Editorial

Editorial: No more drama, but more debate

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-15
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The most dramatic episode of the campaign for the January 16 presidential

Editorial: No more drama, but more debate. Taiwan News

and legislative elections lies in the days ahead. On October 17, the Kuomintang will hold its special congress which is expected to culminate in the replacement of its original presidential candidate, Hung Hsiu-chu, by its reluctant party chairman, Eric Liluan Chu.

The move tops a long and arduous process which was rich in the drama department. Hung was one of two totally unexpected candidates who volunteered for the primary selection process within the KMT. The other one, former Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang, never made it past the first hurdle, leaving Hung in the race as the only contender. [FULL STORY]

Knee-jerk thinking like this is costing Taiwan

Want China Times
Editorial
Date: 2015-08-27

Taiwan’s economy has been stagnant for years, with salary levels falling and most people

A man carrying a box of bottled water at a supermarket in Taipei, Aug. 11. (Photo/Wang Ying-hao)

believing our economic policy is to blame. Failure to loosen regulations, high tax rates, the small margin by which the Taiwan dollar has depreciated and the failure to sign a significant number of free trade agreements (FTAs) are all blamed for the country’s economic woes. These are just small problems, however. Taiwan’s real problem is that society has become more and more prone to knee-jerk reactions.

Two weeks ago, Typhoon Soudelor brought power shutdowns and contaminated the water supply as it swept through the country. This caused unprecedented scenes of scuffles in supermarkets over bottled water and acts of violence against technicians working to restore power to the over 4.4 million households that experienced blackouts.

This kind of behavior suggests society is getting more impetuous, with people reacting to things without thinking them over. People glean information from the internet without waiting for verification and act out in an impulsive way as a result. This kind of impulsiveness is behind many of the social movements that have gripped Taiwan in recent years. [FULL STORY]

Taiwan and the South China Sea: More steps in the right direction

Brookings Institute
Opinion
Date: August 24, 2015
By: Lynn Kuok

In early May 2015, I published a report arguing that Taiwan’s position in the South China Sea was evolving. It had taken small but significant steps toward clarifying that its claims are from land and in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and international law. In addition, Taiwan had also adopted a more conciliatory position by advocating that its East China Sea Peace Initiative, which calls on parties to shelve disputes and promote joint exploration and development, be applied in the South China Sea as well.

Since then, Taiwan, one of the six claimants in the South China Sea dispute along with China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, has moved to take additional positive steps, most notably, officially launching a South China Sea Peace Initiative. In a climate where much of the news on the South China Sea has been negative and where the focus has largely been on deterrence, positive actions warrant highlighting. If the goal is a more stable and peaceful region, rewarding positive behavior is at least as important as deterring negative behavior. [FULL STORY]

Typhoon to take wind out of protests

HOWLING WOLF:Former Bamboo Union leader Chang An-le led a China Unification Promotion Party rally, which used megaphones to accuse students of forgetting their roots

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 06, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

Students occupying the Ministry of Education forecourt to protest the ministry’s

Former Bamboo Union leader and China Unification Promotion Party head Chang An-le, also known as the “White Wolf,” center, leads a demonstration in front of the Ministry of Education last night against students occupying the entrance to the Ministry of Education. Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

controversial curriculum adjustments might withdraw as Typhoon Soudelor approaches, National Taichung First Senior High School Apple Tree Commune Club spokesperson Chen Chien-hsun (陳建勳) said yesterday.

“We will put safety before realizing our demands,” Chen said. “We do not want more people to be hurt as a result of participating in the movement.”

“We will have many more opportunities to continue to push our demands, whether by returning to the Ministry of Education or going elsewhere, so there is no need to gamble everything on this moment,” he said. [FULL STORY]

National Security Act? Taiwan has silly laws about the mainland too

Want China Times
Editorial
Date: 2015-06-20

Criticism from the pro-independence green camp in Taiwan against China’s proposed amendment of its

Xi Jinping oversees a United Front Work Department meeting in Beijing, May 20. (File photo/Xinhua)

National Security Act, which is set to apply to Taiwanese people, reflects the bias and misunderstanding of the opposition.

Article 11 of the draft law states that China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is a common obligation of all Chinese people, including the people of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and that no division will be tolerated.

The amendment is actually part of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s efforts to establish rule of law and Taiwanese people are not the main concern, since the article merely reiterates a similar clause in the PRC’s constitution.

As former China affairs chief of Taiwan’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party Tung Li-wen said, China’s National Security Act is formulated for the Chinese people and does not concern Taiwan. [FULL STORY]

Screw China!

Editorial
Date: June 18, 2015
By: EyeOnTaiwan Editor

Recently I commented on an article in Forbes.com by Stephen Harner entitled “How To Solve The ‘Taiwan Problem’ in U.S.-China Relations“. The following is my comment to his article:

I have an even better suggestion. Instead of kowtowing to large corporate greed the US Government should get some balls and NOT agree to the “One China” policy. The only reason we agreed to “One China” is to allow our large, multinational corporations to take advantage of cheap China labor. Thus, taking jobs away from Americans.

Unfortunately most Americans are ignorant when it comes to the China-USA relations. Most have no idea how their jobs got exported to China. I say screw China and instead of letting our corporations enrich China and it’s military, build up Taiwan and warn China that they will be annihilated if they even try to overthrow Taiwan.

Why is it that we trade with Communist China and Communist Viet Nam but bristle at the thought of trading with Communist Cuba? Could it be because big corporate interests enjoy the cheap labor from China and Viet Nam but heretofore not Cuba?

Taiwan must prepare to contend with ‘Made in China 2025’

Want China Times
Editorial
Date: 2015-05-27

Beijing put forth a guideline May 8 for its “Made In China 2025” initiative, which

A Southeast Auto manufacturing plant in Fujian province. (File photo/CNS)

outlines Beijing’s goal of developing China into a global power in the manufacturing sector by 2025. Facing China’s ambition for a comprehensive industrial upgrade, Taiwan should begin as soon as possible to think about what role it can play in the upgrading process.

The guideline specifies that China should develop a powerful innovation capability, cultivate its competitive edge and set up world-leading technique and industrial manufacturing systems. So in the first 10 years, crucial core technologies must be secured, industrial pollution and emissions must be reduced and the manufacturing industry must be “digitalized, go online and be intelligentized.”

By 2025, the degrees of industrialization and informatization must be raised, industrial waste emissions must be in line with first-world standards and there should be a formation of international enterprises and industrial clusters with strong competitiveness. [FULL STORY]

Clinton would do well, but Taiwan should not expect too much

Want China Times
Editorial
Date: 2015-04-20

After accepting the office of secretary of state in Obama’s first term, Hillary Clinton clocked

Hillary Clinton gives a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, March 10. (File photo/Xinhua)

nearly 1 million miles and visited 112 countries, making her the US presidential candidate with the most thorough understanding of international politics. Admittedly this is not particularly hard given the willful ignorance of international affairs among the Republican field, but being the most-traveled secretary of state in history is nonetheless a significant achievement that should not be sniffed at.

But Clinton’s strengths in this area will no doubt also be used as a line of attack from the GOP should she secure the Democratic nomination. She has already had to ride out the sustained and cynical attacks over Benghazi, where she was ultimately vindicated. Emailgate may still have some legs and the criticism of the Clinton Foundation for having received donations from foreign governments will no doubt be raised again in the next 18 months.

But if Clinton can succeed in becoming the first woman in the White House, the world should be assured of a knowledgeable and reliable commander in chief over foreign policy. In her past remarks on US-China policy and cross-strait relations, Clinton, in addition to affirming Taiwan’s democracy, said that the core of the US “One China” policy seeks peaceful relations between mainland China and Taiwan while upholding Taiwan’s autonomy. [FULL STORY]

Taiwan needs to learn from Israel to tackle its water shortage

Want China Times
Editorial
Date:2015-03-28

Visitors check out a UV water purification device, during WATEC 2011–The 6th International

Visitors check out a UV water purification device, during WATEC 2011–The 6th International Exhibition & the 3rd International Conference on Water Technologies, Renewable Energy and Environmental Control, Nov. 16, 2011 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (File photo/Xinhua)

Exhibition & the 3rd International Conference on Water Technologies, Renewable Energy and Environmental Control, Nov. 16, 2011 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (File photo/Xinhua)

Taiwan should work to solve its water shortage problem immediately as it is facing its worst drought for 67 years.

Taiwan receives 2,515 millimeters of rainfall on average every year, about 2.5 times the global average.

However, only 26% of this rainfall is available to Taiwanese users, with the amount of water for each individual being just one-sixth of the global average. Taiwan ranked 18th on a list of the world’s driest areas in terms of the amount of water accessible to its per capita population.

Several factors contribute to the shortage of water in Taiwan.

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