Time to move on
I read Nat Bellocchi’s op-ed (“Granting of parole for Chen would heal nation,” Nov. 4, page 8) with great interest.
As a student at the University of Texas in 1972, I cast my first vote in a presidential contest for George McGovern — then-US president Richard Nixon’s opponent in that election. Two years later, I supported the disgraced president’s pardon because I believed a trial and long prison sentence would harm the interests of the nation. It was time to move on.
When attending a post-election seminar in Taipei in 2008 (I served as an observer during that election) similar considerations prompted me to suggest that Taiwanese authorities should pardon former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). I have not budged from that position.
Although Chen’s case is Taiwan’s own internal affair, I agree that the present administration in Taipei ought to look at the Nixon episode and ask itself whether keeping the president in prison is really worth the cost.
Dennis Hickey
Springfield, Missouri
Politicians are all the same
What did the article that addressed the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) wish to avoid “surprise and misunderstanding” (“DPP’s Su optimistic US relations can be rebuilt,” Nov. 6, page 3) actually mean?
Flexible: Pro-Taiwan, pro-US or Pro-China, whatever and whenever it suits me best.
Pragmatic: Who pays me most, the people of Taiwan, the US or China?
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) is no different than President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). The DPP wants to be like the KMT and cannot expect any country to trust them. It is time to hit the streets and protest against both the KMT and the DPP. Chinese dissent about former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and the DPP is absolutely right, but why do we need a Chinese dissident to tell us that?
Why don’t we open our eyes and think about what our politicians are doing: Selling our beautiful country — for their own benefit. Why can’t we see that?
Gerry Floor
Greater Taichung
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