The news from General Christopher C. LaNeve, Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army, last month was a low-key 46 pages, but one sentence was arresting: the US Army will “organize, train, and equip against the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) — the ‘pacing threat’ — with the same institutional focus that the Cold War generations brought to the Soviet Army.” Ouch! The sentence was in an unclassified document entitled “How The Army Fights,” and billed as “Operational Warfighting Guidance” for the Army; it is comprehensive and “multi-domain”; it covers the globe. Despite its breadth, there was no mistaking its focus
Upon entering Taipei Railway Station, what greets us at the interchange of Taiwan’s three major rail systems are not testimonies to the city’s technological development or cultural heritage, but an inescapable barrage of cosmetic surgery and aesthetic medicine advertisements. Advertising itself has always been more than commercial activity; it is a manifestation of the collective unconscious. When the entranceway of the nation is lined with legions of cookie-cutter perfect faces and plastic surgery adverts, it both reveals and provokes society’s collective body-image anxiety. From a psychological perspective, these advertisements are an exercise in social conditioning of the public. They do
Diplomats are paid to say unpleasant things pleasantly. Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan (井泉) has managed the opposite. Asked on Oct. 15 about Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr’s description of China as the region’s lone troublemaker, he called the remark nonsense, then observed that China “may easily win” against the Philippines, but declines to use force because it loves peace. A threat dressed as a compliment is still a threat, and Manila heard it correctly. Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Maria Theresa Lazaro on Monday last week summoned Jing to express her concerns about the
Videos of passers-by playing a public piano at the new Tainan Railway Station have gone viral on the Internet. From children to teenagers, from young adults to seniors, people from all walks of life lined up near the piano, waiting to share their music with the crowd who had gathered to enjoy an impromptu performance at a bustling transport hub. Within just a few days, the station hall has become a concert hall featuring all sorts of music instruments — strings, woodwinds, brass — you name it. Taiwan Railway Corp’s official social media account “clarified” that not every passenger is required
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