Migrants need social space
Many differing opinions have been expressed in the media recently about people who sit on the floor in the main hall of Taipei Railway Station.
Migrant workers from Taipei and New Taipei City have come to regard the station as a place to gather and make friends. This has been going on for years, so do the authorities really mean to clear the area for good just because of the COVID-19 pandemic?
The prospect of a ban has become a matter of widespread concern and discussion.
On this occasion, the people whose behavior is under discussion are migrant workers. It brings to mind the Javan mynah — a species of bird that came to Taiwan from abroad. If you search for articles about mynahs, they all say that Javan mynahs are invading the habitats of other mynahs that are native to Taiwan.
The newly arrived are always labeled as “not of our kind.” At what point does a transient bird become a resident? It takes a long period to adjust.
However, the attitude of the local people can be a key factor as to whether the newcomers blend in or are involved in disputes.
In 2004, I took part in a Ministry of the Interior field trip to find out how Japan assists and manages homeless people. It came as a big surprise to look down from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to see Shinjuku Central Park filled with blue tents, which were homeless people’s only shelter from wind and rain.
At the time, Japan’s economy had already been stagnating for 12 years. To become more internationally competitive, Japanese companies laid off large numbers of employees.
While many lost their jobs, others earned less from their work. Unable to rent accommodation, they ended up on the streets.
Surely, they did not willingly seek shelter in the park. If they were not allowed to stay there temporarily, where else could they go?
This is a problem that governments have to face and a task they must shoulder. It is also an area in which non-governmental organizations can lend a helping hand.
I, too, have walked across the chessboard-patterned floor of Taipei Railway Station’s main hall, weaving among groups of people sitting on the floor. Although I do not understand their languages, I could sense how they were giving one another solace as strangers in a strange land.
It made me think of the Javan mynah, and I wondered when the Taiwanese will come around to welcoming it and cherishing it as a resident bird.
Weng Shao-fei
Tainan
Taiwan and a new ‘WHO’
It is with respect that I submit this letter imploring Taiwan to think long and hard about hitching a wagon to the US in respect of participating in a new world health initiative.
US President Donald Trump’s petulance is probably well placed. However, the world needs to investigate his at best unsubstantiated allegations.
What other countries would withdraw from the WHO and follow the US? I suspect not many of the major power players.
Trump’s re-election in November is not a given.
Should he be a one-term wonder, and that is looking increasingly likely given his lack of leadership among other fatal weaknesses, the Democratic Party might simply roll back any initiatives and rejoin the WHO, which would leave Taiwan fully exposed to China’s ultimate ridicule.
Taiwan should be circumspect and at least wait out the elections in the US and not rush into a catastrophic decision.
Peter Watson
Kaohsiung
Victory in conflict requires mastery of two “balances”: First, the balance of power, and second, the balance of error, or making sure that you do not make the most mistakes, thus helping your enemy’s victory. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has made a decisive and potentially fatal error by making an enemy of the Jewish Nation, centered today in the State of Israel but historically one of the great civilizations extending back at least 3,000 years. Mind you, no Israeli leader has ever publicly declared that “China is our enemy,” but on October 28, 2025, self-described Chinese People’s Armed Police (PAP) propaganda
Chinese Consul General in Osaka Xue Jian (薛劍) on Saturday last week shared a news article on social media about Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan, adding that “the dirty neck that sticks itself in must be cut off.” The previous day in the Japanese House of Representatives, Takaichi said that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could constitute “a situation threatening Japan’s survival,” a reference to a legal legal term introduced in 2015 that allows the prime minister to deploy the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The violent nature of Xue’s comments is notable in that it came from a diplomat,
China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, entered service this week after a commissioning ceremony in China’s Hainan Province on Wednesday last week. Chinese state media reported that the Fujian would be deployed to the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and the western Pacific. It seemed that the Taiwan Strait being one of its priorities meant greater military pressure on Taiwan, but it would actually put the Fujian at greater risk of being compromised. If the carrier were to leave its home port of Sanya and sail to the East China Sea or the Yellow Sea, it would have to transit the
The artificial intelligence (AI) boom, sparked by the arrival of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, took the world by storm. Within weeks, everyone was talking about it, trying it and had an opinion. It has transformed the way people live, work and think. The trend has only accelerated. The AI snowball continues to roll, growing larger and more influential across nearly every sector. Higher education has not been spared. Universities rushed to embrace this technological wave, eager to demonstrate that they are keeping up with the times. AI literacy is now presented as an essential skill, a key selling point to attract prospective students.
RSS