Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien graduated from National Taiwan University, the school that has the motto "Improve your character, study with diligence, love your country, and love the people." Lien has failed in three out of the four items in this motto.
His protests for the past seven months degrade his character and do not care about the people in Taiwan. If the president is nothing, why is Lien so eager to become one? Lien should love, not kill, the president elected by the people. Lien apparently does not love Taiwan either, because he is strongly against the purchase of new weapons to protect the country.
Although Lien holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago, he needs to take a refresher course in Democracy 101. As a matter of personal courtesy and national unity, Lien should have conceded his loss and congratulated Chen for his success in getting re-elected. Two bullets cannot decide the outcome of a presidential election; only voters can. It is a bad example for Lien to keep on fighting after being defeated.
Lien should be aware of the fact that the US presidential election is generally accompanied by federal, state and local issues for voters to decide. Why was Lien opposed to the two referendum issues in the last presidential election? These two issues were defeated anyway. If they were passed, they would be good for the security of Taiwan.
It is perfectly acceptable to activate the national security mechanism when both the president and the vice-president are in danger of being assassinated. I think this mechanism should have been activated again when Lien, as a chairman of a major opposition party, encouraged everyone to "kill President Chen."
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
In China, competition is fierce, and in many cases suppliers do not get paid on time. Rather than improving, the situation appears to be deteriorating. BYD Co, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer by production volume, has gained notoriety for its harsh treatment of suppliers, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability. The case also highlights the decline of China’s business environment, and the growing risk of a cascading wave of corporate failures. BYD generally does not follow China’s Negotiable Instruments Law when settling payments with suppliers. Instead the company has created its own proprietary supply chain finance system called the “D-chain,” through which