Reduce abortion rate
As a taxpayer and long-term resident of Taiwan, I want to praise legislators Yang Chiung-ying (
In the ensuing discussion about how the government might best harness the nation's reproductive resources, a number of realistic ideas were considered.
This is admittedly a complicated issue, but I believe such discussions should take into account that a staggering number of would-be Taiwan citizens are already lined up and waiting to be born every day, yet are prevented from seeing life by the very people who conceived them.
In his recent book, The Haunting Fetus (University of Hawaii Press, 2001), Marc Moskowitz cites statistics to support his claim that "in the mid- and late 1990s, approximately 30 percent of all pregnancies in Taiwan ended in abortion" (p. 21). With the current economic downturn blamed for this year's record-low birth rate, it's safe to assume that current figures are already even higher than those cited by Moskowitz.
According to your newspaper, 260,000 children were born in this country last year. How many Taiwanese fetuses are being aborted this year because of the economic factors associated with raising a child? Perhaps Taiwan's government can frame the question of the decline in population growth in these terms, and offer incentives to these parents -- whether they be married or single -- to choose alternatives to abortion. Doing so might provide a starting place to remedy two problems at once.
Kris Kowal
Tamsui
Lee's got it right
Lee Teng-hui (
The succession theory is in essence that any territory held by a state becomes the territory of the state which succeeds it. Succession is a weak theory as it is subjective to a convenient time, era and epoch. The question for succession is when do you stop? Rome could claim all of Europe and the Mongols could charge that Beijing is historically theirs. China has chosen the few years Taiwan existed as a province of the Qing (清) between 1887 and 1895 to make a succession claim against Taiwan as they claim the ROC succeeded the Qing.
By rejecting this unsound theory of passing down territory like a sacred heirloom, Taiwan could highlight the fact that holding effective administration over a territory is an acceptable element to sovereignty and since the government on Taiwan called the ROC has conducted effective administration over the island, it should be considered by all nations as an independent country, due all the respect and dignity of participation in the international community, including the UN.
Lee has raised the sensitive issue of territorial claims and it would be a good time for Taiwan to make a real statement supporting a Taiwan-centric future based in reality rather that the historical myth that Taiwan belongs to or has split from China. Taiwan belongs to the future.
A.D. Kerslake
Seattle USA
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