Letters: Finding a UN alternative

J. Michael Cole's article ("It's time for asymmetric warfare," May 21, page 8) got me thinking. What he said made a lot of sense. We live in an age of information where obstacles can be overcome.

A good example of this was President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) who, though barred from physically visiting the US, sought to address a large group of journalists in Washington last night via videoconference.

This is a great example of working with non-sovereign entities to advance Taiwan's agenda.

There is nothing in the world that says freedom, health and so on are the exclusive domain of countries. Take multinational corporations as an example, which transcend borders.

With Taiwan's stable economy and Internet infrastructure, it could establish alternative organizations to fill the gap left by the UN and the WHO.

Just Linux is an alternative to Microsoft, Taiwan could establish a Universal Health Organization as an alternative to the WHO. Taiwan could then maintain a network of doctors around the world to co-ordinate events.

Michael Gruber

Baulkham Hills, Australia