By Lin Chia-lung
Since the easing of restrictions on newspapers, this medium has thrived in Taiwan. For instance, the number of Chinese-language newspapers has skyrocketed from 31 to 239. Before the advent of the Taipei Times in 1999, for more than four decades only two English-language newspapers were published in Taiwan. From its first issue, the Taipei Times has created a new and dynamic atmosphere for the local English-language newspaper market, symbolizing a new beginning for the industry.

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By Richard Bush
Five years can be both a short time and a long time. It is surprising, in a way, to realize that the Taipei Times has been in publication for only five years. It seems that it has been around much longer, providing news and commentary concerning political and social trends in Taiwan. As the nation's political mainstream has shifted, the Taipei Times has become an increasingly valuable resource for outsiders. Its Internet availability only enhances its value.

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In the past five years, the 'Taipei Times' has helped bring Taiwan into the international community
By Lee Chang-kuei
Today is the fifth anniversary of the launch of the Taipei Times. Over these past five years, whenever the foreign media and politicians have visited our newspaper, they have often asked the following questions: What is the newspapers's market? How much does the Taiwan government subsidize the the paper? How many copies do we sell sell each day? And how much income does the paper generate from ad placements? These foreigners are often often fascinated to discover that I -- the media newcomer running this internationally renowned newspaper -- am actually an elderly gentleman. I tell them very sincerely that the newspaper is collectively run by more than 70 people -- members of our staff who come from as many as eight different English-speaking countries.

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With so much of Taiwan's media doing China's bidding and abusing freedomof speech, the `Taipei Times' has a job to do in setting the record straight
By Rick Chu
In his autobiography, Lee Byung-chull, the founder of South Korea's Samsung Group, describes his experience of founding the Joong-ang Daily in 1965. He said of this: "Use the best facilities, the best talent and offer the best salaries to make the best product. These four bests are the promise we make with the Joong-ang Daily."

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Five years after launching, the paper has raised the bar for news culture in the country, but not without its share of obstacles along the way
By Laurence Eyton
For me the Taipei Times began with drinking a beer while sitting on the floor of an apartment in Neihu around Christmas, 1997. I was paying a visit to a friend, Anthony Lawrance, who was at that time running one of the other English-language newspapers and who was deeply fed up with his job. He was himself an Anglo-South African liberal, with the political outlook that implied. His boss was a Mainlander who wanted to vigorously protect the privileges of the KMT ancien regime. They were bound to loathe each other and he was certain to be unhappy.

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July 1998
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