Schlock redux
I believe the reviewer of the film Australia (“Schlock on the barbie,” Dec. 26, page 16) is factually wrong about the removal of Aboriginal children. According to my knowledge, only mixed-blood children were stolen “to breed the color out” of Aborigines. It was assumed at a conference of Australian governments in 1937 that the “full-blood” Aborigines would just die out. Most of the stolen children have horrific stories to tell of sexual abuse, exploitation and blighted lives to this day. Aboriginal leaders say that conference laid down a policy aimed at annihilating the race.
The minutes of that conference are available at sydney.indymedia.org.au/story/minutes-1937-breed-colour-out-conference.
DIET SIMON
Australia
Apples and oranges
If you want to compare two things, you have to be sure that the two things are of the same nature to lead to a correct result for reference.
Thus, I find Trace Gomez’s conclusion odd (Letters, Dec. 23, page 8). He compared two things; one is former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) case and the other is KMT policy. The former is about principles of criminal law and their application to one person, and the latter is about a policy that risks the loss of sovereignty for the entire nation. Although Mr Gomez’s English is fluent enough to convey the conclusion that “This attitude is why the DPP is no longer in power,” fluency cannot make up for the fundamental flaw in reasoning that comes from comparing two things that are different in nature.
KUOJUNG NI
Hsinchu City
Anti-smoking policy
I am writing in regard to your article about a new anti-smoking policy to be implemented next year (“S.H.E, John Tung join efforts to promote smoke-free environment,” Dec. 2, page 2). In fact, smoking has been banned in public places in Taiwan since 2000. Violators are fined according to the law. This anti-smoking policy protects us from the harmful effects of cigarette smoke.
Although some people say the new policy is too strict, I think it is still necessary. We are aware that smoking and the toxic substances in cigarettes have been proven to cause many fatal diseases such as cancer, heart problems and lung disease. We also know that smoking has a great influence not only on the smokers themselves, but also on non-smokers around them.
It is said that smoking takes the lives of millions of people around the world every year. In short, the government is supposed to shoulder the responsibility of informing the public of the dangers of smoking and more strictly enforcing its anti-smoking laws.
SEAN HUANG
Pingtung
Gerrymandering tendencies
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) recently convened and presided over a meeting of senior government officials, party elders and powerful corporate financiers. At this meeting, the members of this “elite” clique discussed their plan to redraw the borders of counties and municipalities in Taiwan, which would entail the redrawing of electoral districts as well as the reallocation of financial resources.
Such a redistribution of electoral constituency boundaries is known as “gerrymandering.” The tactic of gerrymandering almost invariably favors the ruling incumbent and the ruling political party. In some nations, gerrymandering involves the manipulative reapportioning of the electorate along socioeconomic and ethnic lines. Gerrymandering never occurs by chance; it is a ploy and tactic employed to give the advantage to one political party over another. It is a ploy that is orchestrated to “stack the electoral deck” in favor of one political party over another.
Ma’s was a hastily convened meeting, and one that was open only to a small and select clique. This meeting lacked any general public debate. The people of Taiwan were not invited, and there is a specific reason for their exclusion. That such a meeting took place should be cause for great alarm in Taiwan.
A tiger can no more lose its stripes than a leopard can lose its spots. The KMT will never change. The KMT has returned to its classic modus operandi in which all power is concentrated in, and limited to, a very small factional cadre or ruling clique. This cadre is dead set on its own agenda, and it tolerates no debate, not to mention dissent.
The plan of this KMT cadre is self-evident and thus should be obvious to everyone. There is no way in hell that the KMT will ever agree to return to its prior position as opposition party; it will never allow the DPP (or any other political party) to become the ruling party again.
I hope to God that I am wrong, but it is my fear that this year’s presidential election will prove to be the last truly free election in Taiwan’s history. It is my fear that the 2012 election will be so rigged that it will be a sham. After the sham election in 2012, Beijing will be calling all the shots. After the 2012 election, China will be in the position where it will be able to make both economic and political demands on Taiwan. Within a few years of the 2012 election, Taiwan will have effectively undergone an anschluss — a political annexation.
MICHAEL SCANLON
East Hartford, Connecticut
Labubu, an elf-like plush toy with pointy ears and nine serrated teeth, has become a global sensation, worn by celebrities including Rihanna and Dua Lipa. These dolls are sold out in stores from Singapore to London; a human-sized version recently fetched a whopping US$150,000 at an auction in Beijing. With all the social media buzz, it is worth asking if we are witnessing the rise of a new-age collectible, or whether Labubu is a mere fad destined to fade. Investors certainly want to know. Pop Mart International Group Ltd, the Chinese manufacturer behind this trendy toy, has rallied 178 percent
My youngest son attends a university in Taipei. Throughout the past two years, whenever I have brought him his luggage or picked him up for the end of a semester or the start of a break, I have stayed at a hotel near his campus. In doing so, I have noticed a strange phenomenon: The hotel’s TV contained an unusual number of Chinese channels, filled with accents that would make a person feel as if they are in China. It is quite exhausting. A few days ago, while staying in the hotel, I found that of the 50 available TV channels,
Kinmen County’s political geography is provocative in and of itself. A pair of islets running up abreast the Chinese mainland, just 20 minutes by ferry from the Chinese city of Xiamen, Kinmen remains under the Taiwanese government’s control, after China’s failed invasion attempt in 1949. The provocative nature of Kinmen’s existence, along with the Matsu Islands off the coast of China’s Fuzhou City, has led to no shortage of outrageous takes and analyses in foreign media either fearmongering of a Chinese invasion or using these accidents of history to somehow understand Taiwan. Every few months a foreign reporter goes to
There is no such thing as a “silicon shield.” This trope has gained traction in the world of Taiwanese news, likely with the best intentions. Anything that breaks the China-controlled narrative that Taiwan is doomed to be conquered is welcome, but after observing its rise in recent months, I now believe that the “silicon shield” is a myth — one that is ultimately working against Taiwan. The basic silicon shield idea is that the world, particularly the US, would rush to defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion because they do not want Beijing to seize the nation’s vital and unique chip industry. However,
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