It is rare that this newspaper has any time for Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), but give credit where it's due: In mid-1997, amid fears that crime was spiralling out of control -- in the aftermath of the poorly managed Typhoon Herb and a devastating outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, set against a background of endless corruption cases that never seemed to go anywhere -- Ma, at the time a minister without portfolio and disgusted by the way the then KMT government simply refused to accept any accountability for its myriad failures, quit. Not only did he quit, but he laid into the Cabinet, calling the incessant buck-passing and responsibility-dodging of his colleagues "unconscionable."

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By Chiou Chwei-liang 邱垂亮
Under the intense gaze of the Taiwanese people, the meeting between President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) produced a 10-point consensus and a joint statement. In addition to reiterating the "four noes and one not," Chen also said that, at the present time, the ROC is the common denominator for Taiwan [and China]. He will not push for a change to the national title because he believes there is no national consensus on the issue.

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By Lai I-chung 賴怡忠
China's National People's Congress is expected to pass an "anti-secession" law. Its importance cannot be overestimated. This piece of legislation will treat Taiwan as part of the territory of the People's Republic of China. There is thus no such as issue as the question of how or when unification should take place, but only the question of how to correct Taiwan's current separation from the PRC.

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By Antonio Chiang 江春男
Following the Chen-Soong summit, many pro-independence heavyweights feel they were duped, or even betrayed and double-crossed. Although they may not have any concrete criticism of the 10-point agreement reached by both President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), they feel deeply hurt.

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George W. Bush want to 'fix' social security, but other issues are far more pressing
By J. Bradford Delong
Those of us who know that long-run fiscal imbalances are likely to end in disaster -- high inflation, deep recession, financial crisis, or all three -- scratch our heads in bemusement at the priorities of George W. Bush and his administration. The Social Security "crisis" that he wants to spend his political capital on "resolving" ranks no higher than third among America's fiscal problems in urgency and seriousness -- and at a time when these problems have grown into a profound threat to global economic stability.

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The announcement of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in favor of competitive presidential elections is long overdue
By Saad Eddin Ibrahim
The surprise decision by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to propose a constitutional amendment that would allow direct and competitive presidential elections may be a giant step for democracy in Egypt and the Arab World. Westerners used to pluralistic democracy may find it hard to understand what a potentially huge shift this will be in a country accustomed to military rule for over 50 years.

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By Jeffrey Sachs
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has declared that the two issues at the center of the G8 Summit this July will be African poverty and global climate change. These may seem to be distinct issues. In fact, they are linked. A trip I took to a village in the Tigre region in northern Ethiopia shows why.

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