Letters:

A name to be proud of

Reasonable people, including the US president, will never consider Taiwan's using its own name as provocative ("Nervous nellies or diplomats?," Mar. 1, page 12). Besides, the US has had "American Institute in Tai-wan" for years, while the rest of the world calls the island nation of Taiwan "Taiwan." Unfortu-nately Taiwan calls itself something else. The name is inflated to ROC or deflated to "Taipei" or "Chinese Taipei."

The name that fits the size of Taiwan is "Taiwan."

When President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) visited Central America last May, some countries called him the president (even "the emperor") of China. Obviously, even our friends get confused about our country's name. I asked a high-ranking diplomat from Taiwan why he wore a "China" tag. He answered, "That is what they call us."

It's time to normalize our country's name to "Taiwan" throughout the world. A true name without a footnote is the first step for Taiwan to speak smoothly in the world.

It's also time to change "Passport issued in Taiwan" to "Taiwan Passport" so that the people of Taiwan can travel easily, without having to make explanations.

Charles Hong

Columbus, Ohio

The price of a bad move

There has been a surge reported in the number young people petitioning the Taiwan government to recognize their degrees from universities and schools in China. I can't help wondering what a dilemma this must be for the parents of these young people, who years ago, against government advice, decided to moving their capital and busi-nesses from Taiwan to China under the impression that such a move was their last chance to strike it rich.

This business migration to China undoubtedly contributed to the hollowing out of Taiwan's capital and exerted extra pressure that contributed to the downward spiral of Taiwan's economy and the accompanying rise in the unemployment rate. Ironically, what migrated businesspeople once deemed their best business decision is now jeopardizing the future of their own children.

This unfortunate drama should serve as a wakeup call to anyone who is thinking of shifting their business across the Strait -- think twice before you leap.

Ching H. Li

Jersey City, New Jersey

China's stage-management

Hsu Tung-ming's (許東明) article ("Students in China asked Bush wrong questions," Mar. 4, page 8) is quite enlightening.

Just as communists are not representatives of the Chinese people, Bush's audience was not representative of the entire Tsinghua student body. It may have been even worse.

The Tsinghua audience was carefully selected and the questions had to be authorized in advance, something the media in the US and Taiwan should make clear every time the event is mentioned. Then the picture becomes very clear why the students asked the questions they did and what they expected of the answer.

Another important aspect of Bush's speech was his mention of Chinese textbooks. What these books say about the US is intentionally misleading and they teach hatred. Such books, together with the Chinese media's promotion of violence and hatred towards US and Taiwan, show exactly what a terrorist state will do and why a terrorist state becomes what it is.

Chen Ming-chung

Chicago, Illinois

Time to scuttle commission

I congratulate the Cabinet for its timely decision to scrap the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs commission ("Commission gets the boot from Cabinet" Mar. 4, page 1). Such a step is long overdue, given that Mongolia is a member of the UN and is recognized by over 140 countries.