Halt racist reports
The recent bout of Arab- and Muslim-baiting in Taiwan is thoroughly offensive. After the arrest of a single Pakistani, most domestic media have been aggressively promoting the racist stereotype that all people from that part of the world are terrorists.
At least one newspaper, the China Times, even threw in a story about Africans in Taiwan, in an effort to lead people to wonder whether they are terrorists, too. It is gratifying that the Taipei Times has not stooped to this level, and is reporting the news at a much more appropriate level -- as a brief ("Man arrested in labor scam," Mar. 13, page 3).
On the other hand, one shouldn't take such goodwill too far. For example, it was certainly very surprising to read on the same page that the government is offering visa-free entry for citizens of Morocco ("Six nations get visa-free stay"). With all due respect for Islamic civilization, most readers will probably be relieved to know that it was in fact the city-state of Monaco that has been granted such status.
Bo Tedards
Taipei
Foreigners are wrong
I read with reservations and disagreement the open letter written by foreign residents in Taiwan to President Chen Shui-bian (
After all, Taiwan should support US 100 percent on this war. The US-Taiwan alliance is our best alliance. We have common interests in pursuing democracy and freedom. We depend on each other and should stand together shoulder to shoulder just as Britain has stood shoulder to shoulder with the US.
Those people who wrote this open letter to the president don't have any idea who actually initiated the attack. It seems they did not learn any lesson from the Sept. 11 attacks. The majority of Americans are supporting US President George W. Bush.
The people against the war should understand that the US is a freedom-loving country, which respects human rights and supports democracy. The people against the war should ask themselves who launched the first pre-emptive strike.
There is no reason why they have to write an open letter to president of Taiwan. Are they going to jeopardize the Taiwan-US relationship?
As Taiwanese, we should stand side by side with the US, our best ally. As we know that China may one day launch a pre-emptive strike against Taiwan, we need the US to stand on our side against China to protect the right of Taiwanese people to freedom and democracy.
The foreign residents of Taiwan are not in the position to call upon Taiwan to oppose US interests. The UN, meanwhile, is a weak country club and not worth a damn.
Yoshiko Tio
Houston, Texas
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