Questions of economy
As a student of National Taiwan University, I am embarrassed that the institution employs economics professors as naive as Lu Hsin-chang (盧信昌), who claimed the following in a recent article: “The trade system is capable of dealing with the short-term impact caused by climate change. Unless world population growth skyrockets, agricultural trade is expected to be healthy and prices will remain stable” (“The nation’s agricultural policy needs overhauling,” June 8, page 8).
However, this is not true for the short term and even less so for the long term. Lu still seems to think that markets can regulate everything when it has become increasingly clear that we need better government regulation and investment concerning everything from food safety and security to environmental protection.
Just a quick read of Wednesday’s Taipei Times would have set Lu straight.
The UN reports that food speculators have greatly influenced food prices during the past few years and will continue to do so unless regulated by the world’s governments (“Speculators pushing up food prices: UN,” June 8, page 6). Food speculation by corporations and the wealthy explains the short-term price hikes which make food unaffordable to the poorest. Much worse is that food prices can only go up in the long term. More people want to eat meat-based diets, while water supplies are drying up and climate change creates unpredictable weather patterns that drive up food prices worldwide (“Warming planet puts additional strains on food supply chain,” June 8, page 9).
Again, the solution does not lie in promoting the “capable” trade system (aka the free market), but in governments investing more in a new “green revolution” to deal with the problems caused by climate change and water scarcity. Naturally, greenhouse gases need to be cut worldwide, and Taiwan is still one of the worst offenders.
If these examples do not make the case for more active government oversight, the latest food scares surely do (“Global food chain emphasizes profit more than health,” June 8, page 9 and “Food scare presents test for public,” June 8, page 8). And that is all in one day’s reading. Seems like somebody did not do their assignment.
Let’s hope students will one day be taught by economics professors who also read about environmental issues instead of blindly believing in the so-called wisdom of the free market.
FLORA FAUN
Taipei
Easing the pain?
Proponents of the death penalty say that it is necessary because it helps the families of the victims feel a sense of justice, thus alleviating the pain and suffering of losing a loved one to crime.
With the recent news of the wrongful execution of air force serviceman Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶), I have been thinking about this a great deal.
How much did the execution of Chiang alleviate the pain and suffering of the raped and murdered girl’s family?
Very little I suspect.
But how much has the knowledge that an innocent man was murdered to give them this slight solace increased the family’s pain and suffering?
A great deal I expect.
BILL MCGREGOR
Fengyuan
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
Within Taiwan’s education system exists a long-standing and deep-rooted culture of falsification. In the past month, a large number of “ghost signatures” — signatures using the names of deceased people — appeared on recall petitions submitted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) against Democratic Progressive Party legislators Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶). An investigation revealed a high degree of overlap between the deceased signatories and the KMT’s membership roster. It also showed that documents had been forged. However, that culture of cheating and fabrication did not just appear out of thin air — it is linked to the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
On April 19, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gave a public speech, his first in about 17 years. During the address at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s words were vague and his tone was sour. He said that democracy should not be used as an echo chamber for a single politician, that people must be tolerant of other views, that the president should not act as a dictator and that the judiciary should not get involved in politics. He then went on to say that others with different opinions should not be criticized as “XX fellow travelers,” in reference to
RSS