For a long time, legislators' disclosures of scandals rather than their political efforts have been making headlines. If a foreigner who knew nothing about Taiwan came here, he or she may think that the Taiwanese have a special knack for prying into other people's business.
A missionary devoted to Taiwan taught his students that before talking about something, they should apply these three principles: Consider whether what you are going to say is based on the truth, if you will say it with a caring attitude and if what you are going to say is conducive to the situation. If what you are going to say does not comply with these principles, then it is better left unsaid.
A Biblical quote may serve to alert all Taiwanese: "You hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:5)." That is, when people are criticizing or berating others, they tend to forget to consider if they are guilty of similar behavior.
What can we do to change the current situation?
One example may be instructive. The residents of a community had made strenuous efforts to maintain the community's environment. One day, posters appeared on the community walls, covering the wall-paintings collectively produced by the residents. The posters were for a candidate running for elected office. Incensed, one of the community's residents wanted to tear them down but felt that if he did so, new posters would immediately be put up to replace them. He therefore decided to place a huge poster with the text "This guy doesn't respect our work, so let's not vote for him," right next to the campaign posters. It is said that the walls were restored to their original state in no time.
If we express our aversion to this "culture of disclosure" by refusing to watch, read or discuss this type of information, by not electing this type of person, or by refusing to participate in events organized by these people, then we might once again enjoy "clean walls" in our communities.
Andrew Chang is secretary-general of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.
Translated by Daniel Cheng
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
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) trip to China provides a pertinent reminder of why Taiwanese protested so vociferously against attempts to force through the cross-strait service trade agreement in 2014 and why, since Ma’s presidential election win in 2012, they have not voted in another Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate. While the nation narrowly avoided tragedy — the treaty would have put Taiwan on the path toward the demobilization of its democracy, which Courtney Donovan Smith wrote about in the Taipei Times in “With the Sunflower movement Taiwan dodged a bullet” — Ma’s political swansong in China, which included fawning dithyrambs