Halt racist reports
The recent bout of Arab- and Muslim-baiting in Taiwan is thoroughly offensive. After the arrest of a single Pakistani, most domestic media have been aggressively promoting the racist stereotype that all people from that part of the world are terrorists.
At least one newspaper, the China Times, even threw in a story about Africans in Taiwan, in an effort to lead people to wonder whether they are terrorists, too. It is gratifying that the Taipei Times has not stooped to this level, and is reporting the news at a much more appropriate level -- as a brief ("Man arrested in labor scam," Mar. 13, page 3).
On the other hand, one shouldn't take such goodwill too far. For example, it was certainly very surprising to read on the same page that the government is offering visa-free entry for citizens of Morocco ("Six nations get visa-free stay"). With all due respect for Islamic civilization, most readers will probably be relieved to know that it was in fact the city-state of Monaco that has been granted such status.
Bo Tedards
Taipei
Foreigners are wrong
I read with reservations and disagreement the open letter written by foreign residents in Taiwan to President Chen Shui-bian (
After all, Taiwan should support US 100 percent on this war. The US-Taiwan alliance is our best alliance. We have common interests in pursuing democracy and freedom. We depend on each other and should stand together shoulder to shoulder just as Britain has stood shoulder to shoulder with the US.
Those people who wrote this open letter to the president don't have any idea who actually initiated the attack. It seems they did not learn any lesson from the Sept. 11 attacks. The majority of Americans are supporting US President George W. Bush.
The people against the war should understand that the US is a freedom-loving country, which respects human rights and supports democracy. The people against the war should ask themselves who launched the first pre-emptive strike.
There is no reason why they have to write an open letter to president of Taiwan. Are they going to jeopardize the Taiwan-US relationship?
As Taiwanese, we should stand side by side with the US, our best ally. As we know that China may one day launch a pre-emptive strike against Taiwan, we need the US to stand on our side against China to protect the right of Taiwanese people to freedom and democracy.
The foreign residents of Taiwan are not in the position to call upon Taiwan to oppose US interests. The UN, meanwhile, is a weak country club and not worth a damn.
Yoshiko Tio
Houston, Texas
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
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