One often hears pet owners say: "I see my pet as a human being and a member of my family."
The essence of the remark suggests the obvious: A pet -- be it a dog, cat, rabbit or squirrel -- isn't a human being to begin with.
By the same token, when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
It is dumbfounding to hear such an ethnically prejudiced remark from the mouth of a presidential hopeful in democratic Taiwan today, where human rights and respect and appreciation for diversity and multiculturalism are trumpeted every day.
Ma spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (
Ma's insulting remark was more than just a slip of the tongue as some, quick to leap to the pan-blue golden boy's defense, argued. It was an exposure of Ma's unconscious self that showed him to be filled with elitist chauvinism and prejudice against the nation's Aborigines.
For a long time under KMT rule, Aboriginal cultures were suppressed, if not wiped out completely. In recent years, the country's Aborigines have slowly regained their sense of self-esteem and cultural pride, and the last thing they need is prejudiced comments from a potential future national leader.
Ma was also quoted as saying at the same venue that: "If you come into the city, you have to play by its rules."
Obviously Ma didn't realize that the Aborigines were in Taiwan long before he was. What right does he have to say to the Aborigines: "If you come into the city, you have to play by its rules"?
James Watson, the Nobel prize-winning biologist and DNA pioneer, apologized and stepped down from his position at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in October over offensive comments he made about the intelligence of Africans.
Ma has offered no such apology.
It is sad to see that, as of yesterday, when the news broke, no Aboriginal representatives had come forward to challenge Ma and defend Aboriginal dignity. The Council of Indigenous People -- supposedly the nation's highest body looking after Aborigines' rights and well-being -- uttered not a single word of condemnation, nor have we heard any demand of an apology by Ma from Aboriginal lawmakers such as Independent Legislator May Chin (
When the Aborigines and their representatives fail to stand up and demand due respect for their brothers and sisters, how then can they expect people like Ma to show them respect and teach people what appreciation for diversity means?
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
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
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017