Cycling for health
Congratulations, Taipei, on your new YouBike service! We, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have been enjoying the same sort of service for about three years now. It will involve some growing pains, but in the long run, it is going to be something very special.
Our NiceRide has grown every year with more and more stations and increased usage. The time saved and health benefits are tremendous. Have fun and enjoy!
Tom Kuleck
Greater Taichung
Given a choice
Flora Faun’s response (Letters, Nov. 19, page 8) to a “pro-life” article by Chiang Sheng (江盛) (“Taiwan failing on gender equality,” Nov. 9, page 8) was excellent, and while I completely agree with her pro-choice views, I do think her outrage may have overshot the mark.
As a man, I wouldn’t pretend to understand the outrage created by someone trying to force their views on me. That being said, I’m guessing that Chiang feels nearly as upset at his tax money paying for abortions.
Faun also brings up the excellent point that pro-life efforts focus almost entirely on preventing women from having abortions, typically through legal challenges. I and perhaps many others would take some interest in pro-life advocacy if it were coupled with pregnancy prevention, adoption counseling and assistance, and children’s welfare programs. Saving a “potential life” seems misguided if we are not equally concerned with the child’s potential after the fact.
Aaron Andrews
Greater Taichung
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations