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`UNfair' ads are spot-on

I usually concur with Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) on most issues, but I find her analysis of the "UNfair" ads

that are now appearing in New

York City a little off the mark ("Annette Lu says New Yorkers can't understand ads," Sept. 1, page 3).

I arrived back in Taiwan from Bangkok after a month away, and saw the ad from a bus window. It immediately cut through the clutter and seized my attention. I only had four or five seconds and the ad's full meaning regarding the injustice of Taiwan's continued exclusion from the UN hit me very powerfully. It's a superb piece of issues-oriented advertising. I used to teach a university course on the semiotics of modern advertising and I wouldn't be surprised if this one wins awards. The black "UN" script stands out, you immediately think "United Nations," then the "fair," in another color, leads you to read "unfair," which is precisely the point that needs to be made.

The other ad, which I saw

in the paper, calls attention to

the usual conflation of Taiwan

with China in the world today,

consistent with the People's Republic of China's "one China" dogma. The ad questions

this by placing the words "Authoritarian China" against

a red background above the words "Democratic Taiwan" against a green background; between the two fields is a does-not-equal symbol. This

arrangement of text is quite

effective.

Democratic states need to begin questioning UN practices. The flagrant injustice of the UN's exclusion of Taiwan should be addressed. The UN should also be taken to task on other issues: its scapegoating of Israel, its willingness to turn away from African genocides, its collusion with the former Iraqi regime in the oil-for-food scam. The list goes on and on.

I don't believe the ads engage in UN-bashing. They draw much-needed attention

to how the UN is being compromised and misused by

certain states.

I applaud these ads and their message.

Stephen Carter

Taichung

The "UNfair" ads in New York are plenty clear to anyone with a decent grasp of US ad practices. As a five-year resident of New York, I cannot imagine anyone here reading these ads and being confused about their point.

Moreover, as a long-term American supporter of Taiwan, I believe it is urgent that steps be taken now to bring the Taiwan issue to the front of Americans' consciousness. With both political parties cozying up to Beijing in their actions, if not in their words, Taiwan must do something now to make sure every American knows about the issue of Taiwan's freedom. It will be too late to convince the American people to support Taiwan after the People's Liberation Army takes the streets of Taipei.

Jeff Soules

New York
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