Taiwanese are ‘truly pathetic’
I am writing in response to an article regarding the approval given by university professor groups for Chinese students to study in Taiwan (“College associations back admission of Chinese students,” May 15, page 4).
I think these individuals are a bunch of idiots who have a truly condescending attitude.
On one hand I can understand how exchanges might be beneficial — but for these educators (who have an important responsibility to make sure the students of Taiwan make this nation better) to throw themselves behind President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) agenda is ridiculous.
The president of National Taiwan University (NTU), Lee Si-chen (李嗣涔), needs to have his head examined for his comments, which are unbecoming of an intellectual.
This is sad as NTU is at the forefront of Taiwanese higher education, cultivating tomorrow’s intelligentsia and leadership elite. For him to say that “one day a Chinese premier may be an alumnus of NTU” is completely inappropriate.
I am sick and tired of fellow Taiwanese putting themselves down and sympathizing with those who want to see not only a political and economic annexation but also cultural annexation of Taiwan.
Ku Chia-heng’s (谷家恆) comment that Chinese students could have a positive influence on their Taiwanese counterparts is so offensive I think he should step down from his post.
What about the other way around? Hopefully the Taiwanese students would have a positive influence on the students from China. We have more to offer than the Chinese students do, and the Chinese students would be in Taiwan.
We could try to open the world of democracy and freedom to them on our own soil. What could the Chinese students teach us in Taiwan?
This should be the goal of having Chinese students in Taiwan. Come on, people of Taiwan. Let’s take pride in ourselves. We are falling behind in every facet not because of the economy but because of a lack of pride and respect in ourselves and a lack of national identity.
This idea permeates from the top down and from the bottom up.
Be proud of Taiwan. Stand up. Currently the people of Taiwan are truly pathetic.
KELLVAN CHENG
Texas
Yeh is no doctor
Since reading that the 2009 World Health Assembly (WHA) has been addressing Taiwan’s Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) as “Dr Yeh,” I have been waiting for Yeh to come clean on the “Dr” title.
Although Yeh graduated from the medical school of the National Taiwan University in 1975 and passed Taiwan’s public health medical doctor written examination in the same year, he never went through the required clinical training and internship to become a fully qualified medical doctor and never practiced medicine.
Yeh does not hold a PhD either. By custom, he should not be styling himself a “doctor.”
The local Chinese-language media are referring to him as “[medical] doctor Yeh” (葉醫師) in their WHA-related reports. Yeh has never corrected them. I wonder what kind of “doctor” he is.
SING YOUNG
Taoyuan City
Does KMT get democracy?
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general John Wu (吳志揚) is quoted as saying that the legitimacy of Sunday’s rally by the DPP was questionable, citing a 56.1 percent approval rating for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) (“Tsai briefs Japanese media on protest,” May 15, page 3).
This is an astonishing claim. The legitimacy of any rally stems from a basic right that citizens in a democracy have a right to protest against their government on any matter of their choosing, regardless of any particular opinion poll or the popularity of the cause.
Such a comment by a senior KMT official can only indicate a certain mindset within the party. Not for the first time, one is forced to wonder if the KMT fully grasps what democracy actually entails.
PAUL DEACON
Gueishan, Taoyuan County
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