The carnival of the elections went on for months leading up to voting on Saturday last week and, as expected, Taiwanese in nation’s north and west were much more immersed in it than those in the south and east. As a resident of Taipei, which has all of the resources and access typical of a capital, I have no complaints about the completeness of basic infrastructure. I pay attention to living conditions, such as social welfare, public security and traffic.
However, I do wonder about voters in Hualien and Taitung counties and what they expected of their candidates.
In addition to promoting agricultural produce and tourism, and perhaps granting some subsidies, what else did their candidates promise on the campaign trail?
In western Taiwan, a comprehensive transportation system has contributed greatly to industrial development. Over the past two decades, traffic arteries have been enhanced with the establishment of the High Speed Rail system, more freeways and expressways and, most recently, the opening of the Taipei Metro’s Circular (Yellow) Line.
Taiwan’s back garden of Hualien and Taitung has a different landscape. For urbanites, eastern Taiwan is known for its serenity, but I cannot help thinking about the area’s lack of transportation. The plains of the East Rift Valley would certainly allow for more roads and transport corridors. Provincial Highway No. 9, for example, spans more than 200km. Geography is not a reason to not construct there.
Residents of Hualien and Taitung are like second-class citizens, waiting for infrastructure and transportation systems to be put in place. They should not be exploited any longer. Heaven only knows why they put up with their mayors and commissioners and their banal policies and poor planning.
A politician’s vision reveals their depth. Even a post-dated check is worth issuing.
Residents of Hualien and Taitung deserve to be treated seriously by all politicians and by every party. An advanced transportation project beyond the regional level must be outlined and the prospect of prosperity based on development must be proposed.
Tsai Chia-hung
Taipei
Moderating internal fight
Politicians attacking each other during election campaigns are akin to dogs snapping at each other. Nobody would think such fights could never happen, so there is little need to judge people for engaging in such behavior.
Even the most honest, upstanding individual might have a dark side that they keep hidden from the world.
Once the decision is made to enter politics, people need to know that they will be subject to scrutiny.
However, the main issue is that regardless of which party takes charge, it is crucial that it understands that, as the saying goes, no eggs remain unbroken when the nest is upset, because Taiwan’s survival depends on this.
I do not discriminate against any party in Taiwan, but I do worry that Taiwanese might someday be forced to fly the Chinese five-star flag and adopt the simplified writing system.
If that happens, we would already have lost our freedom of speech, and deprived of the ability to watch political talk shows at home or express our opinions freely.
To continue living in a free and democratic society, we should perhaps not get so hung up on the policies of individual candidates.
No matter how bad the Democratic Progressive Party becomes, we can be assured that it will not lead us into the terrible embrace of the Chinese Communist Party, and that it will do its best to ensure the nest is not upset, breaking all the eggs.
Chou Pao-hua
Taoyuan
Freedom of expression
Some college students in China recently have taken part in the “A4 revolution” to protest against Beijing’s “zero COVID” policy and censorship.
When watching a video shot at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, text printed on the pieces of paper that have given the protests their name caught my attention: A group of the protesters held a piece of paper bearing a physical cosmology equation derived by Alexander Friedmann.
Because of severe restrictions on freedom of speech in China, the protesters used the Russian cosmologist’s surname — which sounds like “freed man” — to get their point across.
We are lucky to live in Taiwan, where we can say whatever we want, as long as it does not contravene the law.
Take the elections last week for example. As a first-time voter, I am free to share my viewpoints. No matter what our opinions, we can exchange ideas freely. We do not have to worry about being arrested for saying or posting something against the government on the Internet.
Freedom of expression and democracy are priceless treasures that should be cherished.
Learn to be open-minded, respecting different opinions. The government and Taiwanese should work together to guard their freedom, which has not been easy to come by.
Wen Jia-xin
Hsinchu County
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