President Chen Shui-bian's (
Shortly afterward, Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (
A pro-blue camp evening newspaper and an English-language paper published comments on how Japanese General Maresuke Nogi sent his two sons to the front line during the Russo-Japanese War, where they died in action. The comments were meant to ridicule the first family for purportedly being so fearful of death. The evening paper even eulogized Mao Zedong (
History textbooks tell us that the Russo-Japanese War was an inevitable result of Japanese expansionism following the Meiji reforms. The immediate cause of the war was a dispute between Russia and Japan over how to divide the booty of China's Liaodong Peninsula between them. It was a battle that should be condemned by any peace-loving person.
What happened to Nogi's sons was a tragedy. For the sake of his ambitions and Japanese military expansionism, Nogi sent his sons to die on the battlefield. This only reflects an individual's ignorance caused by nationalist and militaristic brainwashing. As for Mao's merits and demerits, there is no need to say more.
The opposition camp opposes Japan and Chen because they are pro-China. Their opposition to Japan is based on historical Chinese hatred toward that nation. They oppose Chen because they don't think he is loyal to China. Ironically, to browbeat the first family, the pro-unification media has not hesitated to use a war between two countries that invaded China. This only reflects the confused values of the opposition camp in their haste to attack Chen.
SARS has killed six health-care workers in this country. These deaths are an unfortunate loss both for the families of the departed and the nation. The deaths also appear to be the result of negligence on the part of hospitals and policy-making authorities. No one wants to see a single health-care worker sacrificed, much less any health-care worker staking their lives to prove their loyalty to the country. In light of the severe strain brought by SARS on health-care personnel, we hope the hospitals can properly plan their manpower allocation so as to ensure the safety of all health-care workers and patients.
And don't forget, among the three presidential candidates who ran in 2000, Chen is the only one whose son (or sons) has ever completed full military service. KMT Chairman Lien Chan's (
If the anti-Chen media really wants to eulogize war, they should use Nogi and Mao to teach the children of Lien and Soong a lesson.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under