Sovereignty a daily practice
I read with great interest Teo Hsia’s article (“Taiwan should learn from Canada,” May 6, page 8) comparing Taiwan’s situation with Canada’s. I strongly agree with the core message: Taiwan must stand firm in the face of external pressure.
In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has persistently attempted to undermine Taiwan through diplomatic isolation, economic coercion, political infiltration and disinformation. These are not merely challenges to the nation’s governance — they are attacks on our sovereignty.
Taiwan is a fully functioning democracy and a sovereign state. We have every right — and responsibility — to resist foreign hostility. However, speeches and slogans alone are not enough. What we need is action: to maintain our unique advantages and shield our strategic assets.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co represents not just Taiwan’s technological prowess, but a critical piece in global supply chains. The government must act decisively to protect its intellectual property and prevent technology leaks — regardless of whether such actions are politically convenient.
We must ensure that, in a rapidly shifting global environment, Taiwan retains the strategic leverage to protect its people and interests.
Policies that secure our core industries are not acts of provocation — they are acts of preservation. Sovereignty is not just a principle; it is a daily practice.
Lee Yu-kuan
Taoyuan
Taiwan and economic shifts
Last month, US President Donald Trump signed Executive Order No. 14257, imposing a 32 percent “reciprocal” tariff on Taiwanese goods, with the semiconductor industry being the sole exception.
As Taiwan’s export industries have long heavily relied on the US market, this policy delivered a significant blow to the nation’s economy. Traditional manufacturing sectors, electronic components and machinery tools were particularly affected, as their competitiveness weakened, potentially leading to indirect impacts on employment and the survival of small and medium-sized enterprises.
The government refrained from imposing retaliatory tariffs in response. Instead, it proposed strategies such as expanding procurement from the US and negotiating a zero-tariff agreement, demonstrating its hope to resolve the dispute through talks.
To ease tensions, the US and Taiwan held their first substantive tariff negotiations in Washington early this month. These talks covered not only tariff issues, but also non-tariff trade barriers, indicating that both sides are still willing to engage in dialogue and repair their trade relationship.
As a university student about to graduate this year, I cannot help but worry whether this sudden trade conflict would affect my job-seeking process. Will the job market shrink due to pressure on export-oriented enterprises? Will our generation face greater employment challenges?
These concerns have begun to influence and reshape my expectations and plans for the future. What I once learned only from textbooks has now become a tangible source of pressure in daily life, making me realize that global political and economic shifts are no longer distant or abstract — they have real, significant impacts on small, open economies like Taiwan’s.
Overall, although this tariff dispute has brought harm to Taiwan’s economy, it also serves as a valuable international economic education for our generation. It not only reminds us of the importance of paying attention to global developments, but also teaches us to cultivate adaptability and a global perspective.
As the US is one of Taiwan’s largest export markets, any shift in its policies can have profound consequences. I hope the government and education system will strengthen education on international affairs, equipping everyone with the ability to analyze global trends and face future challenges with confidence.
Only by understanding the world can we remain steady and move forward in times of uncertainty.
Sung Yu-fang
Kaohsiung
On March 22, 2023, at the close of their meeting in Moscow, media microphones were allowed to record Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dictator Xi Jinping (習近平) telling Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin, “Right now there are changes — the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years — and we are the ones driving these changes together.” Widely read as Xi’s oath to create a China-Russia-dominated world order, it can be considered a high point for the China-Russia-Iran-North Korea (CRINK) informal alliance, which also included the dictatorships of Venezuela and Cuba. China enables and assists Russia’s war against Ukraine and North Korea’s
After thousands of Taiwanese fans poured into the Tokyo Dome to cheer for Taiwan’s national team in the World Baseball Classic’s (WBC) Pool C games, an image of food and drink waste left at the stadium said to have been left by Taiwanese fans began spreading on social media. The image sparked wide debate, only later to be revealed as an artificially generated image. The image caption claimed that “Taiwanese left trash everywhere after watching the game in Tokyo Dome,” and said that one of the “three bad habits” of Taiwanese is littering. However, a reporter from a Japanese media outlet
Taiwanese pragmatism has long been praised when it comes to addressing Chinese attempts to erase Taiwan from the international stage. “Taipei” and the even more inaccurate and degrading “Chinese Taipei,” imposed titles required to participate in international events, are loathed by Taiwanese. That is why there was huge applause in Taiwan when Japanese public broadcaster NHK referred to the Taiwanese Olympic team as “Taiwan,” instead of “Chinese Taipei” during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. What is standard protocol for most nations — calling a national team by the name their country is commonly known by — is impossible for
India is not China, and many of its residents fear it never will be. It is hard to imagine a future in which the subcontinent’s manufacturing dominates the world, its foreign investment shapes nations’ destinies, and the challenge of its economic system forces the West to reshape its own policies and principles. However, that is, apparently, what the US administration fears. Speaking in New Delhi last week, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau warned that “we will not make the same mistakes with India that we did with China 20 years ago.” Although he claimed the recently agreed framework
RSS