I read with great interest the feature article on Sunday on traffic in Taiwan ("Education the key to pedestrian rights," May 15, page 17). I also saw past letters complaining about the traffic. For all those who are outraged at the chaos, remember the bumper sticker, "If you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk." The point being we aren't back home. We're here.
The way of thinking is different. People's grandparents here weren't raised with the Bible aphorism "in love, preferring others."
Even if one's parents profess nothing, most Western grandparents were nominal Christians and learned the Western concept of taking turns, passing it down the line to us.
It's not just the traffic. It's waiting in line. Many times I have been waiting at the head of the line for a bus, for a train, to shake the president's hand and so on when 70 to 80-plus old-timers have pushed me out of the way to get there first. It's the culture.
My wife is Taiwanese. She's not very happy with the way people drive here. Neither are a lot of people. But they haven't banded together to demand change. I think you hit it on the head by saying that an advertising campaign would go a long way to settle things down. We have our version of the little blue trucks in the West, too. They're called teenage boys.
The sooner we learn to accept the things we can not change, we will begin to fall in love with Taiwan, and not increase our blood pressure each time we get behind the wheel.
Shervin Marsh
Lotung
A series of strong earthquakes in Hualien County not only caused severe damage in Taiwan, but also revealed that China’s power has permeated everywhere. A Taiwanese woman posted on the Internet that she found clips of the earthquake — which were recorded by the security camera in her home — on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. It is spine-chilling that the problem might be because the security camera was manufactured in China. China has widely collected information, infringed upon public privacy and raised information security threats through various social media platforms, as well as telecommunication and security equipment. Several former TikTok employees revealed
The bird flu outbreak at US dairy farms keeps finding alarming new ways to surprise scientists. Last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that H5N1 is spreading not just from birds to herds, but among cows. Meanwhile, media reports say that an unknown number of cows are asymptomatic. Although the risk to humans is still low, it is clear that far more work needs to be done to get a handle on the reach of the virus and how it is being transmitted. That would require the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to get
For the incoming Administration of President-elect William Lai (賴清德), successfully deterring a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attack or invasion of democratic Taiwan over his four-year term would be a clear victory. But it could also be a curse, because during those four years the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will grow far stronger. As such, increased vigilance in Washington and Taipei will be needed to ensure that already multiplying CCP threat trends don’t overwhelm Taiwan, the United States, and their democratic allies. One CCP attempt to overwhelm was announced on April 19, 2024, namely that the PLA had erred in combining major missions
On April 11, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a speech at a joint meeting of the US Congress in Washington, in which he said that “China’s current external stance and military actions present an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge … to the peace and stability of the international community.” Kishida emphasized Japan’s role as “the US’ closest ally.” “The international order that the US worked for generations to build is facing new challenges,” Kishida said. “I understand it is a heavy burden to carry such hopes on your shoulders,” he said. “Japan is already standing shoulder to shoulder