US officials far from pure
I was surprised by Arthur Ding's argument about the purity of US government officials ("Don't simplify arms sales issues," April 9, page 8,). He said, "After leaving their posts, many US government employees transfer to jobs at arms companies in order to earn higher salaries. However, if they return to positions in the government, they adjust their perception of their role and handle the issue of arms sales with a scrupulous attitude." In other words, he believes US government policies are not influenced by the business connections of government officials.
Such a Utopian view is clearly contradicted by some of George W. Bush's decisions, particularly his backtracking on the 1997 Kyoto Protocol for curbing carbon dioxide emissions and his decision to rescind Clinton-era regulations restricting arsenic pollution in drinking water. It is difficult not to link these decisions to the close ties between Republicans and traditional industries such as oil and mining.
Republicans also have extensive links to US arms manufacturers. As an advocate of Taiwan's interests, Ding has every right to defend US arms sales, but to think that the Bush administration does not have business interests in mind when it makes policy is naive.
Of course, Taiwan needs all the support it can get to survive, but the country's close links to conservatives around the world is an unfortunate legacy of the KMT era. In fact, such links could become major obstacles to Taiwan's political and economic transformation.
One obvious example is the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, which will no doubt benefit conservative interests in both Taiwan and the US. But the plant could seriously undercut some of the central aspects of Taiwan's efforts to survive in the 21st century, such as upgrading its energy industry, developing cutting-edge technology and finding new products to sell.
It is important that Taiwan act like a liberal and try to win support from liberals around the world. A few AEGIS-equipped destroyers will certainly provide short-term deterrence, but they cannot guarantee Taiwan's survival in the long run.
David Finkenbinder
Taipei
The EU’s biggest banks have spent years quietly creating a new way to pay that could finally allow customers to ditch their Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc cards — the latest sign that the region is looking to dislodge two of the most valuable financial firms on the planet. Wero, as the project is known, is now rolling out across much of western Europe. Backed by 16 major banks and payment processors including BNP Paribas SA, Deutsche Bank AG and Worldline SA, the platform would eventually allow a German customer to instantly settle up with, say, a hotel in France
On August 6, Ukraine crossed its northeastern border and invaded the Russian region of Kursk. After spending more than two years seeking to oust Russian forces from its own territory, Kiev turned the tables on Moscow. Vladimir Putin seemed thrown off guard. In a televised meeting about the incursion, Putin came across as patently not in control of events. The reasons for the Ukrainian offensive remain unclear. It could be an attempt to wear away at the morale of both Russia’s military and its populace, and to boost morale in Ukraine; to undermine popular and elite confidence in Putin’s rule; to
A traffic accident in Taichung — a city bus on Sept. 22 hit two Tunghai University students on a pedestrian crossing, killing one and injuring the other — has once again brought up the issue of Taiwan being a “living hell for pedestrians” and large vehicle safety to public attention. A deadly traffic accident in Taichung on Dec. 27, 2022, when a city bus hit a foreign national, his Taiwanese wife and their one-year-old son in a stroller on a pedestrian crossing, killing the wife and son, had shocked the public, leading to discussions and traffic law amendments. However, just after the
With escalating US-China competition and mutual distrust, the trend of supply chain “friend shoring” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fragmentation of the world into rival geopolitical blocs, many analysts and policymakers worry the world is retreating into a new cold war — a world of trade bifurcation, protectionism and deglobalization. The world is in a new cold war, said Robin Niblett, former director of the London-based think tank Chatham House. Niblett said he sees the US and China slowly reaching a modus vivendi, but it might take time. The two great powers appear to be “reversing carefully
RSS