Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday officially announced the establishment of her foundation, the Thinking Taiwan Foundation, an organization which aims to develop charity projects and public policy.
“While it takes piles of cash to fill up a room, you can light up a room with a match. And that is what we’re trying to do,” said Tsai, who will chair the foundation, at the opening ceremony.
The foundation aimed to light three matches for Taiwan — deliberation and discussion of public policy, action to show compassion to local communities and acting as a catalyst for social action through participation, Tsai said of her first major move after losing the January presidential election.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
“The ultimate goal would be to further the power of thinking, the power of action and the power of society,” said Tsai, whom many supporters expect to make another run for president in 2016.
Public policy is important because it would determine Taiwan’s future, which is bleak in many people’s eyes at present, she said.
Her foundation is determined to commit to charity works because over the years she has seen so many ordinary citizens and organizations get involved to help society move forward, she added.
The two primary goals are all about the people, she said.
“The most beautiful thing about Taiwan is its people. Without these passionate and sincere people, Taiwan would be a hollow place,” she said.
That was also why Tsai intended to make the foundation, which is funded from the NT$120 million (US$4 million) election subsidy Tsai received, free from political ideology and partisanship.
Among the board members of the foundation are former DPP secretary-general Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), Tsai’s running mate in the presidential election; former Chunghwa Telecom chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦); former deputy chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development Chang Ching-sen (張景森); journalist Antonio Chiang (江春男); and political commentator Yao Li-ming (姚立明).
Former finance minister Lin Chuan (林全) will serve as the foundation’s chief executive director.
The “Thinking Taiwan Forum” Web site, which was launched on Sunday, will play an integral part of public policy and social issues deliberation, Lin said.
The Web site will publish articles written by young professionals, academics, activists and prominent writers in six broad categories: including democracy, law, China affairs, economic affairs, society and culture.
The foundation also plans to hold open and closed-door conferences and workshops on various topics, Lin said.
According to Lin, the first closed-door conference on Taiwan’s future economic development model is scheduled to be held on Aug. 14 and Aug. 15. The conference will have panel discussions on macroeconomics, cross-strait economy, global economy, governance and a general discussion.
While the foundation will try to avoid political influence, Tsai will not shy from making political comments as a politician and a former presidential candidate, Lin said.
Tsai’s political affairs will be handled by her office, rather than the foundation, Lin said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods