Lai Ching-Te (William Lai) won Taiwan’s presidential election on January 13, with 40.5% of the vote, achieving a record third term for the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party, reports Alex Salmon.
Taiwan
The United States has been tightening a noose around Beijing for the past decade and a half, writes William Briggs.
My heart breaks over Category 4 Hurricane Matthew’s slamming of Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba.
When Hurricane Sandy struck New York City where I live, our entire neighbourhood was destroyed — every single house was uninhabitable.
The chance of President Chen Shui-bian’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holding on to its ruling party position in the March 22 presidential poll is in serious doubt after his party suffered a major defeat in the January 12 parliamentary election.
On September 21, the UN General Assembly supported by consensus a decision by the 22-member General Committee not to put Taiwans bid for UN membership on the assemblys agenda. It was the islands 15th application for UN membership in as many years. This year was the first time that the application was made in the name of Taiwan rather than the Republic of China (ROC), signalling a more aggressive independence push by President Chen Shui-bians government.
After promising during his 2000 inauguration not to push for Taiwanese independence, a commitment reaffirmed after his 2004 re-election, President Chen Shuibian reversed his stance hours before Chinas annual parliamentary session the National Peoples Congress started on March 5.
Just as a five-month-old campaign to oust him was losing momentum, President Chen Shui-bian was rocked on November 3 when the public prosecutor indicted his wife, Wu Shu-chen, and three other people for allegedly embezzling US$450,000 from a special diplomatic fund.
The drive to oust Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian has been put on hold as the major parties jostle to win the December 9 mayoral and city council elections for the major cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung.