Lu's right on the mark
Thank goodness we still have people of the ilk of Vice Presi-dent Annette "loose cannon" Lu (呂秀蓮) in our midst. Despite years of personal KMT oppression, she still has the guts to tell it like it is. The Boeing Corp, given its lame protestations to the contrary, have kowtowed to the repressive PRC regime and indeed have brought "shame" on themselves. The real question is: Does anyone really care?
I would wager the spineless Boeing executive lackeys would think again if China Airlines were to cancel the contract, pay the penalties and negotiate a new contract with Airbus. It is a big shame in more ways than one, and hats off to Lu for pointing it out. When private companies can be influenced so shamelessly by big-time bully-boys, we really do need someone to make it known.
David Kinsella
Keelung
Beijing shortsighted
The recent decision by the Chinese government to resume the sale of masked palm civets and other exotic animals is shortsighted and imprudent. Several tough viral respiratory diseases in recent years, such as avian flu and SARS, have followed the same pattern of originating in Guangdong, where humans and animals lived in proximity, and spreading to Hong Kong via their increasingly porous border and then the rest of the world by international travelers.
The remission of SARS is probably weather-related; it does not prove that these animals are safe -- as pets or food. Will the Cantonese, among the most adventurous gourmands who "eat anything with wings except a plane," please change their gastronomic habits?
Vincent Wang
Richmond, Virginia
Ex-dictator unmourned
With Osama bin Laden and former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein having so dominated the news, it became easy to forget about that brutal dictator Idi Amin, who was responsible for the murder of over 100,000 Africans ("End of tyrant as Idi Amin dies, Aug, 17, page 1).
That Amin should himself have been welcomed by Saudi Arabia to enjoy years of hospitality instead of being tried for the mass murder of Ugandans is an injustice that may now prove impossible to rectify.
Yonie Zukowsky
Pardess Hanna, Israel
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, people have been asking if Taiwan is the next Ukraine. At a G7 meeting of national leaders in January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that Taiwan “could be the next Ukraine” if Chinese aggression is not checked. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that if Russia is not defeated, then “today, it’s Ukraine, tomorrow it can be Taiwan.” China does not like this rhetoric. Its diplomats ask people to stop saying “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” However, the rhetoric and stated ambition of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Taiwan shows strong parallels with