Pollution is big business
How screwed up our moral principles and our legal framework are when it comes to environmental pollution was further exemplified by an article with a totally misleading title (“Protecting the health of children,” Sept. 3, page 8).
If I hurt somebody intentionally, it is persecuted [sic] as grievous bodily harm, and if I kill somebody intentionally, it is persecuted [sic] as murder — except in the case of environmental pollution. Using all sorts of moral twisting and legal obfuscation, the environmental polluters get away with harm and murder. Take the example of the innocent students at Ciaotou Elementary School’s Syucuo (許厝) branch mentioned in the article.
If I walked into the school and just smacked one of them, I would be arrested and persecuted [sic], and rightfully so. However, harming all the children in the school via air pollution from the naphtha cracker does not lead to the obvious consequences, which means shutting down the naphtha cracker and persecuting [sic] those responsible for running it, but relocating the students to a slightly less polluted spot, paid for by the public and not by those responsible.
This is a completely amoral inversion of responsibility which is guarded vigorously not just by the entire industrial complex, but also by accomplices in academia and the media, because it boils down to billions of dollars in profits.
Pollution is basically externalizing the costs of production to the commons and the public, because, rightfully, there should be no pollution at all. All production cycles should be closed so that no pollution leaves the place of production, and thus all harm to people and the environment is prevented. However, we find even so-called distinguished investigators defending the indefensible.
Flora Faun
Taipei
Bernie stitched up by media
The US presidential election is two months away. Early voting has already started so the election is actually under way. Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump are tied in the polls.
Just last week Hillary was ahead by double digits. The tie shows that Hillary’s lead was a larger-than-expected convention bounce, as all candidates get a post-convention bounce, combined with Trump’s verbal self-sabotage.
The numbers are now back to normal. Trump could win. Democrats should have nominated US Senator Bernie Sanders. All the polls showed that Bernie had a bigger lead over Trump than Hillary.
Bernie lost because the media refused to cover him. CNN even had 1,000 Bernie supporters outside of its headquarters protesting the lack of Bernie coverage. CNN did not even report on the protest. CNN did not even report on what was happening at their own headquarters. Chris Hayes, on his MSNBC show, asked Bernie supporter Susan Sarandon: “What do you get out of that?” Rude, belittling, condescending.
Bernie also lost because the Democratic Party leadership undermined him and never intended to have a fair contest. They unfairly supported Hillary from the beginning as the Wikileaks-released internal e-mails showed.
If Trump wins, Democrats can rightly blame the media and themselves.
Andres Chang
Taipei
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, people have been asking if Taiwan is the next Ukraine. At a G7 meeting of national leaders in January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that Taiwan “could be the next Ukraine” if Chinese aggression is not checked. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that if Russia is not defeated, then “today, it’s Ukraine, tomorrow it can be Taiwan.” China does not like this rhetoric. Its diplomats ask people to stop saying “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” However, the rhetoric and stated ambition of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Taiwan shows strong parallels with