A mirror of the future
I was shocked by your editorial about China's threat to Hong Kong's democracy ("HK's autonomy faces the guillotine," July 16, page 8). Hong Kong is just another Shanghai to China. "One country, two systems" is a total lie for which Hong Kong serves as the model. The dying of Hong Kong's democracy should serve to warn Taiwan against unification.
With Hong Kong's democracy entering a nightmare, Tai-wan's democracy is like the last pearl that China seeks to take away. How proud the Hong Kong people were of their democratic values and their prosperity. Now Hong Kong is a mirror, reflecting China's real face, shocking the free world and shattering the last dream of democratic change in China.
It is clear that the potential for change in China lies in internal power struggles rather than in democratic reform. The democratic tragedy of Hong Kong is enough to prove the evil direction of China's future development.
Ni Kuo-jung
Hsinchu City
More debate over Hitler ad
The DPP launched a television advertisement featuring Hitler as a bold orator. The image was intended to encourage young people to speak their own mind. If you (or Hitler, or certain contemporary politicians) dare to "speak your mind" be sure you've got one. The rhetoric of a narrow mind can be deadly.
Bold rhetoric should be based on bold ideas. Hitler's rhetoric was based on the ideas in his book Mein Kampf. But there was nothing bold about Hitler's mind. His thinking was narrow-minded, enslaved by the metaphors of hatred. His rhetoric was not bold but
maniacal. He did not have "his own mind;" he was out of his mind. What young people need here are complex experiences and complex observations. What the DPP needs is an education in history.
Rolf-Peter Wille
Taipei
The DPP was right in not wanting to pull the ad containing Hitler. Although the choice it made was not perfect, it was the best of several unpleasant alternatives. The DPP could have not spoken or articulated its ideal of expressing oneself without fear of confrontation. Alternatively, the DPP's critics could have kept quiet just to avoid confrontation. Both of these alternatives are unacceptable in a democracy -- which thrives on confrontation and an exchange of ideas. The DPP's critics have a duty to speak out, otherwise we will get another Hitler.
But those foreign critics are too sensitive and too willing to judge others by their own stereotypes and too quick to see things just from their point of view. Taiwanese people do not hate and we are not insensitive. For foreigners to accuse us of such things only spreads intolerance and is a step closer to Hitler's reality. All democracies have the same goal, but sometimes we do things differently.
In the US, racist skinheads display images of Hitler. But to stereotype each person displaying an image of Hitler as a racist is dangerous to democracy. It's time to stop this knee-jerk reaction. It shocks me when Americans become dictators of what can be said in other countries when they know that displaying images of Hitler, even in a hateful manner, is protected by the first amendment to their own Constitution. Absolute hypocrisy.
Alfred Tsai
Taipei
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