The younger Soong, who has somehow avoided military service in Taiwan, owns five houses in San Francisco, some unmortgaged. Had the scandal of the Soong's ill-gotten wealth not broken in the media, voters would not have seen the true face of James Soong. Crowned with a Nobel Prize, the President of Academia Sinica, resigned his position to support Chen. Taiwan's three terrestrial television stations round out the cast in our drama. While the quality of Taiwan's young TV stations may leave much to be desired, they at least are more balanced in their reporting.
Losers always have countless excuses, while success seems easy.
The democracy activists who took to the streets during the Kaohsiung Incident 20 years ago have become the core of Taiwan's new regime. Chen Shui-bian, who served as the defense lawyer for activists arrested in that demonstration, is now Taiwan's president. Twenty years have passed quickly. What is crucial is the existence of democracy. Cheryl Lai is the senior editor at Taipei Times.