Regarding the US' so-called "policy" which is supposed to maintain an undefined "status quo," Nat Bellocchi is right in saying that it is working to China's advantage ("China has `status quo' advantage," July 27, page 8).
Bellocchi, however, failed to point out the mismanagement of Taiwan's situation by recent US administrations. The US, in effect, has successfully assisted China in cornering the Taiwanese to the point where we don't feel that we, and particularly our children and grandchildren, have a future or have a say in our future -- no matter what we do or don't do.
Things are not under our control. We are exhausted, numb and totally paralyzed. We are asked to live a suspended and supposedly non-existent no-name life, or a "status quo."
This is a life sentence to us, our children and beyond. Being so absolutely paralyzed by the games of the US and China, it is a puzzle that the US appears unable to understand why Taiwan is not buying more US weapons. We are controlled and bound by the US in terms of "how much" we are allowed to "defend" our country.
On the other hand, the Israelis are decisive in defending their country because the US has been firmly behind their cause, albeit not all their acts. Unless the US shows that kind of support to Taiwan, the Taiwanese people will seek not more weapons, but a place outside of Taiwan for their children and grandchildren to have a life with a better outlook -- just like the two chairmen whose parties have been blocking the military budget. Who would want to build a life that is capped by a "status quo" and might be destroyed by two giants?
Bellocchi should have been frank and brave enough to tell the truth, as opposed to only politely pointing out where the "status quo" is heading.
Bellocchi's article has helped neither the US to understand the Taiwanese perspective nor the Taiwanese to understand where the US stands.
Sing Young
Taoyuan
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry