Foreigners treated well
In his letter, Kevin Larson refers to the Christian missionaries in Taiwan as if they had brought their teaching of mutual respect and equality to a people without any humanist tradition of their own, ignoring completely Tai-wan's own cultural heritage based on Confucianism (Let-ters, June 29, page 8).
I would like to underline that the missionaries are not just here for humanitarian reasons but above all for proselytizing. Not all of them show as much interest in Taiwanese culture and are as engaged in all issues concerning Taiwan as, for example, the Jesuits are.
I'd also like to stress that compared to many other countries, Taiwan is a very welcoming place for foreigners, where the word itself -- despite Lar-son's assertion to the contrary -- in general doesn't imply any pejorative connotations as it does in many European countries. I could cite many cases of positive discrimination I have experienced in Taiwan and -- considering the attitude, let's say, of people in Paris toward foreigners -- I am always very happy when people in Taiwan patiently explain to me things I don't know or understand.
When Larson cites the episode of a Westerner walking into a restaurant and being referred to as a "foreigner" as an example of latent racism, I laugh because I have had this kind of experience a thousand times. Maybe Larson just hasn't figured out that words in Chinese sometimes don't have the same negative connotations they do in Western languages because China doesn't have the same history of colonialism, imperialism and racism as many Western countries. For this reason people in Taiwan don't have to weigh their words all the time and are happy not to do so.
When I received a new, longer ID-number on my Alien Resident Certificate a few weeks ago, an official told me that it was because there were too many foreigners in Taiwan (因為外國人太多了). In my country, Germany, or in any other Western country, such a sentence would have made me very suspicious, but here in Taiwan I just know that acting in a polite and correct manner is considered more essential than speaking in a politically correct way and that gestures are much more important than words.
Instead of criticizing Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) for not presenting Reverend Franz Burkhardt with a "Permanent Resident of Taiwan" certificate but an "Alien Permanent Resident" certificate, one should honor the gesture and not measure it by the words written on a card.
Jens Kleindienst
Taipei
Fingerprint plan a good one
I would have to agree with Ching H. Li's letter about the fingerprint plan (Letters, June 30, page 8) and wish to compliment the newspaper once again on its admirable editorial effort.
Taiwan is in a special situation and identity is so important to public safety. Not only would including fingerprints on national identity cards guarantee that citizens are better accounted for, but it would also help to bring in numerous wanted persons, slowly but surely over time. That's homeland security.
Douglas F. Miller
Springfield, Massachusetts
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