Health has become Hurt
Taiwan agreed to lift a ban on US bone-in beef from cattle younger than 30 months by signing a protocol on market-opening measures in Washington on Oct. 22. Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) said that US beef made the US look ugly, because US people only eat tough beef.
Yaung’s opinion made our country look ugly. Business knows no risk, only profit. If US beef exports to Taiwan is not about profit, why does the US want to export beef to Taiwan?
The Department of Health should provide the public with a healthy and safe lifestyle, but government fear of the US has damaged Taiwan’s health. As a result, the Department of Health has become the Department of Hurt.
LIAO CHING-TING
Hsinchu
China just needs some time
After reading Joseph Yu-shek Cheng’s letter “China and democratization” (Oct. 19, page 8), I think it is unfair to just print a negative view on the process of Chinese democratization. Indeed, from the day of its birth, China has been defined as a country with no “democracy.” The Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 and the rise in the number of “mass incidents,” including the recent riots in Tibet and Xinjiang, are unquestionable evidence of this opinion. I also agree with Cheng that it is a tremendous challenge for the Chinese government to ensure transparency and to encourage democratic deliberation. China would therefore need a long period to become a democratic country, but was Rome built in a day?
In 1789, the French people ignited reform by capturing the Bastille and they were on the way to striving for democracy. During the period, different groups fought for their interests for the sake of democracy. As a result, many people died. The French people did not earn their democracy until 1870, when the Third Republic was established. It took France almost a hundred years to realize the dream of democracy. By contrast, today’s China is a young country, just 60 years old. Although it makes mistakes which seem to be unacceptable to some countries or groups, it is willing to learn from others to make progress.
Recently, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) adopted “party construction” as the main item on its agenda, emphasizing modernization and a scientific leadership system in order to improve intra-party democratization.
The scientific leadership system is a challenge, as well as a new journey for the CCP. The system opens up to consultancy and superintendence from other groups. With the rapid development of the Internet, more grassroots groups can get a platform for free and open expression. All these changes give the CCP a chance to be a scientific leader.
It cannot be denied that the CCP is not that democratic, compared with political parties in democratic countries. Compared with the old China from decades ago, the new one is trying to be more democratic. Maybe it will take China a hundred years to realize democratization, just like France. We should give it some time to achieve its goal.
JESSICA SU
Taipei
Textbook debate goes on
Kudos to the Taipei Times for publishing “Internet: Answer to textbook debate” (Oct. 15, page 8), advocating “one guideline, Internet text” as a possible solution for the disputed issue of multiple textbooks.
I agree with Huang Der-hsiang’s comments on trying to resolve the problems caused by multiple textbooks, however, I am very much concerned about the possible discrepancies that could be caused by his proposal.
First of all, if textbooks are taken as “public assets” that are open for the public to edit as Huang suggested, it might turn into a source of dispute. The “fixed standard version” will not maintain its original good intentions and we will have to constantly keep the public informed of the “latest” revision in order to be able to get a grip on what might be included in an examination. Furthermore, it will be very difficult to prevent people revising the textbooks for their own commercial advantage.
When the government is trying to bridge the digital divide of education in rural and urban areas or between the rich and the poor, the copyright on the Internet textbooks might even widen the gap. Parents or teachers with lower technological ability will have difficulties helping children access the Internet textbooks or the necessary references.
The education authorities need to look for alternatives that can stir up students’ learning motivation and let every student start on an equal footing.
MANDY CHOU
Taipei
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