By now, almost everyone is pretty certain that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) has a fairly concrete plan to run in the 2008 presidential election. While former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has long been considered the KMT's best chance of winning the presidency next year, his indictment on embezzlement charges and ensuing resignation from the post of KMT chairman has left the door open for Wang to try to win the party's nomination.

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By Gary Heath
In recent years, a great deal of attention and money has been focused on protecting Taiwan's endangered fauna, such as the Formosan Black Bear, the Black-faced Spoonbills and the Formosan Landlocked Salmon. What is less noticed -- but of great importance -- is the fact that all of the nation's indigenous languages are also endangered, some of them critically so and a big effort of preventive linguistics is now required to help save them.

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By Shih-Fan Kao 高士凡
About three months ago, a colleague told me that she just spent two hours teaching students the different usages of the English word "as."

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While cocaine demand in most of the world is stable or dropping, Europe is bucking the trend, especially in Spain, the UK and Italy
By Antonio Maria Costa
European leaders need to get serious about Europe's cocaine problem. The "white lady" is seducing a steadily growing number of Europeans, and remaining in a state of denial will only worsen the consequences.

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Frustrated by the Chinese government's jamming and poor audience numbers, BBC staff are concerned about losing their intangible presence in China
By John Plunkett
At the height of the protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989, a group of students paraded through Beijing with a banner reading "Thank you, BBC." Foreign radio stations -- and the BBC World Service, in particular -- were one of the few places where demonstrators were able to get any reliable information. It was graphic evidence of the influence of the BBC World Service.

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By Kenneth Zydek
An article on the indictment of a former Bureau of Immigration (BOI) clerk for assisting a human trafficking ring in bringing Chinese women into Taiwan to work as prostitutes ("Ex-BOI clerk indicted for role in prostitution ring," March 1, page 4) reveals a regrettable lack of understanding of the true nature of these "snakehead" operations.

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By Tien Cheng
Recently, as reported by the Chicago Tribune on Feb. 20, a spokesperson from the US State Department denounced Taiwan's decision to rename many of its government-owned companies, substituting "China" for "Taiwan."

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