China Policy Institute Blog
Family and Politics in Film: Feng Xiaogang’s “Aftershock” (2010) and Deepa Mehta’s “Midnight’s Children” (2012)
May 21, 2013
Written by L. H. M. Ling. In the past year, I’ve had the chance to watch two recent films made, respectively, by a Chinese and Indian director and within two years of each other. These are Feng Xiaogang’s “Aftershock” (2010) and Deepa Mehta’s “Midnight’s Children” (2012). Though much differentiates these films, a central theme also …
Taiwan’s Anti-Media Monopoly Movement: Achievements and the future
May 2, 2013
Written by Chou Ya-Wei. The beginning of Taiwan’s anti-media monopoly youth movement dates back to July 31, 2012, when we started the first series of protests against the emerging media monopoly in Taiwan. We, mostly young Taiwanese, launched a movement called “I’m a student, I don’t want WantWant-China Times” (我是學生，我反旺中), with the clear message to say …
The Nuclear Referendum Issue in Taiwan
March 27, 2013
By Dafydd Fell. In late February 2013 the KMT announced its decision to support a national referendum on whether to stop construction of the controversial Fourth Nuclear Power Station. This development came as a genuine surprise to this writer. The question of whether to complete construction of this power station has been the most salient environmental …
Social issues, Civil Society and the Quality of Democracy
March 26, 2013
By Ketty Chen. Last Thursday (March 21, 2013), residents of the Huaguang Community (華光社區) went to the Ministry of Justice to protest the forced demolition of their homes, bringing along shingle, bricks and lumber from some of the already destroyed houses in the community. The protesters clashed with police as they attempted to confiscate the …
A New Tool for Promoting Human Rights in Taiwan
March 24, 2013
By Yu-Jie Chen. Earlier this month Taiwan concluded a United Nations-type review of its implementation of the two principal human rights treaties, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). It is the first time Taiwan has undergone an outside, comprehensive evaluation of …
How Ma Ying-jeou shot himself in the foot
March 20, 2013
By Chris Wang. 51.6, 13 and three. Those are probably the only numbers one needs to know when examining Taiwanese politics a year or so on from President Ma Ying-jeou’s re-election in January 2012. Ma, who won the fiercely-contested presidential election in 2012 with 51.6 percent of the votes, six percentage points ahead of his …
Taiwan Adrift: The Limits of Ma’s ‘Three Nos’
March 18, 2013
By Wen-Ti Sung. President Ma Ying-jeou’s mantra of ‘no unification, no independence, and no use of force’ is coming under increasing strain in an era of benign neglect from Washington, Beijing’s ever stronger economic leverage, and Taiwan’s own strategic confusion. President Ma’s comfortable re-election in 2012 has led to heightened interest about whether he will …
Mind The Gap
March 17, 2013
By Paul R. Katz. One of the most striking aspects of Taiwan’s 2012 presidential election was the contrast between campaign financing, with Ma Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 earning widespread support among local business leaders (especially those with sizeable investments in China), while his opponent (DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen 蔡英文) attracted outpourings of smaller donations from …
Taiwan’s 2013 Quadrennial Defense Review
March 15, 2013
By Michal Thim. The Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) of the Republic of China is a major defence policy document that has to be updated every four years and prepared by the Ministry of National Defence (MND) within 10 months of the Presidential inauguration. The first QDR was published in 2009, and its revised 2013 edition became …
Sorry Beijing, You Probably Won’t Get Much More From Ma Ying-jeou
March 14, 2013
By J. Michael Cole. The breadth and scope of the liberalization that has occurred in the Taiwan Strait since the election of Ma Ying-jeou of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in 2008 has been nothing short of extraordinary, at least if this progress is contrasted with what came before. For Ma critics, the KMT has …
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