Some won't fight for freedom
A true friend comes through when a friend is in need. As Richard Kagan points out, Taiwan recently honored 30 foreign human rights activists for their contributions to democracy and independence (Letters, Jan. 2, page 8). I would like to salute those true friends of the Taiwanese.
If Taiwan must defend itself alone, it will, as polls have indicated. Eighty percent of Taiwanese will fight if China invades Taiwan, and do not think the US will help.
Shame on the UN, shame on those who should have taken a stand, and will not, and those who would only pay lip service but do not put their words into action. The saying goes: "If one is lost, all is lost." Pity those who will allow liberty to be lost for all of us.
Kagan, Mike and Judy Thornberry and many others remind us that Taiwan will not be alone. Indeed, we shall overcome. The likes of Ma Ying-jeou (
Some say the hottest spot in hell is reserved for those who should have taken a position, and would not. For them I can only say: May God forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Chen Ming-chung
Chicago
Chen should not fear China
I couldn't agree more with the point Gerrit van der Wees makes in his editorial ("Instead of `five noes,' `three yeses,'" Jan. 2, page 8), that the conditions underpinning President Chen Shui-bian's (
I would like to add that these missiles are only a small part of China's strategy of swallowing Taiwan, and not even the most effective.
In fact, even if all the missiles were dismantled, the diplomatic embargo would be the weapon in China's arsenal that the Taiwanese would have to fear most.
Some Taiwanese might still believe that as long as they still have food on the table and as long as they still enjoy freedom, peace and stability, it doesn't matter that their own country is constantly humiliated and belittled by China in the international arena, or that their president is forbidden from visiting most countries.
But this idea is wrong: China's diplomatic embargo will also hurt Taiwan's economy, and the free trade agreements with other countries is the most obvious example. Without free trade agreements with either large countries, like the US and Japan, or large trading blocs, like the EU or ASEAN, Taiwan's economy will be held to ransom by the Chinese dictators, and will become just a second Hong Kong, with all the imaginable consequences.
This shows that the best way to defend Taiwan's status quo of de facto independence is to pursue de jure independence, and no matter how much the Chinese dictators huff and puff or how much the US or Japan choose to kowtow to China, Chen should not only go ahead with the planned referendum, but even better, he would widen its scope.
George Dukes
Sunderland, UK
Weeks into the craze, nobody quite knows what to make of the OpenClaw mania sweeping China, marked by viral photos of retirees lining up for installation events and users gathering in red claw hats. The queues and cosplay inspired by the “raising a lobster” trend make for irresistible China clickbait. However, the West is fixating on the least important part of the story. As a consumer craze, OpenClaw — the AI agent designed to do tasks on a user’s behalf — would likely burn out. Without some developer background, it is too glitchy and technically awkward for true mainstream adoption,
A delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials led by Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is to travel to China tomorrow for a six-day visit to Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing, which might end with a meeting between Cheng and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The trip was announced by Xinhua news agency on Monday last week, which cited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) as saying that Cheng has repeatedly expressed willingness to visit China, and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Xi have extended an invitation. Although some people have been speculating about a potential Xi-Cheng
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is leading a delegation to China through Sunday. She is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing tomorrow. That date coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which marked a cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations. Staging their meeting on this date makes it clear that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intends to challenge the US and demonstrate its “authority” over Taiwan. Since the US severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, it has relied on the TRA as a legal basis for all
The ongoing Iran conflict is putting Taiwan’s energy fragility on full display — the island of 23 million people, home to the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing, is highly dependent on imported oil and gas, especially that from the Middle East. In 2025, 69.6 percent of Taiwan’s crude oil and 38.7 percent of liquified natural gas were sourced from the Middle East. In the same year, 62 percent of crude oil and 34 percent of LNG to Taiwan went through the Strait of Hormuz. Taiwan’s state-run oil company CPC Corp’s benchmark crude oil price (70 percent Dubai, 30 percent Brent)
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