The reshuffle at the government-sponsored Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) reflects the current political distribution in Taiwan and it was carried out in a democratic manner, Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) has told the US-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
Ministry Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) told a press briefing yesterday that Ou wrote a letter to NED president Carl Gershman who, along with some members of Congress, had expressed concern over the recent reshuffle at the foundation and asked President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) not to interfere in the foundation.
In the letter dated June 29, Ou said Article 8 of the foundation’s charter stipulates that half of its board members must come from political parties that occupy 5 percent or more of the seats in the Legislative Yuan and therefore, the TFD board changes after each legislative election.
Ou appealed to the US to respect the sovereignty and the rule of law of different nations. He also said he hoped that the NED, under Gershman’s leadership, would show similar deference to Taiwan’s due process.
Gershman wrote to Ma last month to urge him not to interfere with the foundation’s structure and the policies after it was reported that under Beijing’s influence, the Ma administration planned to make major changes to the foundation’s governing board and to prevent it from offering financial support to pro-democracy movements in China, Tibet and Cuba.
“It has come to my attention through reports in the press that broad changes are being proposed for the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. I am concerned that such an overhaul could well compromise both the Foundation’s independence and the quality of its work,” Gershman wrote.
While the NED was the only organization to react so strongly, a number of other Washington-based groups — including Freedom House and the Formosan Association for Public Affairs — are known to be concerned about reports of Ma’s alleged plans to interfere with and restrict the foundation.
Several members of the US Congress are also worried about the situation, but have decided to wait until Ma officially makes his plans known before reacting.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS