The US claims to want to maintain the "status quo" across the Taiwan Strait, yet what the US has been up to recently is helping China degrade Taiwan. Many people consider Taiwan to be the levee of the Western Pacific. If this levee is breached through negligence, the "Red Storm" will be more catastrophic than Hurricane Katrina.
Of course the US needs to look after its national interest, but it should not do so at the expense of Taiwan, or any other country. Small nations have dignity too. China will take a foot for every inch you give it. No matter how much the US may compromise, the US will never satisfy China or get what it wants in return.
The US' rejection of President Chen Shui-bian's (
When Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) visited the US, he was treated as if he were the president of Taiwan. The Bush administration wants China to negotiate directly with the government of Taiwan, yet the US refused Chen's request to land in New York or Los Angeles, as if he were a terrorist.
The reason for this is that China asked the US not to let Chen go to Washington.
The US is fighting hard in Iraq to promote democracy, yet at the same time it is unintentionally pushing Taiwan away from democracy and toward communism by trying to please China.
The "one China" policy adopted by former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger must be critically reviewed by the State Department. It is a bad policy for Taiwan, the US and China.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
Two weeks ago, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) raised hackles in Taiwan by posting to her 2.6 million Instagram followers that she was visiting “Taipei, China.” Yeoh’s post continues a long-standing trend of Chinese propaganda that spreads disinformation about Taiwan’s political status and geography, aimed at deceiving the world into supporting its illegitimate claims to Taiwan, which is not and has never been part of China. Taiwan must respond to this blatant act of cognitive warfare. Failure to respond merely cedes ground to China to continue its efforts to conquer Taiwan in the global consciousness to justify an invasion. Taiwan’s government
This month’s news that Taiwan ranks as Asia’s happiest place according to this year’s World Happiness Report deserves both celebration and reflection. Moving up from 31st to 27th globally and surpassing Singapore as Asia’s happiness leader is gratifying, but the true significance lies deeper than these statistics. As a society at the crossroads of Eastern tradition and Western influence, Taiwan embodies a distinctive approach to happiness worth examining more closely. The report highlights Taiwan’s exceptional habit of sharing meals — 10.1 shared meals out of 14 weekly opportunities, ranking eighth globally. This practice is not merely about food, but represents something more
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
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