By some account, the following scene has to constitute animal cruelty:— first comes the stroller, catching the attention of passers-by seeking to catch a glimpse of little toes, or a toddler’s innocent smile. However, instead of a baby, they see a furry, yapping little thing, and if that were not disconcerting enough, the dog is incongruously wearing four tiny red shoes.
No country has more house pets per capita that are not walking on all fours — as they were meant to be — than Taiwan. The phenomenon deserves attention, as the preternatural pampering masks a darker side of society.
Violence against animals is rampant in this country, with abandoned dogs roaming university campuses or, when they are “lucky” enough, awaiting a brighter future in an overcrowded animal shelter operated by selfless individuals. On any visit to one of these rowdy shelters, one will come upon a spectacle of horrors, from three-legged dogs and mangy strays, to the crazed and most unfortunate animals that have had their faces bashed in by a baseball bat, either from anger or for the sheer “fun” of it.
These two scenes represent two extremes of Taiwanese society: Cold cruelty toward innocent creatures and gushing affection of the kind rarely visited upon one’s flesh and blood. Good intentions notwithstanding, the kingly treatment of pets, which in its folly also includes pedicures, multi-thousand-dollar baths, and even psychological treatment, is shameful. It is one thing to display love and affection toward one’s animal companion, but to go to such lengths to do so when society remains filled with destitute human beings is problematic, to say the least.
Beyond the sheer folly of it are more mundane, albeit no less important, reasons why animals should be allowed to be animals. Unlike in, say, North America or Europe, rare are the houses in Taiwanese cities that have a backyard. Most people are stacked into smallish apartment buildings with no outside access, which means that animals whose instinct would take them outdoors for the occasional stroll, rabbit chasing or to fulfill the call of nature, are confined to a compact environment in which it is impossible for them to play as necessary for their full physical (and psychological) well-being.
The least one could do when going outside for a walk with the dog, then, is to allow the poor creature to stretch its legs and chase after birds or the neighbor’s equally overprotected puppy. Keeping a dog in a stroller, or in a handbag or backpack, is cruel. Forcing them to wear clothes, in a country where there is no cold winter to freeze their paws, also goes against nature and is wrong.
Rather than treat pets like heavenly emissaries, one ought to respect the animal’s instincts. If one feels compelled to do more for the animal kingdom, Taiwan has plenty of species, from pets to endangered dolphins, in dire need of succor. There are many things one can do to help, from donating time by walking an abandoned mutt on weekends to making donations to the handful of shelters nationwide that care about animals without treating them like something they are not.
Let the dogs out. Set them free.
China has quietly unloaded 10 percent, or US$100 billion, of its US Treasury holdings in the first half of the year. During the past 40 years of rapid economic growth after recovering from a quasi-ruined state that officially ended in 1976, China has amassed a huge pile of foreign reserves partially through its trade surplus. The US Treasuries have always been the prime choice for China to park its foreign reserves. What made it run away from the traditional safe haven for its hard-earned foreign reserves? One explanation is that Beijing is leveraging its financial power as the second-largest US Treasury
Sometimes When there is a choice to be made, none of the options are good. The choice between hooking up with communism — in its Chinese iteration, the one that bugs Taiwan the most — and neofascism, of the back-to-the-roots Italian variety or any other kind, is such a choice. The good news is that Taiwan does not have to choose. It neither needs to cozy up to China — the successes of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration, despite its shortcomings, are evidence of that — nor does it need to embrace Italy under its likely new leader, Italian lawmaker Giorgia
For many years, the military’s defense of the Taiwan Strait has been centered around the doctrine of establishing “air and maritime supremacy and repulsing landing forces.” However, after the legislature passed the Sea-Air Combat Power Improvement Plan Purchase Special Regulation (海空戰力提升計畫採購特別條例) last year, the doctrine was altered to “air defense, counterattack, and establish air and maritime supremacy,” with repelling landing forces removed from the equation. Despite the changes to the defense doctrine, landing operations and anti-landing operations still feature at the core of the military’s plans for the defense of the nation. The primary reason that peace in the Taiwan Strait has prevailed
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has created a dilemma that could soon cause him to be hoisted with his own petard, bringing his leadership of China to an end. His threatening rhetoric over the unification of Taiwan with China, in which he has said, “we are willing to draw blood if necessary,” has placed Xi in a corner. Xi is portrayed as a strong world leader, yet he has created a scenario for himself that most likely would have an unfavorable outcome. With the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) scheduled to convene this month, Xi cannot
RSS