Taking cold seriously
I am a bit surprised how complacent the public seems to be over the news that at least 80 people died nationwide in the latest spell of unusually cold weather.
Unlike an earthquake or torrential rain, this disaster was predicted well ahead of time, yet the central government seemed not to consider it its business.
Municipal-level stuff, perhaps. Indeed, Taipei and other cities set up hotlines and emergency shelters for the homeless.
Yet people died. I hope that, in the future, the government takes such temperature predictions more seriously and works harder to inform people of the risks.
If such a disaster happens again, I hope criticism is much louder. Maybe the public just does not expect much from Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, but I cannot remember so many deaths from a natural disaster since Typhoon Morakot.
Peter Dearman
New Taipei City
Ignorance is a missed chance
Ignoring poll results and various analysis of the changes taking place in Taiwan is unlikely to help the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
It is obvious that the KMT is out of touch with the electorate. If there is not a name change prior to the next election, I think its next result could be worse than the last.
The publicity surrounding the election has thrust Taiwan into the spotlight. It would be unwise for the KMT to miss an opportunity offered to all Taiwanese.
Gavan Duffy
Australia
Ma’s many provocations
After the presidential and legislative elections, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) acted hastily to do China a favor and cause trouble for Taiwan. He ignores what Taiwanese want and tries to implement his deceased father’s will of leaning toward China. He could qualify to be the chief executive of Hong Kong, his birthplace.
Despite strong opposition from the US and Vietnam, Ma visited Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) to “proclaim sovereignty” amid international tension in the South China Sea (Editorial, Jan. 30, page 8).
His original plan to visit the island in December was called off because of US opposition. Running the risk of offending the US, Vietnam, the Philippines and other nations, Ma on Thursday last week made the journey to an island 1,637km from Taiwan with full military escort. This is a provocation.
Many Chinese leaders and netizens cheered Ma as a hero in defending the “common territory” of “the Chinese race.”
In the Singapore meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Ma proclaimed the so-called “one China” principle. On his trip, Ma implied that China co-owns Itu Aba. What a “bumbler” Ma is.
Ma keeps advising the forthcoming administration that the so-called “1992 consensus” is a cross-strait bridge that flows in two directions. It is a one-way bridge of no return.
Ma says that “caretaking” or “idling” are not in his dictionary, implying that he would do whatever he likes, including recruiting foreign white-collar workers, merge Taiwanese and Chinese media, and introduce many other controversial policies.
The new 113 legislators, including 68 Democratic Progressive Party members, were sworn in yesterday. They have to ensure that Ma does not do anything to upset the balance until May 20.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
As it has striven toward superiority in most measures of the Asian military balance, China is now ready to challenge the undersea balance of power, long dominated by the United States, a decisive advantage crucial to its ability to deter blockade and invasion of Taiwan by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). America expended enormous treasure to develop the technology, logistics, training, and personnel to emerge victorious in the Cold War undersea struggle against the former Soviet Union, and to remain superior today; the US is not used to considering the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)
The annual summit of East Asia and other events around the ASEAN summit in October and November every year have become the most important gathering of leaders in the Indo-Pacific region. This year, as Laos is the chair of ASEAN, it was privileged to host all of the ministerial and summit meetings associated with ASEAN. Besides the main summit, this included the high-profile East Asia Summit, ASEAN summits with its dialogue partners and the ASEAN Plus Three Summit with China, Japan and South Korea. The events and what happens around them have changed over the past 15 years from a US-supported, ASEAN-led
Lately, China has been inviting Taiwanese influencers to travel to China’s Xinjiang region to make films, weaving a “beautiful Xinjiang” narrative as an antidote to the international community’s criticisms by creating a Potemkin village where nothing is awry. Such manipulations appear harmless — even compelling enough for people to go there — but peeling back the shiny veneer reveals something more insidious, something that is hard to ignore. These films are not only meant to promote tourism, but also harbor a deeper level of political intentions. Xinjiang — a region of China continuously listed in global human rights reports —
President William Lai’s (賴清德) first Double Ten National Day address had two strategic goals. For domestic affairs, the speech aimed to foster consensus on national identity, strengthen the country and unite the Taiwanese against a Chinese invasion. In terms of cross-strait relations, the speech aimed to mitigate tensions in the Taiwan Strait and promote the coexistence and prosperity of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in China and the Republic of China (ROC). Lai is taking a different stance from previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administrations on domestic political issues. During his speech, he said: “The PRC could not be the
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