China synonymous with `evil'
I agree with your editorial that China is eminently qualified to be a member of the "axis of evil" ("Breaking with the past," March 30, page 8).
Last month, on the TV program This Week, US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice defined the "axis of evil" as countries which treat their own citizens badly, manufacture chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and proliferate such weapons of mass destruction by exporting them to other rogue states. Moderator Cokie Roberts then noted that Rice had just described China. Rice responded that the US has a means of communication with the Chi-nese. This was a lame excuse, since the US can also communicate with Iraq, Iran or North Korea if it wants to.
There are a number of reasons why Rice chose not to include China in the axis. The US wants China's cooperation in the war against terrorism, even though it's help cannot be very significant and corporate America is also afflicted with China fever and the possible profits to be made in China's huge market.
The Bush administration has little choice but to engage Bei-jing by supporting growing trade with China, realizing all the while that a stronger, modernized People's Liberation Army will one day challenge the dominant US position in Asia.
Finally, China is a rising nuclear power, intent on expand-ing its capability to threaten the US with a large number of ICBMs armed with multiple warheads. As a matter of realpolitik, the US cannot treat China as she would a lesser rogue state.
None of this means that the Bush administration is unaware of the evil nature of China, how-ever. This is why the Bush administration is pursuing theater and national missile defense and why, in the Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Review, a military confrontation over the status of Taiwan is identified as one of the likely contingencies in which nuclear weapons may be used.
Jay Loo
Lansdale, Pennsylvania
Thinking about pollution
I think it is a good move to ban plastics and styrofoam utensils. To avoid unemployment in that sector of Taiwan's plastics industry and the industries that depend on them ("EPA rebuffs plastics firms," March 30, page 2), however, it may be worth my pointing out that there is a kind of plastic bag that, when exposed to sunlight for a certain amount of time, falls apart. In Germany I saw a plastic bag with the sign "04 PE-LD," which means it is an organic product without harmful additives that burns without emitting harmful gases. These bags are "ground-water neutral" and can be recycled. Maybe Taiwan could produce environmental-friendly plastic bags instead.
Monika Leipelt-Tsai
Taoyuan City
Toward better English
I have two comments regarding Wang Wei-ming's (王維明) article ("Choosing English over Hok-kien," Mar. 30, page 8). First, I thought that countries such as Malaysia and Singapore had several official languages. So both Hokkien and English, rather than just English, could be added to the list of Taiwan's official languages. Second, I have no idea where Wang teaches, as the Romanization system used by the Nan-Jeon Institute of Technology does not conform to any standard, international form.
Although I have lived in Taiwan for over eight years, I still can't tell from the Romanizations used in the new street signs how to pronounce the street names, as the Romanization used is one espoused only by a tiny circle of anal public officials. Luckily for me, I read Chinese, but woe to those for-eigners who don't! If the point of developing proficiency in Eng-lish is to improve Taiwan's competitiveness in the world market, shouldn't Taiwan use an internationally recognized Romanization system as well?
Greg Wagner
Taipei
Punish the 228 oppressors
I appreciated your editorial ("The weakness of the quiet revolution," March 29, page 12) as well as the letter by Linda Gail Arrigo (Letters, April 3, page 8) and that by Bo Tedards (Letters, March 2, page 8).
Taiwanese have shed a lot of blood since the 228 massacre in order to achieve the primitive democracy of today. None of the oppressors who killed or harmed Taiwanese people have ever been put on trial, which in turn makes them and their henchmen think that they can commit more crimes against Taiwanese with impunity. It's time for Taiwan to bring its criminals to justice now, before they make any further moves.
Moreover, if we punish the oppressors ourselves, this will also serve as a warning to those oppressors across the Strait to think twice.
Kenbo Liao
Taipei
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