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Peshawar School Massacre, One Year On

Dawn, Dec. 16, 2015

People across Pakistan today are remembering the 144 victims of the Peshawar school massacre, one year after the Taliban attack that killed 122 children and 22 teachers. In its editorial, daily newspaper Dawn looks back at the changes the country has gone through after an attack that marked "a new, terrible milestone" that taught Pakistanis and the rest of the world that "what had gone before could yet be surpassed, that even our children could be deliberately singled out for brutality of the most unspeakable kind."

Criticizing the government's decision to resume executions after the massacre, Dawn laments that the country's "response, rather than being guided by reason, was born of the desire for revenge." "Vengeance is incapable of inducing justice because it casts its net wide, scooping up not only the guilty — if it does that at all — but also those who are the most disadvantaged," the editorial reads, which criticizes Pakistan's "deeply flawed criminal justice system."

On Wednesday morning, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared Dec. 16 a day of "national educational resolve," The Express Tribune reports. "Time has come to uproot terrorism from the country," Sharif pledged. The Pakistani National Assembly on Wednesday also termed the Peshawar massacre as a crime against humanity.

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Geopolitics

D.C. Or Beijing? Two High-Stakes Trips — And Taiwan's Divided Future On The Line

Two presidents of Taiwan, the current serving president, Tsai Ing-wen, and her predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou from the opposition Kuomintang party, are traveling in opposite directions these days. Taiwan must choose whom to follow.

Photo of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen

Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan, is traveling to the United States today. Not on an official trip because Taiwan is not a state recognized by Washington, but in transit, en route to Central America, a strategy that allows her to pass through New York and California.

Ma Ying-jeou, a former president of Taiwan, arrived yesterday in Shanghai: he is making a 12-day visit at the invitation of the Chinese authorities at a time of high tension between China and the United States, particularly over the fate of Taiwan.

It would be difficult to make these two trips more contrasting, as both have the merit of summarizing at a glance the decisive political battle that is coming. Presidential and legislative elections will be held in January 2024 in Taiwan, which could well determine Beijing's attitude towards the island that China claims by all means, including force.

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