Insidious abuse unchecked
Despite its low birth rate, Taiwan still has an inordinate number of very cute babies. While I naturally smile and giggle at them, I sometimes wonder what would happen if I thwacked one really hard on the head. You can imagine: Facebook and Twitter would explode, the media would erupt in a feeding frenzy and I would be rightfully condemned.
However, every day something much more sinister is happening to our babies: They are being poisoned by insidious, omnipresent pollution (“Doctors protest pollution, cite cancer link,” Dec. 7, page 3).
Almost no one equates this kind of grievous bodily harm with child abuse or murder, although one expert recently had the courage to call it “legal murder” (“Strict regulations needed to prevent air pollution,” Dec. 29, page 3).
However, there is a glimmer of hope.
Fossil fuels have been condemned as the destroyers of the global climate and ecosystems that they are, and more people are also protesting against the other evil of burning fossil fuels: The mass poisonings and killings attributable to air pollution, which affects the most vulnerable members of society, our children.
Taiwan has recently seen dangerous levels of air pollution and now we have learned that other health risks are increasing, for example, asbestos (“Air pollution hits critical levels,” Dec. 19, page 3 and “Labor advocacy groups call for ban on asbestos,” Dec. 22, page 4).
Instead of protecting our most precious possession, our health, politicians continue to twiddle their thumbs.
Are not politicians supposed to protect us? Is not that their job? When will they start implementing the wide range of measures required to protect the public?
Of course, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) solution is to set up yet another task force — in other words, blowing hot air instead of taking action.
So, to all the outraged protesters out there, I can only cry “bravo” and “encore” and “please, sue those unscrupulous businesses that make a profit while ignoring our health.”
Do not let up until we see the end of grievous bodily harm in the name of so-called efficiency, especially now that renewable energy is becoming an economically viable alternative.
Flora Faun
Taipei
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers
Gogoro Inc was once a rising star and a would-be unicorn in the years prior to its debut on the NASDAQ in 2022, as its environmentally friendly technology and stylish design attracted local young people. The electric scooter and battery swapping services provider is bracing for a major personnel shakeup following the abrupt resignation on Friday of founding chairman Horace Luke (陸學森) as chief executive officer. Luke’s departure indicates that Gogoro is sinking into the trough of unicorn disillusionment, with the company grappling with poor financial performance amid a slowdown in demand at home and setbacks in overseas expansions. About 95
RSS