A letter from Han-na
Dear Johnny,
As an occasional online reader I find your writing enjoyable.
R. Hannah
Johnny replies: This is officially the shortest letter I have ever received and, I’m proud to display, is quite complimentary.
To mark the occasion, I am going to write one of my longest responses.
As it happens, one of my trend-chasing granddaughters spied this letter on my home computer and got all quivery and excited.
“A-gong,” she cried, jumping up and down and clapping her hands, “is that a letter from Hannah Montana?”
Naturally I didn’t have the first inkling of what she was talking about, so after a few minutes of confusion, she opened a Google Web page and typed in “Meng Han-na” (孟漢娜).
“The Earth God give me patience,” I spluttered as row after row of Web sites, YouTube videos and photographs spilled down the screen.
“Why would a person like Hannah Montana want to write to an old grump like me?” I asked as my monitor vomited every happy color of the rainbow. “She’s young, attractive — for a Westerner — energetic and doesn’t sing too awfully.”
“But A-gong, aren’t you famous in newspapers and on the Internet?”
I looked at my granddaughter sternly.
“What could possibly have given you that idea? The closest thing I got to fame was holding Chiang Kai-shek at gunpoint — and that was nearly 40 years ago. It’s been downhill ever since.”
The poor dear looked rather crestfallen, so to cheer her up I rummaged around some of the Meng Han-na Web sites and discovered that a new movie had been made about her.
That’s the ticket, I thought, and promised to take my granddaughter to see the show, even though I expect to be gritting my teeth for the duration.
That’s the problem with being a grandparent: I have to endure the vibrancy of youth who never saw what I was like when I was younger — and their colors are so much brighter than in my memories.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
As Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won by a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, it is a good time to take another look at recent developments in the Maldivian foreign policy. While Muizzu has been promoting his “Maldives First” policy, the agenda seems to have lost sight of a number of factors. Contemporary Maldivian policy serves as a stark illustration of how a blend of missteps in public posturing, populist agendas and inattentive leadership can lead to diplomatic setbacks and damage a country’s long-term foreign policy priorities. Over the past few months, Maldivian foreign policy has entangled itself in playing
A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers led by the party’s legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (?) are to visit Beijing for four days this week, but some have questioned the timing and purpose of the visit, which demonstrates the KMT caucus’ increasing arrogance. Fu on Wednesday last week confirmed that following an invitation by Beijing, he would lead a group of lawmakers to China from Thursday to Sunday to discuss tourism and agricultural exports, but he refused to say whether they would meet with Chinese officials. That the visit is taking place during the legislative session and in the aftermath