Coral reefs threatened
Thanks to the Taipei Times for publishing a front page article on Kenting’s coral (‘Disappearing coral reefs of Kenting,’ Sept. 12, page 1.)
Local divers have long lamented the changes in southern Taiwan’s underwater environment, with the most pronounced effects of overfishing and coral destruction topping their list of complaints.
The call for establishing a nature conservation area is surprising as Wanlitong coast and the Houbihu peninsula are already dotted with signs that warn of large fines for illegal fishing, water activities and the collection of coral from beach areas.
The main problem is enforcement, and until the local government steps up to the challenge of patrolling the area, continued damage will be done.
It is also important to distinguish between the different water activities and their impact: jet skis pollute the area by direct emissions; small sea craft rake the fragile coral with anchors and hoards of novice snorkelers tramp over the coral along the coastlines as unscrupulous tour groups try to make a quick buck.
Scuba divers on the other hand are for the most part trained to respect the aquatic environment with a “take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but bubbles,” mentality.
Though annual typhoons that sweep across the nation play a large part in the destruction of reefs near the surface, this is a natural process and corals can recover if the strains of human activity allow it to. So let us allow nature to take it’s course by devoting adequate marine conservation resources to protecting Kenting’s most precious resource.
Paul Oliver
Greater Kaohisung
Beware demand destruction
China’s leaders want to increase the level of personal discretionary spending to boost the consumption ratio in China’s GDP, a worthy goal. In the US, personal spending once reached 70 percent of GDP, a shockingly high percentage and a trend that will surely never return due to the ongoing destruction of the US dollar.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s leaders, politicians and judges — many of whom only claim to be Taiwanese — make a celebratory ritual out of stealing from the poor and laughing all the way to the bank while pretending to have competent ideas about improving Taiwan’s economy or returning the “ill gotten assets” to Taiwan’s treasury where they belong.
It is simple math, really. With the Post Office savings rate a little over 1 percent, and the inflation index, or CPI, at around 3 percent, Taiwanese who have been saving for decades are now finding that their wealth is dwindling during their retirement years while they watch their household expenses rise as they get older and require more personal care.
At the same time, certain Taiwanese special interest groups benefit from a government-guaranteed 18 percent interest rate on their savings, higher than any other investment return in the world. I was delighted when former candidate Democratic Progressive Party chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said she would abandon this unjust practice during her presidential campaign.
This special interest rate is absorbed into Taiwan’s national debt — which of course relies on our children’s as yet unearned wages to repay. It is quite an unfair system, even if you are one of the lucky few. In an environment where a workers’ savings are diminishing over time relative to inflation, it is hard to imagine that consumers will go running out on shopping sprees.
To ensure that a country’s citizens spend freely, it is necessary for the central bank to guarantee that savers’ long-accumulated wealth is not diminished over time. I would mandate that the interest rate on Post Office savings accounts be brought up to the level of the CPI. I would reduce this 18 percent preferential rate over three years, so that investors can carefully move their savings elsewhere.
Most of Taiwan’s TAIEX-traded companies pay dividends of around 5 percent annually, widely above the rate of inflation and the best bet is obviously Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC), the global leader in shrinking microchip geometry with the highest production volume — a “safe haven.”
Downside risks include all of TSMC’s facilities getting bombed into dust by some of the 1,600 missiles China has aimed at Taiwan, but if the People’s Liberation Army decides to launch all of them, there will not be much incentive for Taiwanese to hold savings at all, as most Taiwanese would likely die in the ensuing conflagration anyway.
All investors around the world want a safe haven for their paper-based, “fiat” currency because prices everywhere are going up all the time. I reiterate my recommendation on Commonwealth coins that are available at your corner jewelry shop, as I expect a doubling of the gold price within the next six months.
I repeat that this Year of the Dragon will involve an intense reversion to the mean.
Torch Pratt
New Taipei City
In an article published in Newsweek on Monday last week, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged China to retake territories it lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. “If it is really for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t China take back Russia?” Lai asked, referring to territories lost in 1858 and 1860. The territories once made up the two flanks of northern Manchuria. Once ceded to Russia, they became part of the Russian far east. Claims since then have been made that China and Russia settled the disputes in the 1990s through the 2000s and that “China
China has successfully held its Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, with 53 of 55 countries from the African Union (AU) participating. The two countries that did not participate were Eswatini and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which have no diplomatic relations with China. Twenty-four leaders were reported to have participated. Despite African countries complaining about summit fatigue, with recent summits held with Russia, Italy, South Korea, the US and Indonesia, as well as Japan next month, they still turned up in large numbers in Beijing. China’s ability to attract most of the African leaders to a summit demonstrates that it is still being
Trips to the Kenting Peninsula in Pingtung County have dredged up a lot of public debate and furor, with many complaints about how expensive and unreasonable lodging is. Some people even call it a tourist “butchering ground.” Many local business owners stake claims to beach areas by setting up parasols and driving away people who do not rent them. The managing authority for the area — Kenting National Park — has long ignored the issue. Ultimately, this has affected the willingness of domestic travelers to go there, causing tourist numbers to plummet. In 2008, Taiwan opened the door to Chinese tourists and in
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Thursday was handcuffed and escorted by police to the Taipei Detention Center, after the Taipei District Court ordered that he be detained and held incommunicado for suspected corruption during his tenure as Taipei mayor. The ruling reversed an earlier decision by the same court on Monday last week that ordered Ko’s release without bail. That decision was appealed by prosecutors on Wednesday, leading the High Court to conclude that Ko had been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and it ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Video clips
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