Money is king
Regarding Michael Turton’s letter in which he laments the lack of support for Taiwan by establishment commentators in Western democracies (Letters, Aug. 23, page 8), the fundamental problem facing Taiwan is that for the past decade the US has been more focused on its spending addiction than the promotion of freedom. The administrations of both US President Barack Obama and former US president George W. Bush have given less of priority to relations with Taiwan than those with China, for the sole purpose of continued spending.
Whether it is funding wars in Afghanistan and Iraq or bailing out banks that made bad financial decisions or expanding social benefits, the US leadership has failed to make the difficult choices required for fiscal responsibility, choosing instead to repeatedly beg the bank of China for more money like a drug addict. As seen with the most recent raising of the debt ceiling, the US remains addicted to spending and is now an unreliable advocate of freedom when dealing with China. Taiwan also backed itself into a corner by reinstating a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government in 2008, as that sends the message to such commentators that Taiwanese are fine with a pro-China leader. Only when Taiwan consistently elects leaders who stand up for its sovereignty will other countries start to consider supporting its democracy. Perhaps then even the US might be shamed into a pause from its fiscal addiction.
Carl Chiang
Richmond, California
Bogus concerns
It seems to me that the “concern” expressed by the police amounts to an infringement of citizens’ rights to “freedom of assembly” and “freedom of speech and expression” and possibly constitutes “undue harassment” (“Police ‘concern’ worries activists,” Aug. 28, page 1). In addition, for an “unnamed” officer to say this was done as part of traffic--control planning is patently ridiculous. These actions were clearly taken on orders from “the powers that be” to intimidate and attempt to blunt the protests of concerned farmers and their supporters. It is reminiscent of a much darker period in Taiwan’s history. Let me end with a quote I often use: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it OR become the victims of it.”
Tom Kuleck
Taichung
Pity the farmers
He was a hardworking farmer who worked in the fields his whole life. There was a strip of land next to one of his small properties, next to a drainage ditch. He planted betel nut trees on it and used it for years. The last couple of years his health deteriorated so he leased most of his land. The lessee planted bananas next to the betel nut.
Then the authorities wanted to line the ditch with concrete and build an access road. They informed the farmer, flattened more than 100 betel nut trees and almost as many banana plants.
Neither the farmer nor the people now working his land were compensated, but it wasn’t their land, so no fuss was made.
Within a year, the old farmer died and his land was bought by a gravel processing company. The firm did not want anyone to use the “government road,” so it put a fence across one end.
We contacted the government department responsible for the land and reminded them that last year they had promised the roadway would be kept open — at which point we were asked to donate some of our own land for the ditch and the roadway. They declined to do anything.
Next the road was dug up and bananas were planted to make sure no one could use the road. The company then built a 10m high building on its land that extended all the way across the roadway to the edge of the concrete-lined ditch.
While doing all this, the firm also managed to block the drains to the ditch, so now even a small amount of rain causes flooding.
Those of us who live and work on the land do not ask for much. We endure bad weather, climate change and fickle markets. We do our own thing and try to do our bit for the community. I sure don’t expect to be treated badly by the government, but my wife is not quite so optimistic.
Unfortunately, the actions of the government are proving my wife right. So I ask, why in this case is the farmer treated so poorly and the gravel company allowed to do as it pleases? I am not complaining about the way the company is using the government land, but it really should leave the road open and not block our drains.
John Lamorie
Ligang, Pingtung County
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