The passing of Lee Kuan Yew last month precipitated glowing local and international accolades of his achievements as long-time prime minister of Singapore, while leaving behind a less satisfactory state of affairs. This assessment appears true in housing, one of the striking success stories of social policy in recent history. Public housing built by the …
Over the past several days the academic and journalistic commentariat has been working overtime to come up with a convincing storyline to sum up the less than historic summit meeting between Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore on Nov. 7. The most commonly bruited candidates, none of which …
If you were among the many people who tuned in to Taiwan’s 26th Golden Melody Awards (金曲獎) on Saturday night, there is a chance that you didn’t get to see the full show — at least if you were watching from Singapore or China. Organized by the Ministry of Culture, the annual event, which was …
The Presidential Office in Taipei confirmed late on the evening of Nov. 3 that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and President Xi Jinping (習近平) are to meet each other in Singapore on Nov. 7. Both leaders have reportedly been invited by Singaporean authorities. President Xi will head for Singapore after visiting Vietnam. According to the Presidential …
Two jailed spies for Taiwan’s Military Intelligence Bureau were returned to Taiwan in October after Taipei granted early parole to a Chinese spy in what some foreign media outlets described this week as a “spy swap” and a sign of further détente between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. As with the “historic” Nov. …