Sovereignty dilemma
The controversy over Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) remarks reminds me of a story in which blind people described an elephant in different ways after touching it. This controversy results from the us of the term sovereignty. If this issue were resolved, this unnecessary controversy and many other political problems plaguing Taiwan for the past 65 years would be finally settled.
If the Republic of China were changed to the “Republic of Taiwan” or simply “Taiwan,” no one would be able to describe Taiwan as a “government-in-exile.” If the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) were called the Taiwanese Nationalist Party and became pro-Taiwan instead of pro-China, no one would be able to call it an exiled, foreign party.
According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, the sovereignty of Taiwan is still undetermined. Fortunately, the principle of self-determination is specified in the UN Charter, and Taiwanese have the right to determine whether or not the sovereignty of Taiwan belongs to them. This can be decided in a public referendum in Taiwan.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
Stabilizing unemployment
Taiwan not only suffers from an unemployment rate of 5.39 percent, but over 150,000 unemployed people have college degrees. The situation implies that higher education degrees do not guarantee employment.
It is thus imperative that our government should cope with this employment issue innovatively and thoughtfully.
It is generally recognized that a high unemployment rate is an extremely serious issue in Taiwan and our government has tried to edge down the unemployment rate through a series of employment enhancement policies for a long time.
However, the core problem is that we need to examine whether the unemployed are really getting any advantages and support from these policies, making sure they are truly pragmatic in helping to stabilize the unemployment rate.
Last month’s unemployment rate fell to 5.39 percent, the lowest since February last year, compared with 5.67 percent recorded in March, with the decline of 0.28 percentage points, making it the largest monthly contraction since October 1994 (“April jobless rate down 0.28 percent from March,” May 25, page 1).
This is truly good news for Taiwan. However, the government should still invest more effort in stabilizing the jobless rate.
Moreover, the job seekers should be prepared well to survive in the present world of drastic competition. For example, second language abilities and computer skills are common requirements for job applicants.
In other word, enhancing personal skills and qualities and diversifying background knowledge in the work place is essential.
It is obvious that Taiwan will continue to confront harsh challenges in the decade to come, especially since Europe’s debt crisis is more serious than previously thought.
Above all, both the government and job seekers have the responsibility to stabilize the unemployment rate.
Claire Wu
Taipei County
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