China is experiencing a greater class division between rich and poor because of widespread government corruption and because that country's leadership is unwilling to push for political reform, a Chinese expert on the Cultural Revolution said yesterday.
Song Yongyi (宋永毅), a librarian and specialist in the history of the Cultural Revolution at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), said the US had cast doubt on the ability of Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) to introduce political reforms given the Chinese bureaucracy's involvement in corrupt conduct, making it difficult for any top-down reform to take place.
Song was speaking at a forum organized by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy on the legacy of the Cultural Revolution and its implications for today's leadership.
Song said the division between Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres and the public was widening. This was reflected in increasing numbers of protests by workers and peasants; 86,000 cases were reported last year, he said.
"The entire bureaucratic system is involved in rampant corruption. It's more difficult to be a clean-handed official than a corrupt one. That's why the Hu government seldom talks about the achievements of the CCP; rather, he now mentions anti-corruption all the time," Song said.
With economic development shaping as China's primary goal, Song said many elements of communist and socialist thought that were prominent in the Cultural Revolution era are barely noticeable today, and have been replaced by nationalism and capitalism.
But even nationalistic Chinese are not as determined as they sound if opportunities to advance their lot emerge, he said.
"These so-called extremist youths actually only talk about revolution. They can on the one hand scold the United States, particularly during the mistaken bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, but on the other hand still eagerly apply for visas to study in the US," Song said.
Song was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution for five-and-a-half years at the age of 21 for organizing an underground reading group and directing adverse comments at the authorities. He was jailed again for six months while on a 1999 trip to China to collect materials on the Cultural Revolution.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it