Recent polls in Taiwan suggest one-sided support for Ma over Democratic Progressive Party candidate Frank Hsieh (
It is pathetic that younger people have forgotten how their parents and grandparents lived through the White Terror period and Martial Law era.
Many good people and young leaders were ruthlessly killed by the KMT regime. Their parents' generation were scared to death.
They chose to be silent over the 228 Incident for many many years.
Some chose to leave their loved ones and homeland behind to seek exile in other countries.
Some were blacklisted and not even allowed to return to Taiwan to attend their parent's funerals.
Ma is no different than People First Party Chairman James Soong (
Soong lost the trust of the people after his ill-fated vice-presidential campaign when he could not explain where he got the money to buy his son five expensive properties in the US.
Ma still cannot explain how he amassed a fortune which does not match his income. Is he telling the truth about having a US green card?
Has he changed his old beliefs about uniting with China just to appease Taiwanese voters?
To these important questions he simply replies "thank you."
Now it is fine for KMT Chairman Wu Po-hsiung (
I am pained to see younger Taiwanese enjoy the fruits of hard-fought democracy and freedom while being blinded to the history of what happened getting there.
Tien C. Cheng
Libertyville, Illinois
In an article published in Newsweek on Monday last week, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged China to retake territories it lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. “If it is really for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t China take back Russia?” Lai asked, referring to territories lost in 1858 and 1860. The territories once made up the two flanks of northern Manchuria. Once ceded to Russia, they became part of the Russian far east. Claims since then have been made that China and Russia settled the disputes in the 1990s through the 2000s and that “China
Trips to the Kenting Peninsula in Pingtung County have dredged up a lot of public debate and furor, with many complaints about how expensive and unreasonable lodging is. Some people even call it a tourist “butchering ground.” Many local business owners stake claims to beach areas by setting up parasols and driving away people who do not rent them. The managing authority for the area — Kenting National Park — has long ignored the issue. Ultimately, this has affected the willingness of domestic travelers to go there, causing tourist numbers to plummet. In 2008, Taiwan opened the door to Chinese tourists and in
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Thursday was handcuffed and escorted by police to the Taipei Detention Center, after the Taipei District Court ordered that he be detained and held incommunicado for suspected corruption during his tenure as Taipei mayor. The ruling reversed an earlier decision by the same court on Monday last week that ordered Ko’s release without bail. That decision was appealed by prosecutors on Wednesday, leading the High Court to conclude that Ko had been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and it ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Video clips
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) arrest is a significant development. He could have become president or vice president on a shared TPP-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) ticket and could have stood again in 2028. If he is found guilty, there would be little chance of that, but what of his party? What about the third force in Taiwanese politics? What does this mean for the disenfranchised young people who he attracted, and what does it mean for his ambitious and ideologically fickle right-hand man, TPP caucus leader Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌)? Ko and Huang have been appealing to that
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