While there are many overt and covert suggestions about what President Chen Shui-bian (
Needless to say, as the re-elected president of Taiwan, he should keep the interests of Taiwan first in his mind when he is preparing this important speech.
Obviously, topping the list of Taiwan's interests are its sovereignty, security, prosperity and democracy. And China, with its nationalistic call to annex Taiwan, is a threat to all these interests.
Chen's conciliatory tone in the last four years proved to be only futile when it came to the diehard Beijing leadership.
Therefore, Chen should refrain from reiterating the futile and humiliating "five noes" policy again. Instead he should call for the respect of democracy. And no one should put a straightjacket on Taiwan or stop its practice of democracy.
Taiwan's democracy is a dagger threatening the heart of Chinese communist rule. And it is a recipe to win American hearts and support.
In the aftermath of the March 20 election, Taiwanese people have shown their wisdom and maturity to protect and nuture their democracy. No countries or individuals should continue to ignore the choices and conciousness of these people.
The times have changed. Taiwan has made its choice and moved foward. Will others do the same?
Yang Ji-charng
USA
When Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) sits down with US President Donald Trump in Beijing on Thursday next week, Xi is unlikely to demand a dramatic public betrayal of Taiwan. He does not need to. Beijing’s preferred victory is smaller, quieter and in some ways far more dangerous: a subtle shift in American wording that appears technical, but carries major strategic meaning. The ask is simple: replace the longstanding US formulation that Washington “does not support Taiwan independence” with a harder one — that Washington “opposes” Taiwan independence. One word changes; a deterrence structure built over decades begins to shift.
The cancelation this week of President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visit to Eswatini, after the Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius revoked overflight permits under Chinese pressure, is one more measure of Taiwan’s shrinking executive diplomatic space. Another channel that deserves attention keeps growing while the first contracts. For several years now, Taipei has been one of Europe’s busiest legislative destinations. Where presidents and foreign ministers cannot land, parliamentarians do — and they do it in rising numbers. The Italian parliament opened the year with its largest bipartisan delegation to Taiwan to date: six Italian deputies and one senator, drawn from six
Recently, Taipei’s streets have been plagued by the bizarre sight of rats running rampant and the city government’s countermeasures have devolved into an anti-intellectual farce. The Taipei Parks and Street Lights Office has attempted to eradicate rats by filling their burrows with polyurethane foam, seeming to believe that rats could not simply dig another path out. Meanwhile, as the nation’s capital slowly deteriorates into a rat hive, the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection has proudly pointed to the increase in the number of poisoned rats reported in February and March as a sign of success. When confronted with public concerns over young
Taipei is facing a severe rat infestation, and the city government is reportedly considering large-scale use of rodenticides as its primary control measure. However, this move could trigger an ecological disaster, including mass deaths of birds of prey. In the past, black kites, relatives of eagles, took more than three decades to return to the skies above the Taipei Basin. Taiwan’s black kite population was nearly wiped out by the combined effects of habitat destruction, pesticides and rodenticides. By 1992, fewer than 200 black kites remained on the island. Fortunately, thanks to more than 30 years of collective effort to preserve their remaining
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