I was flabbergasted to read your report ("Students at risk of suicide," Aug. 7, page 3). In it, you write that according to a recent survey sponsored by the Taiwan Association of Clinical Psychiatrists, 10.21 percent of the students surveyed "have attempted suicide in the past year." Are you absolutely sure of this figure?
I have often found that students do not understand the literal meaning of "suicide" and "to commit suicide." I care very much about the fine distinctions here because the proper use of terminology affects attitudes and behavior. Don't you really mean that 10 percent of the students in the survey "have thought at one time or the other of taking their life," or "have had occasional suicidal thoughts"? Do you really mean that high a percentage of young people in the survey actually tried to do this awful thing? I find the notion very hard to believe.
During times of unusual stress, sadness or discouragement, or for persons suffering clinical depression, it may be natural for people to have a fleeting fantasy of say, hurling themselves in front of a passing car or of throwing away the precious gift of their own life. But thank heavens most of us recognize nonsense when we see it, and we let go of such fantasies or thoughts. We do not act on them.
Please tell us, then: does that survey really mean what you reported? Also, was the survey taken among a certain select group of young people, or was it a random survey? Finally, how was the survey conducted?
Father Daniel Bauer
Fu Jen Catholic University
[For answers to these questions, readers should try contacting the Taiwan Association of Clinical Psychiatrists, which conducted the survey, at 03-2653445. - Ed.]
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS