Experts call for a return to family farming model

BAVARIA EXAMPLE:：Experts said that the government should encourage small-scale farming like the German state did, which also saw a lift in the number of tourists
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Mon, Apr 21, 2014 - Page 3

Agricultural experts yesterday called for more governmental engagement in revitalization of the family farming model to save the nation’s agricultural sector from the threat of the free-trade system and the failure of past policies.

With the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) designating this year the International Year of Family Farming, experts told a forum organized by the New Century Foundation that although Taiwan is not a UN member, it should take note of the organization’s ideas and make changes.

FEATURE: German man’s case shows immigration law failings

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Wed, Feb 05, 2014 - Page 3

When Daniel Helmdach arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on March 8 last year, he was informed by National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials that he could not enter since he had been banned from entering Taiwan for three years in 2011 and was immediately sent back.

The ban, effective to July this year, prohibits the 22-year-old German from entering Taiwan — where he resided for a year in 2010 and 2011 as a volunteer for two non-profit organizations — and was given to him for participating in a peaceful anti-nuclear protest at Tainan Station on June 11, 2011.

According to immigration officials, Helmdach violated the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法) by engaging in “activities or employment that is different from the purposes of their visit or residence.”

DPP pair voice concerns over VW plant

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers from Greater Kaohsiung yesterday questioned whether the municipality has been excluded from location options for an investment by German automaker Volkswagen — an accusation the central government denied.

Legislators Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) and Hsu Chih-chieh (許志傑) told a press conference that only New Taipei City (新北市) officials were invited to a meeting with Volkswagen representatives, Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and government officials on Feb. 1.

Legislative delegations to visit Japan, Germany

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

An 11-member legislative delegation will head for Japan on Sunday for a seven-day visit for parliamentary diplomacy and discussions about nuclear energy.

The delegation, to be led by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), will include lawmakers Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Mark Chen (陳唐山) of the Democratic Progressive Party and Hsu Chun-hsin (許忠信) of the Taiwan Solidarity Union.

DPP takes Ma to task on German unification idea

FLIP-FLOP:President Ma Ying-jeou said the German unification model was not applicable when he served on the MAC in 1992, the DPP’s Lin Chun-Hsien said
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday repeated its call for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to withdraw his “one country, two areas (一國兩區)” proposal and said Ma “had slapped himself in the face” with his “German experience” analogy.

Ma said on Thursday that he drew inspiration from the “German experience” between East and West Germany in the 1990s, a concept of “non-recognition of each other’s sovereignty and non-denial of each other’s administrative power” when he formulated the proposal.

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.

MOFA helping stranded Taiwanese travelers in Europe

Taipei, Dec. 21 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday that Taiwan's representative offices in Europe are doing their best to help Taiwanese travelers stranded around the northern part of the continent due to bad weather.

The ministry confirmed that as of Tuesday morning, more than 100 Taiwanese tourists were stranded in Cologne, Vienna and London after heavy snow caused the cancellation and delay of flights across the European continent.

With the help of Taiwan's representative office, 73 Taiwanese tourists received a temporary visa or a Schengen visa exemption from the immigration office in Vienna, MOFA spokesman James Chang said.

Another group of 54 travelers on a China Airlines flight had arrived in London after previously being kept in Cologne, where the tourists received a group Schengen visa so they could leave the airport during their stay.

Dozens of Taiwanese travelers were also still in London waiting for Heathrow and Gatwick airports to open, Chang said.

The MOFA believed there were other Taiwanese travelers facing problems in Europe, and the Department of European Affairs was still gathering information on their situations, Chang said.

The ministry had a similar experience in helping more than 1,900 Taiwanese travelers get to their destination or apply for temporary travel documents in April, when a volcanic eruption in Iceland disrupted thousands of flights around Europe, Chang said. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls

MOFA issues travel warning for Germany based on terror alert

Taipei, Nov. 18 (CNA) Taiwanese nationals visiting Germany are advised to be on the alert against potential terrorist attacks around the end of the month, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said Thursday.

The travel warning was issued after German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Wednesday that his ministry had obtained concrete evidence that terrorists were planning to launch attacks in Germany by the end of November, MOFA spokesman James Chang said in a regular briefing.

For now, the travel alert for Germany will remain gray, the lowest level in the MOFA's four-color system, Chang said. However, Taiwanese visitors to Germany should take safety precautions, he stressed.

German officials said that the terror warning was serious enough for them to "expect an attack at any time." The potential attack has reportedly been planned by Islamists from India and Pakistan, along with a German Moroccan and German Syrian. (By Chris Wang) Enditem /pc

Germany, Taiwan launch working holiday program

Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) Germany became the fifth country to sign a working holiday program with Taiwan when representatives from Germany and Taiwan completed the signing of a joint statement Monday in Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement.

According to the statement, Birgitt Ory, director of the German Institute Taipei, signed the joint statement Monday while Wei Wu-lien, representative of Taiwan's office in Germany, signed the statement Sept. 28.

Under the joint statement that took effect immediately, people aged 18-30 from Germany and Taiwan can travel and work in each other's territory for up to one year. Each side has offered a quota of 200 multiple entry visas in the first year of the program.

Taiwan also has working holiday agreements with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada.

Last year, more than 12,000 Taiwanese youths took part in the program, with more than 9,000 going to Australia, which has not set a quota for Taiwanese participants.

Canada has a quota of 700, up from the original 200 due to the popularity of the program, and Japan has a quota of 2,000. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls

Taiwanese basketball junkie lives her dream in Europe

Nancy Liu has often woken up during the past six months not knowing where she was. All she knew was she was somewhere in Europe -- and that's exactly how she wanted it.

Liu is an uncommonly dedicated sports fan, even by basketball junkie standards. She quit her job and visited 33 European cities in in 63 days from March to May this year to watch professional basketball games in person.

"I love the swishing sound of a basketball going through the net. And I'm uncomfortable if I don't play basketball for two or three days, " said Liu, who started playing basketball in fifth grade when she attended an international school in Beijing, China.

Already familiar with the American basketball scene, including the professional National Basketball Association (NBA) and the college game, Liu said her passion for the sport took her to the other side of the Atlantic to explore an area she was less familiar with the game played.

Liu quit her job at an international trading company and started to map out her plan to visit as many European teams and leagues as possible.

Helped by the many friends she made while volunteering at various local sporting events, including the Jones Cup basketball tournament, the Kaohsiung World Games and the Taipei Deaflympics, Liu set up about 70 percent of her itinerary before departing on what she called, "A Basketball Dream -- Ballin' Europe."

The basketball-loving girl, who majored in applied chemistry at Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University, began her basketball pilgrimage at a Swiss professional league game in Geneva less than 24 hours after arriving there.

In the following two months, the journey took Liu to numerous cities in eight countries -- Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece.

In all, Liu attended 25 games and watched 50 teams play in various European domestic leagues as well as the Eurocup Finals and the Euroleague Final Four, both top-tier European basketball competitions.

Liu estimated that she slept an average of less than three hours a night during her stay in Europe and visited as many as three cities in one day.

After the two-month trip, she spent three months in Beijing to work as an intern at NBA China and returned to Taiwan for a day before resuming her travels.

This time she visited Turkey for the 2010 FIBA Men's World Championship and attended all of the tournament's games, while getting to see her favorite player -- Rudy Fernandez of Spain -- perform in person.

To save money during her European travels, Liu said she spent all but one night staying at friends' places, and ended up spending only around NT$200,000 (US$6,377) for the trip.

"Most of my budget was spent on transportation -- flight tickets, train tickets and bus fare, " Liu said. She also had to overcome "the unthinkable" in Europe, such as a French railway strike and the disruption of Euro air traffic by the eruption of a volcano in Iceland that left European skies bathed in inpenetrable ash.

Though basketball was at the center of her trip, Liu said it had even greater significance because she used every opportunity to let everyone know she's from Taiwan.

"This was my way of promoting Taiwan to the world, " she said.

Newspapers in Serbia and Greece gave extensive coverage to her ambitious trip, according to Liu. She was also interviewed by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) during the World Championship.

Liu recalled that her parents expressed concerns about the trip when she first brought up the idea, but her father finally gave the go-ahead because "he didn't want me to miss the opportunity to realize my dream."

Her European trek has not brought her dream to an end. If anything it was only the beginning of loftier ambitions, including a return to Europe for the 2011 European Championship, which will be held in Lithuania next summer.

Liu's dream now extends beyond watching basketball games.

"I want to be involved in and initiate basketball-related nongovernment organization (NGO) projects which inspire children and the underprivileged through the sport, " said Liu, who described herself as being "broke" and is looking for a job to support her future plans.

"Basketball has been the inspiration to lift myself out of bed every morning since I was 13. I hope that the sport -- and my journey -- would be an inspiration for other people as well, " she said. By CNA Staff Reporter Chris Wang enditem/ls

Taiwanese pianist to commemorate Chopin in Taipei concert

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) World renowned Taiwanese pianist Chen Ruei-bin gave a mini-concert at a press conference Tuesday as a preview to a June 6 solo concert in Taipei to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Polish composer and pianist Frederic Chopin's birth.

The pianist, who comes from southern Taiwan and honed his musical skills in Austria and Germany, told CNA he is excited to play in front of local music lovers for the first time in three years in Taiwan's first full Chopin concert held at the National Concert Hall.

Chen, who was taught piano by his father from the age of 5 and went to Vienna, Austria aged 12 on a state-funded scholarship, has won 18 medals in various international competitions. He has spent most of his career overseas and most of his time traveling and performing.

The virtuoso launched a Chopin 200 commemoration tour in 2008 that has taken him from the United States to Australia and New Zealand and from Europe to China and Hong Kong during the last three years.

Chen said he has played Chopin since he was a teenager, when his interpretations of Chopin received high acclaim from Austrian media and music critics.

"Looking back, my performance at the time would not even interest me now because it was not that good. As I'm now older and have experienced setbacks, challenges and heartache, I think I am able to interprete Chopin's works better, " he said. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

Taiwan could get Schengen visa-waiver by 2011: EU parliamentarian

Taipei, May 28 (CNA) Taiwan's bid for Schengen visa exemption is expected to be discussed in the European Parliament in June and will be granted as soon as the end of the year, a European parliamentarian familiar with the matter said Friday.

"My understanding is that they will be coming up in a short time ... I would expect that to happen in a few weeks, probably in June, " said Simon Busuttil, spokesperson of the European People's Party on the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, which is responsible for visa affairs.

The European People's Party is the largest group in the European Parliament.

The recommendation will have to go to the Council of Ministers after clearing the European Parliament to complete EU procedures before taking effect, he said.

"From past experience of visa liberalization for other countries, from the moment we get the recommendation till the moment we decide, you could be looking at around six months. If nothing goes wrong, this could be done by the end of the year, " the Maltese parliamentarian said.

Taiwan has been working on the proposal, which would grant Taiwanese travelers visa exemptions for 25 European countries under the Schengen Agreement, with the European Union (EU) since early last year.

It had said earlier that the proposal would be passed before June.

The delay was because a new European Commission entered into office in February and "there must've been a lot of backlog in the pipeline, " Busuttil said.

The delay was not related to Taiwan's execution of four death row inmates April 30, which sparked condemnation from the EU, the parliamentarian said.

Translation of the documents could also be behind the delay because all EU documents have to be available in 23 languages, said German parliamentarian Michael Gahler.

The visa-exemption recommendation will have a technical component and a political component, Busuttil said.

On the technical side, Taiwan has met all requirements, including security-related issues and biometric passports, he indicated.

"And we don't see any political obstacle in Taiwan's visa liberalization, " he said. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls

Olympic gold medalists hope for good results at Taipei meet

Taipei, May 27 (CNA) Sprinter Michael Frater, a member of Jamaica's world record-setting 4x100-meters men's relay team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said Thursday that he would like to be the first athlete to break the 10-second mark in the men's 100-meters in Taiwan.

Frater was among 15 top athletes, including four Olympic gold medalists, invited to attend the 2010 Chinese Taipei International Athletic Meet scheduled to take place May 28-29 in Taipei with over 600 athletes from 15 countries participating.

The gold medalists are Frater, Polish shot putter Tomasz Majewski and New Zealand women's shot putter Valerie Vili -- all of whom won their golds in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Tim Mack, who won the men's pole vault in the 2004 Athens Olympics, will also compete.

Responding to a reporter's question, Frater said he would love to be the first to break the 10-second mark in Taiwan, where Liu Yuan-kai and Tsai Mung-lin share the national record of 10.29 seconds.

The athletes have a lighter year than usual this year, since there are no major championships this year after the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Vili, who came to Taiwan after a Shanghai Diamond League athletics meet last week, said she will focus on the Diamond League this year.

She said she was hoping for a good result this week in Taipei, before spending a week training in Singapore and competing in the next Diamond League series in New York.

German discus thrower Robert Harting, who won gold in the World Championships last year and fourth place in Beijing, said the competition is a good opportunity for a reunion with his Taiwanese friend Chang Ming-huang, one of the best discus throwers in Taiwan, who uses the same coach as Harting -- Werner Goldmann -- when he is in Germany.

The Chinese Taipei Track and Field Association (CTTFA) , the game's organizer, hopes that the competition's "star power" will inspire local athletes and rejuvenate local development in the track and field category, which has suffered from lackluster performance for some time, said CTTFA Secretary-General Wang Ching-cheng. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

Ex-Latvian president offers political insights

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) Former president of the Republic of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga shared her observations on various political topics from her unique point of view as a psychologist Tuesday before concluding a week-long visit to Taiwan.

All countries are advised to use referendums cautiously because in some cases people tend to be misinformed, she told reporters, adding that her training in psychology gave her an advantage as "a good listener" in comparison to other politicians.

Vike-Freiberga, 72, visited Taiwan amid heated local debate on whether to hold a referendum on a proposed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China aimed at lowering tariffs and relaxing trade regulations.

Citing the example of a failed ratification of the European Constitution in France in 2005, Vike-Freiberga said French voters did not vote for the Constitution not because they did not support the treaty but because they did not like the government led by then-President Jacques Chirac.

The failed first referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland in 2008, she added, was a classical case of misinformation because under Irish law the government is not allowed to promote its policy. The opposition gave the electorate false information and successfully prevented the passage of the referendum.

"This is the danger in referendum... It's very easy to mislead them (the voters) . Psychologically this potential of misinformation of the issue of referendum makes referendum, I think, an insecure instrument for finding out the true position of the people, " she said.

Vike-Freiberga was elected president of Latvia in 1999. In 2003, she was re-elected for a second term. During her tenure, she played a crucial role in leading Latvia to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the EU.

Vike-Freiberga, who has previously been nominated to run for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations and for President of the European Council, declined to comment any further on Taiwan's political relations and economic initiative with China.

However, she said she saw nothing but a promising economic future for Taiwan because the country has always been at the forefront of innovation, development of high technology, and re-orienting itself to an economy of high value-added products, which she described as "the only way of survival in a modern world of free trade." In a free trade world, "you cannot protect yourself the way you did before, " but at the other end of the spectrum Taiwan is able to gain the access to the huge China market and create a huge opportunity, she said.

In terms of the sensitive agriculture issue, she acknowledged that it has been a complicated issue and "one of the thorniest problems in the world, which everyone has to face." "Any country has to think about having enough food to feed its people in case something happens. To some extent, each country has to produce some food, " she said, adding that this is why farmers in the EU are so heavily subsidized. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J

Veteran diplomat Hu named Taiwan's top national security aide

Taipei, Feb. 11 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou wasted no time to appoint his new top national security advisor as Hu Wei-chen was selected to fill the void left by Su Chi, who resigned as the Secretary General of the National Security Council Thursday.

Hu Wei-chen, 63, will assume the post Feb. 23 right after the nine-day lunar New Year break, replacing Su Chi, who resigned, citing health concerns and family reasons, the Presidential Office said in a press release.

Hu is a seasoned veteran on foreign affairs and national security matters and has a military background.

His father Hu Tsung-nan was a high-ranking general as well as a close confidant of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the Kuomintang (KMT) government during World War II and the Chinese civil war in the 1950s.

His background and familiarity with military affairs will help Hu in his post at the NSC, said Justin Chou, a ruling KMT legislator.

Hu started his career as a diplomat, serving as Director General of the Department of Protocol in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was posted in Chicago and other cities in the United States. Later he served as Taiwan's representative to Germany and Singapore.

He was also familiar with national security affairs, serving as the deputy chief of the National Security Bureau under former Presidents Lee Teng-hui and deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council under former President Chen Shui-bian's administration.

The timing of Su's resignation is intriguing, said Lo Chih-cheng, a political scientist at Soochow University. Lo said he believes there have been internal and external pressures -- from the U.S. or China -- that forced Su to step down.

Choosing to announce the resignation right before the lunar New Year break, Lo said, is a tactic to avoid the resignation turning into a hot topic in the media during the nine-day break.

Legislator Chou said that while it is a pity to see Su go, Hu's appointment is a correct move. He praised Hu as "a man of integrity and decency" and expected his "brilliant performance" at the NSC.

"With his military background and expertise in foreign affairs and national security, he will do a good job, " Chou said.

As Taiwan's representative to Singapore, he criticized his own government in 2007 when then President Chen attempted to "de-Sinicize" Taiwan and to play down the legacy of Chiang. Hu was forced to resign over the ensuing controversy.

Hu is expected to pick up where Su left off in terms of national security policy and he alone will not be able to make dramatic changes, which means the policy of the Ma administration will remain unchanged, Lo said.

25-year friendship bonds president, German lawmaker

A love for Taiwan and 25 years of friendship with President Ma Ying-jeou are the reasons Karl Lamers, a member of the German Parliament and President of the Atlantic Treaty Association, decided to exchange his New Year holiday for a trip to Taiwan, Lamers told CNA Thursday.

Lamers, 74, who was in the middle of a six-day visit along with German MPs Anita Schafer and Robert Hochbaum, lauded Ma's pragmatic methods of reducing problems across the Taiwan Strait and bringing peace and stability to what was once one of the world's most volatile flash points.

It was more than 20 years ago when Lamers, a young Christian Democratic Union (CDU) member with no function in the party and Ma, who was serving as an interpreter to the late President Chiang Ching-kuo, struck up their friendship in an inter-party collaboration that brought dozens of young Germans to Taipei and young Kuomintang (KMT) members from Taiwan to the German city of Heidelberg.

That was his most unforgettable experience of Taiwan, Lamers said, adding that "later we both decided to go into politics and here we are." Recalling his first encounter with Ma, Lamers said he stood out because "he realizes what he says, does what he says and knows how to convince people -- all unique characteristics of a great politician." "And of course, he's good-looking, " he said.

Last March, Lamers was in Ma's campaign office to witness his landslide win in the presidential election.

Lamers, who is on his fifth visit to the country, has a connection to Taiwan dating back as far as 30 years, when "China was still an enemy and Taiwan was totally different from now in terms of democracy," he said.

But now China is a part of cooperation and Ma deserves the credit for implementing a "peace policy" that includes "three noes" (no independence, no unification and no use of force) that has relaxed cross-strait tension, he said.

Commenting on the future of Taiwan and China, Lamers said Ma made it clear that "it's a question to be solved by the next generation." Just like the unification of Germany, "such development takes time and maybe one day the door will open," he noted.

Meanwhile, Hochbaun said that timing is everything, adding that Germany was unified at a time "when politicians had no opportunities to do anything against it" and it was a step-by-step process instead of happening overnight.

China has sent out a signal of goodwill toward Taiwan, Lamers observed, in allowing Taiwan observer status in the World Health Assembly (WHA) and "hopefully good things will happen in Taiwan's participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Civil Aviation Organization." In terms of China's missiles deployed against Taiwan and it's anti-secession law, the veteran politician noted that there was a time when every Taiwanese was in fear of China's use of missiles.

"But in the past two years we have not had the feeling that the people were in fear. Yes, the missiles are still there but they're no longer a threat to the people of Taiwan because of the reduced tensions," he said.

Lamers said Ma was doing the right thing in advocating a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement between the two sides of the strait because "Taiwan should be incorporated into the global economic system and should not be isolated." Taiwan's armed forces have good equipment, good training and educated soldiers, observed Lamers, who also serves as deputy chairman of the German Parliament's Defense Committee.

However, Germany currently focuses its exchanges with Taiwan solely on trade and culture, he went on, adding that arm sales or military cooperation is out of the question at present.

Taiwan escapes German scare in baseball qualifiers

Taipei, March 9 (CNA) Taiwan's national baseball team survived a scare to defeat unheralded Germany 2-0 Sunday in Taichung to stay undefeated in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

With Australia knocking Canada from the ranks of the undefeated with a 10-5 upset in Sunday's other early game, Taiwan became the first team to win its first three games in the eight-team tournament.

The top three finishers in the tournament will earn spots in the 2008 Beijing Olympics baseball competition.

Taiwan was expected to coast to an easy win over a team that was given little chance to compete with the top teams in the tournament, but it turned out to be the toughest game for the host team so far.

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth, Germany, with only one U.S. minor league player on its roster, seemed poise to rally to victory.

But with German runners on first and third and nobody out, reliever Lo Chia-jen retired the next three batters without allowing any damage to preserve a shaky victory.

The potent attack that helped Taiwan to wins over Spain and Mexico was silenced by Germany's pitchers.

"In fact, this game came with even more pressure because it was a game we couldn't afford to lose, " Taiwan manager Hung Yi-chung said after the game.

After being shutout for six innings, Taiwan finally broke through in the top of the seventh to score the eventual winning runs. Lin Chih-sheng doubled and scored on Lo Kuo-hui's two-bagger to break the scoreless tie. Lo then scored on Kao Chih-kang's single, his first hit in the tournament.

"I imagined a scene that we were going to the Beijing Olympics when I stepped to the plate. I promised Chen Chin-feng that we would take him to Beijing, " Lo said.

Chen Chin-feng, Taiwan's best hitter, withdrew from the team due to injury prior to the tournament.

Germany stayed with the Taiwanese in the first six innings and even outhit Taiwan 5-4. It's starting lefthander Andre Hughes bothered Taiwanese hitters with slow pitches ranging between 105-115 kilometers per hour.

"We haven't often seen such slow pitches in Taiwan and our hitters spent some time to get used to it, " Hung said.

Hughes allowed eight hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings.

Taiwan starter Chang Chih-chia struck out three and gave up five hits in five innings.

Taiwan faces a major test Monday against Canada, with a win likely to clinch an Olympic berth for the hosts.

-- Standings:
Taiwan 3-0
South Korea 2-0
Canada 2-1
Australia 2-1
Germany 1-2
Spain 0-2
Mexico 0-2
South Africa 0-2

Beijing Olympics echoes Berlin Olympics: human rights advocates

Taipei, Feb. 21 (CNA) Major powers have ignored China's human rights violations in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which is reminiscent of what happened before the 1936 Berlin Olympics, human rights advocates said Thursday in an international forum.

"Nazi authorities held high hopes for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which they saw as an occasion to showcase the so-called German economic miracle and assert Germany's world power status, " said Seweryn Ozdowski, former commissioner of the Commonwealth of Human Rights in Australia.

"The Olympics in China seem to be set in exactly the same mould, " Peter Westmore, chairman of the Australia-based National Civil Council, said on the first day of an international forum on human rights in China and the 2008 Olympics.

The two-day forum was organized by the Coalition to Investigate the persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG) and the Taiwan Culture Foundation.

Another similarity between the two Olympics 64 years apart could be found in major powers' neglect of the host countries repeated human rights violations, the forum participants claimed.

"In 1936, Nazi dictatorship was already well-established, with political executions without trial, censorship of the media, abolition of the freedom of association and the racist Nurnberg Laws," said Ozdowski.

"The Communist Party of China (CPC) has not improved its human rights situation over the past 10 years, " said Michel Wu, former director of the Mandarin service of Radio France International.

"Despite this, the Western democracies have decided to overlook these developments in the name of unity of Olympic spirit, " he said.

While a number of celebrities, including American film director Steven Spielberg, and various non-government organizations have called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, most Western countries have decided to participate.

"Many Western governments, including my own, are afraid to offend Beijing, fearing that to raise the issue of human rights in a serious way would jeopardize trade and other links. Businesses, particularly those with subsidiaries in China and including media organizations, also fear offending China, " Westmore said.

"We should take comfort from the fact that just as courageous and far-sighted people opposed the German Olympics in 1936, today we are called on to object to the conducting of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, " he added.

"China should not hold the Olympics. The CPC had no intention from the first to keep the promise that it would improve the human rights situation in China, " said Kan Ando, Japan vice president of CIPFG Asia.

The advocates called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics as China has failed to fulfill its promise made in 2001 when it won the Olympics hosting bid to improve the human rights situation in China, so that the communist regime will learn a lesson and human rights in China can be protected.

"Let us remember that a boycott of the 1936 Berlin Olympics could have prevented World War II and holocaust, " Ozdowski said.

German Trade Office Taipei names new director

Taipei, Jan. 28 (CNA) Roland Wein has been named the new director of the German Trade Office (GTO) Taipei, succeeding Christine Reber, the office announced Monday in a press release.

Wein's appointment took effect Jan. 1, 2008, according to the statement.

At a seminar on "Taiwan in 2008: Economy, Politics and Culture" organized by the German Trade Office Jan.16, Wein expressed his commitment to contribute to the further strengthening of the office as the gateway for German companies to Taiwan, as a service provider for companies of both economies, and as a business club for the German business community in Taiwan, the statement said.

"I am very much looking forward to cooperating closely with the representatives of German and Taiwanese companies engaged in bilateral economic relations as well as relevant organizations and institutions, " he said.

Wein majored in Korean studies and holds a Ph.D. from Humboldt University in Berlin. He has lived and worked in several Asian countries such as North Korea, Mongolia and South Korea.

Before joining the German office in Taipei, he worked at the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI) in Seoul for six years.

Right workers recall effort to help Taiwan political prisoners

Taipei, Dec. 10 (CANA) If risking your life for your beliefs and values is honorable, then trying to help those in a country thousands of miles away whom you don't even know and whose names you have a hard time pronouncing is equally appreciated.

That's what the group of international human rights workers invited to attend Monday's inauguration ceremony for the Jingmei Human Rights Memorial Park did almost 30 years ago through their collective efforts to put pressure on Taiwan authorities to release political prisoners.

Most of the human rights workers, who were based in the United States, Japan, Germany and several other countries, learned of the political prisoner cases in Taiwan by accident and never met the Taiwanese prisoners they helped save until last weekend when they together visited the new park which was once known as the Jingmei Military Detention Center.

Klaus Walter, head of the membership department of Amnesty International German Section, said he wanted to work on South American political prisoner cases at first but was assigned to handle a Taiwan case in 1975 as a 21-year-old student volunteer in Bonn, Germany.

"Maybe my Spanish wasn't good enough, " Walter said half-jokingly, adding that prior to that time, he had no idea where Taiwan was.

However, after starting to work on the case, he began to understand more about the political situation in Taiwan and, one year later, formed a Taiwan Coordination group whose task was to gather all available information on all political prisoners in Taiwan.

It was not easy because Taiwan officials had never answered AI letters, he said, forcing him to gather information via human rights groups in Japan and other countries. In addition, AI regulations required that staff obtain information from at least two different sources to confirm its credibility.

Masahiro Watarida chose a more direct way to gather information and became a victim himself. Watarida, who is now the secretary-general of Globalization Watch Hiroshima, visited Taiwan soon after the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979 to collect information on human rights violations.

When departing from Taiwan Dec. 21, 1979, Watarida was found carrying newspapers and magazines covering the incident. He was arrested, tortured and detained for 84 days.

Overseas Taiwanese also worked hard to seek international help. Roger Chao, a Germany-based Taiwanese reverend and one of the leaders of "Christians for Taiwan's Self-determination, " and his wife Doris worked with AI on extending assistance to victims of the incident.

"And because AI did not allow members to work on cases in their own country, Taiwanese members established a group to seek support from the international community, " Chao said.

International support and assistance were important because the people of Taiwan could not do much living under the authoritarian regime, Chao said.

The Hsieh Tsun-min case showed why the rescue of Taiwanese political prisoners was a global effort. Hsieh, who was imprisoned in 1964 for a public statement titled "A Declaration of Formosan Self-salvation" as a student at National Taiwan University, got acquainted with Japanese Taiwan independence supporter Masanari Kobayashi when both were in a Taiwan Garrison Command detention center in 1971.

Kobayashi had succeeded in distributing leaflets advocating Taiwan independence by flying baloons in Taipei but was later arrested and deported. Later, he helped send Hsieh's messages to international organizations. The messages were printed in the New York Times, which led to Hsieh's death sentence being rescinded later.

On Hsieh's visit to the AI German Section after his release, Rev. Chao recalled, a girl showed Hsieh a letter which had been sent to him seven years earlier but returned by Taiwan authorities.

"The girl was 17 years old when she sent the letter of support. Hsieh was in tears upon reading that letter, " Chao said.

Because Taiwan received so much international help during the period of "White Terror" in the country and because the country now enjoys full democracy, the people of Taiwan should start extending a helping hand to people in regions around the world who are suffering from the same sort of repression, Walter said.

"Think about Darfur, Sudan, where there's a major human rights crisis. Or think about Myanmar, which is closer to you in Asia, " he said, adding that it's time for Taiwan to extend help to those in need.