocated by the association, Chien said.

“However, action speaks louder than words,” Chien said, adding that the DPP had to push legislation in the legislature to show its determination.

The association said it would also re-examine accomplishments by the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) before the end of the year, when it is scheduled to release a “voters’ guide” ahead of the presidential poll.

Tsai pledged to support multiple student assistance programs to help students from poor families, an amendment to Consumer Debt Clearance Regulations (消費者債務清理條例) to help credit-card borrowers restructure their debt, and more assistance and care for the homeless and the working poor — people who have regular employment, but live in relative poverty.

Tsai also agreed that part-time employment should only be a supplementary measure and that part-timers should receive the same compensation as regular workers.

Ma and officials in his administration were generally “vague” in their responses, which Chien said was “disappointing.”

Ma said that most of the ideas advocated by the APA could be resolved with current measures.

He said that as scholarships offered by various schools were sufficient to help poor students, there was no need to amend regulations.

He held the same view regarding legislation to help the homeless and the working poor.

“Homeless people have never been evicted by law enforcement officials,” he said in his response.

Kuo Ying-ching (郭盈靖), a member of the Homeless of Taiwan organization, saw things differently.

“Anyone in homeless service organizations and anyone who has witnessed what is happening on the street will tell you that is not the case,” Kuo said.

Neither candidate elaborated on their policy on family caregivers.

Ma, who received a C in this category, did not respond at all, while Tsai, who was given a B, only pledged to support the legislation, said Yuan Hui-wen (袁慧文) of the Taiwan Association of Family Caregivers.

Ma touts peace across the Strait

By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday touted his administration’s efforts to reduce tensions across the Taiwan Strait over the past three years.

Ma, who is seeking re-election in January, told visiting Canadian members of parliament at the Presidential Office that his administration had “effectively reversed the situation across the Taiwan Strait and institutionalized cross-strait relations and reconciliation with a peaceful approach.”

Cross-strait ties, which were once characterized by “conflict and confrontation,” are now characterized by “reconciliation and consultation,” allowing bilateral engagement, trade and investment to develop “remarkably,” Ma said.

Today, 558 passenger flights cross the Strait each week, facilitating engagement between Taiwanese and Chinese and reducing the chances of cross-strait conflict, he said.

“We do not think an arms race with China is in the best interests of Taiwan or the region; that’s why we have chosen peace and rapprochement,” Ma said.

Turning to Taiwan’s relations with Canada, Ma said about 150,000 Taiwanese visit Canada each year, adding that Canada remains one of the top choices for Taiwanese students.

He said the number of Taiwanese visiting Canada would continue to grow after Ottawa offered Taiwan visa-free treatment and signed a working holiday agreement last year.

Meanwhile, Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said in New York that US officials had expressed confidence in Ma’s “responsible” policy.

Lai, who will end her US visit tomorrow, said the so-called “1992 consensus” and the “one China, different interpretations” were an important foundation for cross-strait negotiations, but added that the government firmly believed that the “Republic of China is the only legitimate representative of China in the world.”

Additional reporting by CNA

Nationalists form party for Taiwan

EXPELLING CHINESE:The party defines ‘Chinese’ as ‘people who were born in or have lived in Taiwan for an extended period, but who identify as Chinese’
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter

The Taiwanese National Party (TNP) yesterday announced its formation in Taipei, becoming the only political party in the nation to list a referendum on self-determination and the creation of a new country as its objectives.

Huang Hua (黃華), who served four jail terms for a total of 23 years for his involvement in Taiwan’s independence movement during the Martial Law era, was voted chairman of the party. Huang served as an adviser to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

“No one will give you an independent country as a gift. You have to earn it and that’s why we are establishing this party today,” Huang said.

About 100 independence supporters, most of them seniors, have registered as the party’s founding members. Among them, more than a dozen are retired or active university professors who used to be actively associated with the Taiwan Independence Party, otherwise known as the Taiwan Nation Party, which has lost momentum in recent years.

The party chose its founding day to remember the Taiwanese People’s Party, the first political party established by Taiwanese on July 10, 1927, during the Japanese colonial era.

The new party aims to promote Taiwanese nationalism by what it called the “Taiwan nationalism movement 2.0,” with the ultimate goal of “expelling the Chinese and safeguarding Taiwan” and the mid-term goal of holding a national referendum under international observance on Feb. 28, 2014, to determine Taiwan’s independence.

“Chinese” were defined by the party as “people who were born in or have lived in Taiwan for an extended period, but who identify [themselves] as Chinese,” Ted Lau (劉重義), mastermind of the party’s political philosophy, said in a keynote speech.

The first phase of the Taiwan nationalism movement ended last year in failure, Liu said, adding that a brand new “2.0” era would consist of actions as well as promotion and mobilization through the Internet and social media.

The TNP intends to duplicate the experience of Estonia, a former Soviet Republic that declared independence in 1991, by enlisting Taiwanese who favor the establishment of a new country, before holding a national referendum.

Liu said the party also tried to pattern itself after the Sinn Fein, a political party in Northern Ireland that supports the establishment of a new Irish Republic, and functions as part of a trinity organization, with the Taiwanese National Congress and the Taiwan Guardian Team making up the other two organizations.

“However, I think Taiwan has a mature society and mechanism, so the Taiwan Guardian Team will not be a military organization like the Irish Republican Army. It will be a grassroots organization that works for local communities instead,” Liu said.

“The road to Taiwan independence has been and will be a long and winding road,” political commentator Paul Lin (林保華), a Chinese who obtained Republic of China citizenship, said before giving the TNP his blessing.

The TNP said it would endorse Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in the presidential election in January, adding that it planned to nominate candidates for the legislative election.

Pro-independence supporters announce establishment of new political party

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

Former national policy adviser Huang Hua, center, and others celebrate the announcement of the formation of a new political party, the Taiwanese National Party, outside the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times

A group of pro-Taiwan independence supporters yesterday announced the formation of a new political party, the Taiwanese National Party (TNP, 台灣民族黨).

The party, to be officially established tomorrow, will seek independence for Taiwan through a national referendum.

A group of TNP members made the announcement on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei with the Presidential Office in the background, chanting the slogans “Long live the Taiwanese nation” and “Liberate the Taiwanese nation.”

“We are determined to resort to every possible method to achieve the eventual goal of independence for Taiwan,” said the unofficial leader of the party, Huang Hua (黃華), who used to be an adviser to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Huang, 72, then led TNP members to the nearby 228 Peace Memorial Park and took an oath in front of the Memorial Monument that commemorates the tens of thousands of people killed during the 228 Massacre in 1947.

Huang said the party, which currently has about 100 members, mostly senior citizens, will be a grassroots movement and plans to hold open public speeches nationwide to promote Taiwanese identity and garner support for independence.

Citing the example of Estonia, a former Soviet Republic which declared independence in 1991, Huang said the party aims to enlist Taiwanese who favor the establishment of a new country, before holding a national referendum and convening a constitutional convention.

Taiwanese have the right to determine their own future, Huang said, given that the ratification of the UN Charter in 1945 after World War II placed the right of self--determination into the framework of international law and diplomacy.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government illegally occupied Taiwan and never gave Taiwanese an option in terms of their nationality, Huang said, adding that “legally speaking, Taiwanese still hold Japanese citizenship because Japan did not renounce its sovereignty over Taiwan until the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951.”

“After that, we became stateless people,” said Huang, who served four jail terms for a total of 23 years for participating in Taiwan’s independence movement.

The group of senior citizens felt that there was a need to advocate independence, which is still included in the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) platform, but it “is doing nothing about it,” said Huang, who left the DPP in 2005.

Despite the party’s endorsement of the DPP’s presidential candidate, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), in the presidential election in January, the TNP said it plans to nominate candidates for the legislative elections.

“Building a nation will help more people than building a hospital,” said Tom Yang (楊東傑), a physician who practiced in the US and organized independence groups in the 1950s.