Once again we are graced with People First Party Chairman James Soong's (宋楚瑜) desperate efforts to try to gain the media spotlight and keep open his faltering chances to run for the presidency in 2008.
Now Soong wants to be able to debate the president regularly on his position, ideas and attitudes toward China and Taiwan.
True, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has a responsibility to the people to indicate his agenda, which was done when he put forth his platform for the recent presidential elections. At that time both Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Soong had their chances to debate Chen.
After the election is decided, how-ever, the president does not have an obligation to continue debating with the legislature or any Tom, Dick or Harry who wants to gain the spotlight.
If Soong is eager for a debate, I suggest another topic. Let him debate his fitness to be a representative of Taiwanese democracy, whether in the legislature or in any position, after his notorious record as head of the Government Information Office (GIO) and his bilking the country out of millions of dollars -- which he allegedly used to purchase numerous properties in the US and elsewhere.
He can also debate his GIO record with any of the people who suffered imprisonment, torture or other violations of their rights during the Kaohsiung Incident and the period following it. At that time it was Soong's job to justify, excuse, and put a positive spin on the one-party totalitarian state's continued suppression of the nation's democratic movement.
As for his subsequent profiteering from his political offices and black gold, he can debate that with any concerned taxpayers. Clear up the past before you ask us to give you any consideration for the future.
Jerome Keating
Taipei
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
RSS