Imagining the other
This is intended for Martin de Jonge (Letters, June 2, page 8) and every arrogant egocentric who shares the opinions expressed in that letter.
De Jonge complains, as have dozens before him, that “When locals see my face, they immediately start speaking to me in English.” My response to that is: Well, duh!
De Jonge should get outside long enough to imagine the world as seen by, say, a 30-year-old citizen of Taiwan. This hypothetical person may have had, via TV, movies, personal contacts, anecdotal testimony from friends, relatives, coworkers and casual acquaintances varying degrees of exposure to perhaps thousands of non-Asian-faced aliens.
Of that number, perhaps 70 percent probably have had so little knowledge of any local language or dialect that they are unable to frame even the simplest greeting, formal or otherwise. Another 25 percent have probably known a little Mandarin, but pronounced what they knew so badly as to render it incomprehensible. The remaining 5 percent probably consisted of people with broadly varying degrees of competence in some local language or dialect. Thus, our imaginary Taiwanese, upon encountering his umpty-umth waiguoren would seem to have more than ample reason to believe that English offered the best chance to understand and be understood by said waiguoren.
That is, unless the foreigner is instantly recognizable as a Mandarin or Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) speaker, or has some distinguishing characteristic that indicates he or she is fluent in one or more local tongues.
So, I put it to de Jonge and all the people out there who think local people should recognize on sight that they speak Mandarin, or Taiwanese, or whatever: Do you have characteristics that advertise the languages you speak? If neither applies, I suggest you stop complaining and start putting more effort into trying to see things from other people’s point of view.
C. AMBROSE
Ching Shui, Taichung County
Disappointed reader
I have been reading the Taipei Times daily for several years; I used to enjoy it a lot more. Sadly, the quality of the reporting, and most especially the editorials, has declined sharply. Reporters have failed to follow up on key facts and issues regarding stories fundamental to Taiwan’s interests.
For example, after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators and ministers fumed over the comment made by Masaki Saito, head of the Taipei office of Japan’s Interchange Association, that Taiwan’s status is still unresolved, your reporters did not ask: If Taiwan’s status was resolved, what is it? This unfolding story had been reported on for several days and yet at no time did I see a mention of an attempt to get the answer to this key question from any KMT member.
Your editorial on June 2, “Something sinister on the horizon,” is a sad example of my concern. The editorial attempted to criticize KMT and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) China policies by comparing them to Israeli policies regarding settlers in the West Bank. Are the two situations so similar they demand analogizing?
By using the phrase of the day, “facts on the ground,” you try to contort the argument that Ma’s policies are “sinister” because Israel’s policies result in “uncertainty.” That is a pretty big stretch, though unfortunately it’s not much of a surprise.
The Taipei Times has published several editorials on Israel, all of them highly critical. While some may argue justification for this, these editorials have been so appallingly one-sided and lacking of any nuance that I must wonder if the editor isn’t anti-Semitic. No, criticizing Israel does not make one anti-Semitic, but continually publishing gratuitous, ridiculously unbalanced editorials might, and this latest example substantially supports my point.
If The Taipei Times has concerns that Ma and the KMT’s recent legislation, diplomatic efforts and economic cooperation regarding China are inimical to Taiwan’s interests and that once they become operational, they and their tragic consequences will be hard to reverse, then that’s an easy enough point to make all on its own.
I will say that the June 2 editorial wasn’t quite as heavy-handed as usual in its attack on Israel. However, conflating two such complex and unrelated international policies involving several divergent countries for the purpose of impugning Israel or the KMT and Ma (the editorial is unclear) does not bode well for the integrity, discretion and professionalism of your paper.
HOWARD WESTON
Taoyuan
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
RSS