EDITORIAL: Playing the ‘blame the DPP’ game

Tue, Jul 15, 2014 - Page 8

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is serving a 20-year sentence for corruption, has always been a potent totem not only for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), but also many Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters to point to when it comes to what was wrong with his administration.

For the KMT and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Chen has always been an easy target, as they seek to remind voters what happened when they cast their votes for the other — read wrong — party and the other — read really wrong — candidate, and strive to convince the public that the DPP is the party of corruption, not the KMT, even though the KMT turned “black gold” into an art form.

Joseph Wu subpoena is ‘abuse of power’: DPP

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Special Investigation Division’s (SID) subpoena of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) over a case of missing documents during former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration was an abuse of power because it fell beyond the division’s jurisdiction, the DPP said yesterday.

After the party on Tuesday accused the SID of violating the law by not stating the origin of the case on its subpoena and said the subpoena could be politically motivated, the division said that it had subpoenaed witnesses, including Wu, for investigation into missing official documents from the Presidential Office.

Joseph Wu subpoena could be illegal

WITCH-HUNT?While the DPP claimed that the subpoena violated the Code of Criminal Procedure, the SID denied its investigation had any pre-election political considerations
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Special Investigation Division (SID) of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office’s subpoena of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) could be illegal and politically motivated, the DPP said yesterday.

“Wu was listed as an ‘interested party’ in a recent subpoena from the SID... on which no details of the case were listed. The division appears to have violated the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法),” DPP spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) told a press conference.

Support for Ma and Xi meeting plummets: poll

CROSS-STRAIT EXCHANGES:While support for a Ma-Xi meeting has waned, 62 percent of respondents back regular visits by ministerial-level officials to push peace
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Public support for a meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) appears to have plummeted in the past year, with the majority of respondents in a public opinion survey released yesterday saying such a meeting was unnecessary.

The poll, conducted by Taiwan Indicators Survey Research, asked respondents if they support a meeting between Ma and Xi before Ma’s term ends in 2016, and found that 54.4 percent opposed it, 26.5 percent said it was necessary and 19.1 percent gave no answer.

Zhang’s visit exposes all parties’ weaknesses: forum

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Neither the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nor Beijing came out as a winner in the just-concluded visit of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), panelists said in a symposium in Taipei yesterday.

Reviewing the first visit by a Chinese minister to Taiwan in more than six decades, which was dogged by protests during its four days, panelists told the forum organized by the pro-independence Taiwan Brain Trust that the trip was only a “publicity drive” for Zhang, with the Taiwanese government sidelined.

TAO visit shows fragility of democracy: symposium

YOUNG AND DISCONTENTED:：During the symposium participants said that the majority of protesters were young people which showed the changing political climate in Taiwan
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Mon, Jun 30, 2014 - Page 1

The recently concluded visit of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) exposed the danger of the President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration’s attempt to merge “two distinctively different civilizations and the fragility of Taiwan’s democracy and civic society,” panelists at a symposium said yesterday.

“Never think that the tragedy of the 228 Incident cannot happen in the 21st century,” retired National Taiwan University professor Kenneth Lin (林向愷) told the symposium, organized by the Taiwan Association of University Professors.

EDITORIAL: Government alienates young, media

Sun, Jun 29, 2014 - Page 8

For any democratically elected administration, it is perhaps neither a smart nor a justified move to be the enemy of young people, who are supposed to be the future of the nation, and the media, the eyes and ears of the people. President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has been able to achieve both.

During the four-day visit by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), the administration used what appeared to be disproportionate state violence against young people who protested the Chinese official’s visit.

CROSSING THE STRAIT: Ma slams service pact critics, DPP in interview

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Fri, Jun 27, 2014 - Page 3

Those who oppose the cross-strait service trade agreement are in the minority, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview with English-language magazine Forbes Asia last week, in which he warned that the opposition pose a “major challenge” to the nation’s democracy.

The June 19 interview touched on a wide range of issues, including the divisive service trade pact, national security and the year-end elections. The magazine published an excerpt of the interview online yesterday, with the full version to be published in print on July 21.

EDITORIAL: Shame of two-faced Ma’s legacy

Tue, Jun 24, 2014 - Page 8

Six years after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) entered office, Taiwanese have realized that Ma has a bizarre sense of justice, historical understanding and foreign policy direction, as well as a distorted national pride.

In a long list of diplomatic incidents during the past six years, the embattled president has always tried to deflect public scrutiny about his weaknesses and incompetence in domestic affairs by resorting to hawkish positions and disproportionate measures against other countries.

SMEs, innovation likely economic drivers: Tsai

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and innovation — not large corporations and capitalists — are what should drive Taiwan’s next-generation economy, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in an interview published online yesterday, warning that the nation’s economic development can not afford to favor the rich and the powerful anymore.

In an interview with the Chinese-language Common Wealth magazine that touched upon the issues of the proposed free economic pilot zones and free trade, Tsai highlighted the urgency for Taiwan to develop a new economic model for prosperity and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration’s fallacious economic policy scheme.

National Palace Museum exhibit on after apology

‘REGRETTABLE’:：The Tokyo National Museum apologized, which the National Palace Museum accepted, while rebutting criticism that it and MOFA had been slow to act
By Shelley Shan and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Tue, Jun 24, 2014 - Page 1

The Tokyo National Museum yesterday apologized over the controversy generated by some of the posters promoting the exhibition of collections from the National Palace Museum in Taipei that omitted the word “national” in reference to the official title of the Taiwanese museum, an act that was perceived by the government to have undermined the nation’s dignity.

Tokyo National Museum director Masami Zeniya said at a press conference yesterday afternoon that the museum had recognized the mistake and quickly addressed it.

Critics link division judge’s axing to Wang decision

‘WARNING’:：Members of the opposition said Chang’s removal was to make an example of her and to warn judges to be involved in Wang Jin-pyng’s second trial
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Sat, Jun 21, 2014 - Page 1

Chang Yu-feng (張瑜鳳), the division chief judge who oversaw a case involving Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) at the Taipei District Court, was removed from the panel of chief judges, sparking speculation yesterday that she was being punished for ruling against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

In a Judicial Yuan review of all chief judges on Wednesday, Chang was removed by a seven to four vote due to what the committee said was a “poor performance.” She was the only one who failed to pass the review, which involved 34 judges.

Policy for pilot zones faulty: Tsai

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) free economic pilot zones policy is based on faulty logic, which assumes more market opening would lead to economic prosperity, without recognizing the importance of upgrading Taiwan’s industrial structure, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.

Engaged in a debate in the past two weeks with the Ma administration over the impact of the planned pilot zone project, which looks to serve as a model for business convenience and liberalization, Tsai wrote an open letter, published by the Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday.

TSU mulls ‘shadowing’ Chinese official

‘LACK OF RESPECT’:The TSU took offense to a remark by a Chinese official saying Taiwan’s future ‘should be decided by all Chinese, including Taiwanese’
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said yesterday that it did not rule out mobilizing its supporters to “shadow” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) during his visit next week, adding that it would demand an apology from the official for what it said was an insulting comment from Beijing.

Zhang’s four-day visit from June 25 to June 28, during which he is to visit New Taipei City, Greater Taichung and Greater Tainan, comes on the heels of TAO spokesperson Fan Liqing’s (范麗青) remarks last week that “Taiwan’s future should be decided by all Chinese people, including Taiwanese.”

KMT abuses extra legislative sessions, DPP says

THE ‘NORM’:The KMT has made extra sessions ‘de rigueur,’ and a poll has found Ma’s instructions to his caucus to push through legislation questionable, the DPP said
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) are abusing extra legislative sessions and filling them with controversial agenda items, without including any significant proposals from the opposition, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.

“The three-week extra session is the 11th since Ma assumed office in May 2008. The KMT has made the extraordinary session an ordinary norm,” DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told a press conference yesterday morning as the extra session began.

Ma’s push for trade pact opposed: poll

THINK TANK SURVEY:The Taiwan Brain Trust said its latest poll found 60.5 percent of respondents see themselves as Taiwanese — the highest level in the past five surveys
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

A public opinion poll has found that a majority of respondents disapprove of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) pushing the cross-strait service trade agreement through the legislature and do not understand his free economic pilot zones project.

The latest poll conducted by the pro-independence Taiwan Brain Trust found that 60.2 percent of respondents did not support Ma telling the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus to push for the passage of the controversial trade pact in the extra legislative session that begins tomorrow, the think tank said yesterday.

Pilot zones not a solution: Tsai

‘OUTDATED’:：A former finance minister said the government’s economic policy seems to be stuck in the 1970s and 1980s, when export processing zones drove GDP growth
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter, in Greater Taichung
Wed, Jun 11, 2014 - Page 3

A mature and open economy like Taiwan should not bank on the establishment of special economic zones to drive economic development, and even if they are necessary, they would be completely different from what President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has proposed, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.

“The DPP will demand that the government submit a comprehensive plan and assessment on how the free economic pilot zones would help upgrade Taiwan’s industry and benefit local sectors before agreeing to review the special statute awaiting screening in the legislature. The party does not rule out proposing its own initiative,” Tsai said at the conclusion of the DPP’s two-day policy meeting in Greater Taichung.

DPP spurns Ma’s trade conference to organize its own

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said that it would not send representatives to the national affairs conference on economics and trade organized by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration and that it would organize a civic economics conference to address “the real economic issues.”

The government’s national conference focuses only on trade, exports and reliance on China — “relatively old thinking on national economics policy” — and would not address people’s expectations and Taiwan’s economic woes, DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said after the party’s weekly Central Standing Committee (CSC) meeting, the first CSC since DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) assumed the post again.

China needs tolerance of dissidents: Ma

STRONG CRITICISM:：The DPP said that the president had made a long-overdue comment on China, although he needed to do more in response to Beijing’s actions
By Alison Hsiao and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Thu, Jun 05, 2014 - Page 3

Beijing displaying a tolerant attitude toward political dissidents is a better way to bridge the psychological divide between the nations on either side of the Taiwan Strait than China’s “yielding benefits” on the economic front, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.

Ma made the remark in a written statement issued to reflect on the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre yesterday. He has issued a statement on each of the massacre’s anniversaries since he came into office.

Ma must support Chinese democracy, advocates say

‘HE IS A LIAR’:Activists said although Chinese democracy is crucial for Taiwan’s future, Ma has toned down any criticism when marking the Tiananmen Square Massacre anniversary
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Advocates yesterday called on Taiwanese, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in particular, to show strong support for China’s democratization on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, saying that China’s democratic movement will be crucial to Taiwan’s future.

“No democratic country in the world would stand on the sidelines as its neighbors abuse human rights. In the case of Taiwan, China’s democratization matters for Taiwan’s future,” Association of Taiwan Students’ Promotion of Chinese Democratization director Henry Kwok (郭豫謙) told a press conference in Taipei.