Racial divide a blurred one
Ashley Hines' comment (Let-ters, April 24, page 8) was misleading. Hinds suggested that Taiwan coined its own expression for "racism," implying that "Taiwanese" and "mainlanders" are of different races. Yet, by suggesting that we belong to different races, we further accentuate our differences, rather than emphasizing the similarities. Most importantly, coining a term for "racism" solves nothing because the conflict involves our differences in goals and values, not skin color.
During the Great Depres-sion, thousands of people from Oklahoma and Arkansas trekked to California. Blown out of the Dust Bowl, these human tumbleweeds faced harsh discrimination and prejudice in California. Yet, hardly anyone would suggest that Californians harbored "racism" against these "Okies" and "Arkies," because the conflict there was social inequity, not skin color.
I am encouraged by Hines' pride in her Aboriginal roots. But I hope this pride goes beyond simply making the political statement: "drumming up support for deporting Fujianese back to Fujian."
As a health-care worker in Hualien, I watch thousands of Aborigine men and women die prematurely every year from diseases related to alcohol, tobacco and betel nut ingestion, including cirrhosis of the liver and emphysema. Young Aborigines die from car accidents while intoxicated and children are born with fetal alcohol syndrome because their mothers are alcoholics. Due to poor sanitation and the lack of education, tuberculosis infections in some Aboriginal villages are almost universal. During elections, our politicians simply hand out more alcohol to Aborigines in an effort to win votes.
I hope we stop using "ethnic conflict" as a smoke screen for real problems. Similarly, I hope politicians stop using Aborigines and other unfortunate souls in our society as cannon fodder.
Kenny Liu
Hualien
Jonathan Lin asserts that the condemnation by some Taipei Times readers of a remark by the former head of the Kao-
hsiung City's Bureau of Public Works, Wu Meng-te (吳孟德), is an "overzealous pursuit of political correctness" and "detrimental to a free and open society in search of truth," (Letters, May 6, page 8).
In order to sustain this argument, Lin cites an article in the Washington Post, which says that immigrant gangs have given France a higher crime rate, as an example of unbiased journalism.
I completely agree with Lin that there should be no taboos in an open society, but I would like to ask him what he considers the "Letters" section to be -- if not a platform for dialogue and open discussion of all kinds of issues concerning our society?
Still, the subject of ethnicity is, as we all know, is a very sensitive one and should be handled in an extremely careful way. In particular, all remarks referring to ethnic groups should be avoided, because crimes are committed by individuals that belong to different ethnic groups, not by ethnic groups as such.
Even if many immigrant gangs commit crimes in France -- a fact that nobody denies -- it would be inappropriate to refer to all immigrants in France as criminals. It is just as inappropriate to blame "mainlanders" as such for problems related to urbanization -- or to blame all "Taiwanese" for the harm some immigrants from Fujian caused Aborigines in the past.
As I tried to underline in my letter to the Times (Letters, April 24, page 8) all people who are presently living in Taiwan should join their efforts to avoid ethnic clashes. In order to give all people here a com-mon identity I proposed the term "Taiwanese" and I suggested that all citizens -- including Minnan, Hakka, "mainlanders," Aborigines and so forth should be referred to and should refer to themselves as such.
If Lin argues that "Taiwan-ese" is not a politically neutral term, then I would be very happy if he could come up with a better politically neutral term, instead of only criticizing others' suggestions.
Jens Kleindienst
Taipei
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
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