Pingpu not in cool club
Salmon grew up in a meandering river in the mountains of central Formosa, living a happy and adventurous life, and learning the languages of the other fish amid the rush and flow.
One day, a messenger bird flopped down on a rock near Salmon, talking in bird-speak. Salmon didn’t understand what Bird said because he only knew fish-speak. He splashed a bit, but Bird didn’t understand Salmon’s communication either.
Bird was passing on a message to the animals: “We’re having a party for all the cool species. You’re invited! It’s on the top of the mountain!”
Salmon didn’t understand, but he couldn’t go even if he wanted to. His main pool was at the bottom of a waterfall, and the other animals could walk or fly. Salmon skipped the party.
As expected, Formosa’s unique species showed up: Black bear and Sikka deer were there, along with a few interesting snakes, some butterflies and an out-of-breath Turtle. It was a large group, but obviously Salmon couldn’t participate.
“Welcome to the Cool Club,” the animals said as they met each other. In a democratic vote, the animals decided to let all the species who were there join the “Cool Club” and had what could be described as a dance, whether lumbering, prancing, slithering or flitting. Turtle just lay there, taking a rest.
During the years that passed for Salmon, he saw the clean areas of his stream becoming dirty or more dangerous, although for now, he was still safe under the waterfall.
By the time Salmon was old, he had learned to sing the songs of the birds by “holding his breath” then poking his head out of the water.
Another day, a different messenger bird appeared, and this time Salmon could have a conversation with it by imitating, albeit squeakily, the sounds of bird-speak. “Everything’s been decided by majority. It’s a small club, and unfortunately you’re not in it,” the bird told Salmon.
“That’s about what I expected,” Salmon told Bird, chirping in his fish-speak way. Bird hopped up and down to show that he understood, bobbing his head to say “yes.”
“You don’t seem upset,” Bird said.
“I’ve seen this coming for a long time,” Salmon replied.
“And another thing,” Salmon squeaked, “Can you ask the other species to stop shitting in the river that leads to my waterfall?”
The End.
I hope this simple fable illustrates both the plight of the Formosan landlocked salmon and also the many Pingpu tribal groups who are fighting for cultural recognition and survival on our island.
There’s also the environmental aspect to consider, where members of today’s “cool club” are raping Formosa and covering everything with concrete in the name of economic growth, unique species be damned (or dammed).
Disgracefully, Aboriginal and Native Tribes, who have thousands of years of experience forming balanced relationships with the land, animals, weather and seas, are getting a total lack of respect from the “civilized” people. Today heavy-handed state-sponsored discrimination and prejudice affects traditional communities all over the globe. This must end. Recognize the Pingpu now.
Torch Pratt
Yonghe, New Taipei City
Mad as a March hare
While March Madness is sweeping through the United States, Taiwanese college students are experiencing a very different kind of frenzy. They are occupying the Legislative Yuan, protesting a non-transparent trade negotiation and agreement with China. Over 20,000 students are protesting by occupying Taiwan’s Legislative Chamber, demanding transparency and a full review of the agreement.
Imagine a situation where US President Barack Obama sends a trade negotiation team to China. A trade agreement is reached behind closed doors and this agreement is then brought to Congress and introduced to the Senate where Democrats hold a majority. A mere 30 seconds later, the Senate approves the agreement, which is now ready for Obama’s signature.
This is what has happened in Taiwan. Perhaps the analogy is too simplistic, as there are two chambers of Congress in the US but only one in Taiwan’s legislature, the Legislative Yuan, which is dominated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which holds 64 of the 113 seats.
In an attempt to disperse students, the Taiwanese government began using brute force on Monday morning, which led to an eruption of violence. Whether this leads to widespread political unrest remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: While March Madness in the US ends with a clear victor, establishing a winner between the Taiwanese government and the student protesters will be a much more difficult and uncertain task.
Wantzu Liu
Lexington, Massachusetts
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US