Ticket buyers beware
If you are traveling by THSR this Lunar New Year, be aware of non-reserved seat roundtrip tickets purchased from automated machines. Roundtrip purchases are meant to be used in a single day, “as clearly stated on the screen,” THSR personnel told me. But when I bought my tickets I was taking the last train to Taipei, making it impossible to use my roundtrip purchase in one day. So why did the machine sell me the tickets?
“We’re trying to improve the system,” I was told. No refunds, though.
JACOB HENDERSON
Kaohsiung City
Whither Taiwan?
Taiwan has been the leading democratic star of Asia. However, it seems this star has dulled since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was elected. Violations of freedoms have caused concern and Ma has fundamentally changed policy toward China which is intended to make the world regard Taiwan and China as one.
Taiwan’s independence appears reduced when Ma states that China consists of both Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China. He adds that he is president of the Republic of China (ROC), which consists of Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). At least this is how outsiders have to interpret Ma when he states that the ROC consists of the Taiwan area and the mainland area. This is because the world has recognized that the government of the PRC rules what Ma denotes as the mainland and that Ma is not the president of the PRC. Ma has violated his promise of a pro-Taiwan future.
Ma wants us to think about China when we talk about Taiwan and his strategy is working. We think about China after negotiations between China and Taiwan, when pandas were sent to Taiwan, when Ma finds comfort in the outdated constitution and when Beijing probably helps Taiwan into the WHO.
Taiwan is becoming more Chinese when the name of the postal system name is changed back to China Post and when Chinese actors may be allowed to work in Taiwan.
By mentioning China when we talk about Taiwan, the intention is that we will think that Taiwan is Chinese and Taiwanese have to realize the economic and cultural benefits of being part of China.
All this leads to Ma’s vision of a common market with China.
However, the Taiwanese will never accept a common market because it will be the same as the Hong Kong model which most Taiwanese don’t want.
It is also worrying to see that Amnesty International and the International Federation of Journalists are worried about civil rights in Taiwan and that esteemed persons are writing open letters to the minister of justice about violations of freedom and rights.
Seen from outside, this is not the Taiwan I and many others have come to know.
MICHAEL DANIELSEN
chairman of Taiwan Corner
Copenhagen, Denmark
China has not been a top-tier issue for much of the second Trump administration. Instead, Trump has focused considerable energy on Ukraine, Israel, Iran, and defending America’s borders. At home, Trump has been busy passing an overhaul to America’s tax system, deporting unlawful immigrants, and targeting his political enemies. More recently, he has been consumed by the fallout of a political scandal involving his past relationship with a disgraced sex offender. When the administration has focused on China, there has not been a consistent throughline in its approach or its public statements. This lack of overarching narrative likely reflects a combination
Father’s Day, as celebrated around the world, has its roots in the early 20th century US. In 1910, the state of Washington marked the world’s first official Father’s Day. Later, in 1972, then-US president Richard Nixon signed a proclamation establishing the third Sunday of June as a national holiday honoring fathers. Many countries have since followed suit, adopting the same date. In Taiwan, the celebration takes a different form — both in timing and meaning. Taiwan’s Father’s Day falls on Aug. 8, a date chosen not for historical events, but for the beauty of language. In Mandarin, “eight eight” is pronounced
US President Donald Trump’s alleged request that Taiwanese President William Lai (賴清德) not stop in New York while traveling to three of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, after his administration also rescheduled a visit to Washington by the minister of national defense, sets an unwise precedent and risks locking the US into a trajectory of either direct conflict with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or capitulation to it over Taiwan. Taiwanese authorities have said that no plans to request a stopover in the US had been submitted to Washington, but Trump shared a direct call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平)
Heavy rains over the past week have overwhelmed southern and central Taiwan, with flooding, landslides, road closures, damage to property and the evacuations of thousands of people. Schools and offices were closed in some areas due to the deluge throughout the week. The heavy downpours brought by the southwest monsoon are a second blow to a region still recovering from last month’s Typhoon Danas. Strong winds and significant rain from the storm inflicted more than NT$2.6 billion (US$86.6 million) in agricultural losses, and damaged more than 23,000 roofs and a record high of nearly 2,500 utility poles, causing power outages. As
RSS