Numskulls of all political persuasions have been letting sexism and provincialism get the better of them in recent weeks.
But the seeds were planted with President Chen Shui-bian's (
It has taken six years, but finally Chen has learned a lesson on milking jingoism in a country where the public largely interprets dual nationality as a method of advancing the prospects of the child and the family. A high proportion of Taiwanese have dual nationality, and no doubt a still larger number would secure foreign citizenship for their children if they could.
The real issue for Chen should never have been the nationality of a child per se, but whether the attainment of that nationality was subsidized by funny money, and whether male children would use dual nationality to avoid military service.
The pan-blue camp has leapt at the chance to embarrass Chen at the prospect of his son Chen Chih-chung (
The pan-blue camp is not really interested in the rights and wrongs of where a baby should be born -- Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
On the DPP side, former legislator and faction leader Tuan Yi-kang (
On Monday, failed DPP Taipei County commissioner candidate Luo Wen-chia (
There, but for the grace of God, go most of the DPP caucus. No wonder some think that childless, partner-less Vice President Annette Lu (
The moral yoking of children to their parents reflects a mindset that will take some time to change, it seems. All parties here have jumped to belittle the freedom of children -- not to mention women, as some feminist groups have complained.
A long time ago, peerless Chinese writer Lu Xun (
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