Thanks, ‘Taipei Times’
Instead of being snarky and pretentious, and pretending to understand finance and the economy (buy gold coins now), I would like to take a moment to thank the Taipei Times writers and the wise editors who hired them.
In no particular order, Bradley Winterton comes to mind, not only for his comprehensively sublime book reviews, but because of his outstanding knowledge regarding classical music. I promise that one day I will go to one of the links he suggested to listen to opera. I promise.
Joe Henley and David Frazier are also walking encyclopedias when it comes to modern live music and Marcus Aurelius has it covered when it comes to the turntables.
Reading this kind of reporting fills a Taipei Times fan’s heart with happiness.
Not only is it extraordinarily competent, but it reflects the personal side of the writers themselves.
When I see “my dining partner and I” in a restaurant review or see “in this reviewer’s opinion,” in a book or movie review, I am delighted that experts in their respective fields can freely opine about Taiwan’s cultural scene.
I want to send a special thank you to Diane Baker, who brilliantly covers dance. Her writing has saved me thousands of New Taiwan dollars over the years, because reading her artful, breathtaking descriptions of the shows basically puts me in the front row.
I do not even need to attend to feel how great it was.
Another special compliment goes to the recently hired, up-and-coming superstar Dana Ter, whose ongoing contributions to many pages and columns is decidedly enjoyable. Ter has taken the Friday art page to a new level. Reading her imaginative descriptions of artwork and her personalized response brings a welcome new perspective to that column. Sooner or later, something she writes is going to make me actually go to the museum.
Ter’s restaurant reviews and travel stories are also great. She is an extremely talented and creative writer and she is joining a brilliant group of peers of knowledgeable, outstanding researchers and writers, who really are doing some of the best journalism in the world.
In sports, the writers covering local athletics are also great. Baseball, basketball and other sports are well covered with creativity, charm and style.
Although page 9 runs some questionable stories, page 8 is great. After the loss of a top-shelf editorial writer, the staff has bounced back with a series of tremendously respectable opinions regarding the rule of law, hypocrisy, Taiwan’s economy, human rights and equality, and many other hot topics of the day. Kudos to them, too.
There are so many brilliant contributors to page 8 that I could easily run out of space to list them all here. In the end, the 500-word limit is a cruel mistress.
As a Taiwan resident and devoted reader for 15 years, there is no limit to my thankfulness to the Taipei Times and staff. If there is ever an “epic rap battle” between the Taipei Times and the South China Morning Post, count me in.
Torch Pratt
New Taipei City
A series of strong earthquakes in Hualien County not only caused severe damage in Taiwan, but also revealed that China’s power has permeated everywhere. A Taiwanese woman posted on the Internet that she found clips of the earthquake — which were recorded by the security camera in her home — on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. It is spine-chilling that the problem might be because the security camera was manufactured in China. China has widely collected information, infringed upon public privacy and raised information security threats through various social media platforms, as well as telecommunication and security equipment. Several former TikTok employees revealed
For the incoming Administration of President-elect William Lai (賴清德), successfully deterring a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attack or invasion of democratic Taiwan over his four-year term would be a clear victory. But it could also be a curse, because during those four years the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will grow far stronger. As such, increased vigilance in Washington and Taipei will be needed to ensure that already multiplying CCP threat trends don’t overwhelm Taiwan, the United States, and their democratic allies. One CCP attempt to overwhelm was announced on April 19, 2024, namely that the PLA had erred in combining major missions
At the same time as more than 30 military aircraft were detected near Taiwan — one of the highest daily incursions this year — with some flying as close as 37 nautical miles (69kms) from the northern city of Keelung, China announced a limited and selected relaxation of restrictions on Taiwanese agricultural exports and tourism, upon receiving a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegation led by KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁). This demonstrates the two-faced gimmick of China’s “united front” strategy. Despite the strongest earthquake to hit the nation in 25 years striking Hualien on April 3, which caused
The Constitutional Court on Tuesday last week held a debate over the constitutionality of the death penalty. The issue of the retention or abolition of the death penalty often involves the conceptual aspects of social values and even religious philosophies. As it is written in The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, the government’s policy is often a choice between the lesser of two evils or the greater of two goods, and it is impossible to be perfect. Today’s controversy over the retention or abolition of the death penalty can be viewed in the same way. UNACCEPTABLE Viewing the