Public opinion is a factor selectively ignored or drawn upon by policymakers presenting their case, and the death penalty is no exception. In eight years in office, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) failed to carry out one of its professed goals: to abolish capital punishment. As it left office with the death penalty intact, the administration said its hands were tied because a majority of the public believed the death penalty to be an effective deterrent to violent crime.

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By Andreas Ni
China’s tight media control over the coverage of the unrest in Tibet has been followed by what, to some, looks like far more open treatment of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province. Is this a change in China’s media strategy, or just a short-term change in tactics? This question stands out in view of Chinese public opinion in the latter phase of the Tibet crisis. Much to the consternation of the Western media, Chinese worldwide lashed out against its allegedly biased coverage of the Tibetan unrest. Throngs of Chinese expatriates and students took to the streets, protesting the prejudice they perceived in Western media reports. Angry youngsters even founded Web sites such as anti-cnn.com to express their outrage.

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By Edward Chen 陳一新
In his inaugural address last Tuesday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) sought to sweep away eight years of gloom and to set a cautious, yet optimistic, foundation for three-way relations between Taiwan, China and the US. But while Ma has bid farewell to the past, new and difficult problems have emerged.

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By Huang Yu-lin 黃玉霖
President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) government has decided to remove the oil price freeze on state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan, to allow the market to determine prices. Given that Taiwan has only two oil refiners — CPC and Formosa Petrochemical Corp — market pricing is virtually monopolistic pricing. This not only forces consumers to absorb the costs of CPC's antiquated equipment, production inefficiency and huge staffing costs, but also violates the principle of social justice by allowing Formosa to enjoy exorbitant profits and opportunities for interest arbitrage.

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Providing piped water and sanitation to everyone in a developing country may not be cost-effective, at least in the short-term. Cheaper options should be considered
By Dale Whittington and Bjorn Lomborg
Despite recent progress, more than 1 billion people still lack decent water supplies, and more than 2 billion go without sanitation services. But, while we often assume that the benefits of improving water and sanitation systems always outweigh the costs, this is not always true.

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Refugees' dreams have turned to ashes as xenophobic mobs drive them from their homes and threaten to attack their sanctuaries
By Chris McGreal

George Mhanda came to Johannesburg to feed his family, struggling to eat under Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's derelict rule. The Zimbabwean mechanic found a job in a local garage and a room in a small house in Tembisa township, and sent cash home every month. Last week he fled the house ahead of a baying mob hunting down African immigrants, and made for the sanctuary of the Central Methodist Church in the heart of Johannesburg.