Focus on urgent issues
William Cox’s letter (Nov. 26, page 8) is obviously well meant, but illustrates several major problems with foreigners commenting on former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) medical issues. Such foreigners frequently err, as Cox does.
For example, Chen has a desk and does not write on the floor. Errors like that enable opponents to discredit pro-Chen foreigners as well-meaning fools who know little about Taiwan. Cox also appears to be unaware that prisoners in Taiwan are generally treated the same way as Chen is, and that, in fact, his incarceration is good by Taiwanese standards. For example, he was sent to one of the best hospitals in the nation for treatment, a privilege no ordinary prisoner would have received.
Few Taiwanese share this strange desire to help Chen. Most see him as, at best, a traitor to the pro-Taiwan cause; at worst, as a thief. Chen’s son recently admitted that their homes in the US were purchased with campaign funds. While converting campaign funds to personal use is legal, that money belongs to the Democratic Progressive Party on behalf of all people who worked to put him in power, as well as those murdered during the Martial Law era. Yes, Chen is a political prisoner. However, his incarceration might have been avoided had Chen behaved in a modest and ethical manner.
The truth is that the issues surrounding Chen’s detention are a minor issue not worth well-meaning outsiders’ time. Foreigners who want to help Taiwan should be focusing on more urgent issues that affect many lives, such as the forced conversion of farmland to industrial parks, the environment, carbon dioxide emissions, traffic, official corruption, human trafficking, the north-south divide, the plight of foreign workers, farmers, fisheries, urban livability, deepening democratization and so on.
If Chen comes up, it should only be as a minor poster boy for an urgently needed general program of prison reform. Taiwan-supporting foreigners, please stop wasting your time with a man who abused and betrayed your trust and whose case will merely divert your energy and impair your credibility as a speaker in Taiwan.
Michael Turton
Greater Taichung
Military not ready
The question of military readiness involves more than mere conscription. Daily discipline within the military needs to be rethought as well. My stepson is currently in service at Base X. Since he got out of boot camp, he has often had three-day weekends, and frequent five-day passes. How can the military expect to be ready if their soldiers are often absent and no one trains seven days a week, but only two or three?
On one occasion I attended an open day at a different base. The beds were made tightly, and the grass had been cut. However, the bathroom was a bizarre mess. One urinal was off the wall and lay on the floor in the middle of the room. In addition, there was a hose pipe wound and twisted all over the floor running from one of the bathrooms to the other. If there are problems visible to an outside observer, what are the invisible ones? I am not sure this army would be ready if an attack were to occur without two weeks prior notice.
Shervin Marsh
Luodong, Yilan County
Ma okay with ‘ineffectual’
The Economist caused a stir in Taiwan by referring to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as an “ineffectual bumbler.” Ma has disputed the meaning of the word “bumbler” as a diversion to the critical point, which is that he is ineffectual.
That word means he is unable to produce a desired effect or that he lacks the ability or qualities to cope with a role or situation. On that point, Ma is silent. Apparently, he is quite comfortable wearing that shoe.
Robert Pennington
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Ma’s empty promises
In his opinion piece, Lu Shih-hsiang (“Ma turning a blind eye to will of Taiwanese,” Dec. 3, page 8) hit the nail on the proverbial head in stating that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in general, and Ma in particular, have done nothing but turn a blind eye and cold shoulder to all Taiwanese. This has been his history from the very beginning. Promises abound, but nothing comes to fruition, while under-the-table dealings with China by a myriad of official/unofficial spokespersons seem to never end. And all these are contrary to his once stated goals.
I realize what I am about to say might be deemed heresy/blasphemy, but the current state of affairs makes one wonder if the “esteemed” personage of Johnny Neihu might be coaxed from retirement to provide the “needle in the backside” of those so full of themselves they need not listen to the vast majority.
Tom Kuleck
Greater Taichung
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