Rally is just the beginning: Tsai
　

DISCONTENT: The chairperson of the DPP said a series of activities opposing President Ma Ying-jeou's pro-China policies were in store, including a possible recall motion
　

By Rich Chang
STAFF REPORTER, WITH DPA
Saturday, May 16, 2009, Page 1
　

The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) planned mass protest tomorrow over what it sees as the government＊s risky cross-strait and economic policies is only the start of a series of activities that might include initiating a recall motion to unseat President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.

"We are concerned about the government's cross-strait policy, which lacks not only transparency but also checks and balances," Tsai told an international press conference on why the party is staging the rally, adding that her party "would not rule out initiating a recall motion to unseat Ma if he fails to heed the public's concerns."

Tsai said the DPP's rally in Taipei was aimed at telling Ma that his policies harm Taiwan.

Without seeking a consensus and formal approval from the legislature, the Ma administration had instituted what the DPP deems as improper and risky China policies, including opening up the nation at the expense of its sovereignty, she said.

"We do not oppose forging ties with China, but this has to be done prudently in a step-by-step process," she said.

Tsai said that by engaging China, Ma had been leaning too far toward Beijing and compromising the sovereignty of Taiwan. Worse, Ma was promoting China as a "wonder drug" for Taiwan's dismal economy, she said.

"By emphasizing the China element and short-term economic benefit, Ma has failed to take note of the sovereignty of Taiwan and the social impact of opening up the Taiwanese market to China," she said.

Tomorrow's rally will begin in four places, the DPP said. Protesters will gather at 2pm in front of National Taiwan University, the Wellcome market on Zhongxiao E Road near Dunhua Road, Wanhua Train Station and the Zhongshan Soccer Stadium. All four routes will converge in front of the Presidential Office.

The DPP plans to stage a 24-hour sit-in demonstration in front of the Presidential Office following the rally to protest the Cabinet's proposed amendment to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法). The amendment, if passed, would give police the right to prevent a rally or change its route if they deem it a threat to national security, social order or the public interest. The proposal would also give police the authority to break up any rally that blocked traffic.

After tomorrow's rally, the DPP would push to abolish the Assembly and Parade Act, hold a nationwide referendum on the government's proposed economic cooperation framework agreement with China and demand that Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) resign, she said.

Asked how many people would show up at the rally, she said: "We expect somewhere around half a million to join us in the protest."

Another demonstration will be held in Kaohsiung City tomorrow afternoon by a number of pro-〝independence groups.

World United Formosans for Independence chairman Ng Chiau-tong (黃昭堂), one of the organizers of the Kaohsiung rally, said the demonstration in 〝Kaohsiung City was not intended as a boycott of the DPP, but was meant to complement the rally in Taipei.

Ng said the Kaohsiung rally would be held because it would be difficult to rent enough buses to send all the people in central and southern Taiwan who wanted to demonstrate to the rally in Taipei.

The Central Taiwan Society (台灣中社), Taichung City Medical Professionals Alliance and Taiwan Heart's (台灣心會) Taichung branch jointly booked a train of 13 cars and said the train, to depart for Kaohsiung from the Taichung Railway Station at 9:52am tomorrow, would pick up passengers along the way who are interested in taking part in the Kaohsiung rally.

Meanwhile, in related news, former president Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), said yesterday that he and his family members would not attend the rallies.
　

Myanmar faces pressure to release Suu Kyi

AFP , YANGON, MYANMAR
Saturday, May 16, 2009, Page 1

Myanmar faced intense international pressure yesterday to release pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi after she was imprisoned ahead of a new trial next week for breaching the terms of her house arrest.

The ruling military junta took the Nobel Peace Prize laureate from her home on Thursday to Yangon’s notorious Insein prison, where she was charged over a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside residence.

The US led Western calls for her immediate release while rights groups urged the UN Security Council to intervene to help the 63-year-old, whose trial is to start at the prison on Monday.

There was no comment from Myanmar’s secretive regime, which has kept Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for most of the last 19 years and now looks set to do so past controversial elections that are due next year.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was “deeply ­troubled” by the “baseless” case laid against Aung San Suu Kyi just days before her latest six-year detention was to have expired.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was “gravely concerned,” while the UN special envoy on human rights in Myanmar, ­Tomas Ojea Quintana, called for Aung San Suu Kyi to be freed, and said her detention broke the country’s laws.

Britain, France and other Western nations — which like the US have imposed sanctions on the country — condemned the ­decision and said it did not bode well for next year’s elections.

Indonesia became the first of Myanmar’s partners in the 10-­member ASEAN to call for the junta to release her and drop the “arbitrary” new charges against her.

Myanmar authorities are currently holding Aung San Suu Kyi and her two maids, who were also charged, at a house inside the grounds of Insein Prison pending the trial, her lawyers have said.

The case centered around a mysterious US national, John ­Yettaw, who was arrested last week after using a pair of homemade flippers to swim across a lake to Aung San Suu Kyi’s crumbling house.

Reportedly a Mormon father of seven and a Vietnam War veteran, the heavy-set 53-year-old also faces charges of violating the restricted area around her home and breaching immigration conditions.

His motives remain unclear but Irrawaddy magazine, published by Myanmar exiles in Thailand, said he was “simply a weird character who acted alone.”

Wardens punish Chen over hunger strike
　

RIGHTS VIOLATION?: Detention center staff took away the former president’s TV and did not allow him out of his cell three times to punish him for his hunger strike

STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
Saturday, May 16, 2009, Page 1

“The center will also return [Chen’s] TV and radio as soon as he begins to take food.”— Lee Ta-chu, deputy warden at Taipei Detention Center

Authorities at the Taipei Detention Center yesterday defended their decision to discipline detained former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) over his hunger strike, which entered its ninth day yesterday, before Chen took nourishment.

Chen’s punishment — stripping him of his visitation privileges one time and not allowing him out of his cell three times, as well as confiscating his TV and radio — are justifiable and comply with the law, said Lee Ta-chu (李大竹), a deputy warden at the center.

Lee made the remarks in response to criticism by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) and Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅), who said the ­center mistreated the former president and violated his human rights.

In response, Lee Ta-chu said the center allowed him to meet with DPP heavyweights, including DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) on Thursday.

“The center will also return his TV and radio as soon as he begins to take food,” the warden said.

The center late last night said Chen yesterday had started drinking some mishui (米水, liquid drawn from rice porridge). Because of this, the radio and the TV had been returned to Chen.

The warden said that the ­former president appeared to be in good shape yesterday after having some water and sports drinks, with ­normal readings for both blood pressure and pulse.

Chen has been held at the detention center in Tucheng (土城), Taipei County, since Dec. 30 on charges of corruption, money laundering and other crimes. A court ruling on Monday extended his detention for two more months until late July.

The judges said in their ruling that Chen should remain in custody to facilitate probes into the criminal charges against him. If released, the ruling said, Chen could collude with other suspects, destroy evidence or flee the country.

Chen and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), are standing trial on charges of embezzling from a special presidential fund while Chen was in power, receiving bribes in connection with a government land deal and laundering part of the funds by wiring the money to Swiss bank accounts.

They were also indicted on new graft charges earlier this month. Prosecutors said they took bribes from 2002 to 2005 from local bankers, but the couple said that the funds were either political donations or money to promote Taiwanese interests overseas.

Chen has repeatedly said he is innocent and that he is being persecuted by the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for his anti-China stance.

Many DPP politicians and some commentators have pushed for an end to Chen’s detention, arguing that the court has extended Chen’s detention without justification.

DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said earlier this week that continued detention was unjustifiable and unnecessary.

The reasons for continuing to hold him in custody were absurd and a flagrant violation of Chen’s human rights, Cheng said.

Krugman, Cabinet officials discuss healthcare system
　

By Shih Hsiu-chuan
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, May 16, 2009, Page 3
　

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman held a lunch meeting with Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄) and senior officials at the Executive Yuan, exchanging ideas on the national health insurance system, fiscal and economic issues.

The 90-minute lunch meeting was closed to media.

TAXES

An official with the Government Information Office quoted Krugman as saying that raising value-added taxes or adopting other tax measures that are politically acceptable might be a solution to the dire financial problems facing Taiwan’s national health insurance system.

The official, who attended the discussion, asked to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Prior to the lunch meeting, Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) gave Krugman a briefing on Taiwan’s national health insurance system.

SUCCESS

Yeh quoted Krugman as saying he wished to learn from Taiwan’s experience in implementing the compulsory comprehensive national healthcare system, which he said was recognized worldwide for its success in improving the nation’s health.

Meanwhile, Cabinet officials asked the Nobel laureate for his opinion on potential solutions to the national health system’s fund shortage problems.

The deficit in the national health insurance system was a problem common to every country, not only Taiwan, Yeh quoted Krugman as saying.

EXPENDITURE

“The national insurance system should be supported by various resources and the government should expand its income bases. But Taiwan did not expand the income bases of the system by raising the premium,” the anonymous official quoted Krugman as saying.

The official said Krugman thought that expenditure for Taiwan’s national health insurance system was still low, and would only be considered too high when it reached 16 percent, as it is in the US.

Ma calls for strengthening defense
　

By Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, May 16, 2009, Page 3
　

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday underlined the need to strengthen the nation's military power in case of war during an inspection tour of the naval base in Kaohsiung.

“Through cross-strait negotiations, the government has reduced tensions and restored peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, we should not be slack in establishing military force in preparation for war,” Ma said during an inspection tour of the Zuoying (左營) naval base in Kaohsiung.

As Beijing has not reduced the scale of its deployment of weapons against Taiwan, Taipei should maintain its defensive force despite improvements in cross-strait relations under his administration, Ma said.

Ma, accompanied by National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) and Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏), inspected two submarines and encouraged the navy to perform better.

Ma later inspected the marine training base on Takao Hill (柴山). He called on the troops to strengthen their physical abilities, while vowing to enforce discipline to prevent corruption in the military.

“Public trust is the biggest asset of a government. Corruption and abuse of power will erode public faith in us,” Ma said.

The president's inspection of the military bases came in the wake of scandals involving high-level military officials, including former Marine Corps commander Lieutenant-General Hsu Shang-wen (徐尚文), who attempted to commit suicide after being disciplined over corruption allegations.

Chen, who suffered from low approval ratings in recent polls conducted by the local media, said the scandals involving military officials and soldiers had damaged the reputation of the military.

He said the ministry would work harder to strengthen discipline in the military.

Somalia clashes kill 139 civilians
　

STATE OF FAILURE: The violence is aggravating an already dire humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa nation once popular for safe streets and cafes

REUTERS , MOGADISHU
Saturday, May 16, 2009, Page 6
　

Islamist rebels and Somalia’s Western-backed government and allies exchanged mortar and small arms fire on Thursday in the seventh day of clashes in Mogadishu that have killed 139 civilians.

Years of conflict in Somalia have killed tens of thousands, displaced millions more, defied 15 attempts to establish central rule and created one of the world’s worst aid crises.

“Twenty-six civilians died and 98 were injured on Wednesday and Thursday,” said Yasin Ali Gedi, vice chairman of the Mogadishu-based Elman Peace and Human Rights group.

“Thousands have also evacuated in this period, because fighting has spread to new districts,” he said.

The militant al-Shabaab and forces loyal to Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed continued to battle in Mogadishu. Pockmarked buildings near the presidential villa shook from the latest bout of clashes, which have plagued the country since Somali dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.

Residents said African Union (AU) peacekeepers (AMISOM) shelled insurgent strongholds. Like most guerrilla wars, rebels stage hit-and-run attacks and hide among the populace.

“I saw them transporting 10 dead bodies and dozens of injured in mini-buses,” resident Abdi Hussein said. “They were all opposition, because they were masked. Government soldiers also died, but I could count only three. I’m sure there are more. We were running from the shelling of AMISOM.”

AU spokesman Barigye Ba-Hoku said: “We are neither involved in fighting nor shelling ... The opposition blames shelling on us as an excuse to attack our bases.”

Influential opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys accused UN envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah of trying to destroy Somalia by his support for the transitional government and dismissed any talks with Ahmed’s administration.

“It is a surprise to see Ould-Abdallah destroying Somalia when he, as a Muslim, has an obligation of being honest of what he has to do for Somalis,” Aweys said.

“The troops who came to keep Muslim leaders away from the leadership have to leave the country. [Then] we are granting every Somali that there will be no fighting. We will sit together and solve everything through dialogue,” he said.

Aid organizations warned on Thursday that Somalia’s worst fighting in months was aggravating an already dire humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa nation.

Once famed for its open cafes and safe streets where residents took nightly strolls — known as passagiato from the former colonial rulers, Italy — Mogadishu is now synonymous with anarchy and evokes images of militias atop battle wagons.

Expansion of rights and the KMT

Saturday, May 16, 2009, Page 8

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has a way with words. In signing into law the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on Thursday, Ma said that “the government is committed to protecting human rights, and it is not lip service but real action. I now declare to the world that Taiwan’s protection of human rights will be on the same track as the international community and at the same pace.”

There is reason to be skeptical about Ma’s ability to implement meaningful change after conducting a review of laws and procedures. The main obstacle is a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-dominated legislature that does not share Ma’s soft spot for international admiration. The KMT caucus — no tool of the president — is unlikely to amend laws in ways that reduce the influence of legislators or the KMT, particularly the party’s ability to manipulate the judiciary and electoral processes.

A good number of the covenants’ articles cover ground that is compatible with Taiwanese law and administrative practice. But there are a number of articles that could cause the KMT government concern even after it attempts to spruce up the books.

Most important is ICCPR Article 1(1), which states “All peoples have the right of self-determination” and shall “freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”

The KMT government has yet to declare what a political deal with China will entail. By signing this article into law, any action taken by the government that deprives Taiwanese of self-determination will be rendered illegal. It is hard to see many — perhaps a majority — of KMT legislators accepting this.

Another timely example is Article 14(3b), which mandates that a criminal suspect has “adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defense and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing.” There is much room for legal debate over the meaning of “adequate” in this article, but by any reasonable measure, the detention of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by the Taipei District Court at the Taipei Detention Center, whose punitive retaliation over his latest hunger strike is worthy of Myanmar’s junta, could be declared illegal on this basis.

Article 22, which deals with freedom of association, would appear to render illegal the state’s opposition to labor unions for schoolteachers.

There are many other examples of possible grounds for legal action by Taiwanese and foreign nationals whose rights have been expanded by the signing into law of the covenants.

Dealing with these issues will require of the president an even hand and the ability to stare down hardliners in his party. On this score, Ma’s track record is unenviable. At times he can be conciliatory to his opponents, but his character and the fundamental nature of the KMT are such that, when he was party chairman, sustained pressure from hardliners compelled him to relent each and every time. As president, with more power at his disposal and — perhaps — growing confidence in his role, this might change. We can only hope.

Legal reforms in matters involving human rights require more than power politics; they require leadership that generates broad support in the electorate and bipartisan cooperation in the legislature. To create such an environment in the present context, in which populism is slowly gaining the upper hand over due process, would amount to a minor miracle.

Things that we need to pass on to Krugman
　

By Lin Chih-hung 林志宏
Saturday, May 16, 2009, Page 8

Taiwan’s independence supporters must tell US economist Paul Krugman about tomorrow’s protest and why they will be taking to the streets.

Krugman, who won the Nobel Prize for economics, was in China before arriving in Taiwan on Thursday. He is expected to stay in Taiwan for three days.

Krugman has international influence. If he knew that tomorrow’s demonstration is being held to show how unhappy Taiwanese are about the pro-China policies of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government, he might mention the issue in his column in the New York Times. This would give the Taiwanese public more of a chance to stop Ma’s “democratic dictatorship” and block his goal of unification with China.

I earnestly hope that senior pro-independence figures, English media outlets who care about Taiwan and academics and other experts who write in English will take advantage of this opportunity to let him hear the true voices of the Taiwanese public, perhaps by making contributions to Krugman’s blog.

Every extra influential friend Taiwan has in the international community gives us an extra chance to work our way out of the current troubles.

A few years ago, Krugman praised Taiwan’s health insurance system, which was initiated and realized by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). In Beijing on Monday, Krugman said — straight out — that China’s huge trade surplus was the result of government interference and that there was no way the world could continue to accept this situation.

Krugman also said that the yuan would not become an international currency in our lifetime because China lacks a solid bond market.

Taiwan’s pro-unification media will not highlight such comments, and may not even report them. These outlets, which view China as the mother country, will only give space to material such as China and the US being dubbed as the “G2.” They could twist Krugman’s statement that he knew nothing about the mooted economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) into making him sound as if he supports an ECFA and that it would be good for both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwanese media outlets are, after all, brainwashing readers into thinking that relying on China is the only way to save the economy.

We must remind Krugman that Taiwan is facing a grave threat to its democracy. We must tell him that Taiwan has a minority of “high-class Mainlanders” whose fathers gained privileges through bloody, totalitarian rule and that this minority is now using its inherited privileges to control the media and the judiciary to manipulate the Hoklo and Hakka ethnic groups that make up the majority of the population.

We need to let Krugman know about the deal that the KMT has with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to allow the latter to take over Taiwan.

Krugman once warned the world that economic development will not decrease military conflict. Meanwhile, China has warned us of seven circumstances or “red lines” that, if crossed, will result in China taking military action against Taiwan — even as our professional student of a president runs around pinning Taiwan’s hope on Chinese goodwill.

Krugman once said about trade with China: “They give us poisoned products, we give them worthless paper.” He also opposed a Chinese buyout of major US petroleum explorer and marketer Unocal for strategic reasons.

I believe he will listen to the Taiwanese public and I would implore the leaders of pro-Taiwan media outlets to make good use of this opportunity.