The following is a brief roundup of selected local newspaper editorials Thursday: APPLE DAILY Cabinet must resign en masse Premier Liu Chao-shiuan is scheduled to announce a new Cabinet lineup Sept.7. He said the reshuffle will involve 'a bit more than just small changes.' That implies that he himself will not remain in the Cabinet and that the number of ministers to be replaced will be 'more than one or two,' but perhaps just three or four. The scale of the reshuffle is, of course, decided by President Ma Ying-jeou and the decision betrays his team's 'collective conservatism.' Ma and his ruling Kuomintang have conventionally insisted that Taiwan's Constitution prescribes a Cabinet or parliamentary system. Under such a system, a Cabinet must resign en masse to assume political responsibility, if its approval rating drops to a certain level or if the party loses major local elections. The current Cabinet's approval rating has slumped to a new low in a series of public opinion polls because of its flawed response to the devastation wrought by Typhoon Morakot in early August. Against this backdrop, the Cabinet has no excuse to stay on and should resign en masse. President Ma can then name a new premier, who could then pick a new Cabinet. Those who performed well in the current Cabinet can be re-appointed, while those who failed to fulfill their duties should be dropped. That's what should be done in a democratic Cabinet system. If there are only small changes in the Cabinet, as Liu has indicated, this would be deeply discordant with the results of the public opinion surveys. The current Cabinet is a very homogeneous team. Like Ma and Liu, the members have the characteristics of underlings. They tend to be extremely cautious, conservative, resistant to change, and short on innovation and creativity. Ma and Liu both prefer to recruit academics to their teams and dare not employ outstanding local government chiefs or entrepreneurs because they would not know how to lead such people. We hope the current Cabinet will resign en masse and the new one will have as few scholars as possible. University professors tend to reserve their academic posts and return to school after serving two or three years in the Cabinet. This leads to a lack of commitment to government and leaves the administration without competent ministers who can bring new thinking to its ranks and lead administrative reform. LIBERTY TIMES Taiwan would fare better if China refuses to sign ECFA China has threatened to defer the signing of a memorandum of understanding on financial supervision cooperation and a comprehensive economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Taiwan because President Ma Ying-jeou allowed the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan. As a matter of fact, China has already retaliated by canceling planned visits to Taiwan by its provincial governors and procurement groups and by cutting back on the number of Chinese tourists allowed to visit Taiwan. Since Ma took office in May 2008, all of his policy proposals have been geared toward his ultimate goal of having Taiwan reunify with China. In line with its open door policy, his administration has allowed an exodus of Taiwan companies to China and has opened up Taiwan to Chinese capital. These double 'bleeding' measures are hollowing out Taiwan's economy. Official statistics show that after just one year, Taiwan's unemployment rate has risen to more than 6 percent. The actual number of unemployed people is likely to present an even more dismal picture. Worse still, the economy is forecast to contract 4 percent this year from 2008, while family income has been declining steadily and exports continue to shrink. If Taiwan signs an ECFA with China, it would only deal a further blow to local industry and the economy as a whole. Therefore, we believe if China decides not to sign such an accord with Taiwan, it would be a god-sent gift that would be welcomed by many ordinary local people. History is often full of ironies. China's threats of retaliation over the Dalai Lama's visit could be just a saber rattling tactic to tighten its control of Ma's administration. But if those threats materialize, they would serve to expose China's true colors and result in a suspension of Ma's China-leaning policy. If that happens, it would be a blessing for the people of Taiwan rather than a tragedy. UNITED DAILY NEWS: Beijing should not go too far Beijing should try not to overdo its response to the Dalai Lama's latest visit to Taiwan. Mainstream opinion in Taiwan on the event is crystal clear -- no one should use the tactic of inviting the Tibetan spiritual leader to Taiwan in order to sabotage the budding ties between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The majority of Taiwan people would not like to see warming cross-strait ties undermined as a result of the visit. Therefore, Beijing's reaction should not be one of 'retaliation against President Ma Ying-jeou's administration' or 'penalization of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).' Beijing should instead look squarely at mainstream opinion in Taiwan and refrain from going overboard, as such an approach would only draw a backlash from or alienate the Taiwan people. We have repeatedly reminded Beijing that Taiwan is a vibrant democracy. That's why the Dalai Lama's visit took place and that's why the waves it created will soon settle. The main concern of the Taiwan people regarding cross-strait engagement is that Beijing could employ a 'retaliation and punishment' tactic to arbitrarily suspend bilateral exchanges, which could lead to Taiwan's 'suffocation.' We believe that Beijing would be not so foolish as to use the Dalai Lama's visit to stage a drill for its carrot-and-stick approach. The furor over the Dalai Lama visit is just a tempest in a teapot, but if it results in deeper public suspicion in Taiwan toward Beijing because of China's overreaction, it may take forever to mend cross-strait ties. CHINA TIMES Revive passion for baseball to heal public wounds After the Aug. 8 flooding that was triggered by Typhoon Morakot, the people of Taiwan need a common inspiration to regain peace of mind and hope for the future. We believe baseball can serve as that inspiration to restore the Taiwan people's confidence in the future. Some recent events can help to revive the public's passion for baseball, which is reputed to be Taiwan's national sport. First, the Kuei-Shan Little League team returned to this year's World Little League competition after many years in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in late August. Although the team finished second to the Americans in the 2009 Little League World Series, it has won recognition for its skills, dedication and spirit and has revived the passion of many middle-aged people for Little League baseball. Because of Taiwan's diplomatic isolation, the annual Little League series used to draw an outpouring of patriotism from Taiwan people at home and abroad in the 1970s and 1980s. Meanwhile, Brother Elephants, the most popular team in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. We congratulate Brother Elephants on their lasting popularity and longevity. We hope they can contribute more to the development of Taiwan baseball, which has had its ups and downs over the past years. Taiwan baseball suffered a blow after the national team's poor performance at the 2008 Olympic Games when it was defeated for the first time by the Chinese. 