Finer points of democracy
A recent editorial was correct regarding the Ministry of Education’s attempt to curtail political discussion on the Professional Technology Temple (PTT) Internet forum, but missed broader points that needed making (“Online censorship has no home here,” Nov. 4, page 8).
First, no government minister in a democracy would single-handedly attempt to shut down any subject of discussion, wherever it occurred, violating as it does a core principle of democracy: that of free speech. Democracy cannot happen without free speech. For the aforementioned minister to defend his actions to the legislature — rather than resign — would be just as unthinkable, while the claim that such an action was a “friendly reminder” borders onto the sinister: A reminder about what, precisely, that warranted the intervention of government?
Second, and perhaps more worryingly, was the way in which the “friendly reminder” was passed on, no doubt by more than one official at the ministry, but also by National Taiwan University staff and the board administrators. Why did they not simply refuse to comply and challenge the government on the issue? Such an arbitrary injunction would not go unchallenged in other democracies, particularly where universities are concerned.
The point is that democracy is not simply a matter of voting every now and again, but informs a wider culture and norms of behavior, especially of those in authority. It is in this respect that Taiwanese democracy not only reveals itself to be immature, but also raises questions as to how far the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) actually understands what democracy entails. It is a damning indictment of the KMT and President Ma Ying-Jeou (馬英九) that Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) is still in his job.
Paul Deacon
Kaohsiung
Who pays for healthcare?
Although this issue is probably not a vote winner in the Taipei mayoral elections, I am sure it is of interest to other taxpayers around the country. Simply stated: Which candidate will promise to pay Taipei’s outstanding healthcare bill?
Bill McGregor
Fengyuan
Time for a DNA test
I agree wholeheartedly with Bill McGregor’s comments (Letters, Nov. 4, page 8) and would suggest that for additional enlightenment, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) old school watch a TV program entitled 100% English.
Wikipedia states: 100% English was a Channel 4 television program shown in November 2006 in the UK. It looked at the genetic makeup of English people who considered themselves to be ethnically English and found that while all had an ethnic makeup similar to people of European descent, a minority discovered genetic markers from North Africa and the Middle East from several generations before they were born.
The presenter was Andrew Graham-Dixon. The test results were interpreted by DNAPrint Genomics, based in Sarasota, Florida.
Perhaps DNA testing may finally provide us all with the answer as to who is actually of “pure” Chinese descent.
Michael Wise
Danshui
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) trip to China provides a pertinent reminder of why Taiwanese protested so vociferously against attempts to force through the cross-strait service trade agreement in 2014 and why, since Ma’s presidential election win in 2012, they have not voted in another Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate. While the nation narrowly avoided tragedy — the treaty would have put Taiwan on the path toward the demobilization of its democracy, which Courtney Donovan Smith wrote about in the Taipei Times in “With the Sunflower movement Taiwan dodged a bullet” — Ma’s political swansong in China, which included fawning dithyrambs