At this writing, consumer goods, ranging from toothpaste to cough suppressant medicine containing poisonous diethyleneglycol have been uncovered in four Central American countries, Singapore, Australia and the US.
More than three months ago, contaminated pet food containing toxic protein enhancer resulted in the deaths of many pets. On June 11, Wal-Mart and Tyson Food Co recalled 450,000kg of ground beef. On June 14, Colgate-Palmolive Co issued a warning about counterfeit toothpaste carrying the Colgate label found in four US states. All these incidents have one thing in common -- the source of poison was China.
In November 2002, the SARS epidemic broke out. On March 15, 2003, the WHO issued a global alert about the disease, which originated in Guangdong, China. At the time, scientists suspected the disease was caused by a biogenesis from a wild animal.
In the years since then, doubts about the hypothesis of the transmission from animals to humans began to surface. Some experts said the disease may have been a biochemical reaction at the fundamental genetic material level ?? the rearrangement of human genes in chromosomes caused by industrial pollutants.
Over the past two decades, China has completely abandoned its previous economic policy and pursued socio-capitalism at the expense of its environment and social ethics. As a result, many of its major cities lead the list of the worst polluted cities in the world; 25 percent of deaths in China are caused by respiratory diseases.
Blatant disregard of intellectual property rights is rampant in China. Counterfeit medicine and food stuffs are produced and sold under the eyes of Chinese Communist Party officials.
China has been trying to regain its nationalistic glory by imitating Western approaches to both economic development and military expansion. However, misguided fanaticism, for instance showing off its military capability by knocking down an orbiting space object, will not earn China the respect it seeks. At the same time, the image emanated by a toxic trail circling the globe will earn China nothing but disrespect.
As for Taiwan, given the painful memories of the SARS epidemic, it is highly advisable for the government and the people to seriously consider cutting back existing and possible future ties with China. The risk of any contact with China is too high.
A temporary gain in any shape or form is not worth risking one's health or one's life.
Kengchi Goah is a research fellow of Taiwan Public Policy Council in the US.
Father’s Day, as celebrated around the world, has its roots in the early 20th century US. In 1910, the state of Washington marked the world’s first official Father’s Day. Later, in 1972, then-US president Richard Nixon signed a proclamation establishing the third Sunday of June as a national holiday honoring fathers. Many countries have since followed suit, adopting the same date. In Taiwan, the celebration takes a different form — both in timing and meaning. Taiwan’s Father’s Day falls on Aug. 8, a date chosen not for historical events, but for the beauty of language. In Mandarin, “eight eight” is pronounced
Having lived through former British prime minister Boris Johnson’s tumultuous and scandal-ridden administration, the last place I had expected to come face-to-face with “Mr Brexit” was in a hotel ballroom in Taipei. Should I have been so surprised? Over the past few years, Taiwan has unfortunately become the destination of choice for washed-up Western politicians to turn up long after their political careers have ended, making grandiose speeches in exchange for extraordinarily large paychecks far exceeding the annual salary of all but the wealthiest of Taiwan’s business tycoons. Taiwan’s pursuit of bygone politicians with little to no influence in their home
In a recent essay, “How Taiwan Lost Trump,” a former adviser to US President Donald Trump, Christian Whiton, accuses Taiwan of diplomatic incompetence — claiming Taipei failed to reach out to Trump, botched trade negotiations and mishandled its defense posture. Whiton’s narrative overlooks a fundamental truth: Taiwan was never in a position to “win” Trump’s favor in the first place. The playing field was asymmetrical from the outset, dominated by a transactional US president on one side and the looming threat of Chinese coercion on the other. From the outset of his second term, which began in January, Trump reaffirmed his
Despite calls to the contrary from their respective powerful neighbors, Taiwan and Somaliland continue to expand their relationship, endowing it with important new prospects. Fitting into this bigger picture is the historic Coast Guard Cooperation Agreement signed last month. The common goal is to move the already strong bilateral relationship toward operational cooperation, with significant and tangible mutual benefits to be observed. Essentially, the new agreement commits the parties to a course of conduct that is expressed in three fundamental activities: cooperation, intelligence sharing and technology transfer. This reflects the desire — shared by both nations — to achieve strategic results within
RSS