Tea Party unwelcome
The Tea Party movement has arrived in Taiwan. Although its actual strength remains shrouded in mystery, its frequency in the English-language media has markedly increased recently, with three letters in the Taipei Times just this month (June 8, 14 and 17).
Its message is hilariously simplistic: The free market is good, the government is bad. The worst thing, of course, are those nefarious taxes. So before the outraged Taiwanese populace reverts to revolutionary mode and starts stealing tea boxes from local supermarkets to dump them into Taiwan’s polluted rivers and seas, let me remind them that mixing black and white results in gray, and that, in the real world, governments and the rules they impose are a necessity for civilized societies to exist — and to run governments, you need taxes.
So the question really should be what is a reasonable level of taxation, and how should those taxes be spent?
The answer to this really depends. A few years ago, I lived in Denmark, where most citizens vote for governments that tax them at around 50 percent of their income because they know they get a good deal for it. Denmark is one of the best countries to live in because it is run by an extremely efficient and competent government.
On the other hand, I am sure Zimbabwe’s citizens are quite unhappy to pay just 5 percent taxes to keep President Robert Mugabe’s government in power. So it really depends: Governments can spend taxes wisely and effectively, or not.
In today’s interconnected world, we will need more and better rules and regulations to deal with globalized problems such as public health and environmental and food security, to name just a few. At a recent conference during Taipei Medical University’s 50th anniversary, the theme of how to establish global rules to handle these interconnected problems in a framework of global governance was fervently discussed.
Stephen Schneider, a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, recently stated during his lecture at National Taiwan University that we urgently need some sort of competent global governance, because without reasonable and mutually agreed upon rules and taxes, such as taxes on greenhouse gases, our world will go down the drain in an anarchistic mess of governments squabbling over ever-decreasing resources and a deteriorating environment.
Absence of government rules and taxes means anarchy. Therefore, I advise all Tea Partiers to permanently move to a country like Somalia where they can enjoy the benefits of a society without governmental oversight, instead of publishing obdurate nonsense postulating an anti-government revolution in Taiwan, one of the better-run countries in the world, although still with many problems pending good governmental regulation, not least in the areas of public health and the environment.
BRUNO WALTHER
Taipei
Future of Taipei’s airports
I have two suggestions to make about Taipei’s airport situation, which was discussed in a recent editorial (“Taipei doesn’t need two airports,” June 18, page 8). First, have the government take over the old Taoyuan Air Force Base (AFB), which currently belongs to the Navy and turn it into a domestic airport for Taiwan and the base for all international flights between Taiwan and China. Having a tramway between Taoyuan International Airport and Taoyuan AFB along with a new MRT line will speed the way for travelers.
Second, turn Taipei Songshan Airport into a metropolitan park. Songshan Airport is dangerous for aircraft due to the mountainous terrain in the area and an annoyance because of the noise it creates for the city.
GENE HIRTE
Taichung
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of