Pick a side
I am frankly puzzled by Dennis Hickey’s recent letter (Letters, June 16, page 8). He wrote the letter as a follow-up to one of his earlier letters in which he appeared to promote a US policy to “abandon” Taiwan (Letters, May 30, page 8). After reading these two letters, I am not clear about Hickey’s position regarding this issue.
His first letter came across as a clear endorsement of a policy for Washington to weaken ties with Taipei to help improve ties with Beijing.
For example, he states explicitly that Taiwan “has little or no strategic value to the US” and that the US needs China. He also states: “US economic interests in Taiwan would not be threatened by unification with China.”
Yet, in his second letter he seems to say that erosion of US support for Taiwan is a problem.
“The first step to correcting a problem is to admit the problem exists,” he wrote.
These are two separate and conflicting arguments. If Hickey is simply pointing out that erosion of US support to move closer to China is a problem that Taipei and Taiwan supporters must confront, then we are in agreement.
If his position is that the US should abandon Taiwan because of the importance of China, then I believe he is grossly underestimating the strategic, economic and political significance of Taiwan and the US-Taiwan relationship and is playing a dangerous game by ignoring the interests and desires of the 23 million Taiwanese.
DON RODGERS
Sherman, Texas
Aging population
Deeply concerned about the phenomenon of demographic aging in Taiwan, I am submitting my opinions on this particular issue from a college student’s perspective (“Seniors make up 10.7% of Taiwan’s population,” June 13, page 2).
As the article showed, the number of seniors nationwide accounts for more than 10 percent of the total population and the phenomenon of aging populations is especially prominent in counties that have an agriculture-based industry structure. This is a serious problem because it means that the dependency ratio will be even higher.
Another undesirable phenomenon that accompanies the aging population is Taiwan’s increasingly low birth rate, which makes the burden on the labor force even greater. What I would like to point out is the negative effect of a high dependency ratio and a low birth rate on the nation’s economy.
It is evident that the government should take this issue into serious consideration and take measures to encourage a growth in the birth rate in order to counter the growing number of seniors. One of the major reasons why young couples decide not to have kids is that there is no strong motivation for them to have babies. It takes lots of time and money to raise a child. Although the government has paid some attention to this, I still think more policies are needed rather than just issuing a small subvention or chanting some slogans.
For example, it seems that more subsidies and more material supplements, such as car loans, would appear desirable to newlyweds as these provisions would actually lighten the burden of raising children. Also, more benefits could be provided, such as healthcare and life insurance, so that young parents could make sure their children are provided for.
Aside from what the government can do, younger generations should also be aware of the influence a high dependency ratio will have on them and reduce it by real action — try to have as many babies as they can afford or they might end up being one of those elders worrying about where their next meal is coming from.
JOHN LU
Taipei
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