While President Chen Shui-bian (
The latest example is the allegation by one newspaper that Chen tried to blackmail Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
If the allegation is true, then Chen committed a criminal offense. It is therefore hardly surprising that the Presidential Office took this matter seriously, demanding a retraction and an apology from the newspaper.
The report said Chen attempted to intimidate Wang into refusing to serve as campaign manager for the Lien Chan (
Premier Su Tseng-chang (
If Chen had hatched the blackmail scheme, why was Wang not subsequently probed by the judiciary? Most pan-blue politicians who have been under judicial investigation end up stating that they are victims of "political persecution" by the Chen administration. Pan-blue dustbuster Chiu Yi (
If Wang had committed some illegal act, what motive would Chen have to cover up the deed on his behalf? After all, Wang did not do as he was allegedly instructed. And if Chen can't stop prosecutors from detaining and investigating his own son-in-law, how could he possibly have stopped a prosecution if Wang were guilty?
It is foolish for the pan-blue camp to be peddling these allegations. If, according to the report, Chen really does have a pile of documents that would verify Wang's involvement in the Zanadau case, then it would harm the interests of a great number of its own people. And if the story is true, neither the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) nor Wang has any reason to gloat.
It was impossible to make sense of KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (
Whoever is behind the spread of this conspiracy yarn, there are people who obviously do not want Wang to be too friendly with the Chen government.
For all of these reasons, the newspaper report is more likely the product of tensions within the KMT, and should be treated with considerable skepticism.
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The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
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