Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Thursday last week wrote in an article that Taiwan is in an “illiberal democracy.” The term was coined by US journalist Fareed Zakaria to describe countries with leaders who, after being voted into office, start pushing policies that dismantle democracy, for example by amending the constitution to eliminate term limits, illegally undermining people’s freedom and clamping down on political opponents. The concept is also called “electoral autocracy.”
In his article, Ma seemed to lay all the blame on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
However, in a modern government, presidents do not take care of all problems
Frank Hsieh: A thorn in the side of dark forces taipeitimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from taipeitimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Court rejects Frank Hsieh’s claim for compensation
Staff writer, with CNA
The Taipei District Court yesterday rejected a request by Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) for compensation of NT$1 million (US$35,836) from Taipei City Councilor Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強).
Lo, of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), had accused Hsieh of dodging his responsibility for handling Taiwanese tourists who were stranded in Japan in September 2018 by Typhoon Jebi.
Su Chii-cherng (蘇啟誠), who was director-general of the Osaka branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, committed suicide a week after his office was accused of indifference to the plight of Taiwanese stranded at Japan’s Kansai International Airport in the wake of the typhoon.