A perplexing struggle
The struggle for independence is a long unresolved matter. US President Barack Obama’s confirmation of arms sales to Taiwan was a symbolic gesture, condemning Taiwan never to be an independent country — a verdict that has been confirmed by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in previous statements.
A recent front-page article in this paper (“Obama informs Congress of arms sales,” Jan. 27, page 1) raises the question of how to define “true independence.”
While Taiwan has sovereignty in terms of an independent government, it does not have sufficient arms to protect itself. Instead, it has to rely on overpriced arms from the US.
The truth is, no country can be truly independent of others economically or culturally.
So the question becomes: “What are we fighting for?”
Mandy Chou
Taipei
Scientology is humanitarian
I am writing in response to the Guardian’s article on Scientology that appeared in this paper (Planet Pop, Jan. 25, page 13).
Scientology’s Volunteer Ministers are well known for their effective work in disaster response and have served at 145 worst-case disaster sites, including Ground Zero after Sept. 11, the Southeast Asian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, as well as after Typhoon Morakot hit southern Taiwan last year.
In Taiwan, our volunteer ministers have worked with other relief agencies and government organizations and have been commended for truly selfless work many times with the Ministry of the Interior’s Excellent Religious Group Award (績優宗教團體表揚).
The Volunteer Ministers’ great work has been acknowledged by a number of officials.
Emily Tsai
Director of Public Affairs
Church of Scientology Taiwan
Hey, ISO: Taiwan isn’t China
While doing some research for business I happened to reference the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) country code listing for Taiwan. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the ISO, which I would assume to be non-political, has listed Taiwan (ISO country code TW) as: Taiwan, Province of China.
I find this insulting — and I’m not even a citizen of this country. This should be outrageous and unacceptable to all citizens. I urge the people of Taiwan to visit the ISO Web site at: www.iso.org/iso/english_country_names_and_code_elements to express their distaste.
Craig Crawford
Tainan, Taiwan
The White House’s decision to take a 9.9 percent stake in Intel Corp is looking like very shrewd business indeed. Since the government bought in at US$20.47 a share last August, the US chipmaker’s surging stock price has delivered the US a US$43 billion return. One of the reasons the investment has so far proved so sound is that the White House has made sure of it. According to The Wall Street Journal, Howard personally pushed deals on Intel’s behalf with some of the most lucrative clients imaginable. They include Nvidia Corp, the company at the heart of the AI
A single photograph can cut through a lot of noise, but it can also be used to misrepresent the truth. At the very least, it can concentrate the mind on something that requires further investigation. On Monday last week, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) and former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) held a news conference in which they showed a photograph of former foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑), now Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) deputy chairman. In the image Hsiao is seated next to Xiamen Taiwan Businessmen Association chairman Han Ying-huan (韓螢煥). The two men were holding
I first met Professor Ray Jiing (井迎瑞) as a film and documentary student at Shih Hsin University’s (SHU) Department of Radio Television and Film in 1988. The following year, he went on to become the director of the Chinese Taipei Film Archive — forerunner of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI). Over his eight-year tenure, Jiing rescued and restored over 200 classic Taiwanese films. In 1997, he established the Graduate Institute of Studies in Documentary and Film Archiving at Tainan National University of the Arts (TNNUA), and I joined the program in his third cohort of students. Beyond a
President William Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) May 20 second-anniversary address was not just a routine policy review; it was damage control. US President Donald Trump’s remarks — that he did not want to see anyone move toward independence and that the delivery of a major Taiwan arms package could depend on the progress of US-China relations — unsettled Taiwan’s public and created an opening for opposition parties to question whether Taiwan was being treated as a bargaining chip in Washington’s dealings with Beijing. Lai’s speech was designed to close that opening. The address covered the expected ground: sovereignty, cross-strait relations, defense spending,
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