The Government Information Office (GIO) sunday announced its decision to revoke the licenses of seven cable-TV channels. This move by the GIO is directed at keeping the chaotic situation in media circles in check. Although the GIO's decision is not going to engender instant results, it has at least responded positively to calls for "containing the chaotic and disorganized circumstances of the media."

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By Eugene Yen 閻亢宗
With China fever spreading, it is not very surprising to see the opposition's negative stance toward the arms procurement bill. The thinking behind these attitudes, that war must be stopped by peaceful means, could endanger Taiwan's position.

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By Sushil Seth
An important indication that the US is worried about China's incursions into the Asia-Pacific region is the inroads it has made into Australia. Australia is probably the US' most trusted ally and has been for a long time. During his recent US visit, Australian Prime Minister John Howard sought to reaffirm the two countries' close relationship. The US appears satisfied.

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By Lin Kien-tsu 林健次
On July 26, when speaking on the subject of Taiwanese entrepreneurs attempting to make investments in China, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) suggested that if cross-strait investment cannot be managed properly, the government should forbid further investment. In the past I have repeatedly emphasized that if the government is unable to prevent unauthorized investments made under the cover of the "go West" policy, then all investment across the Taiwan Strait should be terminated.

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Germany has been hit by worldwide challenges such as globalization, as well as significant changes within the EU such as the adoption of the euro. Surviving them requires flexibility, something that the country's leaders have yet to demonstrate
By Hans-Werner Sinn
Over the last decade, Germany has been the slowest growing economy in the EU, and Europe has been the slowest growing continent in the world. From 1995 to this year, Germany will have grown by only 14.6 percent, while the old EU on average will have grown by 24 percent, the US by 39.9 percent, and the world economy by 45.6 percent. Why has Germany performed so badly?

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What scale of atrocity must occur beofre the public and their leaders understand the nature of the Islamists' perfidious campaign against Western freedom?
By Mathias d鞿fner
The writer Henryk Broder recently issued a withering indictment: "Europe, your family name is Appeasement." That phrase resonates because it is so terribly true. Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated too long before they realized that Adolf Hitler needed to be fought and defeated, because he could not be bound by toothless agreements.

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By Harold James
The defeat of the EU's Constitutional Treaty in referendums in France and the Netherlands has, it seems, given rise to a new consensus that further enlargement of the union should be slowed down, or even stopped. Advocates of this position see EU voters as terrified by the consequences of the enlargement of the EU in May last year, when eight formerly communist states joined, and angry that they were not consulted about it.

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