Forced vaccinations
I have lived in Taiwan for more than five years as a teacher and writer. Recently, when receiving my health check results for my ARC, I was told there was a problem.
Apparently, my measles antibodies were low and I was told that I would have to receive an MMR vaccine shot at a cost of NT$600 in order to pass my medical.
This is absolutely ridiculous. Medically, there is no reason at all why I would ever need a booster shot unless I was going to a place rife with this disease. The immunity stays with you all your life.
I became quite sick because of this injection and still am; however, I was prepared to believe that mine was an isolated case.
However, when I went to work I found out that two other teachers who did their health check were also forced into having the MMR vaccine. I am appalled at this.
In the UK there is a huge political issue regarding the safety of the MMR vaccine, with horror stories about the side effects many experience.
I absolutely did not want to have this vaccine, but it seems that Renai Hospital is forcing people into taking it, at a cost, or they will not be allowed to renew their ARC.
If three teachers at my small school experienced this, I am quite sure others have, too.
TOM LEEMING
Taipei
Cure worse than disease
I was awe-struck to read the Taipei Times article that quoted President Ma Yiing-jeou’s (馬英九) words of Monday, Feb. 22: “Ma touts the signing of an ECFA” (Feb. 23, page 3).
Ma’s ability to dissemble and audaciously lie leaves me speechless.
And the irony! The level of irony in Ma’s “speech” could only be called “Sophoclean.”
Whenever I think of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) that the Ma administration intends to sign with China in May (all without the Taiwanese public, or even the legislature having any say whatsoever on the matter), an ancient Greek word, pharmakon, comes to mind.
The Greeks used this word to refer both to a poison’s antidote and to the poison itself. Pharmakon referred both to a poison or disease, and to its cure.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would have the public believe that an ECFA is a quasi-panacea, when it is precisely the opposite: it is an utterly destructive malignancy. Its “benefits” will lie in its inextricably dragging Taiwan into a sphere of absolute dependency on China.
Once economic vassalage is achieved, a political anschluss (forced annexation) will soon be imposed upon the people of Taiwan.
This annexation will occur during Ma’s second term; and if anyone is naive enough to think that the KMT (not to mention China) have the intention of allowing for the slightest possibility that the DPP will somehow regain power in the 2012 elections, then they are indeed either blind or are like ostriches with their heads in the sand.
Ma is quoted singing the same chorus as he always sings.
That is to say that he promises not to allow Chinese workers or any more Chinese agricultural products to enter the domestic market in Taiwan.
The crucial question to ask oneself is: How good is Ma at keeping his promises? Is he reliable and trustworthy enough that Taiwanese can depend on him to keep his word?
Taiwanese elected Ma based largely on his economic promises, the most famous of which was his so-called “6-3-3” plan — a “plan” for 6 percent economic growth, an average per capita income of US$30,000 and less than 3 percent unemployment.
Then, on being elected, Ma had the unmitigated gall to claim that this “plan” of his had to be considered as a form of IOU; Ma told the people that they would need to defer their expectations until his second term.
One need only consider how Ma so shamelessly clings to the pathetic, so-called “1992 consensus” to evaluate his integrity (or utter lack thereof).
Ma also stated at Monday’s luncheon that, as president, his goal was to create opportunities for Taiwanese, thus ensuring both their basic survival and their development in the international community, which would earn them respect.
Ma is then quoted as stating: “If I cannot do that, I don’t deserve to be president.”
This is a paradigmatic, textbook example of Sophoclean irony.
The irony of it is enough to bowl a person over and induce paroxysms of scornful laughter.
Ma goes on to state: “When a leader does what he is supposed to do, he should be considered bold and resolute in action, don’t you think?”
So, Ma fancies himself as a “bold and resolute” leader, does he?
Ma is many things, but he most definitely is neither bold nor resolute in action.
So, the people of Taiwan themselves must be both bold and resolute; they must do everything in their power to prevent Ma’s administration from signing an ECFA with China.
They must forcefully reject and repudiate Ma’s absurd idea that Taiwan must “take China into consideration when reaching out to the world.”
Such toadyism and capitulation is merely a recipe for disaster.
MICHAEL SCANLON
East Hartford, Connecticut
With escalating US-China competition and mutual distrust, the trend of supply chain “friend shoring” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fragmentation of the world into rival geopolitical blocs, many analysts and policymakers worry the world is retreating into a new cold war — a world of trade bifurcation, protectionism and deglobalization. The world is in a new cold war, said Robin Niblett, former director of the London-based think tank Chatham House. Niblett said he sees the US and China slowly reaching a modus vivendi, but it might take time. The two great powers appear to be “reversing carefully
As China steps up a campaign to diplomatically isolate and squeeze Taiwan, it has become more imperative than ever that Taipei play a greater role internationally with the support of the democratic world. To help safeguard its autonomous status, Taiwan needs to go beyond bolstering its defenses with weapons like anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. With the help of its international backers, it must also expand its diplomatic footprint globally. But are Taiwan’s foreign friends willing to translate their rhetoric into action by helping Taipei carve out more international space for itself? Beating back China’s effort to turn Taiwan into an international pariah
Typhoon Krathon made landfall in southwestern Taiwan last week, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and flooding, cutting power to more than 170,000 homes and water supply to more than 400,000 homes, and leading to more than 600 injuries and four deaths. Due to the typhoon, schools and offices across the nation were ordered to close for two to four days, stirring up familiar controversies over whether local governments’ decisions to call typhoon days were appropriate. The typhoon’s center made landfall in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) at noon on Thursday, but it weakened into a tropical depression early on Friday, and its structure
Since the end of the Cold War, the US-China espionage battle has arguably become the largest on Earth. Spying on China is vital for the US, as China’s growing military and technological capabilities pose direct challenges to its interests, especially in defending Taiwan and maintaining security in the Indo-Pacific. Intelligence gathering helps the US counter Chinese aggression, stay ahead of threats and safeguard not only its own security, but also the stability of global trade routes. Unchecked Chinese expansion could destabilize the region and have far-reaching global consequences. In recent years, spying on China has become increasingly difficult for the US
RSS