Missing the point
Arron Beck’s response to my article makes no attempt to address my essential point — that is, linguistic expertise rather than being a native speaker needs to be part of Taiwan’s efforts to improve the quality of its English language output (Letters, May 5, page 8 and “Experts better than native speakers,” April 29, page 8).
Beck resorts simply to abuse (“Mr know-it-all”), pedantry (mailbag/mailbox), politics (Chinese/Taiwanese) and arrogance, not to mention hypocrisy (“I give you a failing grade, sir”). What has he got against experts?
The views expressed in my article reflected my experience of writing, editing and translating in Taiwan throughout the best part of the past 20 years. The fact that debate continues about how to address Taiwan’s English-language woes suggests that throwing legions of native-English-speaking non-experts at the problem is no solution at all. Beck’s flaunted capacity for missing the point simply underscores that.
MARK RAWSON
Taipei
Don’t destroy wetlands
The movement for preserving the mangrove wetlands at Jhuwei (竹圍) on the banks of the Tamsui River (淡水河) began in the 1980s. As a result of a housing construction project, conservationists and academics fought to save the mangroves. They stopped the project and in the end, the wetlands were made into a nature reserve by the government.
In 1997, the first proposal for the Danbei expressway (a proposed 4.7km expressway along the north bank of the Tamsui River) alarmed people who care about the mangroves. Many groups, including environmental, cultural and community organizations, formed an organization to protect the Tamsui River.
They made posters, held forums, put on concerts and visited legislators, as well as the Taipei county commissioner. In 2000, an environmental impact assessment ruled against the project. The mangroves were saved again.
The former Taipei County government proposed a shorter version of the expressway in 2008. Once again, the mangroves were in danger. I joined the anti-Danbei movement last year and since then I have been working together with local citizens and environmental organizations.
In every environmental impact assessment review meeting by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Taipei County and its successor, New Taipei City (新北市), have insisted that the expressway would not infringe on the Tamsui River Mangrove Nature Reserve.
The third preliminary review meeting was on April 15. One week before the meeting, a document provided by the New Taipei City Government said that it completed a scene survey with the Forestry Bureau, which confirmed that the planned expressway would not be located within the nature reserve.
However, when we went to the places they surveyed, we found that one of the road stakes was 60cm inside the land boundary stake of the nature reserve.
At the April 15 meeting, the Forestry Bureau admitted after our persistent inquiries that one of the road stakes was indeed within the nature reserve. The city government gave several explanations about the stakes. These explanations were conflicting and none of them clarified the issue. With such a big problem, the meeting should have been halted.
However, it continued and the result of the preliminary review was a “conditional pass.” The EPA is helping the city pave a road into the mangrove wetlands.
People have recognized the value of wetlands in the face of scientific progress and environmental crises for more than 30 years. It is ridiculous to destroy wetlands that have been protected for 30 years.
The Danbei expressway should be canceled, either through the city’s withdrawal of the plan or the EPA’s rejection of the project during the environmental impact assessment committee’s formal review. Otherwise, we will have to apologize to everyone who has helped protect the wetlands and we will be sorry for our loss.
CHUNG-MING WANG
New Taipei City
The US Senate’s passage of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which urges Taiwan’s inclusion in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise and allocates US$1 billion in military aid, marks yet another milestone in Washington’s growing support for Taipei. On paper, it reflects the steadiness of US commitment, but beneath this show of solidarity lies contradiction. While the US Congress builds a stable, bipartisan architecture of deterrence, US President Donald Trump repeatedly undercuts it through erratic decisions and transactional diplomacy. This dissonance not only weakens the US’ credibility abroad — it also fractures public trust within Taiwan. For decades,
In 1976, the Gang of Four was ousted. The Gang of Four was a leftist political group comprising Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members: Jiang Qing (江青), its leading figure and Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) last wife; Zhang Chunqiao (張春橋); Yao Wenyuan (姚文元); and Wang Hongwen (王洪文). The four wielded supreme power during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but when Mao died, they were overthrown and charged with crimes against China in what was in essence a political coup of the right against the left. The same type of thing might be happening again as the CCP has expelled nine top generals. Rather than a
The ceasefire in the Middle East is a rare cause for celebration in that war-torn region. Hamas has released all of the living hostages it captured on Oct. 7, 2023, regular combat operations have ceased, and Israel has drawn closer to its Arab neighbors. Israel, with crucial support from the United States, has achieved all of this despite concerted efforts from the forces of darkness to prevent it. Hamas, of course, is a longtime client of Iran, which in turn is a client of China. Two years ago, when Hamas invaded Israel — killing 1,200, kidnapping 251, and brutalizing countless others
A Reuters report published this week highlighted the struggles of migrant mothers in Taiwan through the story of Marian Duhapa, a Filipina forced to leave her infant behind to work in Taiwan and support her family. After becoming pregnant in Taiwan last year, Duhapa lost her job and lived in a shelter before giving birth and taking her daughter back to the Philippines. She then returned to Taiwan for a second time on her own to find work. Duhapa’s sacrifice is one of countless examples among the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who sustain many of Taiwan’s households and factories,
RSS