http://jujuflop.yule.org Politics from Taiwan Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:25:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This is a reference post I've been meaning to write for some while. Taiwan's Constitution is a mess. As someone who strongly supports the idea of further reform, I get frustrated by the knee-jerk "Constitutional reform equals a move towards independence" reaction which usually drowns out any serious discussion. Clearly though, ... http://jujuflop.yule.org/2006/08/24/constitutional-change-and-independence So, after five and a half happy years living in Taipei, I'm moving back to England next month. I've got quite settled here in Taiwan, so wasn't really thinking of moving for a few years yet - but a really cool job offer has come up which is just too ... http://jujuflop.yule.org/2006/08/04/leaving-taiwan The DPP held their annual conference over the weekend, and the big news was that they have voted to abolish their factions: The decision [to abolish factions] was adopted at the party's 12th national congress that opened the previous day, with 153 of the 279 delegates present at the session giving ... http://jujuflop.yule.org/2006/07/24/the-dpp-now-one-big-happy-family One of the little political soap-operas that's been going on in Taiwan is the battle over who should run the national media watchdog. Up until the end of last year, this job was handled by the GIO (Government Information Office), but it has now been passed over to the NCC ... http://jujuflop.yule.org/2006/07/24/the-ncc-the-non-constitutional-commission A common theme in news reports about Chen Shui-bian recently has been his plans to change the country's name to 'Taiwan' (from the current official name 'Republic of China'). [See here for a recent example, translated by ESWN - and Michael Turton's rebuttal] So, does he really plan to change the ... http://jujuflop.yule.org/2006/07/21/does-chen-shui-bian-want-to-change-the-countrys-name I've written before about the exploitation of overseas workers in Taiwan (here and here), so I was interested to see this report in the Taipei Times: Early last month, the US State Department downgraded Taiwan to its "tier two" watch list in its latest Trafficking in Persons Report. This was the second ... http://jujuflop.yule.org/2006/07/18/human-trafficking-in-taiwan The Taipei Times report that hackers from the PLA has successfully infiltrated the bastion of Taiwanese democracy: INFILTRATION: An investigation bureau source said Fujian-based hackers had attacked computers in the offices of several legislators, but others denied that this was the case A note on a piece of paper indicating that China-based ... http://jujuflop.yule.org/2006/07/17/panic-legislature-under-cyber-attack-by-china The DPP may be down in the dumps (and the polls) recently, but it seems that the pan-blues are doing everything in their power to reinvigorate their enemies. Three news items have come up in the last day which make me wonder what's going on in the land of the ... http://jujuflop.yule.org/2006/07/04/blues-shooting-themselves-in-the-feet Is President Chen implicated in any of the scandals that have surrounded him lately? Who knows. However, it's encouraging to see that there are real investigations going on into these cases - which will hold a lot more weight than the rantings of a random legislator. Officials from the Ministry of ... http://jujuflop.yule.org/2006/06/29/fighting-for-corruption One of the more interesting subtexts of the recent recall saga was the battle for influence between the leaders of the two pan-Blue parties - Ma Ying-jeou (head of the KMT) and James Soong (head of the PFP). If you accept that the recall process was a purely political power ... http://jujuflop.yule.org/2006/06/29/the-pan-blue-struggle